OFR 97-492: Dillon Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study
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[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]
During the spring (April - July) and fall (October) of 1976, a total of 1,999 sediment and 1,674 water samples were collected from 1,046 locations over parts of the Butte, Dillon, and White Sulphur Springs quadrangles in western Montana for the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Boulder Batholith Pilot Study. Within the Dillon quadrangle, 553 sediments (various fractions of spring and stream sediment samples) and 464 waters (various treatments of spring, stream, and pond water samples) were collected. The samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium content and the data were released in the GJBX-56(78) report.
The Boulder Batholith pilot study had several objectives:
According to the GJBX-56(78) report:
The results of this study show that, at least in this area, treatments such as filtration and acidification made very little difference in the amount of uranium measured in the waters. Changes in mean pH, specific conductance, and uranium values in waters taken in the spring sampling period and the fall sampling period were surprisingly small in this area. No definite correlation between the pH and uranium content was apparent; however, the range of measured pH values in this area was quite narrow. A distinct correlation between high uranium and high specific conductance was shown by the data. The analyses of sediment sieved to four size fractions indicated that the -100 mesh and -230 mesh fractions generally contained the highest mean uranium contents. Finally, it was shown that in this area the standard LASL HSSR methods were quite effective in delineating areas where uranium mineralization is known to occur.
Totals of 1,933 sediment and 1,240 water samples were collected from the Montana portions of Dillon, Dubois, and Elk City quadrangles between August and October, 1976 as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Southwestern Montana NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. In the Dillon quadrangle, 1,264 sediment and 822 water samples were collected as part of this study. These samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium and the analytical data were released in the GJBX-28(78) report.
Because of the NURE programmatic change in 1977 from states and study areas to quadrangle studies, LASL was given responsibility for the remainder of the Dillon, Dubois, and Elk City quadrangles. In June of 1979, an additional 203 sediment and 166 water samples were collected from the Idaho portion of the Dillon quadrangle to complete the (LASL) Dillon Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. These Idaho samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium and up to 43 additional elements. Apparently at this time, many of the Dillon quadrangle samples collected earlier from Montana studies (265 sediments and 162 waters from the Boulder Batholith Study plus 1,253 sediments and 820 waters from the SW Montana Study) were also reanalyzed by the same multielement methods. These data were released in the GJBX-38(79) Dillon quadrangle report.
The following is a general listing of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Dillon quadrangle. (Note that because of the multiple samples collected at some sites for the Boulder Batholith Study, the actual number of sample sites will be slightly less than the numbers given here.)
| Sediment Sample Type | Number of Samples | Water Sample Type | Number of Samples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet Streams | 1,156 | Streams | 1,307 |
| Dry Streams | 726 | Wells | 16 |
| Wet Springs | 131 | Springs | 128 |
| Dry Springs | 7 | Natural Ponds | 1 |
| Total Sediments | 2,020 | Total Waters | 1,452 |
These Dillon quadrangle samples were analyzed by one or more of the following methods:
Sediment Samples
Water Samples
The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of records from the GJBX-56(78) report of the pilot study plus the records from the GJBX-28(78) report of the southwest Montana study combined with records from the GJBX-38(79) Dillon quadrangle report. In total, the reformatted sediment data contain 2,020 records; 288 Pilot study samples and 11 SW Montana study samples analyzed only for uranium plus 265 Pilot study samples, 1,253 SW Montana study samples and 203 Idaho samples used in the quadrangle study and analyzed for uranium and up to 43 additional elements. The reformatted water data contain 1,452 records; 302 Pilot study samples and 2 SW Montana study samples analyzed only for uranium plus 162 Pilot study samples, 820 SW Montana study samples and 166 Idaho samples used in the quadrangle study and analyzed for uranium and up to 12 additional elements. These different groups of records can be distinguished in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files by using the TAPEFILE and STUDY fields.
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 websites, 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).
Dillon Quadrangle Sediment Data - 2,020 records
Dillon Quadrangle Water Data - 1,452 records
The data in the water database includes samples collected by several different methods with respect to filtering and acidification and the data in the sediment database includes samples collected by sieving to multiple sieve fractions (See the SAMPTYP coding explanation in the On-Line Manual for New-Format NURE HSSR Data Files for descriptions of different Sample Types). Analytical data may not be directly comparable for water samples collected by different methods or sediments with different sieve fractions.
When Dillon quadrangle data are combined with other quadrangles for regional studies, it has been the experience of previous users that the water SAMPTYP's 06, 07 and 08 and the sediment SAMPTYP's 11, 12, and 15 are the most useful and ubiquitous sample media in this quadrangle.
Previous users of the Dillon quadrangle water database have noted that the pH values are distinctly different between the samples collected in 1976 from Montana and those collected in 1979 from Idaho.
An additional 353 surface-water, 328 ground-water, 112 rock, and 382 stream-sediment samples were collected and analyzed for a summary report on the Dillon quadrangle released by Geoexplorers, Inc. of Denver, Colorado [GJQ-007(81)]. Forty-three uranium anomalies are also investigated in the summary report. The multielement analytical data for the additional samples and uranium anomaly investigations were released only as microfiche appendices to the summary report.
Back to Montana NURE data
Back to Idaho 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 1.00: September 11, 1998
Version 1.10: July 29, 1999
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.40: January 13, 2006
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