OFR 97-492: Albany Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study
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[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]
New York
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 5,696 stream-sediment, 5,047 surface-water, and 4,829 ground-water samples from New York as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Samples were collected on a county-by-county basis from the eastern two-thirds of the state between July 1977 and August 1980. The sampled area included portions of the Albany, Binghamton, Elmira, Glens Falls, Hartford, Kingston, Lake Champlain, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Scranton, and Utica 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. The 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 2,899 sediments and 9,863 waters from New York. The analytical and site location data for all New York samples were released in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York Data Report [GJBX-106(82)]. A total of 446 stream-sediment, 439 surface-water, and 217 ground-water samples were collected within the New York state portion of the Albany quadrangle; of these samples, SRL was able to analyze 4445 sediment and all 656 water samples.
SRL sent 2,809 sediment samples from New York state to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 2,803 of these samples in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York Data Report [GJBX-106(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report includes Supplemental Analyses for 443 New York state sediment samples from the Albany quadrangle.
Connecticut
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 635 stream-sediment, 656 surface-water, and 798 ground-water samples from Connecticut as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Samples were collected on a county-by-county basis from the entire state between July and October, 1977 for sediments, and between December 1977 and February 1978 for ground-waters. This area included portions of the Albany, Boston, Hartford, and Providence 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. The 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 634 sediments and 1,453 waters from Connecticut. The analytical and site location data for all Connecticut samples were released in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. A total of 25 stream-sediment, 24 surface-water, and 25 ground-water samples were collected within the Connecticut portion of the Albany quadrangle. SRL was able to analyze 24 sediment and all 49 water samples from the Albany quadrangle.
SRL sent the 635 sediment samples from Connecticut to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 632 of these samples in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report includes Supplemental Analyses for 25 Connecticut sediment samples within the Albany quadrangle.
Massachusetts
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 1,331 stream-sediment, 1,302 surface-water, and 657 ground-water samples from Massachusetts as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Samples were collected on a county-by-county basis from the entire state between August 1977 and April 1979 for sediments, and between January and March of 1978 for ground waters. This area included portions of the Albany, Boston, and Providence 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. The 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 1,315 sediments and 1,953 waters from Massachusetts. The analytical and site location data for all Massachusetts samples were released in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. A total of 650 stream-sediment, 638 surface-water, and 319 ground-water samples were collected within the Massachusetts portion of the Albany quadrangle. SRL was able to analyze all of the sediment and 956 water samples from the Albany quadrangle.
SRL sent the 1,149 sediment samples from Massachusetts to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 1,141 of these samples in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report includes Supplemental Analyses for 647 Massachusetts sediment samples from the Albany quadrangle.
New Hampshire
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 1,699 stream-sediment, 1,694 surface-water, and 884 ground-water samples from New Hampshire as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Samples were collected on a county-by-county basis from the entire state between July 1977 and January 1978. This area included portions of the Albany, Boston, Glens Falls, Lake Champlain, Lewiston, Portland, and Sherbrooke 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. The 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 1,696 sediments and 2,576 waters from New Hampshire. The analytical and site location data for all New Hampshire samples were released in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. A total of 92 stream-sediment, 92 surface-water, and 51 ground-water samples were collected within the New Hampshire portion of the Albany quadrangle. SRL was able to analyze all of the sediment and water samples from the Albany quadrangle.
SRL sent the 1,699 sediment samples from New Hampshire to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 1,690 of these samples in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report includes Supplemental Analyses for 91 New Hampshire sediment samples from the Albany quadrangle.
Vermont
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 1,677 stream-sediment, 1,663 surface-water, and 972 ground-water samples from Vermont as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. Samples were collected on a county-by-county basis from the entire state between August 1977 and March 1978. This area included portions of the Albany, Glens Falls, Lake Champlain, Lewiston, and Sherbrooke 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. The 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 1,674 sediments and 2,633 waters from Vermont. The analytical and site location data for all Vermont samples were released in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. A total of 114 stream-sediment, 109 surface-water, and 61 ground-water samples were collected within the Vermont portion of the Albany quadrangle. SRL was able to analyze all of the sediment and water samples from the Albany quadrangle.
SRL sent 1,632 sediment samples from Vermont to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 1,631 of these samples in the New England Data Report [GJBX-107(82)]. The digital data file accompanying this report includes Supplemental Analyses for 114 sediment samples from Vermont within the Albany quadrangle.
