USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

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

Ohio
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 1,214 stream-sediment, 1,205 surface-water, and 2,049 ground-water samples within 20 counties from east central Ohio as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Field sampling was conducted during July - August, 1978. Sample coverage included portions of the Canton, Charleston, Clarksburg, Cleveland, Columbus, and Marion 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (A total of 90 stream-sediment, 87 surface-water, and 137 ground-water samples were collected within the Columbus 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 330 sediments and 3,252 waters from Ohio; this includes 60 sediment and 224 water samples from the Columbus quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all Ohio samples were released in the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Data Report [GJBX-105(82)].

West Virginia
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 2,965 stream-sediment, 2,910 surface-water, and 4,060 ground-water samples within 55 counties from West Virginia as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sediment samples were collected during May - November 1978 and August - September 1979; water samples were collected during April - August 1977; May - September 1978; and July 1980. Sample coverage included portions of the Baltimore, Bluefield, Canton, Charleston, Charlottesville, Clarksburg, Columbus, Cumberland, Huntington, and Jenkins 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (Only one ground-water sample was collected within the Columbus 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 2,919 sediments and 6,965 waters from West Virginia; this includes the one water sample from the Columbus quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all West Virginia samples were released in the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia Data Report [GJBX-103(82)].

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

ORGDP: Clarksburg and Columbus Quadrangles
SRL sent several Ohio sediment samples to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 216 samples in the Clarksburg and Columbus Quadrangles GJBX-79(82) Data Report. This report includes results for 22 Columbus quadrangle sediment samples. 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 Columbus quadrangle samples.

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

These Columbus 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: Supplemental Analyses by Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for U.
• OR7: Supplemental Analyses by 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 Columbus Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Columbus quadrangle sediment data consist of reformatted records from the Ohio portion of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Data Report [GJBX-105(82)]. These records were compared and combined with records from the ORGDP Clarksburg and Columbus Quadrangles GJBX-79(82) Data Report. Site descriptive information and coordinates were compared for all corresponding records. The following problems were found and addressed during the reformatting process of the Columbus quadrangle sediment data:

1. The SRL and the ORGDP Laboratory each analyzed the same 3 stream-sediment samples from Ohio. Because of overlapping data fields, it was necessary to create two data records for each sample to preserve all the data.
2. 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 sediment data file.
3. The original ORGDP files for the Clarksburg and Columbus 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. The missing site descriptive data and the complete longitude value were added to ORGDP records from the corresponding SRL State file records. Sources of data and any problems found are described in the REFORMAT comment field.
4. 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 Columbus quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Ohio portion of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Data Report [GJBX-105(82)] along with one reformatted record from the West Virginia portion of the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia Data Report [GJBX-103(82)]. The following problems were found and addressed during the reformatting process of the Columbus quadrangle water data:

1. 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.
2. 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 sediment data file.

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).

Columbus Quadrangle Sediment Data - 93 records
Columbus Quadrangle Water Data - 225 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 Columbus quadrangle limited to 5 counties along the eastern border of the quadrangle and includes samples from Athens, Meigs, Morgan, and Muskingum Counties in Ohio; and Mason County in West Virginia. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county such that adjacent counties often have very different analytical coverage.

Eleven stream-sediment samples within the Columbus quadrangle were not analyzed by any of the various laboratories. The following table summarizes the locations of those unanalyzed samples.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Columbus Quadrangle

None found.

Columbus 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: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-146-23, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-103(82), 43 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 the Columbus and Clarksburg quadrangles, Ohio; West Virginia; Pennsylvania: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-434, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-79(82), 21 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 Ohio NURE data
Back to West Virginia 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 1.41: February 23, 2006

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