Springfield Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Springfield 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.]

Missouri
Subcontractors for the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) collected at least 2,162 stream-sediment, 1,340 surface-water, and 3,423 ground-water samples within 30 counties from the southeast and southwest corners of Missouri as part of the NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program. The samples were collected during May - August, 1978, October - December, 1978, and May - June, 1979 and included portions of the Dyersburg, Harrison, Joplin, Paducah, Poplar Bluff, Rolla, St. Louis, Springfield, and Tulsa 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. (A total of 130 stream-sediment, 88 surface-water, and 196 ground-water samples were collected within the Springfield 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 1,669 sediments and 4,762 waters from Missouri; this includes 40 sediment and all 284 water samples from the Springfield quadrangle. The analytical and site location data for all Missouri samples were released in the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas Data Report [GJBX-104(82)].

SRL: Springfield Quadrangle
SRL did not release a separate report for the Springfield quadrangle.

ORGDP: Joplin, Rolla, and Springfield Quadrangles
SRL sent several Missouri sediment samples to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis of uranium and 31 additional elements. ORGDP released the analytical data for 462 samples in the Joplin, Rolla, and Springfield Quadrangles GJBX-73(82) Data Report. This report includes data for 106 sediment samples from the Springfield quadrangle. The site coding information for this data set was summarized in the GJBX-57(82) 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
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 Springfield quadrangle samples.

*Combination of laboratories that analyzed samples for the Springfield quadrangle.*
Laboratory Analysis	Sediments	Waters
Only SRL	8	284
Only ORGDP	74	0
Both SRL and ORGDP (2 records each)	32	0
None	16	0
Total Samples	130	284
Total Data Records	162	284

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

*Summary of Springfield quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	130	Streams	88
		Wells	192
		Springs	4
Total Sediments	130	Total Waters	284

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

Sediment Samples

SR1: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis - Neutron Counting of sediments for U.
SR2: Savannah River Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for Al, Ce, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Mn, Na, Sc, Sm, Th, Ti, V, and Yb. (Note: Au values were reported later for this method.)
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 Springfield Quadrangle

Sediment Records
The Springfield quadrangle sediment data consist of records from the Missouri portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas GJBX-104(82) Data Report combined with records from the ORGDP Joplin, Rolla, and Springfield Quadrangles GJBX-73(82) Data Report. 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 Springfield quadrangle sediment data:

The SRL and the ORGDP Laboratory each analyzed the same 32 stream-sediment samples from Missouri. Because of overlapping data fields, it was necessary to create two data records for each sample to preserve all the data.
The original ORGDP files for the Joplin, Rolla, and Springfield 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. The missing site descriptive data and the complete longitude value were added to ORGDP records from the corresponding SRL State file records. Sources of data and any problems found are described in the REFORMAT comment field.
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 Springfield quadrangle water data consist of reformatted records from the Missouri portion of the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas GJBX-104(82) Data Report. The following problems were found and addressed during the reformatting process of the Springfield quadrangle water data:

The original NURE format for surface-water files did not include much 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. This information is given in records for stream-sediment samples that were collected at the same locations. The available site descriptive information for stream-water sites were compared with the corresponding stream-sediment site records. The missing site descriptive data were then added to stream-water records from the corresponding stream-sediment sample records. Sources of data and any problems found are described in the REFORMAT comment 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).

Springfield Quadrangle Sediment Data - 162 records
Springfield Quadrangle Water Data - 284 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. Sample coverage in the Springfield quadrangle is limited to the Howell, Lawrence, Phelps, and Texas Counties. These counties are found only along the east edge and the southwest corner of the Springfield quadrangle. The laboratory and analytical methods used also may vary by county such that adjacent counties often have very different analytical coverages.

Sixteen sediment samples within the Springfield 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	Sample Media	Unanalyzed Samples	Total Samples
Missouri	Texas	Sediment	16	69

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Springfield Quadrangle

None found.

Springfield Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Fay, W.M., and Cook, J.R., 1982, Gold analyses by neutron activation from SRL NURE samples: E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, S.C., SRL Internal Doc. DPST-81-141-38, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-135(82), 45 p.
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.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1982, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Joplin, Springfield and Rolla quadrangles, Missouri; Kansas; Illinois: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-428, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-73(82), 46 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-57(82), 25 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Missouri 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 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.41: February 23, 2006

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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)