OFR 97-492: Dickinson 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.]

ORGDP: Dickinson Quadrangle
A total of 555 stream-sediment and 545 ground-water samples was collected under contract by personnel of BCI Geonetics, Inc. from the Dickinson quadrangle during June - July of 1979. These samples were analyzed by the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Dickinson Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-99(80) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of NURE sample types collected within the Dickinson quadrangle study.

Summary of Dickinson quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 333 Streams 537
Dry Streams 222 Springs 8
Total Sediments 555 Total Waters 545

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Dickinson Quadrangle

The Dickinson quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Dickinson Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-99(80) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for three 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.
  2. The data record for one stream-sediment sample was found only in the digital data file. A corresponding record was not listed in the Dickinson Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-99(80) report.
  3. The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 stream-sediment sample collected within the Dickinson quadrangle were obviously incorrect. These coordinates were removed from the LAT and LONG fields and added as a comment to the COORDPRB field. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

Water Records

  1. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for two samples. These dates were removed from the SAMPDAT field. For each record, the original SAMPDAT value and the most likely correct value were added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  2. An unlikely air temperature value was found for one sample. This value was removed from the AIRTEMP field and the original temperature value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  3. One well-water sample originally had a latitude of exactly 47°N, the dividing line between the Dickinson quadrangle and the Watford City quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Dickinson Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-99(80) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Dickinson quadrangle.
  4. Four separate well-water samples have the same two latitude-longitude coordinates. It is unclear whether this represents two pairs of samples collected at the same sites or samples collected at separate sites so close together that the coordinate precision was insufficient to distinguish.
  5. The data record for one well-water sample was found only in the digital data file. A corresponding record was not listed in the Dickinson Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-99(80) 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 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).

Dickinson Quadrangle Sediment Data - 554 records
Dickinson Quadrangle Water Data - 545 records


Notes for Data Users

The 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 +/- 365 feet (111 m) for latitude values and between +/- 259 feet (85 m) to +/-235 feet (79 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 45° and 50°N, respectively).


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Dickinson Quadrangle

Dickinson Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Dickinson quadrangle by Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [PGJ/F-036(82)]. An additional 364 rock samples were collected from uranium occurrences noted within the quadrangle. The samples were analyzed and the multielement analytical data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report.


Dickinson Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to North Dakota NURE data
Back to South Dakota NURE data
Back to Montana 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 1.00: September 11, 1998
Version 1.10: July 29, 1999
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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