Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Broken Bow 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: Broken Bow Quadrangle
A total of 442 stream-sediment and 578 well-water samples was collected from the Broken Bow quadrangle for the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP). Ground-water samples were collected between May and September of 1978 and sediment samples were collected in September of 1979. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-274(81) report.

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

*Summary of Broken Bow quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	100	Wells	578
Dry Streams	342
Total Sediments	442	Total Waters	578

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

Sediment Samples

OR1: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of sediments for U.
OR2: Oak Ridge Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for U.
OR7: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Sc, Sr, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.
OR8: Oak Ridge Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of sediments for As and Se.

Water Samples

OR9-FL: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for U.
OR13: 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.)
OR16: Oak Ridge Anion Optical Absorption (Technicon AutoAnalyzer) Analysis of waters for Cl and Sulfate.
OR17: Oak Ridge Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for As and Se.
OR-NO3: Oak Ridge Analysis of waters for Nitrate (ORGDP Lab Procedure 11).
OR-PO4: Oak Ridge Analysis of waters for Phosphate (ORGDP Lab Procedure 10).

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Broken Bow Quadrangle

The Broken Bow quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-274(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

Two sample records were missing values for sample type (SAMPTYP). These values were found and added from corresponding records listed in tables within the Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-274(81) report.

Water Records

Unlikely sample collection dates were found for six 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.
One well-water sample originally had a latitude of exactly 41°N, the dividing line between the Broken Bow quadrangle and the Grand Island quadrangle. Similar records for this one sample were reported in published reports for both quadrangles. The coordinates were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-274(81) report. This slight change places the sample slightly into the Broken Bow quadrangle.

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).

Broken Bow Quadrangle Sediment Data - 442 records
Broken Bow Quadrangle Water Data - 578 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.

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 +/- 280 feet (85 m) to +/- 259 feet (79 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 40° and 45°N, respectively.)

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Broken Bow Quadrangle

None found.

Broken Bow Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Broken Bow NTMS quadrangle, Nebraska: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-154, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-274(81), 87 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Nebraska 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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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/quad/q_brokbw.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:11 EST 2016

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)