1. Correlations Between Trace Metals in Sediments in Georgia Jacquelyn Bracco 4/27/2010

2. Why trace metals? Trace metal concentrations affected by natural and anthropogenic causes – Natural underlying geology of area Weathering rates of rocks in sediments – Anthropogenic Purification of metals Dyes for textiles Dumping of pollutants Going to look at correlations between: – Uranium (U) and Thorium (Th) – Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) – Lanthanum (La) and Cerium (Ce) – Uranium (U) and Scanadium (Sc) – Titanium (Ti) and Hafnium (Hf)

3. Geology of Georgia Comparing correlations across four distinct regions of Georgia 1.Blue Ridge and Ridge and Valley: mostly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks 2.Piedmont: granite, igneous and metamorphic rocks 3.Coastal Plain: Sedimentary Rocks 4.Shoreline: Very young sedimentary rocks Image taken from USGS 1 2 3 4

4. Data Set Data taken from the National Uranium Resource Evaluation Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance Program (NURE) Each data set (except for the shore) had over 2000 sample sites Samples taken from streams Uraninite, an ore of uranium Image taken from mindat.org

5. All p values fell below 0.05, so correlations are statistically significant U vs ThFe vs MnCe vs LaU vs ScTi vsHf North Georgia0.850.510.980.090.33 Piedmont0.900.570.970.030.29 Coastal Plain0.950.500.890.210.60 Shore0.960.330.950.210.72 Pearson Correlation Coefficents High Correlations: abs(r) >.5 Medium:.5 > abs(r) >.3 Low:.3 > abs(r)

6. All p values fell below 0.05, so correlations are statistically significant Bootstrap Correlation Coefficients High Correlations: abs(r) >.5 Medium:.5 > abs(r) >.3 Low:.3 > abs(r) U vs ThFe vs MnCe vs LaU vs ScTi vsHf North Georgia0.860.520.980.090.34 Piedmont0.900.570.970.030.31 Coastal Plain0.950.500.890.210.61 Shore0.960.330.950.210.73 None of the data was: Normally Distributed (Chi- square test) Or Statistically Equivalent (F test)

7. Bootstrap Regression Calculated using bootstrp with the polyfit option Example regressions for Piedmont region of Georgia

8. Conclusion Correlations vary over geologic region – Possibly related to geology Uranium and thorium, cereium and lanthanum had high correlations for all regions