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Estancia Valley Pilot Survey
Early in the NURE Program, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) conducted a high-density pilot sampling survey of the Estancia Valley in central New Mexico under contract with Prof. Douglas G. Brookins, Department of Geology, University of New Mexico. This study included portions of the Albuquerque, Fort Sumner, Santa Fe, and Socorro 2° quadrangles. Samples of water and sediment were collected from almost 3,000 locations between July and November of 1975. In addition to samples collected by standard LASL methods, additional water samples were collected from 279 locations using different filtering and acidification techniques to study the effects of water treatment methods and 100 sediment samples were used in a sieving study. In some cases, samples of different types were given the same LASL sample number and coordinates when collected within 300 m of each other. Examples given include where a dry stream enters a wet pond or where a dry stream enters a wet stream. All of the samples were sent to LASL for uranium analyses. The data for 2,992 sediment and 505 water samples were released with the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) report. Of those reported, 907 sediment and 151 water samples were collected within the Albuquerque quadrangle.

LASL: Albuquerque Quadrangle
Totals of 1,463 sediment and 408 water samples were collected within the Albuquerque quadrangle as part of the the LASL Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Private subcontractors, under the direction of LASL, collected samples from the quadrangle between July and October of 1975, May and June of 1976, and April and July of 1978. These samples, plus 75 sediments samples from the Estancia Valley study, were analyzed by LASL for uranium and up to 42 additional elements and the analytical data were released as the LASL Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report.

LASL: Grants Special Study
During October and November of 1979, LASL conducted a detailed geochemical survey of the Grants Uranium Mineral District within parts of the Albuquerque and Gallup quadrangles. Totals of 3,569 sediment and 167 water samples were collected from 2,601 locations within the study area. Of these, 1,588 sediment and 93 water samples were collected within the Albuquerque quadrangle. At 183 locations (72 in the Albuquerque quadrangle), specially collected sediment samples were sieved into 5 different size fractions to investigate the mineralogical distribution of uranium in sediments. The detailed survey sediment samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium and up to 42 additional elements. Water samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium only. The analytical data were released as the LASL Grants Special Study GJBX-351(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of sediment and water sample types collected for all studies within the Albuquerque quadrangle. This table includes a few sample replicates and each of the 5 multiple sieve fractions at 72 dry stream locations as found in the data.

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

Sediment Samples

• LA1: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of sediments for U.
• LA2: Los Alamos Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of sediments for Ag, Bi, Cd, Cu, Nb, Ni, Pb, Sn, and W.
• LA3: Los Alamos Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of sediments for Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Cu, Nb, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, W, and Zr. (Special Study only).
• LA4: Los Alamos Arc-Source Emission Spectrography Analysis of sediments for Be and Li.
• LA5: Los Alamos Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for Al, Au, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, V, Yb, and Zn.

Water Samples

• LA6-DN: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of waters for U.
• LA6-FL: Los Alamos Fluorometry Analysis of waters for U.
• LA7: Los Alamos Plasma-Source Emission Spectrography Analysis of waters for Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, and Zn.

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Albuquerque Quadrangle

The Albuquerque quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report plus reformatted records from the Albuquerque portion of the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) report plus reformatted records from the Albuquerque portion of the Grants Special Study GJBX-351(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison, combining, and reformatting stages for the Albuquerque quadrangle data:

1. During the NURE sample collection phase, LASL sites and samples were initially assigned a 6-digit integer Identification Number (LASLID) starting with 000001. After 1977, most LASL sites were reassigned a new 1-letter+5-digit Identification Number starting with A00001. All LASL samples and the early LASL reports use the 6-digit integer LASLID. Most of the later reports only use the 1-letter+5-digit LASLID. Although both sets of numbers were usually assigned sequentially, they do not correspond one to one with each other: 100001 does not equal C00001, etc. Whenever possible, the 1-letter+5-digit LASL Identification Number was saved in the LASLID field. When the corresponding 6-digit site number could be determined from sample number translation key lists or other sources, this Identification Number was saved in the SITE field.
2. A LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Albuquerque quadrangle sediment samples. The 1-letter+5-digit LASL Identification Number was saved in the LASLID field and the corresponding 6-digit site number was manually added to the SITE field. Therefore, the LASLID field contains the Identification Number found in the LASL Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report. The SITE field contains the corresponding LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers.
3. No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Estancia Valley Pilot Study or the Grants Special Study sediment samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) and Grants Special Study GJBX-351(81) reports.
4. The number of samples listed in the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) abstract and report do not agree with the number of samples found in the data table appendices or the digital data released on tape.
5. LASL included 75 sediment samples from the Estancia Valley Pilot Study in the Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study. These samples were reanalyzed for multiple elements by the same methods used for the quadrangle study. Because there were no overlapping data fields, the corresponding records from the Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) and Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) reports were compared and combined into a single composite record for each sample.
6. When combining the 75 corresponding sediment records from the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) and Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) reports, some differences between corresponding records were found in the sample type(SAMPTYP) field. These differences appear to be due to corrections added to the later Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report. Therefore when differences were found, the value from the Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report was retained in the field and the differing value from the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) report was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
7. 331 sediment samples from the Albuquerque portion of the Estancia Valley Pilot Study share the same latitude-longitude coordinates with up to three other samples (165 distinct coordinate sites). These represent different samples collected at approximately the same sites.
8. Seven sediment sample records contained values for the well pump type(WELLPUMP) or well use(WELLUSE). These parameters were not normally recorded for sediment sample records. The values were removed from each record and added as a comment to the corresponding REFORMAT field.
9. An unlikely sample collection date was found for one sample. This date was removed from the SAMPDAT field and the original SAMPDAT value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.
10. Two stream-sediment samples from one site have a latitude of exactly 35°N, the dividing line between the Albuquerque quadrangle and the Socorro quadrangle. These coordinate values were not changed but a comment was added to each COORDPRB field.

