Reported historic asbestos prospects and natural asbestos occurrences in the central United States

Abstract

This map and the accompanying dataset (asbestos_sites.xls) provide information for 26 natural asbestos occurrences in the Central United States (U.S.) using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided in the aforementioned digital file. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences and their geological characteristics in the Central U.S. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map reported natural asbestos occurrences in the U.S., which began with U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1189 (Van Gosen, 2005). These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on natural occurrences of asbestos. The file asbestos_sites.xls was compiled through a systematic State-by-State search of the geologic literature. Although this asbestos dataset represents a thorough study of the published literature, it can not be construed as a complete list. An asbestos site was included only when the literature source specifically mentioned asbestos and (or) described the commonly recognized asbestos minerals as occurring in the asbestiform crystal morphology. No attempt was made to interpret the presence of asbestos from the context of the geology-mineralogy description if asbestos was not explicitly described. The user should refer to the references cited with each asbestos site entry for descriptions of these occurrences. These asbestos occurrences were reported to exist in outcrop exposures or rock exposed by mining operations. Note that these site descriptions apply to the time of each report's publication. No field verification of the sites was performed, nor were evaluations of potential exposure made at these sites. Many of the sites are likely to have been subsequently modified by human activities since their description, sometimes substantially. For example, since the time that the source literature was published there may have been remediation of the site or it may have been either exposed or covered by more recent development.