Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Eau Claire 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: Eau Claire Quadrangle
A total of 681 stream-sediment, 565 ground-water, and 668 surface-water samples was collected from the Eau Claire quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. The stream sediment and water sampling was conducted by ORGDP personnel between June and October of 1977. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report.

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

*Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Eau Claire quadrangle.*
Laboratory Analysis	Sediments	Waters
ORGDP	680	1,232
Second ORGDP Analysis	4	0
None	1	1
Total Samples	681	1,233
Total Data Records	685	1,233

The following is a listing of the sample types collected for the Eau Claire quadrangle study.

*Summary of Eau Claire quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	653	Streams	668
Dry Streams	28	Wells	565
Total Sediments	681	Total Waters	1,233

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

Sediment Samples

OR1: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of sediments for U.
OR2: Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for U.
OR4: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, B, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Mo, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Pt, Sc, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.
OR6: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Sc, Sr, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr. (Only 4 samples were analyzed by this method.)
OR8: Oak Ridge Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of sediments for As and Se.

Water Samples

OR9-FL: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for U.
OR9-MS: Oak Ridge Mass Spectrometry Analysis of waters for U.
OR11: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of waters for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Sc, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.
OR13: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of waters for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Sc, Si, Sr, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr. (Note: Nb and Th may be included in this method.) (Only 12 samples were analyzed by this method.)
OR15: Oak Ridge Anion Optical Absorption (Technicon AutoAnalyzer) Analysis of waters for Sulfate only.
OR17: Oak Ridge Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for As and Se.

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Eau Claire Quadrangle

The Eau Claire quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

There were 4 sediment samples that were apparently analyzed twice by slightly different multielement methods. To avoid losing data for elements analyzed by both methods, these samples are each represented by two records in the sediment data.
One sediment sample found in the digital data file had no coordinates and was not listed in the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. This record is identified by a comment in the REFORMAT comment field.
Two stream-sediment samples were collected at a longitude of exactly 90°W, the dividing line between the Eau Claire quadrangle and the Green Bay quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. This slight change places these samples clearly in the Eau Claire quadrangle.
The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 stream-sediment sample collected within the Eau Claire quadrangle were not found in the data during the reformatting process. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

Water Records

Six separate well-water samples in this quadrangle have the same three latitude-longitude coordinates. It is unclear whether this represents three 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.
One stream-water sample found in the digital data file had no coordinates and was not listed in the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. This record is identified by a comment in the REFORMAT comment field.
Two stream-water samples were collected at a longitude of exactly 90°W, the dividing line between the Eau Claire quadrangle and the Green Bay quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. This slight change places these samples clearly in the Eau Claire quadrangle.
One stream-water sample in the Eau Claire digital data files had coordinates which plot in the Marquette quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed to values found in tables on microfiche within the Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-94(78) report. This change places the sample clearly in the Eau Claire quadrangle.
The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 stream-water sample collected within the Eau Claire quadrangle 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).

Eau Claire Quadrangle Sediment Data - 684 records
Eau Claire Quadrangle Water Data - 1,232 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 +/- 364 feet (111 m) for latitude values and between +/- 280 feet (85 m) to +/- 259 feet (79 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 40° and 45°N, respectively.)

One stream-sediment sample and one stream-water sample collected in the Eau Claire quadrangle were not analyzed by any method. These same samples are also missing coordinate values.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Eau Claire Quadrangle

Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE Summary
An evaluation of the Eau Claire quadrangle was conducted by Golder Associates, Inc., under subcontract to Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [PGJ/F-071(82)]. For this evaluation, 250 rock samples were analyzed for U plus 29 other elements, and 116 water samples were collected and analyzed for U using a fluorometry method. Data tables were released only on appendices on microfiche accompanying the report. The results of this investigation suggested that there were no environments in the Eau Claire quadrangle that are definitely favorable for the occurrence of uranium deposits.

Eau Claire Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Delaney, H.J., Fitzsimmons, M.R., Bogart, L.E., Silling, R.M., and Readdy, L.A., 1982, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Eau Claire quadrangle, Wisconsin and Minnesota: Golder Associates, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., PGJ/F-071(82), 34 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1978, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Eau Claire NTMS quadrangle, Wisconsin, and Minnesota: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-103, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-94(78), 148 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Wisconsin NURE data
Back to Minnesota 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 1.10: 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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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/492/quad/q_eauclr.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:26 EDT 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)