Fresno Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Fresno 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)

This page is currently being rewritten to the Version 1.41 format.

Brief History and Description of Data

[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]

Totals of 1,042 sediment and 735 water samples were collected in the Fresno quadrangle during August and September of 1980 as part of the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) Fresno Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. The water samples were analyzed by SRL for uranium and 9 other elements and then sent on to Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant for "supplemental analyses" (28 elements in waters). SRL apparently did not analyze the sediment samples and subsequently did not release an individual quadrangle report for Fresno.

A total of 1,038 sediment samples from SRL were sent to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant and analyzed for uranium and up to 31 additional elements. These data were released by Oak Ridge in the GJBX-24(82) report. (Note: The "Explanation of Codes Used" appendix to the ORGDP GJBX-23(82) report gives the SRL eastern U.S. site description coding scheme but all other indications suggest that the samples were actually collected and described using the SRL western U.S. site description coding scheme.)

In 1982, ORGDP released the data from supplementary analyses of a selection of the SRL water samples from the Death Valley and Fresno quadrangles in the GJBX-167(82) abbreviated report (on microfiche only). This report includes the supplemental data for up to 28 elements in 734 of the Fresno water samples. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-164(82) report.

In 1982, SRL released a summary report and data files for 50 quadrangles in the Western United States. For the Fresno quadrangle, this report (GJBX-132(82)) contains the SRL analytical data for the water samples only. The sediment sample records only contained site information but no analytical values.

The following is a general listing of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Fresno quadrangle. The actual number of records in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files may be greater because of the multiple records needed to preserve all the data.

*Summary of Fresno quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	4	Streams	4
Dry Streams	2	Wells	675
Soils	1,023	Springs	56
Talus	13
Total Sediments	1,042	Total Waters	735

These Fresno quadrangle samples were analyzed 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.
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.
SR6: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of waters for Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mg, Mn, Na, and V.
OR9-DN: Supplemental Analyses by Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis-Neutron Counting of waters for U.
OR13: Supplemental Analyses by 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.)

Composition of the NEW-FORMAT NURE Data Files

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE water data file consist of records from the GJBX-132(82) western U.S. summary report and the Oak Ridge GJBX-167(82) abbreviated report. In this file, the SRL analyses and supplemental analyses could NOT be combined because of overlapping determinations for 5 elements. Each water sample may therefore have 2 separate records - one for the SRL analysis and one for the supplemental analysis. The site information for every record in the GJBX-167(82) quadrangle report was checked against the "equivalent" record in the GJBX-132(82) western U.S. summary report and any major differences were noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE sediment file consist of records from both the GJBX-132(82) western U.S. summary report and the Oak Ridge GJBX-24(82) abbreviated report. Samples which had records in both reports were combined to create a single record for each sample. Problems noted in either of the original records are noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

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 websites, 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).

Fresno Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,031 records
Fresno Quadrangle Water Data - 1,469 records

Notes for Data Users

Many records contain analytical values with insignificant digits. Most data should only have 2 or 3 significant digits. Differences after the second or third digit should be ignored.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Fresno Quadrangle

None found.

Fresno Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Cook, J.R., and Fay, W.M., 1982, Data report: Western United States: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-146-28, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-132(82), 33 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Program, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Fresno quadrangle, California: Union Carbide, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-407, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-24(82), 103 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Fresno and Death Valley quadrangle, California; Nevada: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-447, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-167(82), microfiche.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Supplement to HSSR basic data reports K/UR-445 through K/UR-457 [GJBX-165(82) through GJBX-177(82)]: Union Carbide Corporation-Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-458, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-164(82), 25 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to California NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR Data
Home Page: USGS National Geochemical Database - NURE HSSR data

Page written by Andrew W. Holt 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 1.40: January 13, 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_fresno.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:26 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)