OFR 97-492: St. Cloud 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: St. Cloud Quadrangle
A total of 661 stream-sediment and 676 ground-water samples was collected, under contract with the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP), from the St. Cloud quadrangle. Stream sediments were collected by Union Carbide Corp. (Nuclear Division) personnel between July - September of 1978 and ground waters were collected by the Minnesota Geological Survey between June - August of 1978. These samples were analyzed by ORGDP for uranium and other elements and the analytical data were released as the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-55(79) report.

Summary Tables
The following is a list of sample types collected for the St. Cloud quadrangle study.

Summary of St. Cloud quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 534 Wells 676
Dry Streams 127    
Total Sediments 661 Total Waters 676

These St. Cloud quadrangle samples were analyzed by one or more of the following methods:

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for St. Cloud Quadrangle

The St. Cloud quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-55(79) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment Records

  1. Two sediment samples found in the digital data file were not listed in the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-55(79) report. This fact was noted in the REFORMAT comment field for each sample.
  2. Most sediment sample records from the St. Cloud quadrangle had values of 0.25 for HF_PPM and LA_PPM. These values are assumed to have been a systematic error in the original digital data files and were removed. A comment in the REFORMAT field identifies each record that was changed.
  3. Unlikely sample collection dates were found for three 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.
  4. One stream-sediment sample was collected at a longitude of exactly 96°W, the dividing line between the St. Cloud quadrangle and the Milbank quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-55(79) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the St. Cloud quadrangle.
  5. The latitude and longitude coordinates for 1 stream-sediment sample collected within the St. Cloud quadrangle were not found in the data during the reformatting process. The record for this sample cannot be retrieved on a geographical basis.

Water Records

  1. Most well sample records from the St. Cloud quadrangle had values of 0.25 for either HF_PPM and LA_PPM or for CE_PPM, HF_PPM, LA_PPM, and SN_PPM. These values are assumed to have been a systematic error in the original digital data files and were removed. A comment in the REFORMAT field identifies each record that was changed.
  2. One well-water sample was collected at a latitude of exactly 45°N, the dividing line between the St. Cloud quadrangle and the New Ulm quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-55(79) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the St. Cloud quadrangle.
  3. One well-water sample was collected at a latitude of exactly 46°N, the dividing line between the St. Cloud quadrangle and the Brainerd quadrangle. The coordinates for this sample were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-55(79) report. This slight change places the sample clearly in the St. Cloud quadrangle.

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).

St. Cloud Quadrangle Sediment Data - 660 records
St. Cloud Quadrangle Water Data - 676 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.) Latitude-longitude values are reported to the nearest second in field records on microfiche accompanying the GJBX-55(79) report.

One stream-sediment sample and one stream-water sample collected in the St. Cloud quadrangle were not analyzed by any method.


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the St. Cloud Quadrangle

St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE Summary
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the St. Cloud quadrangle by the Minnesota Geological Survey [PGJ/F-048(82)]. An additional 182 water samples were collected and analyzed for uranium and an additional 176 rocks and 79 soils were collected and analyzed for multiple elements. The analytical data were released only as appendices on microfiche accompanying the summary report.


St. Cloud Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Minnesota 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

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