Columbia Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Columbia 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.]

Tennessee
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 3,309 stream-sediment, 1,584 surface-water, and 3,574 ground-water samples within 58 counties from the eastern half and the northwestern corner of Tennessee as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The samples were collected during June - December, 1976 and March - November, 1978 and included portions of the Blytheville, Chattanooga, Columbia, Corbin, Dyersburg, Gadsden, Johnson City, Knoxville, Nashville, Rome, and Winston-Salem 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (A total of 128 stream-sediment, 103 surface-water, and 153 ground-water samples were collected within the Columbia quadrangle.) These samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and additional elements (16 in sediments and 9 in waters). SRL was able to analyze 2,450 sediments and 5,149 waters from Tennessee; this includes 50 of the sediment and all 256 water samples from the Columbia quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all Tennessee samples were released in the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Data Report [GJBX-105(82)].

SRL sent 248 sediment samples from Tennessee to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 247 of these samples in the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Data Report [GJBX-105(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report does not include Supplemental Analyses for any Tennessee sediment samples within the Columbia quadrangle.

Alabama
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 4,499 stream-sediment, 1,486 surface-water, and 6,204 ground-water samples within 53 counties from the northern two-thirds of Alabama as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sediment samples were collected during June - December, 1976 and March 1978 - January 1979, and water samples were collected during January - September, 1977 and December 1977 - March 1979. Sample coverage included portions of the Andalusia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Blytheville, Dothan, Gadsden, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Montgomery, Phenix City, Rome, Tupelo, and West Point 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (No samples were collected within the small Alabama portion of the Columbia quadrangle.) These samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and additional elements (16 in sediments and 9 in waters). SRL was able to analyze 4,489 sediments and 7,677 waters from Alabama. The analytical and site location data for all Alabama samples were released in the Alabama and Georgia Data Report [GJBX-403(81)].

SRL: Columbia Quadrangle
SRL did not release a separate report for the Columbia quadrangle.

ORGDP: Chattanooga, Columbia, Gadsden, and Rome Quadrangles
SRL sent several Tennessee sediment samples to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 251 samples in the Chattanooga, Columbia, Gadsden, and Rome Quadrangles GJBX-74(82) Data Report. This report includes data for 25 sediment samples from the Columbia quadrangle. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-51(82) report.

Gold Analyses
Data for gold analyses of sediments by SRL neutron activation were released in the GJBX-135(82) summary report. The introduction of that report states:

"This report contains previously unreported neutron-activation analyses of gold in sediment samples determined at SRL. These data were not included in the standard SRL NURE data reports because the gold spectrum was not measured in the original analytical procedure and the report format was designed without the gold analyses being included. Gold analyses became available as the analytical procedure was refined, but the report format was not modified to incorporate these data."

Only those sediment samples that had detectable concentrations of gold by neutron activation analysis were given in the GJBX-135(82) report. Sediment samples with concentrations below detection limits were not reported and can only be ascertained by identifying which samples were actually analyzed by neutron activation at SRL.

Summary Tables
Because of the various laboratories and analytical methods used, some SRL samples may have been analyzed once, twice, or not at all. The following table summarizes the analysis of Columbia quadrangle samples.

*Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Columbia quadrangle.*
Laboratory Analysis	Sediments	Waters
Only SRL	50	256
Only ORGDP	25	0
Both SRL and ORGDP	0	0
None	53	0
Total Samples	128	256
Total Data Records	128	256

The following is a list of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Columbia quadrangle.

*Summary of Columbia quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	128	Streams	103
		Wells	116
		Springs	37
Total Sediments	128	Total Waters	256

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

Sediment Samples

SR1: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis - Neutron Counting of sediments for U.
SR2: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for Al, Ce, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Mn, Na, Sc, Sm, Th, Ti, V, and Yb. (Note: Au values were reported later for this method.)
OR2: Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for U.
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

SR4: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis - Neutron Counting of waters for U.
SR5: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of waters for Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mn, Na, and V. (Note: Mg may also be reported by this method.)

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Columbia Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Columbia quadrangle sediment data consist of records from the Tennessee portion of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio [GJBX-105(82)] Data Report combined with records from the ORGDP Chattanooga, Columbia, Gadsden, and Rome Quadrangles GJBX-74(82) Data Report. Site descriptive information and coordinates were compared for all corresponding records. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Columbia Quadrangle sediment data:

During reformatting, contamination codes for "residential" and "recreation" were found to be missing from each State's CONTAMC field. The presence of one of these two codes was indicated only by a "." (period). The missing codes were assigned a value of "unknown" in the CONTAMC field within the final water data file.
The original ORGDP file for the Chattanooga, Columbia, Gadsden, and Rome quadrangles did not include all of the information about the character of the sample location. This missing information includes observations taken at each site on the stream width, depth, and flow, water color, surrounding vegetation, local relief, weather, and possible contaminants. In addition, the longitude coordinate reported in the ORGDP file only had 3 decimal places instead of the 4 decimal places found in the corresponding records from SRL State files. When combining corresponding SRL and ORGDP records, all of the site descriptive data and the longitude values to 4 decimal places from the SRL data files were preserved in the final database.
Gold concentrations from the GJBX-135(82) report were added to the appropriate sediment records. A value of -0.01 (<0.01 ppm Au) was added to all other sediment samples determined to have been analyzed by SRL neutron activation. This value was chosen because 0.01 is the lowest reported gold concentration in the entire report.

Water Records
The Columbia quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Tennessee portion of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio [GJBX-105(82)] Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Columbia quadrangle water data:

The original NURE format for surface-water files did not include much information about the character of the sample location. This missing information includes observations taken at each site on the stream width, depth, and flow, water color, surrounding vegetation, local relief, weather, and possible contaminants. This information is given in records for stream-sediment samples that were collected at the same locations. The available site descriptive information for stream-water sites were compared with the corresponding stream-sediment site records. The missing site descriptive data were then added to stream-water records from the corresponding stream-sediment sample records. Sources of data and any problems found are described in the REFORMAT comment field.
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.
The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 ground-water sample collected within Cannon County, Tennessee were not found in the data during the reformatting process. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

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).

Columbia Quadrangle Sediment Data - 128 records
Columbia Quadrangle Water Data - 255 records

Notes for Data Users

In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county. Often, not all counties within a quadrangle were completely sampled. Sample coverage in the Columbia quadrangle is limited to Benton, Coffee, Cannon, De Kalb, and Franklin Counties in Tennessee. These counties are found on the eastern border of the Columbia quadrangle. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county such that adjacent counties often have very different analytical coverages.

Fifty-three sediment samples within the Columbia quadrangle were not analyzed by any of the various laboratories. The following table summarizes the locations of those unanalyzed samples.

*General locations of unanalyzed samples.*
State	County	Sample Media	Unanalyzed Samples	Total Samples
Tennessee	Cannon	Sediment	33	33
Tennessee	Franklin	Sediment	20	45

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Columbia Quadrangle

None found.

Columbia Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Fay, W.M., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Gold analyses by neutron activation from SRL NURE samples: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-141-38, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-135(82), 45 p.
Fay, W.M., Sargent, K.A., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Data report: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-146-25, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-105(82), 41 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Chattanooga, Columbia, Gadsden, and Rome quadrangles, Alabama; Tennessee; Georgia; North Carolina: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-429, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-74(82), 26 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Supplement to hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data reports K/UR-405 and K/UR-408 through K/UR-443 [GJBX-52(82) through GJBX-88(82)]: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-412, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-51(82), 25 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Tennessee NURE data
Back to Alabama NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE 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 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/492/quad/q_colmba.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)