USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

About USGS /  Science Topics /  Maps, Products & Publications /  Education / Publication: FAQ

ORGDP: O'Neill Quadrangle
A total of 292 stream-sediment and 23 well-water samples was collected from the O'Neill quadrangle by contractors for the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP). Sediment and water samples were collected from the South Dakota portion of the quadrangle by the South Dakota Geological Survey during October and November of 1979 and sediment samples only were collected in the Nebraska portion of the O'Neill quadrangle by BCI Geonetics Inc. during September of 1979. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the O'Neill Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-307(81) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of sample types collected for the O'Neill quadrangle study.

These O'Neill 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).

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for O'Neill Quadrangle

The O'Neill quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the O'Neill Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-307(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

1. 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.

Water Records

1. An unlikely sample collection date was found for one sample. This date was removed from the SAMPDAT field and the original SAMPDAT value with the most likely correct value was added as a comment to the REFORMAT field.

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).

O'Neill Quadrangle Sediment Data - 292 records
O'Neill Quadrangle Water Data - 23 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 O'Neill Quadrangle

None found.

O'Neill Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

• Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for O'Neill NTMS quadrangle, South Dakota; Nebraska: Union Carbide Corporation, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-159, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-307(81), 123 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Nebraska NURE data
Back to South Dakota 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 1.10: July 29, 1999
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/quad/q_oneill.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:14 EST 2016