OFR 97-492: Watertown 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: Watertown Quadrangle
A total of 603 stream-sediment and 710 ground-water samples was collected, under contract with the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP), from the Watertown quadrangle. The South Dakota Geological Survey collected water and sediment samples in South Dakota during May - June 1978 and September 1979, respectively. The Minnesota ground waters were collected by the Minnesota Geologic Survey in March and June of 1978 while the stream sediments were collected by BCI Geonetics, Inc. during August - September of 1979. These samples were analyzed by ORGDP for uranium and other elements and the analytical data were released as the Watertown Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study GJBX-219(81) report.

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

Summary of Watertown quadrangle sample types.
Sediment Sample Type Number of Samples Water Sample Type Number of Samples
Wet Streams 263 Wells 710
Dry Streams 340    
Total Sediments 603 Total Waters 710

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

Sediment Samples

Water Samples


Discussion of the Reformatting Process for Watertown Quadrangle

The Watertown quadrangle sediment and water data consist of reformatted records from the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report. The following problems were found and addressed during the comparison and reformatting stages for these data:

Sediment 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.
  2. Three stream-sediment samples originally had a latitude value of exactly 44°N, the dividing line between the Watertown quadrangle and the Sioux Falls quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report. This slight change places these samples clearly in the Watertown quadrangle.
  3. Five stream-sediment samples originally had a longitude value of exactly 96°W, the dividing line between the Watertown quadrangle and the New Ulm quadrangle. The coordinates for these samples were changed slightly to values found in tables on microfiche within the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report. This slight change places these samples clearly in the Watertown quadrangle.
  4. Several values for hafnium (HF_PPM) and lead (PB_PPM) in the digital file were below the given limits of detection. These values were changed to a consistent valued found in the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report. The original values were listed in the REFORMAT comment 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.
  2. The record for one well-water sample was missing in the digital data but was partially recorded in the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report. A similar record for this same sample was also found in the report for the adjacent New Ulm quadrangle. The two records were compared and combined. The coordinates for this sample plot slightly within the New Ulm quadrangle and so the record was given a QUAD value of 'New Ulm'.
  3. Four separate well-water samples have the same two latitude-longitude coordinates. It is unclear whether this represents two pairs of samples collected at the same sites or samples collected at separate sites so close together that the coordinate precision was insufficient to distinguish.
  4. Several unusual analytical values were noted in the digital water data from Watertown. These values were checked with published analytical tables in the Watertown Quadrangle NURE HSSR study GJBX-219(81) report and either confirmed or changed. Comments in the REFORMAT field record this confirmation or the original values for changed fields.
  5. One analytical result in the digital data files had a value of 99999. This value was confirmed in the published quadrangle report. It is not clear if this value is a valid value, a null value, or a value indicating that the analytical result was greater than the upper limit of determination. This value was left in the data record and noted 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).

Watertown Quadrangle Sediment Data - 603 records
Watertown Quadrangle Water Data - 710 records


Notes for Data Users

The original Watertown data file had several errors that were found during the reformatting process. It appears as if this data file was an earlier version of the one used to produce the GJBX-219(81) report. When found, errors were corrected using data from the published report. Note: Every value in the data files was NOT checked against those in the report.

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.) Latitude-longitude values are reported to the nearest second on field records on microfiche accompanying the GJBX-219(81) report.


Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Watertown Quadrangle

None found.


Watertown Quadrangle NURE Bibliography


Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to South Dakota NURE data
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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