McCarthy Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: McCarthy 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 730 sediment and 766 water samples were collected from 808 locations in the McCarthy quadrangle as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) McCarthy Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Samples were collected between May and July of 1978. The sediment samples were analyzed by LASL for uranium and up to 43 additional elements, but LASL was unable to complete the McCarthy quadrangle data release report. The data was sent to and released by the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation in Grand Junction, Colorado only as a microfiche GJBX-382(81) report. This report does not give any details on the sample collection or analytical methods used on these samples.

LASL sent the 766 water samples from the McCarthy quadrangle to the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP) for analysis. These samples were analyzed for uranium and up to 27 additional elements and the results were released by ORGDP in the GJBX-226(81) report.

During the summer of 1975, the Alaska State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), conducted a uranium reconnaissance study within 13 Alaska quadrangles. Totals of 644 sediment and 601 water samples from 694 locations from this study were sent to LASL for analysis. LASL analyzed these samples for uranium and the analytical data were released in the GJBX-79(78) report. This report includes results for 63 sediment samples and 53 water samples collected from 68 locations within the McCarthy quadrangle.

The following is a list of NURE sample types collected for these studies in the McCarthy quadrangle.

*Summary of McCarthy quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams (< 100 mesh)	693	Streams	776
Wet Streams (< 80 mesh)	57	Lakes	43
Dry Streams (< 100 mesh)	13
Dry Streams (< 80 mesh)	6
Wet Lakes (< 100 mesh)	23
Wet Springs (< 100 mesh)	1
Total Sediments	793	Total Waters	819

These McCarthy 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.
LA3: Los Alamos Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of sediments for Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Cu, Nb, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, W and Zr.
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-DN: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of waters for U. (DGGS Reconnaissance Study Samples Only.)
OR9-FL: Oak Ridge Fluorescence Spectroscopy Analysis of waters for U.
OR9-MS: Oak Ridge Mass Spectrometry Analysis of waters for U.
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.)

Composition of the NEW-FORMAT NURE Data Files

The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of 730 reformatted sediment records from the GJBX-382(81) report, 766 reformatted water records from the GJBX-226(81) report, and 63 sediment records and 53 water record from the GJBX-79(78) report. Any changes in the data or problems found are 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 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).

McCarthy Quadrangle Sediment Data - 790 records
McCarthy Quadrangle Water Data - 816 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.

The ORGDP fluorometric procedure for uranium required each water sample to be centrifuged before taking an aliquot for analysis. It is not clear whether water samples analyzed by emission spectrometry were also centrifuged prior to analysis.

Values of 99999 are as reported in the GJBX publications and may reflect values above determination limits.

Other NURE Geochemical Data for the McCarthy Quadrangle

Some of the reconnaissance survey data given in the LASL GJBX-79(78) report were previously published by the Alaska State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) in the GJBX-28(77) Part 1 report. In order "to aid in determining the uranium potential of the state," DGGS conducted a "reconnaissance program in west-central Alaska and in the Copper River Basin-Chitina River Valley" that included parts of the McCarthy quadrangle. In GJBX-28(77) Part 1, DGGS reports tabulated analytical results for 916 stream-sediment samples, 427 bedrock samples, and 565 water samples that were collected for the study. The stream-sediment and bedrock samples were analyzed for U by LASL and Resource Associates of Alaska (RAA), and for Th and potassium-oxide by DGGS using undetermined methods. The water samples were analyzed for U by LASL using a neutron counting method. This earlier report contains more samples and additional analyses that were not included in the later LASL GJBX-79(78) report. In addition, the sample identifier numbers were changed between publications. These data are only found in tabulated appendices within the GJBX-28(77) Part 1 report. The results that were published in the later GJBX-79(78) LASL report can be found in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files as noted above.

Part 2 of the same DGGS reconnaissance survey report also includes the U, Th, and potassium-oxide values for 119 of the rock samples described above. These data appear to be the same as the values given in Part 1. In addition, Part 2 tabulates results of modal analyses for 109 of the rock samples. These data can be found in the appendices to the GJBX-28(77) Part 2 DGGS 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.

McCarthy Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Eakins, G.R., 1977, Part 1 - Reconnaissance Program, West-central Alaska and Copper River Basin: in Investigation of Alaska's Uranium Potential: Alaska State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, College, Alaska, GJO-1639, U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-28(77), p. 1-E40.
Jones, B.K., and Forbes, R.B., 1977, Part 2 - Uranium and thorium in granitic and alkaline rocks in western Alaska: in Investigation of Alaska's Uranium Potential: Alaska State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, College, Alaska, GJO-1639, U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-28(77), p. 2-1 - 2-66.
Sharp, R.R., Jr., and Hill, D.W., 1978, Uranium Concentrations in Stream Waters and Sediments from Selected Sites in the Eastern Seward Peninsula, Koyukuk, and Charley River Areas, and across South-Central Alaska: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-6649-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-79(78), 39 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for McCarthy quadrangle, Alaska: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-326, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-226(81), 84 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.
Zinkl, R.J., Shettel, D.L., Jr., Langfeldt, S.L., Hardy, L.C., D'Andrea, R.F., Jr., Hensley, W.K., Thomas, G.J., Martell, C.J., and Maassen, L.W., 1981, Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance of the McCarthy NTMS quadrangle, Alaska: Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-382(81), 89 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 1.10: July 29, 1999
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_mccart.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:17 EDT 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)