Water-Chemistry and Isotope Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, Streams, and Rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), where waters have pH values ranging from about 1 to 10 and surface temperatures up to 95 °C. Active geothermal areas in YNP provide insight into a variety of processes occurring at depth, such as water-rock and oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions, the formation of alteration minerals, and microbial (thermophile) metabolism in extreme environments. Investigations into the water chemistry of YNP hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, mud pots, streams, and rivers have been conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other earth-science organizations and academic institutions since 1888 (Gooch and Whitfield, 1888). More recently, USGS researchers have sampled hydrothermal features in YNP at least annually since 1994 (McCleskey and others, 2014, and references within).

In this Data Release, the analyses of 751 water samples are reported for numerous thermal and non-thermal features in YNP. These samples were collected beginning in 2009. This report combines water chemistry data presented in McCleskey and others (2014) with newer data collected after 2014. These water samples were collected and analyzed as part of research investigations in YNP on arsenic, iron, nitrogen, and sulfur redox species in hot springs and overflow drainages; the occurrence and distribution of dissolved mercury and arsenic; and general hydrogeochemistry of hot springs throughout YNP. For most samples, data includes water temperature, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and concentrations of major cations, anions, trace metals, alkalinity, sulfur redox species (hydrogen sulfide and thiosulfate), nutrients, silica, arsenic and iron redox species, acidity, dissolved organic carbon, and hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios. For select samples, tritium (3H) and stable carbon isotopes of the dissolved inorganic carbon are presented. In addition, chemical data for river and stream waters were obtained to determine geothermal solute flux from thermal areas throughout YNP.

References Cited
Gooch, F.A., and Whitfield, J.E., 1888, Analyses of waters of the Yellowstone National Park with an account of the methods of analysis employed: Bulletin 47, p. 84.
McCleskey, R.B., Chiu, R.B., Nordstrom, D.K., Campbell, K.M., Roth, D.A., Ball, J.W., and Plowman, T.I., 2014, Water-Chemistry Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, and Streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Beginning 2009: doi:10.5066/F7M043FS.