Sampling designs for geochemical baseline studies in the Colorado oil shale region: a manual for practical application

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This manual presents a rationale for sampling designs, and results of geochemical baseline studies in the Colorado portion of the oil-shale region. The program consists of a systematic trace element study of soils, stream sediments, and plants carried out in a way to be conservative of human and financial resources and yield maximum information. Extension of this approach to other parameters, other locations, and to environmental baseline studies in general is a primary objective. A baseline for any geochemical parameter can be defined as the concentration of that parameter in a given medium such as soil, the range of its concentration, and the geographic scale of variability. In air quality studies, and to a lesser extent for plants, the temporal scale of variability must also be considered. In studies of soil, the temporal variablility does not become a factor until such time that a study is deemed necessary to evaluate whether or not there have been changes in baseline levels as a result of development. The manual is divided into five major parts. The first is a suggested sampling protocol which is presented in an outline form for guiding baseline studies in this area. The second section is background information on the physical features of the area of study, trace elements of significance occurring in oil shale, and the sample media used in these studies. The third section is concerned primarily with sampling design and its application to the geochemical studies of the oil shale region. The last sections, in the form of appendices, provide actual data and illustrate in a systematic manner, the calculations performed to obtain the various summary data. The last segment of the appendices is a more academic discussion of the geochemistry of trace elements and the parameters of importance influencing their behavior in natural systems.