[See History of NURE HSSR Program for a summary of the entire program.]
Totals of 554 sediment and 582 water samples were collected at 600 locations, using standardized field procedures developed by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), within the Mount McKinley quadrangle during July and August 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-30(79) report.
During the HSSR sampling effort for the adjacent Healy quadrangle, one sediment and one water sample was collected from a lake site that was actually located within the Mount McKinley quadrangle. These 2 Healy HSSR samples are included in the descriptions and data files given below.
The following is a list of sample types collected for the Mount McKinley quadrangle study.
| Sediment Sample Type | Number of Samples | Water Sample Type | Number of Samples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet Streams | 95 | Streams | 97 |
| Dry Streams | 9 | Lakes | 486 |
| Wet Lakes | 445 | ||
| Dry Lakes | 6 | ||
| Total Sediments | 555 | Total Waters | 583 |
These Mount McKinley quadrangle samples were analyzed by one or more of the following methods:
Sediment Samples
Water Samples
The data in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files consist of reformatted records from the GJBX-30(79) report plus the aforementioned sediment and water samples collected at a single lake site during the Healy quadrangle HSSR sample collection phase. Any problems found during the reformatting process are noted in the REFORMAT comment field.
Values for dissolved oxygen in 466 samples were added from the GJBX-30(79) report and can be found in the O_DISS field.
The data files are in dBase IV .dbf format. A complete description of the data fields and coding schemes is available online - On-Line Manual for New-Format NURE HSSR Data Files. The data are transferred as gzip .gz compressed files. Simply activate the links below to download the data files. Use gunzip or popular commercial and shareware decompression programs to expand the .gz files. Additional information and executable versions of gzip and gunzip for various systems are available on the gzip home page. If you experience trouble downloading files, try pressing the shift key when clicking (Netscape for Windows), or right-clicking (Internet Explorer for Windows), or pressing the option key when clicking (Netscape and Internet Explorer for Macintosh).
Mount McKinley Quadrangle Sediment Data - mtmckn_s.dbf.gz
(91 Kb compressed / 1.4 Mb uncompressed)
Mount McKinley Quadrangle Water Data - mtmckn_w.dbf.gz
(48 Kb compressed / 1.4 Mb uncompressed)
Water samples from this quadrangle are reported to have been acidified with nitric acid but NOT filtered in the field.
A summary evaluation report was prepared for the Mount McKinley quadrangle by C.C. Hawley and Associates of Anchorage, Alaska [PGJ/F-054(82)]. Additional samples of 539 stream sediments, 378 rocks, 8 waters, and 5 soils were collected in the quadrangle to "identify geologic environments favorable for the occurrence of uranium deposits." All of the stream sediment and rock samples were analyzed for uranium oxide by fluorometry; 24 of the stream sediment samples and 38 of the rock samples were analyzed for 29 additional elements by semi-quantitative emission spectrography, and 12 of the rock samples also underwent gamma spectrometry for eK, eU, and eTh. The water samples were analyzed for uranium oxide and 5 other constituents, and the soil samples for uranium oxide by unspecified methods. These data were released only as microfiche appendices accompanying the summary report.
Three statistical analyses of HSSR data that were performed by personnel from LASL and Bendix Field Engineering Corporation of Grand Junction, Colorado were published in the GJBX-138(82) report. The study was conducted within parts of the Mount McKinley, Talkeetna, and Tyonek quadrangles. The first GJBX-138(82) study was based on 683 LASL stream and lake sediment samples from all three quadrangles and included samples from the GJBX-30(79) Mount McKinley quadrangle report. "The data were analyzed by multielement correlation and factor analyses on raw data and log-transformed data" to identify mineral associations and occurrences within the study area. The specific samples used in the study were plotted on a plate accompanying the GJBX-138(82) report. No data for geochemical analyses were included in the report. Sediment samples from the Mount McKinley quadrangle can be found in the GJBX-30(79) quadrangle report and in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files as noted above.
The second GJBX-138(82) study was "an analysis of the potential for uranium occurrences in and associated with the Tertiary granitic plutons of the area." The "granitic matrix" used in the study consisted of 49 sediment samples that were located downstream from 6 granitic plutons in the Mount McKinley and Talkeetna quadrangles. The study consisted of factor, correlation, and cluster analyses to investigate the mineral associations and occurrences in the 6 granitic plutons. Partial chemical analyses for 13 of the samples can be found in Table B-IV, and complete analytical results for all 49 samples can be found in Appendix B-II. These sediment samples were previously published in the Mount McKinley and Talkeetna quadrangle reports. Sediment samples from the Mount McKinley quadrangle can be found in the GJBX-30(79) report and in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files as noted above.
The third GJBX-138(82) study consists of "a discussion of indications of a uranium-nickel-copper association" on the "northwestern slopes of Mt. McKinley." The report treats 14 stream and lake sediment samples that are plotted and identified on Figure C-1. No geochemistry accompanies this report but the sediment samples were previously published in the GJBX-30(79) Mount McKinley quadrangle report and can also be found in the NEW-FORMAT NURE data files as noted above.
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 Mount McKinley 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. While the study area included the northwest corner of Mount McKinley quadrangle, none of the sampling sites were located within Mount McKinley quadrangle. Results of radiometric readings, uranium oxide determination, and whole rock analyses for the sample sites and rock samples from the other 3 quadrangles can be found in tables in 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.
Beyth, M., McInteer, C., Averett, W.R., and Stablein, N.K., 1982, Analysis of hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data for the Alaska Project Matrix: in Three applications of hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data interpretation for a selected region in south-central Alaska: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-8465-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-138(82), p. A(i)-A25.
Beyth, M., McInteer, C., Averett, W.R., and Stablein, N.K., 1982, Evaluation of potential for uranium mineral occurrences in Tertiary granitic plutons of the Alaska Range: in Three applications of hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data interpretation for a selected region in south-central Alaska: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-8465-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-138(82), p. B(1)-B54.
Beyth, M., McInteer, C., Averett, W.R., and Stablein, N.K., 1982, Indications of a uranium-nickel-copper association in the Mt. McKinley Area: in Three applications of hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data interpretation for a selected region in south-central Alaska: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory informal report LA-8465-MS, Los Alamos, N.M., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., GJBX-138(82), p. C(i)-C6.
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.
Hinderman, T.K., 1982, National Uranium Resource Evaluation, Mt. McKinley Quadrangle, Alaska: C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., PGJ/F-054(82), 22 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.
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.
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