OFR 97-492: Wichita Falls 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: Wichita Falls Quadrangle
Totals of 744 stream-sediment, 1 rock, and 494 ground-water samples were collected from the Wichita Falls quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Field sampling was started by personnel of Environmental Systems Corporation under contract to ORGDP but completed by ORGDP personnel. Sediment and water samples were collected between August and November of 1978. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report.

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

Summary of Wichita Falls quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 216 Wells 493
Dry Streams 528 Springs 1
Rocks 1    
Total Sediments 745 Total Waters 494

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Wichita Falls Quadrangle

The Wichita Falls quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Wichita Falls quadrangle data:

Sediment Records

  1. Five sediment records were found in the digital data file but were missing in the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. A comment noting this problem was added to the REFORMAT field for each record.
  2. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for two samples. These dates were removed from the SAMPDAT field. For each record, the original SAMPDAT value and the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  3. Two separate stream-sediment samples in this quadrangle have the same latitude-longitude coordinates. It is unclear whether this represents a pair of samples collected at the same site or samples collected at separate sites so close together that the coordinate precision was insufficient to distinguish.
  4. One stream-sediment sample originally had a latitude of exactly 33°N, the dividing line between the Wichita Falls quadrangle and the Abilene quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Wichita Falls quadrangle.
  5. Three stream-sediment samples originally had a longitude of exactly 98°W, the dividing line between the Wichita Falls quadrangle and the Sherman quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. This slight change places these samples clearly in the Wichita Falls quadrangle.
  6. The latitude and longitude coordinates for 4 stream-sediment samples collected within the Wichita Falls quadrangle were not found in the data during the reformatting process. The records for these 4 samples cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

Water Records

  1. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for two samples. These dates were removed from the SAMPDAT field. For each record, the original SAMPDAT value and the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  2. One sample record contained an invalid value for the well depth (WELLDPTH) of -30. Although the most likely source of this error is an unwanted negative sign, this could not be confirmed in published sources. This value was removed from the WELLDPTH field and added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  3. One record in the digital data files for this quadrangle had at least one analytical result value of 99999. These values were confirmed in the published quadrangle report. It is not clear if this value represents a valid value, a null value, or a value indicating that the analytical result was greater than the upper limit of determination. This value was left in the data record and noted in the REFORMAT comment field.
  4. One well-water sample originally had a latitude of exactly 33°N, the dividing line between the Wichita Falls quadrangle and the Abilene quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Wichita Falls quadrangle.
  5. The coordinates for one water sample found in the Wichita Falls digital data files place it within the Laredo quadrangle in southern Texas. This location was confirmed after consulting the field notes on microfiche, COMMENTS field in the digital data file, and available maps for this area.

Rock Records

  1. When rock samples were collected, the site descriptive data commonly utilized the same field formats found for stream-sediment samples. When analyzed, the analytical methods were also the same methods used for stream-sediment or soil samples. Because of these similarities, rock sample data were reformatted with and are now reported in the sediment database.
  2. A record for 1 rock sample was found in the digital data file but not listed in the Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-93(79) report. The sample was not analyzed by ORGDP and the data record consists only of site information and comments.

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).

Wichita Falls Quadrangle Sediment Data - 741 records
Wichita Falls Quadrangle Water Data - 494 records


Notes for Data Users

The ORGDP 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 +/- 364 feet (111 m) for latitude values and between +/- 317 feet (97 m) to +/- 300 feet (91 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 30° and 35°N, respectively.)

One rock sample collected in the Wichita Falls quadrangle was not analyzed by any method.


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Wichita Falls Quadrangle

Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Wichita Falls quadrangle by the Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas, under subcontract to Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [PGJ/F-094(82)]. The abstract of this report noted that favorable environments were identified in fluviodeltaic to fan-delta sandstones in the upper Strawn, Canyon, and Cisco Groups. Additional favorable environments include deltaic to alluvial sandstones in the Wichita-Albany Group. As part of this study, 6 stream sediments, 900 rocks, and 467 soils were sampled within the Wichita Falls quadrangle. All samples were analyzed for uranium and for 28 other elements. These data are found only as tables on the microfiche accompanying the report.


Wichita Falls Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Texas NURE data
Back to Oklahoma NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR Data
Home Page: USGS National Geochemical Database - NURE HSSR data


Page written by Bryan G. Moravec and Steven M. Smith
Contact: Steven M. Smith (smsmith@usgs.gov)
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/quad/q_wichfl.htm
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