Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

About USGS / Science Topics / Maps, Products & Publications / Education / Publication: FAQ

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.]

LASL: Carlsbad Quadrangle
Sediment and water samples were collected within the Carlsbad 2° quadrangle as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Within the quadrangle, sampling of the area east of 105°W longitude was conducted between October and December of 1976 and sampling in the area west of 105°W longitude was conducted in June and July of 1977 and in April of 1978. LASL analyzed all of the 1976 and 1977 field season samples (but not the 1978 season samples) for uranium. LASL did not release the geochemical data in a separate NURE HSSR report.

ORGDP: Carlsbad Quadrangle
LASL sent 1,680 sediment and 467 water samples from the Carlsbad quadrangle to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for multielement analyses. These data plus the accompanying LASL uranium data were released by ORGDP as the Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-415(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of the NURE sample types reported for the Carlsbad quadrangle study.

*Summary of Carlsbad quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	28	Streams	29
Dry Streams	1,370	Wells	352
Wet Springs	48	Springs	70
Dry Springs	7	Natural Ponds	9
Wet Natural Ponds	11	Artificial Ponds	7
Dry Natural Ponds	110
Wet Artificial Ponds	8
Dry Artificial Ponds	98
Total Sediments	1,680	Total Waters	467

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

Sediment Samples

LA1: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of sediments for U.
OR1: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of sediments for U. (Two samples only.)
OR2: Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for U. (One sample only.)
OR7: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Sc, Sr, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.

Water Samples

LA6-FL: Los Alamos Fluorometry Analysis of waters for U.
OR9-FL: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for U. (One sample only.)
OR13: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of waters for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Sc, Si, Sr, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr. (Note: Nb and Th may be included in this method.)

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Carlsbad Quadrangle

The Carlsbad quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the ORGDP Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-415(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Carlsbad quadrangle data:

Sediment Records

During the NURE sample collection phase, LASL sites and samples were initially assigned a 6-digit integer Identification Number (LASLID) starting with 000001. After 1977, most LASL sites were reassigned a new 1-letter+5-digit Identification Number starting with A00001. All LASL samples and the early LASL reports use the 6-digit integer LASLID. Most of the later reports only use the 1-letter+5-digit LASLID. Although both sets of numbers were usually assigned sequentially, they do not correspond one to one with each other: 100001 does not equal C00001, etc. Whenever possible, the 1-letter+5-digit LASL Identification Number was saved in the LASLID field. When the corresponding 6-digit site number could be determined from sample number translation key lists or other sources, this Identification Number was saved in the SITE field.
No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Carlsbad quadrangle sediment samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-415(81) report.
Unlikely sample collection dates were found for five 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.
One sediment sample record contained values for the Well Pump Type(WELLPUMP) and Well Use(WELLUSE). These parameters were not normally recorded for sediment sample records. The values were removed from this record and added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
Six separate sediment samples in this quadrangle have the same three latitude-longitude coordinates. It is appears that these may be multiple samples collected at the same site at different times.

Water Records

No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Carlsbad quadrangle water samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-415(81) report.

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 websites, 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).

Carlsbad Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,680 records
Carlsbad Quadrangle Water Data - 467 records

Notes for Data Users

For most LASL NURE HSSR quadrangle studies, all of the water samples were initially analyzed for uranium by fluorometry. Water samples with greater than some upper limit (commonly 10 ppb uranium) were then reanalyzed by delayed-neutron counting. When ORGDP reported the LASL analytical data for uranium in water samples, the information which distinguished LASL fluorometric from LASL delayed neutron uranium methods was not preserved. All of the LASL uranium values in the USGS-Reformatted NURE water file for Carlsbad are therefore identified as fluorometric uranium even though there is a strong possibility that many of the higher values were determined by delayed-neutron counting.

ORGDP only analyzed one water and two sediment samples for uranium. Therefore almost all of the 1978 season samples do not have any uranium data.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Carlsbad Quadrangle

LASL: Carlsbad Quadrangle
Often LASL sent most but not all of the original samples to ORGDP for multielement analyses. (See the adjacent Tularosa quadrangle for an example.) Since LASL did not release a separate NURE HSSR report after the initial collection and uranium analysis of Carlsbad quadrangle samples we were unable to determine if the number of samples sent to ORGDP represented the entire collection or a subset. Therefore we could not eliminate the possibility of additional Carlsbad samples which may have been analyzed for uranium at LASL but not for multiple elements at ORGDP.

Carlsbad Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Carlsbad quadrangle, New Mexico: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-387, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-415(81), 193 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to New Mexico NURE data
Back to Texas 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

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/492/quad/q_carlsb.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:25 EST 2016

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)