Sara Peek
Sara Peek manages the water and gas geochemistry labs for the California Volcano Observatory, and works on related volcano monitoring and research at California volcanoes, Yellowstone, and Hawaii.
Science and Products
Chemical and isotopic compositions of gases from volcanic and geothermal areas in California
Gas chemical and isotopic compositions are reported for samples collected from 9 volcanic and geothermal areas in California: Medicine Lake Volcano, Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic Center, Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Mono Lake Volcanic Field, Long Valley Caldera, Mammoth Mountain, Coso Volcanic Field, and Salton Sea Geothermal Field. Beginning in 2014, gas samples were collected as part of the USGS C
Mineralogy, chemistry and isotope composition of silica sinter deposits from the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park (ver. 2.0, April 2021)
Summary: Siliceous sinter samples were collected from multiple geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in 2018. These silica sinter samples were collected and analyzed as a part of a multi-year research investigation into the age and geochemistry of hydrothermal features in the Upper Geyser Basin. Samples were collected along the stratigraphy of each feature. From these samp
Silicified wood from around Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park is one of the best studied geysers in the world. Under research permit YELL-SCI-8030, samples from 13 silicified tree remnants were collected adjacent to the Old Faithful Geyser cone in April and November 2019. The silicified wood samples were dated using the radiocarbon (14C) method and were analyzed by scanning electron m
Water and gas chemistry data from wells and hot springs in the Western USA, 1930 – 2006
Historical water and gas chemistry data from geothermal areas are important for detecting long-term patterns, informing geothermal energy exploration, development, and use, and for contextualizing more recent data. The U.S. Geological survey has published water and gas chemistry data from geothermal areas in the western United States, which is primarily available as scanned PDF files. This makes
Stable isotope data for sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen in minerals and gases and electron microprobe data for minerals from Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California
Stable isotope compositions (the ratios deuterium/hydrogen, oxygen-18/oxygen-16, and sulfur-34/sulfur-32) are reported for alunite, jarosite, kaolinite, silica, cinnabar, marcasite, and native sulfur from outcrops in and around the workings of the Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California, and chemical compositions are reported, from electron microprobe analyses, for alunite and buddingto
Mineralogy, strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (18O/16O) and carbon (13C/12C) isotope composition, elemental concentrations, and U-Th disequilibrium ages for travertine deposits from various locations in Yellowstone National Park, USA
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their mineral deposits, provide a window into the evolution of Yellowstone’s postglacial hydrothermal system. Travertine precipitated from thermal waters provide a record of chemical changes through time because they can be dated using U-series disequilibrium geochronology. These temporal data, along with measured radiogenic 87Sr/8
Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Less than a year after the 2018 Kīlauea caldera collapse and eruption, water appeared in newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lake—unprecedented in the written record—grew to a depth of ∼50 m before lava from the December 2020 eruption boiled it away. Surface water heightened concerns of potential phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions but also offered a new means of possibly identifying erupti
Authors
Patricia Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward F. Younger, Matthew R. Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter J. Kelly
Travertine records climate-induced transformations of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system from the late Pleistocene to the present
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their deposits, provide a window into the evolution of the postglacial hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field. Today, most hydrothermal travertine forms to the north and south of the ca. 631 ka Yellowstone caldera where groundwater flow through subsurface sedimentary rocks leads to calcite saturation at hot s
Authors
Lauren N. Harrison, Shaul Hurwitz, James B. Paces, Cathy Whitlock, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi
Physicochemical hazard assessment of ash and dome rock from the 2021 eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent, for the assessment of respiratory health impacts and water contamination
La Soufrière, St Vincent, began an extrusive eruption on 27 December 2020. The lava dome was destroyed, along with much of the pre-existing 1979 dome, in explosive eruptions from 9 to 22 April 2021. Lava domes generate crystalline silica – inhalation of which can cause silicosis in occupational settings – which can become hazardous when dome material is incorporated into volcanic ash.La Soufrière
Authors
Claire J. Horwell, David Damby, Carol Stewart, Erouscilla Joseph, Jenni Barclay, Bridie V. Davies, Martin F Mangler, L G. Marvin, Jens Najorka, Sara Peek, Neil Tunstall
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina Hot Springs (PHS) on the shore of Paulina Lake, East Lake Hot Springs (ELHS) on the s
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew Hunt
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem
Though primary sources of carbon (C) to soil are plant inputs (e.g., rhizodeposits), the role of microorganisms as mediators of soil organic carbon (SOC) retention is increasingly recognized. Yet, insufficient knowledge of sub-soil processes complicates attempts to describe microbial-driven C cycling at depth as most studies of microbial-mineral-C interactions focus on surface horizons. We leverag
Authors
Jack McFarland, Corey Lawrence, Courtney Creamer, Marjorie S. Schulz, Christopher H. Conaway, Sara Peek, Mark Waldrop, Sabrina N. Sevilgen, Monica Haw
Stable isotopes provide insight into sources and cycling of N compounds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
River deltas and their diverse array of aquatic environments are increasingly impacted by anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen (N). These inputs can alter the N biogeochemistry of these systems and promote undesirable phenomena including harmful algae blooms and invasive aquatic macrophytes. To examine N sources and biogeochemical processes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a river delta located in
Authors
