These maps show the regional distribution of copper, zinc, arsenic, molybdenum, uranium, fluoride, sulfate, and pH in surface and ground water from the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle. This study supplements (Miller and others, 1984a-j) the regional drainage geochemical study done for the Richfield quadrangle under the U.S. Geological Survey’s Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program (CUSMAP). Regional sampling was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends which can be used, along with geologic and geophysical data, to assess the mineral resource potential of the Richfield quadrangle. Analytical data used in compiling this report were published previously (McHugh and others, 1981).

The Richfield quadrangle in west-central Utah covers the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt that extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 250 km into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is in the Basin and Range Province, and the eastern third in the High Plateaus of Utah subprovince of the Colorado Plateau.

Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of latest Precambrian and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrane into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were deeply eroded and the resulting debris deposited in the adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed during igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time.