OFR 97-492: Tyler 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.]

Texas
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 279 stream-sediment samples within 4 counties along the eastern border of Texas as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sampling effort was completed between August and October of 1978 and included portions of the Palestine, Alexandria, Beaumont, and Lake Charles 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (None of the stream-sediment samples were collected within the Tyler quadrangle.) These samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and 16 additional elements. SRL was only able to analyze 26 of the 279 stream-sediment samples collected in Texas. The analytical and site location data for all Texas sediment samples were released as a separate file in the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas Data Report [GJBX-104(82)].

Louisiana
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 1,017 stream sediment samples within 15 parishes of central Louisiana as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sampling effort was completed between August and October of 1978 and included portions of the Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Lake Charles, Natchez, Palestine, Shreveport, and Tyler 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (A total of 5 samples were collected within the Tyler quadrangle.) These sediment samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and 16 additional elements. SRL was able to analyze only 28 Louisiana stream sediment samples; none of these samples were from the Tyler quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all Louisiana sediment samples were released as a separate file in the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas Data Report [GJBX-104(82)].

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

ORGDP: Jackson, Shreveport, and Tyler Quadrangles
SRL sent several Louisiana sediment samples to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 209 samples in the Jackson, Shreveport, and Tyler Quadrangles GJBX-68(82) Data Report. This report includes data for 5 sediment samples from the Tyler quadrangle. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-57(82) report.

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 Tyler quadrangle samples.

Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Tyler quadrangle.
Laboratory Analysis Sediments Waters
Only SRL 0 0
Only ORGDP 5 0
Both SRL and ORGDP 0 0
None 0 0
Total Samples 5 0
Total Data Records 5 0

The following is a list of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Tyler quadrangle.

Summary of Tyler quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 5    
Total Sediments 5 Total Waters 0

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples



Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Tyler Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Tyler quadrangle sediment data consist of records from the Louisiana portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas GJBX-104(82) Data Report combined with records from the ORGDP Jackson, Shreveport, and Tyler Quadrangles GJBX-68(82) Data Report. When combining sample records, site descriptive information and coordinates were compared for all corresponding records. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Tyler quadrangle sediment data:

  1. The original ORGDP file for the Jackson, Shreveport, and Tyler quadrangles did not include all of the information about the character of the sample location. This missing information includes observations taken at each site on the stream width, depth, and flow, water color, surrounding vegetation, local relief, weather, and possible contaminants. In addition, the longitude coordinate reported in the ORGDP file only had 3 decimal places instead of the 4 decimal places found in the corresponding records from SRL State files. When combining corresponding SRL and ORGDP records, all of the site descriptive data and the longitude values to 4 decimal places from the SRL data files were preserved in the final database.
  2. An analysis of latitude-longitude site coordinates identified several stream-sediment samples that were missing coordinates, did not plot within expected state, county, or map boundaries, or had differing coordinates in corresponding records. To correct or confirm sample coordinates, the original field collection maps for De Soto Parish, Louisiana were obtained and re-digitized. The newly re-digitized coordinates were added to the database and the coordinates from the original file(s) were recorded in the COORDPRB comment field. When the newly re-digitized coordinates were not significantly different, that confirmation of the site location was also noted in the COORDPRB 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 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).

Tyler Quadrangle Sediment Data - 5 records



Notes for Data Users

In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county or parish. Often, not all counties or parishes within a quadrangle were completely sampled. Sample coverage in the Tyler quadrangle is limited only to the De Soto Parish. This parish is found only along the southeast border of the Tyler quadrangle. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county or parish such that adjacent counties or parishes often have very different analytical coverages.



Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Tyler Quadrangle

None found.



Tyler Quadrangle NURE Bibliography



Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Texas NURE data
Back to Louisiana 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 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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