This study was initiated to determine the background concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc in the streams of the Viburnum Trend or New Lead Belt of southeast Missouri. Analytical methods were developed for atomic adsorption spectroscopy. These methods initially consisted of coextraction of cooper, lead, and zinc using the APDC/MIBK system, and finally of extraction of copper by APDC/MIBK and direct analysis of lead and zinc using the newly developed Sampling Boat technique. The data obtained from these analyses were arranged in histograms and critically analyzed. The background concentrations were established to be 4-6 ppb for all three elements. Methods are presented for identifying both short term and long term contamination by using the data distributions. Short term contamination of a factor of 2-3 was determined to occur on the Bee Fork below the St. Joseph Lead Company\u27s Fletcher Mine. The data distributions were not useful for geochemical prospecting under the studied geological conditions. It is recommended that future studies be initiated in order to establish the degree of long term contamination introduced by the industrialization of this beautiful area --Abstract, page ii
