OFR 97-492: Hattiesburg 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.]

Mississippi
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 814 ground-water samples within 14 counties of southwest central Mississippi as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sampling effort was completed between August, 1978 and January, 1979 and included portions of the Hattiesburg, Jackson, Meridian, and Natchez 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (128 of these water samples were collected within the Hattiesburg quadrangle.) These samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and 16 additional elements. SRL was able to analyze all 814 Mississippi water samples. The analytical and site location data for all Mississippi water samples were released as a separate file in the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas Data Report [GJBX-104(82)].

Alabama
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 4,499 stream-sediment, 1,486 surface-water, and 6,204 ground-water samples within 53 counties from the northern two-thirds of Alabama as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The sediment samples were collected during June - December, 1976 and March 1978 - January 1979, and water samples were collected during January - September, 1977 and December 1977 - March 1979. Sample coverage included portions of the Andalusia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Blytheville, Dothan, Gadsden, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Montgomery, Phenix City, Rome, Tupelo, and West Point 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (A total of 27 stream-sediment and 100 ground-water samples were collected within the Hattiesburg quadrangle.) These samples were sent to SRL for analysis of uranium and additional elements (16 in sediments and 9 in waters). SRL was able to analyze 4,489 sediments and 7,677 waters from Alabama; this includes all 27 sediment and all 100 water samples from the Hattiesburg quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all Alabama samples were released in the Alabama and Georgia Data Report [GJBX-403(81)].

SRL sent 1,476 sediment samples from Alabama to an unnamed contract laboratory for "Supplemental Analyses." Supplemental analytical determinations for up to 23 elements were reported for 1,471 of these samples in the Alabama and Georgia Data Report [GJBX-403(81)]. The digital data file accompanying this report does not include Supplemental Analyses for any Alabama sediment samples within the Hattiesburg quadrangle.

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. (No samples were collected within the small Louisiana portion of the Hattiesburg 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. 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: Montgomery, Meridian, Hattiesburg, and Andalusia Quadrangles
Occasionally, SRL released abbreviated reports for quadrangles under their responsibility. These reports include neutron activation analyses done at SRL. SRL released an abbreviated report for the Montgomery and parts of the Meridian, Hattiesburg, and Andalusia quadrangles [GJBX-190(81)]. Data tables with analyses are included within the microfiche accompanying this report. Data found in this report appear to be the same data as that found in the state digital data files. No digital data files accompany this 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
The following is a list of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Hattiesburg quadrangle.

Summary of Hattiesburg quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 27 Wells 219
    Springs 9
Total Sediments 27 Total Waters 228

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples



Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Hattiesburg Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Hattiesburg quadrangle sediment data consist of reformatted records records from the Alabama portion of the Alabama and Georgia [GJBX-403(81)] Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Hattiesburg quadrangle sediment data:

  1. During reformatting, contamination codes for "residential" and "recreation" were found to be missing from each State's CONTAMC field. The presence of one of these two codes was indicated only by a "." (period). The missing codes were assigned a value of "unknown" in the CONTAMC field within the final sediment data file.
  2. Gold concentrations from the GJBX-135(82) report were added to the appropriate sediment records. A value of -0.01 (<0.01 ppm Au) was added to all other sediment samples determined to have been analyzed by SRL neutron activation. This value was chosen because 0.01 is the lowest reported gold concentration in the entire report.

Water Records
The Hattiesburg quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Alabama portion of the Alabama and Georgia [GJBX-403(81)] Data Report plus reformatted records from the Mississippi portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas [GJBX-104(82)] Data Report. No problems were found during the reformatting stages for the Hattiesburg quadrangle water data.



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).

Hattiesburg Quadrangle Sediment Data - 27 records
Hattiesburg Quadrangle Water Data - 228 records



Notes for Data Users

In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county. Often, not all counties within a quadrangle were completely sampled. Sediment sample coverage in the Hattiesburg quadrangle is limited to Choctaw County, Alabama. Hattiesburg quadrangle water samples were collected from Choctaw County in Alabama and from Jefferson Davis, Marion, Simpson, and Walthall Counties in Mississippi. The Alabama county is found in the northeast corner of the quadrangle. The Mississippi counties are found only along the western border of the Hattiesburg quadrangle. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county such that adjacent counties often have very different analytical coverages.



Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Hattiesburg Quadrangle

None found.



Hattiesburg Quadrangle NURE Bibliography



Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Mississippi NURE data
Back to Alabama NURE data
Back to Louisiana NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE 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 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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