OFR 97-492: Iron River 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: Iron River Quadrangle
A total of 346 stream-sediment and 357 ground-water samples were collected from the Iron River quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Iron River Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. The western half of the quadrangle was sampled from August to October 1978 and the eastern half was sampled from June to August 1979. Sampling of all stream sediments and ground waters of the Michigan portion of the quadrangle were performed by ORGDP personnel. Sampling of ground water in the Wisconsin portion of the quadrangle was performed, under contract, by personnel of the Wisconsin Geological Survey and Natural History Survey during August 1978. All of these samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Iron River Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-115(80) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a listing of the sample types collected for the Iron River quadrangle study.

Summary of Iron River quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 317 Wells 340
Dry Streams 29 Springs 17
Total Sediments 346 Total Waters 357

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Iron River Quadrangle

The Iron River quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Iron River Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-115(80) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. An unlikely sample collection date was found for one sample. This date was removed from the SAMPDAT field and the original SAMPDAT value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.

Water Records

  1. Two records were found with truncated field comments, probably due to the inability of the original digital data file structure to accommodate the unusually long length of remarks. The field notes on microfiche that accompany the GJBX-115(80) report also did not include the missing portion of these field comments. These records are identified by a note in the REFORMAT field. The truncated field comments are preserved, as found, within the COMMENTS and the COMMENT2 fields.
  2. One ground-water sample was collected at a latitude of exactly 47°N, the dividing line between the Hancock quadrangle and the Iron River quadrangle. The data record for this sample was assigned to the Iron River quadrangle.
  3. 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 was added as a comment to the REFORMAT 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 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).

Iron River Quadrangle Sediment Data - 346 records
Iron River Quadrangle Water Data - 357 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 (79 m) to +/- 235 feet (72 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 45° and 50°N, respectively.)


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Iron River Quadrangle

Iron River Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report on the potential for economic uranium deposits was prepared for the Iron River quadrangle by the U.S. Geological Survey [PGJ/F-120(82)]. This area was of great interest because the geology of the southern Lake Superior region is similar to a number of geologic terranes which contain uranium districts that are among the most important producing districts in the world. As part of this evaluation, an additional 248 rock samples were collected within the Iron River quadrangle. These samples were analyzed for U and Th by delayed neutron activation, and for 43 additional elements by an emission spectrometry. The analytical data for these samples were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report. The evaluation concludes that no area within the Iron River quadrangle appears to be favorable for the existence of a minimum of 100 tons of uranium ore at a grade of 0.01% or better. However, thick glacial deposits, time restraints, and inaccessible areas prohibited a thorough evaluation.


Iron River Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Michigan NURE data
Back to Wisconsin 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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