168 groundwater samples collected from 128 domestic wells across seven Montana counties from 2007 through 2010. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with local agencies, analyzed samples for radioactive constituents including uranium, radon, radium isotopes, and gross alpha/beta activity. Data includes comparisons to national water-quality data and EPA drinking-water standards.
Use Cases
- Predict uranium concentration from well location and geologic unit using regression models.
- Classify wells exceeding EPA radon screening levels based on geologic setting and other water chemistry features.
- Analyze temporal variability in radium-226 and radium-228 concentrations from the 38 re-sampled wells.
- Map spatial distribution of gross alpha-particle activity across the seven-county study area.
Strengths
- 168 samples provide a substantial regional snapshot of groundwater radiochemistry.
- Analysis includes multiple isotopes (uranium-234, -235, -238; radium-224, -226, -228) for detailed contaminant profiling.
- Data includes comparison to U.S. EPA drinking-water standards and screening levels for context.
Limitations
- Sample size of 128 wells may be insufficient for highly granular, county-level statistical analysis.
- Focus on seven counties in southwestern Montana limits geographic generalizability.
- Data collection ended in 2010, potentially missing recent trends or changes.
Provenance
- Source
- U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Jefferson County and the Jefferson Valley Conservation District.
- Collection Method
- Water-quality samples collected from domestic wells and analyzed for radioactive constituents; existing USGS and Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology data were also compiled.
- Time Range
- 2007 through 2010, with compiled historical data through 2011.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Wells within Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Madison, Powell, and Silver Bow Counties in southwestern Montana.