1. A LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Albuquerque quadrangle water samples. The 1-letter+5-digit LASL Identification Number was saved in the LASLID field and the corresponding 6-digit site number was manually added to the SITE field. Therefore, the LASLID field contains the Identification Number found in the LASL Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-145(79) report. The SITE field contains the corresponding LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers.
2. No LASL Identification Number translation key was found for the Estancia Valley Pilot Study or the Grants Special Study water samples. The 6-digit LASL Identification Number found in LASLID was also added to the SITE field. Therefore, the value found in the LASLID and SITE fields is same LASL Identification Number used to label the original field maps, field notes, and sample containers as well as the value published in the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) and Grants Special Study GJBX-351(81) reports.
3. Seven Estancia Valley Pilot Study water samples were apparently analyzed twice by different uranium methods. For each of these samples, the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) report contained two separate records. These records were each combined into a single record with both analyses preserved in different uranium analysis fields.

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).

Albuquerque Quadrangle Sediment Data - 3,958 records
Albuquerque Quadrangle Water Data - 652 records

Notes for Data Users

The data in the sediment database includes samples collected by 8 different methods with respect to sieve sizes. (See the SAMPTYP coding explanation in the On-Line Manual for USGS-Reformatted NURE HSSR Data Files for descriptions of different Sample Types.) Analytical data may not be directly comparable for sediment samples collected by different methods.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Albuquerque Quadrangle

Estancia Valley Pilot Survey
The additional data for the described water treatment and sediment sieving studies were not included in the Estancia Valley Pilot Study GJBX-21(77) report. These data have not been found in other NURE reports, either.

Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Albuquerque quadrangle by the U.S. Geological Survey [PGJ/F-016(82)]. An additional 245 rock, 560 stream-sediment, and 67 water samples were collected and analyzed as a part of this evaluation process. These analytical data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report.

Grants Uranium Mineral District Core Hole Study
The Bendix Field Engineering Corporation was involved in a detailed study of a sandstone-type uranium deposit in the San Juan Basin (Grants Uranium Mineral District) to characterize and understand the genesis of the deposit and to investigate methods for identifying mineral halos associated with similar deposits [GJBX-2(83)]. The text discusses the results of geochemical studies on 5-foot composite samples collected from 12 core holes. Although included tables give statistical summaries and figures show element distribution, none of the raw data for these samples were found or referenced in the text.

San Juan Basin Research Site Core Hole Study
A Global Geochemistry Corporation [GJBX-312(81)] report also describes some geochemical studies of core samples from the San Juan Basin Research Site. According to the press release, "Five hundred samples were analyzed for a suite of 23 trace and minor elements; 100 samples were analyzed for carbon-13/carbon-12 and oxygen-18/oxygen-16 on carbonates, carbon-13/carbon-12 on organic matter, sulfur-34/sulfur-32 on sulfur, total sulfur, and total organic and inorganic carbon." Some of these data are included in appendices accompanying the report.

North America and Africa Plutonic Rocks Special Study
The SRL in contract with the Department of Geology of the University of North Carolina conducted a special study to investigate the association of uranium deposits with granitic source or host rocks. The analytical results from 441 samples of 92 plutons were released in the North America and Africa Plutonic Rocks Special Study GJBX-221(82) report. See the North America and Africa Plutonic Rocks Special Study for the data and a more detailed description of this study. Plutons that were apparently sampled in the Albuquerque quadrangle include the Embudo (6 samples); North Sandia (4); South Sandia (5); and Manzanita (6).

Albuquerque Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

• Green, M.W., Byers, V.P., Condon, S.M., Huffman, A.C., Jr., Irwin, J.J., Kirk, A.R., Lupe, R.D., McDonnell, J.R., Pierson, C.T., Ridgley, J.L., Robertson, J.F., Robinson, K., Sikkink, P.G.L., Thaden, R.E., and Zech, R.S., 1982, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Albuquerque quadrangle, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., PGJ/F-016(82), 91 p.
• Haddad, R., Kaplan, I., Carlisle, D., de Lancey, K., and Guinn, V.P., 1981, Geochemical studies of cores from the San Juan Basin research site, Grants uranium region, New Mexico: U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-312(81), 159 p.
• Maassen, L.W., Bolivar, S.L., Ashley, W.H., Duchane, D.V., Minor, M.M., Gallimore, D.L., Hansel, J.M., Bunker, M.E., and Thomas, G.J., 1979, Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance of the Albuquerque NTMS quadrangle, New Mexico, including concentrations of forty-three additional elements: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-7508-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-145(79), 193 p.
• Olsen, C.E., 1977, Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment pilot survey of the Estancia Valley, Bernalillo, Santa Fe, San Miguel, and Torrance Counties, New Mexico: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-6650-MS Part 1, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-21(77), 117 p.
• Price, Van, Fay, W.M., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Neutron activation and other analytical data for plutonic rocks from North America and Africa: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-221(82), 47 p.
• Purson, J.D., George, W.E., Hansel, J.M., Garcia, S.R., Hensley, W.K., and Mills, C.F., 1981, Detailed uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data release for the Grants special study area, New Mexico, including concentrations of forty-three additional elements: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-8480-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-351(81), 311 p.
• Sayala, D., and Ward, D.L., 1983, Multidisciplinary studies of a uranium deposit in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico: U.S. Department of Energy, Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-2(83), 236 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

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Page written by Steven M. Smith (smsmith@usgs.gov)
Version 1.10: July 29, 1999
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