Organic Geochemistry Data of Alaska

About the Database...

The U. S. Geological Survey Energy Resources Team’s Organic Geochemistry Laboratory is a research laboratory devoted to the investigation of the origin and occurrence of organic fossil fuels. Although it is not a service laboratory, many of the analytical results from the laboratory could prove useful in future petroleum geological and geochemical studies. In order to archive these results, the USGS developed an Alaskan Organic Geochemical Data Base (AOGDB) in 1978 to house the data from not only the USGS’ involvement in the project, but also the data accumulated from a variety of sub-contracting laboratories. The accumulated data resided in a flat text file entitled “PGS” and was maintained by Petroleum Information Corporation. The information provided here is a distillation of ASCII tables that originated in the master flat files of the relational AOGDB files.

Tabular Data

The Organic Geochemistry Data of Alaska database contains 25 relational tables. Records in each table have a unique key (WMO number) which is used to link, join, or relate multiple tables together. The header_pgs table is one of the more important tables because it contains location information (latitude, longitude), WMO numbers, and unique American Petroleum Institute (API) well identification numbers. This table is the primary table for simple data queries and was subsequently joined to other analytical results.

Click here for documentation on the database and table relationships. Additional information can be obtained in Geology and Exploration of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 1974-1982, USGS Professional Paper 1399, pgs 478-481 and 545-549. Questions regarding this data should be directed to Mr. Charles Threlkeld, AOGDB Database Administrator, Central Region Energy Team.

Spatial Data

The location information in header_pgs ASCII table has been converted into a Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial data layer called hd_p. This spatial data layer provides a complete view of the database geochemistry sample locations and can be displayed utilizing GIS software such as ARC/INFO or ArcView. In addition, 10 other spatial data layers were created by joining the sample location attributes of the header_pgs table to specific geochemistry analysis results. Please refer to the file akdata.doc for more details on database table descriptions. The following is a list of the tables converted to GIS data layers:

Primary Table	Joined Table	GIS Layer Description
HEADER_PGS		hd_p - sample locations
HEADER_PGS	ISOT_38_40_PGS	hdisot - delta 13C Isotopes
HEADER_PGS	ELEM_36_PGS	hdelem36 - carbon nitrogen ash
HEADER_PGS	ELEM_37_PGS	hdelem37 - oxygen sulfur ash
HEADER_PGS	FRAC_2930_PGS	hdfrac - column chromatography
HEADER_PGS	GC_3162_PGS	hdgc - gas chromatography
HEADER_PGS	RKEV_41_PGS	hdrkev - rockeval
HEADER_PGS	SAT_ARO_13C_39_PGS	hdsataro - delta 13C sat. aromatics
HEADER_PGS	TC_TOC_2728_PGS	hdtctoc - total carbon
HEADER_PGS	VITREF_33_PGS	hdvitref - vitrinite reflectance
HEADER_PGS	WHLOIL_13C_65_PGS	hdwhloil - delta 13C oil

In addition to the eleven GIS layers listed above, three basemap layers obtained from the Internet are included to provide reference.

Urban Area of Alaska 1:2,000,000 scale (Wright, 1998) - akurbang
Roads of Alaska 1:2,000,000 scale (Kambly, 1999b) - akrds2mg
State Outline of Alaska 1:2,000,000 scale (Kambly, 1999a) - akst2mg

Download Data...

The AOGDB database documentation is provided in multiple formats (Word, RTF, ANS, and HTML) and can be downloaded to your desktop. The entire database, akdata.mdb (24MB), can be downloaded in Microsoft Access 97 format. For metadata and other information on the database, click here.

Individual geochemistry tables are also available in standard ASCII text format. One can view the Summary information links to get an overview of the data table contents before downloading. Arc (ESRI) export files and ArcView shapefiles are provided to potential GIS users.

To select the data format you are interested in downloading, use the pulldown menu and press 'Go':

Contact Information

Charles Threlkeld

Ray Obuch

Dave Ferderer

Disclaimer:

This data was extracted from a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) publication that was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data and software published on this CD-ROM have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and related materials and (or) the functioning of the software. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of this data, software, or related materials.

[home] [about] [help] [download] [contact] [disclaimer]