Lovelock Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Lovelock 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)

This page is currently being rewritten to the Version 1.41 format.

Brief History and Description of Data

[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]

The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) was responsible for the collection and analysis of NURE samples from the Lovelock quadrangle. Contractors were hired to collect the reconnaissance samples. The University of Nevada collected ground water samples. Between February of 1976 and July of 1978, a total of 899 sediment samples (887 reconnaissance samples, and 12 analytical duplicate samples) and 146 water samples (129 reconnaissance samples and 17 analytical duplicate samples) were collected for the LLL Lovelock Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. LLL crews resampled 13 sediment sites (13 samples) as part of their quality assurance program during September of 1977 and July of 1978. The corresponding reconnaissance sample number was cross referenced to the original sample number. All of these samples were analyzed by LLL for uranium and several other elements and the analytical data were released in the LLL HSSR Lovelock quadrangle GJBX-90(79) report.

The following is a list of all sample types (including duplicates) collected in the Lovelock quadrangle and included in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files.

*Summary of Lovelock quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	123	Streams	33
Dry Streams	789	Wells	25
		Springs	88
Total Sediments	912	Total Waters	146

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

Sediment Samples

LL1-DN: Lawrence Livermore Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of sediments for U.
LL1-NA: Lawrence Livermore Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, Hg, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, V, W, Yb, and Zn.

Water Samples

LL2-DN: Lawrence Livermore Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of waters for U.
LL2-ES: Lawrence Livermore Optical Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of waters for Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mo, Na, P, Si, Ti, V, and Zn. (Note: Table 3, in the published report, gives analytical detection limits for this method and includes B, Co, K, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, U, and Zr but no data for these elements were found in the data files.)
LL2-TA: Lawrence Livermore Anion Optical Absorption (Technicon AutoAnalyzer) Analysis of waters for chloride and sulfate.

Composition of the NEW-FORMAT NURE Data Files

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of records from the LLL GJBX-90(79) report. The coordinate locations for quality-assurance samples were checked against the coordinates for the cross-referenced original sites and differences were noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

Unlike data from other laboratories, the original LLL sediment data files do not indicate when elemental concentrations fall below analytical determination limits. Other laboratories usually report these values as "less than the lower analytical determination limit" (represented by a negative number). Negative values were added to the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files during the reformatting process based upon the approximate lower limits of detection given in Table 2 of the GJBX-90(79) report.

The original LLL files also contained numerical estimates of the absolute error associated with each elemental concentration. These data were not included in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files but were placed into additional supplemental data files. The Absolute Error Extra Data Format is explained later in this document.

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 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).

Lovelock Quadrangle Sediment Data - 912 records
Lovelock Quadrangle Water Data - 146 records
Under Construction LLL Error Estimates Data for Sediment Analyses - lovelksx.dbf.gz
LLL Error Estimates Data for Water Analyses - lovelkwx.dbf.gz

Notes for Data Users

Users of past versions of the Lovelock quadrangle sediment database have had problems with LLL data because the fields were blank when the element concentration fell below the lower analytical determination limits. This absence of the lower end of the data population was responsible for skewing the data in statistical and contouring programs to levels that were higher than expected. As described above, the NEW-NURE FORMAT attempts to solve this problem by replacing those blanks with "less than" values based on reported lower determination limits.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Lovelock Quadrangle

In August - November of 1975 and March - April of 1976, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory conducted the Winnemucca Dry Lake Basin Pilot/Orientation Study in the Lovelock and Reno quadrangles. Results were reported in the GJBX-41(76) and GJBX-65(78) reports. Totals of 5 rock, 102 sediment, and 10 water samples were included in the earlier GJBX-41(76) report. Totals of 3 rock, 85 sediment, and 10 water samples were located in the Lovelock quadrangle. These samples were analyzed by neutron activation for uranium and other elements (22 additional elements in rocks and sediments, and 18 in waters). These data were only released as tables accompanying the report.

