Fairbanks Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Fairbanks 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.]

Totals of 1,435 sediment and 1,459 water samples were collected at 1,071 locations in the Fairbanks quadrangle using standardized field procedures developed by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) during May - September of 1977 as part of the Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) phase. LASL analyzed the samples for uranium and other elements (42 additional elements in sediments and 12 additional elements in waters), and released the data in the GJBX-74(79) report.

The following is a list of all sample types (including replicate samples) collected for the Fairbanks quadrangle study.

*Summary of Fairbanks quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	265	Streams	269
Dry Streams	18	Lakes	1,133
Wet Lakes	1,085	Artificial Ponds	6
Dry Lakes	10	Springs	51
Wet Artificial Ponds	6
Wet Springs	51
Total Sediments	1,435	Total Waters	1,459

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

Sediment Samples

LA1: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of sediments for U.
LA2: Los Alamos Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of sediments for Ag, Bi, Cd, Cu, Nb, Ni, Pb, Sn, and W.
LA4: Los Alamos Arc-Source Emission Spectrography Analysis of sediments for Be and Li.
LA5: Los Alamos Neutron Activation Analysis of sediments for Al, Au, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, V, Yb, and Zn.

Water Samples

LA6-FL: Los Alamos Fluorometry Analysis of waters for U.
LA7: Los Alamos Plasma-Source Emission Spectrography Analysis of waters for Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, and Zn.

Composition of the NEW-FORMAT NURE Data Files

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of reformatted records from the GJBX-74(79) report. Any problems found during the reformatting process are noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

Values for dissolved oxygen at 907 sample sites were added from the GJBX-74(79) report and can be found in the O_DISS 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 websites, 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).

Fairbanks Quadrangle Sediment Data - 1,435 records
Fairbanks Quadrangle Water Data - 1,459 records

Notes for Data Users

Water samples from this quadrangle are reported to have been acidified with nitric acid but NOT filtered in the field.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the Fairbanks Quadrangle

Totals of 1,042 rock samples and 287 sediment samples were collected by personnel of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Alaska Field Operations Center, Fairbanks, Alaska, "in conjunction with various projects in central and eastern Alaska" from portions of the Beaver, Bettles, Black River, Chandalar, Charley River, Circle, Eagle, Fairbanks, Fort Yukon, Livengood, Melozitna, Tanacross, Tanana, Teller, and Wiseman quadrangles. These samples were sent to LASL for analysis and the results were released by Bendix Field Engineering Corporation of Grand Junction, Colorado and the U.S. Bureau of Mines in the GJBX-178(81) report. Samples were analyzed for uranium by delayed neutron activation, for 12 elements by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, for Be and Li by arc-source emission spectrography, and for 30 elements by neutron activation. These data can only be found in tables in the summary report, and the sample locations can only be identified on the plates accompanying the report.

LASL compiled all of the regional HSSR data from Alaskan NURE studies and produced a report [GJBX-32(83)] that graphically displays the distribution of selected elements for most of the State. No additional geochemical data were released with this report.

Fairbanks Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Averett, W.R., and Barker, J., 1981, Report of analyses from mineral resource investigations in central and eastern Alaska: Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-178(81), 148 p.
Sharp, R.R., Jr., Aamodt, P.L., Hill, D.E., Mills, C.F., Stein, S.L., Ashley, W.H., Duchane, D.V., and Zelezny, W.F., 1979, Results of elemental analyses of water and waterborne sediment samples from the Fairbanks NTMS quadrangle, Alaska: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA- 7349-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-74(79), 218 p.
Weaver, T.A., Freeman, S.H., Broxton, D.E., Bolivar, S.L., and others, 1983, The geochemical atlas of Alaska: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., LA-9897-MS, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-32(83), 57 p.

Links Within Open-File Report 97-492

Back to Alaska NURE data
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning NURE HSSR Data
Home Page: USGS National Geochemical Database - NURE HSSR data

Page written by Andrew W. Holt and Steven M. Smith
Contact: Steven M. Smith (smsmith@usgs.gov)
Version 1.20: August 07, 2000
Version 1.30: September 11, 2001
Version 1.40: January 13, 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_ak/q_fairbk.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:17 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)