Joseph K. Fackrell, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Megan B. Young, Carol Kendall, Sara Peek
Science and Products
Chemical and isotopic compositions of gases from volcanic and geothermal areas in California
Gas chemical and isotopic compositions are reported for samples collected from 9 volcanic and geothermal areas in California: Medicine Lake Volcano, Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic Center, Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Mono Lake Volcanic Field, Long Valley Caldera, Mammoth Mountain, Coso Volcanic Field, and Salton Sea Geothermal Field. Beginning in 2014, gas samples were collected as part of the USGS C
Mineralogy, chemistry and isotope composition of silica sinter deposits from the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park (ver. 2.0, April 2021)
Summary: Siliceous sinter samples were collected from multiple geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in 2018. These silica sinter samples were collected and analyzed as a part of a multi-year research investigation into the age and geochemistry of hydrothermal features in the Upper Geyser Basin. Samples were collected along the stratigraphy of each feature. From these samp
Silicified wood from around Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park is one of the best studied geysers in the world. Under research permit YELL-SCI-8030, samples from 13 silicified tree remnants were collected adjacent to the Old Faithful Geyser cone in April and November 2019. The silicified wood samples were dated using the radiocarbon (14C) method and were analyzed by scanning electron m
Water and gas chemistry data from wells and hot springs in the Western USA, 1930 – 2006
Historical water and gas chemistry data from geothermal areas are important for detecting long-term patterns, informing geothermal energy exploration, development, and use, and for contextualizing more recent data. The U.S. Geological survey has published water and gas chemistry data from geothermal areas in the western United States, which is primarily available as scanned PDF files. This makes
Stable isotope data for sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen in minerals and gases and electron microprobe data for minerals from Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California
Stable isotope compositions (the ratios deuterium/hydrogen, oxygen-18/oxygen-16, and sulfur-34/sulfur-32) are reported for alunite, jarosite, kaolinite, silica, cinnabar, marcasite, and native sulfur from outcrops in and around the workings of the Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California, and chemical compositions are reported, from electron microprobe analyses, for alunite and buddingto
Mineralogy, strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (18O/16O) and carbon (13C/12C) isotope composition, elemental concentrations, and U-Th disequilibrium ages for travertine deposits from various locations in Yellowstone National Park, USA
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their mineral deposits, provide a window into the evolution of Yellowstone’s postglacial hydrothermal system. Travertine precipitated from thermal waters provide a record of chemical changes through time because they can be dated using U-series disequilibrium geochronology. These temporal data, along with measured radiogenic 87Sr/8
Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Less than a year after the 2018 Kīlauea caldera collapse and eruption, water appeared in newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lake—unprecedented in the written record—grew to a depth of ∼50 m before lava from the December 2020 eruption boiled it away. Surface water heightened concerns of potential phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions but also offered a new means of possibly identifying erupti
Authors
Patricia Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward F. Younger, Matthew R. Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter J. Kelly
Travertine records climate-induced transformations of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system from the late Pleistocene to the present
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their deposits, provide a window into the evolution of the postglacial hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field. Today, most hydrothermal travertine forms to the north and south of the ca. 631 ka Yellowstone caldera where groundwater flow through subsurface sedimentary rocks leads to calcite saturation at hot s
Authors
Lauren N. Harrison, Shaul Hurwitz, James B. Paces, Cathy Whitlock, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi
Physicochemical hazard assessment of ash and dome rock from the 2021 eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent, for the assessment of respiratory health impacts and water contamination
La Soufrière, St Vincent, began an extrusive eruption on 27 December 2020. The lava dome was destroyed, along with much of the pre-existing 1979 dome, in explosive eruptions from 9 to 22 April 2021. Lava domes generate crystalline silica – inhalation of which can cause silicosis in occupational settings – which can become hazardous when dome material is incorporated into volcanic ash.La Soufrière
Authors
Claire J. Horwell, David Damby, Carol Stewart, Erouscilla Joseph, Jenni Barclay, Bridie V. Davies, Martin F Mangler, L G. Marvin, Jens Najorka, Sara Peek, Neil Tunstall
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina Hot Springs (PHS) on the shore of Paulina Lake, East Lake Hot Springs (ELHS) on the s
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew Hunt
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem
Though primary sources of carbon (C) to soil are plant inputs (e.g., rhizodeposits), the role of microorganisms as mediators of soil organic carbon (SOC) retention is increasingly recognized. Yet, insufficient knowledge of sub-soil processes complicates attempts to describe microbial-driven C cycling at depth as most studies of microbial-mineral-C interactions focus on surface horizons. We leverag
Authors
Jack McFarland, Corey Lawrence, Courtney Creamer, Marjorie S. Schulz, Christopher H. Conaway, Sara Peek, Mark Waldrop, Sabrina N. Sevilgen, Monica Haw
Stable isotopes provide insight into sources and cycling of N compounds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
River deltas and their diverse array of aquatic environments are increasingly impacted by anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen (N). These inputs can alter the N biogeochemistry of these systems and promote undesirable phenomena including harmful algae blooms and invasive aquatic macrophytes. To examine N sources and biogeochemical processes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a river delta located in
Authors
Joseph K. Fackrell, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Megan B. Young, Carol Kendall, Sara Peek