OFR 97-492: Las Cruces 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.]

LASL: Las Cruces Quadrangle
Sediment and water samples were collected within the Las Cruces 2° quadrangle as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Las Cruces Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Within the quadrangle, sampling of the area west of 107.5°W longitude was conducted between January and June of 1976; sampling in the area east of 107.25°W longitude was conducted between May and July of 1977; and the overlapping area was sampled during both field seasons. LASL analyzed all of the samples for uranium but did not release the geochemical data in a separate NURE HSSR report.

ORGDP: Las Cruces Quadrangle
LASL sent 1,817 sediment and 501 water samples from the Las Cruces quadrangle to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for multielement analyses. These data plus the accompanying LASL uranium data were released by ORGDP as the Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-416(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of the NURE sample types reported for the Las Cruces quadrangle study.

Summary of Las Cruces quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 42 Streams 35
Dry Streams 1,390 Wells 409
Wet Springs 25 Springs 28
Wet Natural Ponds 10 Natural Ponds 3
Dry Natural Ponds 258 Artificial Ponds 26
Wet Artificial Ponds 29    
Dry Artificial Ponds 63    
Total Sediments 1,817 Total Waters 501

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Las Cruces Quadrangle

The Las Cruces quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the ORGDP multielement Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-416(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Las Cruces quadrangle data:

Sediment Records

  1. During the NURE sample collection phase, LASL sites and samples were initially assigned a 6-digit integer Identification Number (LASLID) starting with 000001. After 1977, most LASL sites were reassigned a new 1-letter+5-digit Identification Number starting with A00001. All LASL samples and the early LASL reports use the 6-digit integer LASLID. Most of the later reports only use the 1-letter+5-digit LASLID. Although both sets of numbers were usually assigned sequentially, they do not correspond one to one with each other: 100001 does not equal C00001, etc. Whenever possible, the 1-letter+5-digit LASL Identification Number was saved in the LASLID field. When the corresponding 6-digit site number could be determined from sample number translation key lists or other sources, this Identification Number was saved in the SITE field.
  2. No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Las Cruces quadrangle sediment samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-416(81) report.
  3. Eleven sediment sample records contained values for the well pump type(WELLPUMP), well use(WELLUSE), or well diameter(WELLDIAM). These parameters were not normally recorded for sediment sample records. The values were removed from each record and added as a comment to the corresponding REFORMAT field.
  4. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for nine 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.

Water Records

  1. No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Las Cruces quadrangle water samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-416(81) report.
  2. An unlikely air temperature measurement was found for one sample. This value was removed from the AIRTEMP field and the original AIRTEMP value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
  3. One analytical result in the digital data files had a value of 99999. This value was confirmed in the published quadrangle report. It is not clear if this value is a valid value, a null value, or a value indicating that the analytical result was greater than the upper limit of determination. This value was left in the data record and 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).

Las Cruces Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,817 records
Las Cruces Quadrangle Water Data - 501 records


Notes for Data Users

For most LASL NURE HSSR quadrangle studies, all of the water samples were initially analyzed for uranium by fluorometry. Water samples with greater than some upper limit (commonly 10 ppb uranium) were then reanalyzed by delayed-neutron counting. When ORGDP reported the LASL analytical data for uranium in water samples, the information which distinguished LASL fluorometric from LASL delayed neutron uranium methods was not preserved. All of the uranium values in the USGS-Reformated NURE water file for Las Cruces are therefore identified as fluorometric uranium even though there is a strong possibility that many of the higher values were determined by delayed-neutron counting.


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Las Cruces Quadrangle

Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE Summary
No summary evaluation report was prepared for the Las Cruces quadrangle.

LASL: Las Cruces Quadrangle
Often LASL sent most but not all of the original samples to ORGDP for multielement analyses. (See the adjacent Tularosa quadrangle for an example.) Since LASL did not release a NURE HSSR report after the initial collection and uranium analysis of Las Cruces quadrangle samples we were unable to determine if the number of samples sent to ORGDP represented the entire collection or a subset. Therefore we could not eliminate the possibility of additional Las Cruces samples which may have been analyzed for uranium at LASL but not for multiple elements at ORGDP.

Tularosa Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Tularosa quadrangle by Berge Exploration, Inc. of Denver, Colorado [GJQ-014(82)]. As part of the evaluation process, an additional 87 water samples from streams, springs, and wells and 333 rock samples were collected. (Note: Eleven of these samples were collected just outside of the Tularosa quadrangle: 1 well water and 3 rock samples were collected in the Las Cruces quadrangle; 2 spring water and 4 rock samples were collected in the Socorro quadrangle; and 1 rock sample was collected in the Clifton quadrangle.) Most samples were analyzed for eU and eTh by gamma ray spectroscopy and for uranium by fluorometric analysis. Some of the rock samples were also analyzed for additional elements. All of these analytical data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report.


Las Cruces Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to New Mexico NURE data
Back to Texas 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 1.10: 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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