OFR 97-492: Marquette 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: Marquette Quadrangle
A total of 220 stream-sediment and 254 ground-water samples were collected from the Marquette quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Marquette Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Stream-sediment and water sampling within the Marquette quadrangle was conducted by ORGDP personnel. The sampling phase began in July of 1978. Water sampling was completed in August and sediment sampling was completed later in September, 1978. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Marquette Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-106(80) report.

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

Summary of Marquette quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 218 Wells 251
Dry Streams 2 Springs 3
Total Sediments 220 Total Waters 254

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples



Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Marquette Quadrangle

The Marquette quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Marquette Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-106(80) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. The Marquette Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-106(80) abstract reports 220 sediment samples collected, but records for only 219 sediment samples appear in the data tables.
  2. One sediment sample record was found in the digital data file that was not listed in the GJBX-106(80) report. This record has been noted by a comment in the REFORMAT field.
  3. The SAMPTYP value for one record was determined and added from information found in the GJBX-106(80) report. A comment in the REFORMAT field identifies this record.

Water Records

  1. The latitude value for one ORGDP ground-water sample was reported as 46°N, the dividing line between the Marquette and Escanaba quadrangles. The data record for this sample was found only in the Marquette Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-106(80) report. Based on the coordinate values found in the field notes on microfiche that accompany this report, the precision for the decimal-degree coordinates at this site was increased to 4 decimal places. This places the sample unequivocally in the Marquette quadrangle.
  2. 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.
  3. Two water sample records were found with suspicious analytical values for platinum, an element normally found only in ORGDP sediment sample analyses. These unlikely Pt values were recorded as comments in 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).

Marquette Quadrangle Sediment Data - 220 records
Marquette Quadrangle Water Data - 254 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.

For all ORGDP samples, 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.)

One wet stream-sediment sample collected in the Marquette quadrangle was not analyzed by any method.



Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Marquette Quadrangle

None found.



Marquette Quadrangle NURE Bibliography



Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Michigan 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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