OFR 97-492: Milbank Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

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National Geochemical Database—Reformatted Data from the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) Program

By Steven M. Smith
Version 1.40 (2006)

Brief History and Description of Data

[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]

ORGDP: Milbank Quadrangle
A total of 319 stream-sediment and 662 ground-water samples was collected, under contract with the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP), from the Milbank quadrangle. Stream sediments were collected from the Minnesota and North Dakota portions of the quadrangle by BCI Geonetics in August of 1979. Stream sediments were collected from South Dakota by the South Dakota Geological Survey during July - August 1979. Ground waters were collected by: Minnesota Geological Survey (Minnesota; July 1978), BCI Geonetics (North Dakota; August 1979), and the South Dakota Geological Survey (South Dakota; July 1978). These samples were analyzed by ORGDP for uranium and other elements and the analytical data were released as the Milbank Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-271(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of sample types collected for the Milbank quadrangle study.

Summary of Milbank quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 166 Wells 662
Dry Streams 153    
Total Sediments 319 Total Waters 662

These Milbank quadrangle samples were analyzed by one or more of the following methods:

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Milbank Quadrangle

The Milbank quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Milbank Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-271(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. An unlikely sample collection date was found for one sample. This date was removed from the SAMPDAT field and the original SAMPDAT value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  2. One stream-sediment sample was collected at a longitude of exactly 98°W, the dividing line between the Milbank quadrangle and the Aberdeen quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Milbank Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-271(81) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Milbank quadrangle.

Water Records

  1. One well-water sample was collected at a longitude of exactly 96°W, the dividing line between the Milbank quadrangle and the St. Cloud quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Milbank Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-271(81) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Milbank quadrangle.

Download The Data

The NURE HSSR data are now available online in two databases: The sediment database (also includes data for soils and some rocks) at http://tin.er.usgs.gov/nure/sediment/ and the water database at http://tin.er.usgs.gov/nure/water/. From these two web sites, NURE HSSR data can be selected, examined, summarized, and downloaded by political boundaries (State and County), by quadrangle (1:250,000-scale, 1:100,000-scale, and 1:63,360-scale for Alaska or 1:24,000-scale for the Lower 48 States), and by hydrologic unit (drainage region, subregion, river basin, or sub-basin). Selected data can be downloaded as a dBase file, a shapefile, an HTML table, or ASCII text (tab- or comma-delimited).

Milbank Quadrangle Sediment Data - 319 records
Milbank Quadrangle Water Data - 662 records


Notes for Data Users

The water samples were reportedly collected in the field without any filtering or acidification. (See the SAMPTYP coding explanation in the On-Line Manual for USGS-Reformatted NURE HSSR Data Files for descriptions of different Sample Types). However, the samples were filtered later in the laboratory through a 0.45 micron membrane filter before analysis. Therefore, the samples were not true "untreated water" samples and the analytical data may not be directly comparable for other quadrangle water samples of the same SAMPTYP when collected by a different laboratory. Since this was the standard procedure for Oak Ridge, water data from other Oak Ridge quadrangles should be comparable.

Latitude-longitude coordinates were reported in the original data files, as decimal degrees, to only 3 decimal places. Therefore, the precision of these coordinates is limited to +/- 0.001 degrees or +/- 3.6 seconds. This translates to a minimum precision of +/- 365 feet (111 m) for latitude values and between +/- 259 feet (79 m) to +/- 235 feet (72 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 45° and 50°N, respectively.) Latitude-longitude values are reported to the nearest second on field records on microfiche accompanying the GJBX-271(81) report.


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Milbank Quadrangle

None found.


Milbank Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to South Dakota NURE data
Back to Minnesota NURE data
Back to North Dakota NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR Data
Home Page: USGS National Geochemical Database - NURE HSSR data


Page written by Steven M. Smith (smsmith@usgs.gov)
Version 1.10: July 29, 1999
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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