OFR 97-492: Corpus Christi 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.]

ORGDP: Texas Wide-Spaced Uranium Geochemical Survey
Early in the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program, personnel from the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) sampled several areas with a wide-spaced sample coverage (Phase I sampling). Phase I samples were generally collected in stream basins averaging 250 square kilometers in area and from wells at about a 16 km spacing. The purpose of the Phase I sampling was to define uranium provinces that warranted additional sampling at a higher density (Phase II sampling). These samples were sent to the ORGDP and analyzed for uranium and other elements. For many 1:250,000-scale 2-degree quadrangles, Phase I samples were included with later Phase II samples and utilized in the individual HSSR basic data quadrangle reports. Some Phase I samples were never utilized in basic data quadrangle reporting. ORGDP issued the Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report for several of these Phase I samples. This report includes data for 261 stream sediment and 406 water samples collected during 1976-77 in the Abilene, Austin, Brownwood, Corpus Christi, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Houston, Llano, San Angelo, Sonora, and Waco quadrangles. The Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report only contains data tables for Phase I samples; no explanatory text accompanies this report. The Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report includes data records for 1 stream-sediment sample and 1 water sample collected within the borders of the Corpus Christi quadrangle.

ORGDP: Corpus Christi Quadrangle
Totals of 57 stream-sediment and 119 well-water samples were collected from the Corpus Christi quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Corpus Christi Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Field sampling was conducted by ORGDP personnel between November and December of 1979. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Corpus Christi Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-134(80) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of NURE sample types collected in the Corpus Christi quadrangle.

Summary of Corpus Christi quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Dry Streams 34 Wells 120
Wet Streams 24    
Total Sediments 58 Total Waters 120

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples



Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Corpus Christi Quadrangle

The Corpus Christi quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report and reformatted records from the Corpus Christi Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-134(80) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Corpus Christi quadrangle data:

Sediment Records

  1. Four stream-sediment records were found in the Crystal City and Beeville Quadrangles Uranium Geochemical Survey GJBX-19(77) report that were actually collected for the Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report within the Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Eagle Pass quadrangles. These records were not listed in the Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report or included in the accompanying digital data file. These records were manually entered from the Crystal City and Beeville Quadrangles Uranium Geochemical Survey GJBX-19(77) report. One of these sediment records is for a Corpus Christi quadrangle sample.

Water Records

  1. The single well-water sample from the Corpus Christi quadrangle that was found in the Wide-Spaced Sample Basic Data Release for Texas GJBX-131(81) report was also found listed in the Crystal City and Beeville Quadrangles Uranium Geochemical Survey GJBX-19(77) report. This pair of records were compared and combined into a single record.


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).

Corpus Christi Quadrangle Sediment Data - 58 records
Corpus Christi Quadrangle Water Data - 120 records



Notes for Data Users

The ORGDP water samples were reportedly collected in the field without any filtering or acidification. (See the SAMPTYP coding explanation in the On-Line Manual for USGS-Reformatted NURE HSSR Data Files for descriptions of different Sample Types). However, the samples were filtered later in the laboratory through a 0.45 micron membrane filter before analysis. Therefore, the samples were not true "untreated water" samples and the analytical data may not be directly comparable for other quadrangle water samples of the same SAMPTYP when collected by a different laboratory. Since this was the standard procedure for Oak Ridge, water data from other Oak Ridge quadrangles should be comparable.

Latitude-longitude coordinates were reported in the original data files, as decimal degrees, to only 3 decimal places. Therefore, the precision of these coordinates is limited to +/- 0.001 degrees or +/- 3.6 seconds. This translates to a minimum precision of +/- 363 feet (111 m) for latitude values and between +/- 331 feet (101 m) to +/- 317 feet (97 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 25° and 30°N, respectively.)



Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Corpus Christi Quadrangle

Corpus Christi Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation of the Corpus Christi quadrangle was prepared by the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [PGJ/F-117(82)]. Six rock samples were collected and analyzed for uranium by fluorometry and for 15 additional elements. Another 27 water samples were collected and analyzed for uranium by fluorometry and for Mo, Se, and V. Results from these analyses infer that two environments are favorable for uranium deposition. These environments include areas that are in the Fleming-Oakville and Goliad Formations. Data for this study were only found in tables on the microfiche accompanying the report.



Corpus Christi Quadrangle NURE Bibliography



Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Texas NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR 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 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

USA.gov logo