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Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study
During 1977, 1978, and 1979, the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) conducted a NURE pilot study of the Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan areas within the Bangor and Millinocket 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. Between October of 1977 and March of 1978, stream water and sediment samples were collected from 138 sites and ground water samples were collected from 352 sites within the Dover-Foxcroft area. Up to four sediment fractions were collected at each site. Recorded coordinates locate 44 of the stream water and sediment sites in the Bangor quadrangle and 94 sites in the Millinocket quadrangle. No coordinates were reported for the Dover-Foxcroft ground water sites. The Skowhegan area was sampled from August to September of 1979. Stream water and sediment samples were collected from 143 sites and ground water samples were collected from 155 sites. Eighty stream water and sediment sites and 60 ground water sites were located within the Millinocket quadrangle, and 63 stream water and sediment sites and 95 ground water sites were located within the Bangor quadrangle. All of the samples from both areas were analyzed by SRL and the data released in the Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report. No digital data release accompanied the report. Site data and SRL analytical data for 140 of the Skowhegan area water samples collected in the Millinocket quadrangle were hand-entered into a digital spreadsheet and were included in the reformatting process discussed below.

SRL sent 285 water samples from the Skowhegan area (136 from the Millinocket quadrangle) to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for supplementary analysis of up to 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the data on microfiche in the Skowhegan Area Orientation Study GJBX-176(82) abbreviated report. A digital data release did accompany this report. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-164(82) report.

Maine
Subcontractors for the SRL collected at least 2,924 stream-sediment, 2,039 surface-water, and 1,938 ground-water samples from the southern half of Maine as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Two different sampling protocols were used in Maine. Using the SRL Eastern protocol (SRL-E), 1,218 stream-sediment, 1,218 surface-water, and 636 ground-water samples were collected from Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford, Somerset Counties in October and November of 1977. This area included portions of the Bangor, Bath, Lewiston, Millinocket, Portland, and Sherbrooke 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. Another 1,706 stream-sediment, 821 surface-water, and 1302 ground-water samples were collected by subcontractors using SRL Western protocols (SRL-W) between May and August of 1980 within the Bangor, Bath, and Eastport 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. These samples were sent to SRL for determinations of uranium and additional elements (16 in sediments and 9 in waters) by Neutron Activation Analysis. SRL was able to analyze 1,230 sediments and 3,977 waters from Maine. The analytical and site location data for all Maine samples were released in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. Within the Millinocket quadrangle, 5 ground-water samples were collected by the SRL-E protocol. SRL was able to analyze all 5 of these water samples from the Millinocket quadrangle.

SRL: Millinocket Quadrangle
SRL did not release a separate report for the Millinocket quadrangle.

Summary Tables
Because of the various laboratories and analytical methods used, some SRL samples may have been analyzed once, twice, or not at all. The following table summarizes the analysis of Millinocket quadrangle samples.

The following is a list of sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Millinocket quadrangle. (Note: Only the 141 hand-entered water samples from the Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study are included in this list.)

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

Water Samples

• SR4: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis - Neutron Counting of waters for U.
• SR5: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of waters for Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mn, Na, and V. (Note: Mg may also be reported by this method.)
• SR6: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of waters for Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mg, Mn, Na, and V.
• SR-HE: Savannah River Helium Analysis of waters.
• 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.)

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Millinocket Quadrangle

Water Records
The Millinocket quadrangle water data consist of records from the Maine portion of the New England GJBX-107(82) Data Report, the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report, and the ORGDP Skowhegan Area Orientation Study GJBX-176(82) abbreviated report. In the orientation study sample records, the SRL analyses and ORGDP supplemental analyses could NOT be combined because of overlapping determinations for 5 elements. Each water sample from the orientation study may therefore have 2 separate records - one for the SRL analysis and one for the ORGDP supplemental analysis.

The digital data released with the ORGDP Skowhegan Area Orientation Study GJBX-176(82) abbreviated report included analytical results for the Skowhegan area samples but did not include any site description data. However, this data was available in the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report. Therefore, a decision was made to hand enter all of the Skowhegan water sample records from the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report. Neither the sediment sample records from the Skowhegan area, nor the records from the Dover-Foxcroft area were entered at this time. These records may be added at a later date. The following actions were taken with the Skowhegan water records:

1. Sample types were assigned in the SAMPTYP field based on whether a corresponding sediment record existed or well description data existed. The SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report states that both sediment and water records were collected at surface sites. Since the sediment sample records contained stream description codes, water sample records with corresponding sediment sample records were assigned a sample type of 51 (stream water sample filtered through less than 0.8 micron filter at the site). Water records that had well description data were assigned a sample type of 52 (well water sample filtered through less than 0.8 micron filter at the site). Note that some of the WELLDPTH values for ground water samples are small. This would seem to indicate that these samples may be spring water samples. However, the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report did not specifically indicate the type of ground water samples collected nor did it contain any code to identify the specific type of each sample. Therefore, some of the ground water samples from the Skowhegan Orientation Study may be spring water samples.
2. Coordinates, the assigned sample type, and site description data from the hand-entered water records were added to the ORGDP supplemental analysis water records.
3. For one water sample record in the ORGDP supplemental data set (identified with the SRLID DSAA609R), no corresponding SRL record was found in the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report. For this sample, the SRLID suffix (R) was added based on the LSAMPTYP value (W = water). The quadrangle (Millinocket) and the sample type were assigned based on those with adjacent SRLID's. Since no corresponding SRL record was found for this sample, the coordinates and site description data are missing. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

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).

Millinocket Quadrangle Water Data - 280 records

Notes for Data Users

In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county. Often, not all counties within a quadrangle were completely sampled. This appears to be the case with the Millinocket portion of Somerset county. In addition, the remainder of Millinocket quadrangle was not sampled during the HSSR sampling phase.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Millinocket Quadrangle

Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study
During the reformatting process, water records from the Skowhegan area portion of the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report were entered by hand and are included in the Millinocket and Bangor quadrangle water data records. Neither the water records from the Dover-Foxcroft area, nor the sediment records from Dover-Foxcroft or Skowhegan areas were hand entered. These records can be found in tables within the SRL Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan Orientation Study GJBX-147(82) report.

Millinocket Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

• Fay, W.M., Sargent, K.A., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Data report: New England: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-146-27, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-107(82), 35 p.
• Karfunkel, B.S., 1982, Orientation studies in the Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan, Maine, areas: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-141-22, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-147(82), 81 p.
• Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment orientation geochemical survey for Skowhegan area, Maine: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-456, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-176(82), 13 p.
• Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Supplement to hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance 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-164, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-164(82), 25 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Maine 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 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 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_milnck.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:27 EST 2016