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 samples, we report 10Be, U-series, and 14C ages. Samples collected from Giant and Castle Geyser were further analyzed for their mineralogy, major and trace element concentrations, water content, and rare earth elements. This research was conducted under Yellowstone Research Permit YELL-2018-SCI-8030 and YELL-2018-SCI-5910. Sample Collection: Sinter samples were collected from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in April 2018, November 2018, and April 2019. Forty-eight samples of silica sinter were collected from 10 different hydrothermal features. At each geyser the best-exposed stratigraphy was identified and fist-sized samples were collected at approximately 1 meter intervals from the shield to the cone; samples were numbered sequentially. Geographic coordinates (WGS84, UTM Zone 12N) of each sample site were obtained using a handheld GPS and all sites were photographed. Including duplicates, we report 46 total ages using carbon-14, beryllium-10, and uranium-thorium series dating methods. Fifteen of the samples were collected from Giant (UGB-TD-24 through 29) and Castle (UGB-TD-30 through 39, excluding UGB-TD-38) Geysers. These samples were further analyzed using X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Database Contents: The data file (Sample_Information_Supplementary.csv) contains the sample ID, date collected, and sample location for each sample analyzed as a part of this study. The entries in the data file appear in the following columns: A. Sample ID B. Location C. Date Collected D. Easting (WGS84, UTM Zone 12N) E. Northing (WGS84, UTM Zone 12N)