Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Rice Lake 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.]

ORGDP: Rice Lake Quadrangle
A total of 541 stream-sediment, 518 ground-water, and 533 surface-water samples was collected from the Rice Lake quadrangle as part of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Samples were collected between August and November of 1977 by Uranium Resource Evaluation Project personnel of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. These samples were analyzed by the ORGDP for uranium and other elements. The analytical data were released as the Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-95(78) report.

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

*Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Rice Lake quadrangle.*
Laboratory Analysis	Sediments	Waters
ORGDP	540	1,051
Second ORGDP Analysis	527	0
None	1	0
Total Samples	541	1,051
Total Data Records	1,068	1,051

The following is a listing of the sample types collected for the Rice Lake quadrangle study.

*Summary of Rice Lake quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	528	Streams	533
Dry Streams	12	Wells	513
Other	1	Springs	5
Total Sediments	541	Total Waters	1,051

These Rice Lake 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.
OR4: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, B, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Mo, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Pt, Sc, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.
OR5: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Sc, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr (Only 6 samples were analyzed by this method).
OR6: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of sediments for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, 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-MS: Oak Ridge Mass Spectrometry Analysis of waters for U.
OR11: Oak Ridge Emission Spectrochemical Analysis of waters for Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Sc, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr.
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.)
OR15: Oak Ridge Anion Optical Absorption (Technicon AutoAnalyzer) Analysis of waters for Sulfate only.
OR17: Oak Ridge Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for As and Se.

Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Rice Lake Quadrangle

The Rice Lake quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-95(78) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

There were 527 sediment samples that were apparently analyzed twice by slightly different multielement methods. To avoid losing data for elements analyzed by both methods, these samples are each represented by two records in the sediment data.
One sediment sample found in the digital data file was not listed in the Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-95(78) report. This fact was noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

Water Records

One well-water sample was found with an undefined value for WLDIST_M (Distance from well). This value was removed and 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).

Rice Lake Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,068 records
Rice Lake Quadrangle Water Data - 1,051 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 +/- 259 feet (79 m) to +/- 235 feet (72 m) for longitude values (calculated at latitudes of 45° and 50°N, respectively.)

One unusual sediment sample (identified as 'other sediment') collected in the Rice Lake quadrangle was not analyzed by any method.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Rice Lake Quadrangle

Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE Summary
An additional evaluation of the Rice Lake quadrangle was conducted by Derry, Michener & Booth under subcontract to Bendix Field Engineering Corporation [GJQ-006(81)]. As part of this study, 62 rock, 38 soil, 796 stream sediment, 196 lake sediment, and 202 ground water samples were collected within the Rice Lake quadrangle. All samples were analyzed for U by fluorometry; rock samples were also analyzed for As, Cu, Se, and V; and lake samples were additionally analyzed for As, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, V, and Zn. These data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report. The results of this survey suggest that there are two areas, one north and one south, that are favorable for unconformity-related uranium deposits. This is based on empirical lithologic and structural recognition criteria. No uranium occurrences were found within the quad and none have been reported in previous literature.

Rice Lake Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Routledge, R.E., Parish, I.S., and Leigh, O.E., 1981, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Rice Lake quadrangle, Wisconsin: Derry, Michener & Booth, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJQ-006(81), 71 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1978, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Rice Lake NTMS quadrangle, Wisconsin: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-104, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-95(78), 145 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Wisconsin 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 1.10: July 29, 1999
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_ricelk.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:14 EST 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)