Ruby Quadrangle NURE HSSR Study

OFR 97-492: Ruby 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 693 sediment and 693 water samples were collected from 700 locations in the Ruby quadrangle as part of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Ruby Quadrangle NURE Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) study. Samples were collected during 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 Ruby quadrangle data release report. The data were sent to and released by the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation in Grand Junction, Colorado only as a microfiche GJBX-154(82) report. This report does not give any details on the sample collection or analytical methods used for these samples.

LASL sent the 693 water samples from the Ruby 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-290(81) report.

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

*Summary of Ruby quadrangle sample types.*
Sediment Sample Type	Number of Samples	Water Sample Type	Number of Samples
Wet Streams	283	Streams	277
Wet Lakes	410	Lakes	416
Total Sediments	693	Total Waters	693

These Ruby 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

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 693 reformatted sediment records from the GJBX-154(82) report and 693 reformatted water records from the GJBX-290(81) 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).

Ruby Quadrangle Sediment Data - 693 records
Ruby Quadrangle Water Data - 693 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 Ruby 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 Ruby 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, Medfra, Mount McKinley, and Ruby quadrangles where 22 sites were examined and 7 rock samples taken. A total of 3 of these sites were located within the Ruby quadrangle. Radiometric readings were taken at each site with results given for total counts per second, and 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.

Ruby 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.
Hardy, L.C., D'Andrea, R.F., Jr., Zinkl, R.J., Garcia, S.R., Hanks, D., George, W.E., and Bolivar, S.L., 1982, Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance of the Ruby NTMS quadrangle, Alaska: Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-154(82), 100 p.
Uranium Resource Evaluation Project, 1981, Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance basic data for Ruby quadrangle, Alaska: Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge, Tenn., K/UR-354, U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-290(81), 81 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_ruby.htm Questions or Assistance: USGS Web Contact Page Last Modified: Wed Dec 7 16:18 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)