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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Data Series 297

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Summary

Between 1951 and 1992, 828 underground tests were conducted on the Nevada Test Site. Prior to and following these nuclear tests, holes (boreholes, shafts, tunnels, and drifts) were drilled and mined for the collection of rock samples. The U.S. Geological Survey has worked in cooperation with U.S. Department of Energy (and its predecessors) and the National Laboratories since 1956 and the USGS Core Library and Data Center was established at Mercury, Nevada, on the Nevada Test Site, through a modification to an existing memorandum of understanding dated April 3, 1959. Rock samples collected from these holes are stored in the Core Library and paper copies of records and reports derived from analyses and interpretation of rock samples are stored in the historical files at both the Mercury facility and the USGS office in Henderson, Nevada. The understanding of stratigraphy that underlies the NTS and vicinity continues to evolve, through interpretation of rock samples from new holes that are drilled and mined, resulting in a multitude of formal and informal units in common use. Rock samples are irreplaceable because pre-test, in-place conditions cannot be recreated and samples cannot be recollected from the many holes destroyed by testing. The condition of the original paper records is rapidly deteriorating, which makes re-compilation unlikely. Documenting these data in a published report will ensure availability for future investigators.

Rock samples have been catalogued by depth interval for samples stored at the U.S. Geological Survey Core Library. Rock-sample data are compiled from paper records contained in file cabinets and from published reports located at the Mercury facility and at the U.S. Geological Survey Henderson office. Rock samples and thin sections are available for both underground and surface sites located at the Nevada Test Site and vicinity. Lithologic descriptions, physical and mechanical properties, fracture characteristics, and hydraulic-property data from aquifer testing are available for sites located in Frenchman and Yucca Flats and on Buckboard, Pahute, and Rainier Mesas. Lithologic descriptions also are available for holes located in Jackass Flat. These data have been compiled into five digital spreadsheets.

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