SRL: Albany Quadrangle
SRL released a separate quadrangle report for the Albany NTMS quadrangle, which includes data for 1,328 stream-sediment, 1,303 surface-water, and 664 ground-water samples. With minor differences, these sample data are the same as the that for corresponding samples found in the New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont State reports. SRL released the analytical data as the Albany Quadrangle GJBX-140(79) Data Report. The site coding information for this data set is summarized within the text of this report.
SRL released a separate report for supplemental analyses of 1,328 sediment samples from the Albany quadrangle as the Albany NTMS Area, Supplemental Data Report [GJBX-107(81)]. Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 19 elements were reported for 1,321 of these 1,328 samples; seven sample records did not actually have any supplemental analysis data.
ORGDP: Albany, Binghamton, and Elmira Quadrangles
SRL sent 859 sediment samples from New York state to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 859 samples in the Albany, Binghamton, and Elmira Quadrangles GJBX-83(82) Data Report (a total of 60 samples were from the Albany quadrangle). The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-51(82) report.
Gold Analyses
Data for gold analyses of sediments by SRL neutron activation were released in the GJBX-135(82) summary report. The introduction of that report states:
"This report contains previously unreported neutron-activation analyses of gold in sediment samples determined at SRL. These data were not included in the standard SRL NURE data reports because the gold spectrum was not measured in the original analytical procedure and the report format was designed without the gold analyses being included. Gold analyses became available as the analytical procedure was refined, but the report format was not modified to incorporate these data."
Only those sediment samples that had detectable concentrations of gold by neutron activation analysis were given in the GJBX-135(82) report. Sediment samples with concentrations below detection limits were not reported and can only be ascertained by identifying which samples were actually analyzed by neutron activation at SRL.
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 Albany quadrangle samples.
Laboratory Analysis | Sediments | Waters |
---|---|---|
Only SRL | 7 | 1,974 |
Only Supplemental Lab | 2 | 0 |
Both SRL and Supplemental Labs | 1,258 | 0 |
Second SRL analysis on sample | 12 | 0 |
Both SRL and ORGDP Labs (2 records each) | 60 | 0 |
None | 0 | 1 |
Total Samples | 1,327 | 1,975 |
Total Data Records | 1,399 | 1,975 |
The following is a list of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Albany quadrangle.
Sediment Sample Type | Number of Samples | Water Sample Type | Number of Samples |
---|---|---|---|
Wet Streams | 1,327 | Streams | 1,302 |
Wells | 602 | ||
Springs | 71 | ||
Total Sediments | 1,327 | Total Waters | 1,975 |
These Albany quadrangle samples were analyzed by one or more of the following methods:
Sediment Samples
Water Samples
Sediment Records
The Albany quadrangle sediment data consist of reformatted records from the Albany Quadrangle GJBX-140(79) Data Report combined with data from the ORGDP Albany, Binghamton, and Elmira Quadrangles GJBX-83(82) Data Report. These records were compared with corresponding sample records from the New York portion of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York [GJBX-106(82)] Data Report and the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut portions of the New England [GJBX-107(82)] Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Albany quadrangle sediment data:
Water Records
The Albany quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Albany Quadrangle GJBX-140(79) Data Report. These records were compared with corresponding sample records from the New York portion of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York [GJBX-106(82)] Data Report and the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut portions of the New England [GJBX-107(82)] Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Albany quadrangle water 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).
Albany Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,399 records
Albany Quadrangle Water Data - 1,975 records
In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county. Often, not all counties within a quadrangle were completely sampled. Sample coverage in the Albany quadrangle is complete and includes samples from Hartford, Litchfield, and Tolland Counties in Connecticut; Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts; Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties in New Hampshire; Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Ulster, and Washington Counties in New York; and Bennington and Windham Counties in Vermont. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county such that adjacent counties often have very different analytical coverage.
One well water sample from Worcester County, Massachusetts within the Albany quadrangle was not analyzed by any of the various laboratories.
Albany Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Albany quadrangle by the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [PGJ/F-104(82)]. As part of this summary, an additional 347 rock samples were collected from the quadrangle and analyzed for uranium and 29 other elements. These data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report.
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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 1.41: February 23, 2006
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