OFR 97-492: Clifton 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)
Under Construction This page is currently being rewritten to the Version 1.41 format.

Brief History and Description of Data

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

In 1976, three private subcontractors, under contract with the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), collected water and stream sediments samples from the New Mexico portions of the Douglas, Silver City, Clifton, and St. Johns quadrangles. All of the samples were sent to LASL for uranium analyses and the data for all 4 quadrangles were released in the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) GJBX-69(78) report. Of those reported, 913 sediment and 469 water samples were collected within the Clifton quadrangle.

In 1977, the entire NURE HSSR program changed from a study area basis (State, County, or geomorphic provinces) to a 1° x 2° quadrangle basis. As a result of this decision, the responsibility for the Arizona portion of the Clifton quadrangle was reassigned to the LASL. According to the last LASL NURE progress report [GJBX-5(80)], this area was scheduled to be sampled during 1980. Apparently though, no samples for this Arizona area were subsequently collected or analyzed by LASL before the NURE program ended.

Out of the samples collected in 1976, LASL sent 900 sediment and 451 water samples from the New Mexico portion of the Clifton quadrangle to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for multielement analyses. These data were released by ORGDP as the Clifton Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-359(81) report.

The following is a list of NURE sample types collected for all studies within the Clifton quadrangle study.

Summary of Clifton quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 216 Streams 248
Dry Streams 606 Wells 131
Wet Springs 52 Springs 54
Wet Natural Ponds 9 Natural Ponds 8
Wet Artificial Ponds 22 Artificial Ponds 28
Dry Artificial Ponds 8
Total Sediments 913 Total Waters 469

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples



Composition of the NEW-FORMAT NURE Data Files

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of records from the early New Mexico GJBX-69(78) report combined with records from the ORGDP multielement GJBX-359(81) report. Each sample is represented by a single composite record. Any problems found during the reformatting process are noted in the REFORMAT comment field.



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).

Clifton Quadrangle Sediment Data - 913 records
Clifton Quadrangle Water Data - 469 records



Notes for Data Users

None at this time.



Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Clifton Quadrangle

A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Clifton quadrangle by the Bendix Field Engineering Corp. of Grand Junction, Colorado [PGJ/F-116(82)]. The report states that additional rock samples were collected and analyzed for U by fluorometric analysis, trace elements by emission spectroscopy, eU and eTh by gamma ray spectroscopy, and major element oxides by atomic absorption. These analytical data are normally released as microfiche appendices accompanying the summary report; however no geochemical data appendices were included in this report. Selected data from some of the rock analyses are listed in various tables within the report.

A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Tularosa quadrangle by Berge Exploration, Inc. of Denver, Colorado [GJQ-014(82)]. As part of the evaluation process, an additional 87 water samples from streams, springs, and wells and 333 rock samples were collected. (Note: Eleven of these samples were collected just outside of the Tularosa quadrangle: 1 well water and 3 rock samples were collected in the Las Cruces quadrangle; 2 spring water and 4 rock samples were collected in the Socorro quadrangle; and 1 rock sample was collected in the Clifton quadrangle.) Most samples were analyzed for eU and eTh by gamma ray spectroscopy and for uranium by fluorometric analysis. Some of the rock samples were also analyzed for additional elements. All of these analytical data were released only as microfiche appendices accompanying the summary report.



Clifton Quadrangle NURE Bibliography



Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Arizona NURE data
Back to New Mexico 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 1.40: January 13, 2006

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