GEOCHEMICAL SURVEY OF MISSOURI - METHODS OF SAMPLING, LABORATORY ANALYSIS, AND STATISTICAL REDUCTION OF DATA.

A reconnaissance geochemical survey of the State of Missouri was made primarily to develop and explore methods for conducting environmental geochemical surveys of large regions. Another important purpose was to provide information needed by epidemiologists in search of relationships between the geochemistry of the environment and health. The information will also prove useful in studies of environmental pollution and, perhaps, in the search for unknown mineral deposits. The geochemical survey included bedrock, unconsolidated surficial deposits, agriculture and currently uncultivated soils, selected native vegetation and farm crops, and ground and surface water. The ultimate objective of the statistical analysis was to identify geochemical variations over the State that are unlikely to have resulted from accidents of sampling or laboratory treatment. Most of these variations are described by means of geochemical maps. Refs.