Natchez Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Natchez 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. (A total of 653 water samples were collected within the Natchez 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)].

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. (A total of 78 stream-sediment samples were collected within the Natchez 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; none of the SRL Louisiana samples from the Natchez quadrangle were analyzed. 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: Natchez Quadrangle
SRL did not release a separate report for the Natchez quadrangle.

ORGDP: Alexandria, Natchez, and Palestine Quadrangles
SRL sent several Texas and Louisiana sediment samples to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 861 samples in the Alexandria, Natchez, and Palestine Quadrangles GJBX-67(82) Data Report. This report includes data for 68 sediment samples from the Natchez quadrangle. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-51(82) report.

Summary Tables
Because of the various laboratories and analytical methods used, some SRL samples may have been analyzed once, twice, or not at all. The following table summarizes the analysis of Natchez quadrangle samples.

*Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Natchez quadrangle.*
Laboratory Analysis	Sediments	Waters
Only SRL	0	653
Only ORGDP	68	0
Both SRL and ORGDP	0	0
None	10	0
Total Samples	78	653
Total Data Records	78	653

The following is a list of all sample types collected and reported for NURE studies in the Natchez quadrangle.

*Summary of Natchez quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	78	Wells	624
		Springs	29
Total Sediments	78	Total Waters	653

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

Sediment Samples

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.

Water Samples

SR4: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis - Neutron Counting of waters for U.
SR5: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of waters for Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mn, Na, and V. (Note: Mg may also be reported by this method.)

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Natchez Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Natchez quadrangle sediment data consist of records from the Louisiana portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas GJBX-104(82) Data Report combined with records from the ORGDP Palestine, Alexandria, and Natchez Quadrangles GJBX-67(82) Data Report. When combining sample records, site descriptive information and coordinates were compared for all corresponding records. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Natchez quadrangle sediment data:

The original ORGDP file for the Palestine, Alexandria, and Natchez quadrangles did not include all of the information about the character of the sample location. This missing information includes observations taken at each site on the stream width, depth, and flow, water color, surrounding vegetation, local relief, weather, and possible contaminants. In addition, the longitude coordinate reported in the ORGDP file only had 3 decimal places instead of the 4 decimal places found in the corresponding records from SRL State files. When combining corresponding SRL and ORGDP records, all of the site descriptive data and the longitude values to 4 decimal places from the SRL data files were preserved in the final database.

Water Records
The Natchez quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Mississippi portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas GJBX-104(82) Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for the Natchez quadrangle water data:

Unlikely sample collection dates were found for two 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.
The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 ground-water sample collected within Lawrence County, Mississippi were not found in the data during the reformatting process. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

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).

Natchez Quadrangle Sediment Data - 78 records
Natchez Quadrangle Water Data - 652 records

Notes for Data Users

In the eastern United States, SRL collected samples primarily by county or parish. Often, not all counties or parishes within a quadrangle were completely sampled. Sediment sample coverage in the Natchez quadrangle is limited to Louisiana and includes samples from Avoyelles, Concordia, Catahoula, Franklin, and Tensas Parishes. Water sample coverage in the Natchez quadrangle is limited to Mississippi and includes samples from Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Pike, Simpson, Walthall, and Wilkinson Counties. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary such that adjacent counties or parishes often have very different analytical coverages.

Ten sediment samples within the Natchez quadrangle were not analyzed by any of the various laboratories. The following table summarizes the locations of those unanalyzed samples.

*General locations of unanalyzed samples.*
State	County or Parish	Sample Media	Unanalyzed Samples	Total Samples
Louisiana	Concordia	Sediment	2	13
Louisiana	Catahoula	Sediment	4	39
Louisiana	Tensas	Sediment	4	19

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Natchez Quadrangle

Central Louisiana Orientation Study
An orientation study of central Louisiana, including parts of the Alexandria and Natchez quadrangles, was conducted by SRL (GJBX-198(82)) in La Salle and Catahoula Parishes. Analyses for 200 stream sediment, 200 stream water, and 200 ground water samples are given in tables within the report. The water samples were analyzed by neutron activation analysis for U, Al, Br, Cl, Dy, F, Mg, Mn, Na, and V. Sediment samples were analyzed by neutron activation analysis for U, Th, Hf, Ce, Fe, Mn, Sc, Ti, V, Al, Dy, Eu, La, Sm, Yb, and Lu.

Natchez Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Fay, W.M., Sargent, K.A., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Data report: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-146-24, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-104(82), 37 p.
Steele, K.F., and Fay, W.M., 1982, Orientation study of central Louisiana: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-141-27, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-198(82), 81 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Palestine, Alexandria, and Natchez quadrangles, Texas; Louisiana; Mississippi: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-422, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-67(82), 81 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Supplement to hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data reports K/UR-405 and K/UR-408 through K/UR-443 [GJBX-52(82) through GJBX-88(82)]: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-412, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-51(82), 25 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Mississippi NURE data
Back to Louisiana 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 1.20: 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_natchz.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:14 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)