OFR 97-492: Lincoln 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: Lincoln Quadrangle
Totals of 754 stream-sediment and 577 well-water samples were collected from the Lincoln quadrangle by contractors for the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Lincoln Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Sediment samples were collected by BCI Geonetics, Inc. during November of 1979 and well-water samples were collected by the Nebraska Geological Survey during May through July and October of 1978. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of sample types collected for the Lincoln quadrangle study.

Summary of Lincoln quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 611 Wells 577
Dry Streams 143    
Total Sediments 754 Total Waters 577

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Lincoln Quadrangle

The Lincoln quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. One stream-sediment sample originally had a latitude of exactly 40°N, the dividing line between the Lincoln quadrangle and the Fremont quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Lincoln quadrangle.
  2. Two separate stream-sediment samples have the same latitude-longitude coordinates. It is unclear whether this represents a pair of samples collected at the same site or samples collected at separate sites so close together that the coordinate precision was insufficient to distinguish. The information in the COMMENT field suggests that these are 2 separate sites.
  3. Four sediment records in the digital data were incomplete. Additional data were added to these records from tables in the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report.
  4. One stream-sediment record contained information for a Nitrate analysis. However, sediments were not apparently analyzed for nitrate. This probably represents an error where water data was mistakenly added to a sediment record. The original values were not added to separate fields in the record but were was added as a comment in the REFORMAT field.

Water Records

  1. One well-water sample originally had a latitude of exactly 40°N, the dividing line between the Lincoln quadrangle and the Fremont quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the Lincoln quadrangle.
  2. Two well-water samples originally had a longitude of exactly 96°W, the dividing line between the Lincoln quadrangle and the Nebraska City quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) report. This slight change places the samples clearly in the Lincoln quadrangle.
  3. The geologic unit codes recorded in the PUNIT and GEOUNIT fields frequently did not match any defined stratigraphic unit listed in the Lincoln Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-229(81) 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).

Lincoln Quadrangle Sediment Data - 754 records
Lincoln Quadrangle Water Data - 577 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 +/- 280 feet (85 m) to +/- 259 feet (79 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 40° and 45°N, respectively.)


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Lincoln Quadrangle

None found.


Lincoln Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Nebraska NURE data
Back to Kansas 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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