Medfra Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Medfra 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 662 sediment and 696 water samples were collected at 700 locations during August of 1977 in the Medfra quadrangle as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) 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-30(79) report.

The following is a list of sample types collected for the Medfra quadrangle study.

*Summary of Medfra quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	230	Streams	232
Dry Streams	1	Lakes	464
Wet Lakes	430
Dry Lakes	1
Total Sediments	662	Total Waters	696

These Medfra 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-DN: Los Alamos Delayed-Neutron Counting Analysis of waters for U.
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-30(79) report. Any problems found during the reformatting process are noted in the REFORMAT comment field.

Values for dissolved oxygen in 485 samples were added from the GJBX-30(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).

Medfra Quadrangle Sediment Data - 662 records
Medfra Quadrangle Water Data - 696 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 Medfra Quadrangle

Personnel from the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation (BFEC) and the Department of Energy investigated uranium and thorium anomalies that had been detected by aerial gamma-spectrometer surveys of the Medfra quadrangle. The summary report for this investigation was included in the GJBX-222(82) publication compiled by BFEC. The study included areas within Kantishna River, Mount McKinley, Medfra, and Ruby quadrangles where 22 sites were examined and 7 rock samples taken. A total of 11 of these sites were located within the Medfra quadrangle. Radiometric readings were taken at each site with results given for total counts per second, and for eU, eK, and eTh at 9 of the sites. Rock samples were taken from 3 of the sites. These were analyzed by fluorometry for uranium oxide, underwent whole rock chemistry for major element oxides, and underwent closed-can gamma-spectroscopy for eU, eK, and eTh. The results for these analyses can be found only in tables within the published 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.

Medfra Quadrangle NURE Bibliography

Gridley, W.A., Anderson, J.R., and Farley, W.G., 1982, Evaluation of radioactivity anomalies in the Sischu Creek Area, central Alaska, in Goodknight, C.S., and Burger, J.A., compilers, Reports on Investigations of Uranium Anomalies: U.S. Department of Energy, Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-222(82), p. 17-28.
Van Eeckhout, E.M., Warren, R.G., and Hill, D.E., 1979, Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance of the Medfra and Mt. McKinley NTMS quadrangles, Alaska, including concentrations of forty-three additional elements: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-7351-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-30(79), 210 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 1.10: 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_medfra.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)