The second Winnemucca Dry Lake Basin study GJBX-65(78) report lists analytical results for totals of 8 rock, 194 sediment, and 12 water samples. Totals of 3 rock, 144 sediment, and 12 water samples were located in the Lovelock quadrangle. These data were only released as tables and on microfiche accompanying the report. Although this follow-up report contains results for more samples (uranium and 22 additional elements in rocks and sediments, and 14 additional elements in waters), the earlier GJBX-41(76) report has a few additional elements. Analytical values for some elements also differ between reports.

Between August and November of 1975 and in April of 1976, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory conducted the Smoke Creek Desert Basin Pilot/Orientation Study in the Lovelock and Susanville quadrangles. Results were reported in the GJBX-42(76) report. Totals of 12 rock, 72 sediment, and 27 water samples were collected for this study. Totals of 11 rock, 70 sediment, and 23 water samples were located in the Lovelock quadrangle. These samples were analyzed by neutron activation for uranium and other elements (22 additional elements in rocks and sediments, and 18 in waters). These data were only released as tables accompanying the report.

In 1982, Berge Exploration, Inc. of Denver, Colorado prepared a summary evaluation of the Lovelock quadrangle [PGJ/F-090(82)]. An additional 225 rock, 101 water, and 87 sediment samples and 1 drill cutting sample were collected "to evaluate the uranium potential of the Lovelock quadrangle." All of the samples were analyzed for uranium oxide. In addition, 47 rock samples were analyzed for eK, eU, and eTh, 11 were analyzed for 29 elements, and 118 underwent petrographic analyses. These data were released only as microfiche appendices that accompany the summary report.

Lovelock Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Berry, V.P., Bradley, M.T., and Nagy, P.A., 1982, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Lovelock Quadrangle, Nevada and California: Berge Exploration, Inc., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., PGJ/F-090(82), 31 p.
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, 1976, Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Survey, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Preliminary Report on the Smoke Creek Desert Basin Pilot Study, Nevada: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory UCID-16911-P-3, University of California, Livermore, Calif., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-42(76), 45 p.
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, 1976, Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Survey, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Preliminary Report on the Winnemucca Dry Lake Basin Pilot Study, Nevada: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory UCID-16911-P-2, University of California, Livermore, Calif., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-41(76), 45 p.
Puchlik, K.P., Holder, B.E., and Smith, C.F., 1978, Hydrogeochemical and stream-sediment reconnaissance raw data report, Winnemucca Dry Lake Basin Orientation Study, Nevada, National Uranium Resource Evaluation: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory UCID-17699, University of California, Livermore, Calif., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-65(78), 30 p.
Qualheim, B., 1979, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance report for the Lovelock NTMS quadrangle, Nevada: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory UCRL-52677, University of California, Livermore, Calif., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-90(79), 53 p.

LLL Estimates of Absolute Error Extra Data Format

Explanations are only included here for fields unique to these files. For the explanation of common fields consult the On-Line Manual for New-Format NURE HSSR Data Files. After each field name is a format code. A format code of (N) means that the field is formatted as an Numeric field.

U_DN_ERR (N)

A statistical estimate of measurement uncertainty associated with quantifying the corresponding uranium concentration determined by Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis. (expressed as a percentage of the uranium concentration found in field U_DN_PPM for sediment data or U_DN_PPB for water data in the NEW-NURE FORMAT data files).

EL_ERR (N)

(Where EL represents different element symbols.) A numerical estimate of the uncertainties associated with quantifying the corresponding elemental concentration determined by Neutron Activation Analysis. (expressed in the same concentration units as the element concentration found in the NEW-NURE FORMAT data files).

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Nevada NURE data
Back to California NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR Data
Home Page: USGS National Geochemical Database - NURE HSSR data

Page written by Andrew W. Holt 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 1.40: January 13, 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_lovelk.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:13 EDT 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)