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
Filter Total Items: 15
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 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
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 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...
Chemical and isotopic composition of gas, water, and solids from the 2019-2020 water lake in Halema’uma’u Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Chemical and isotopic composition of gas, water, and solids from the 2019-2020 water lake in Halema’uma’u Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Following the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano (Neal et al, 2019) and the subsequent collapse of the Halema’uma’u crater, groundwater gradually seeped into the newly-deepened crater (Nadeau and others, 2020). Water was first observed in the crater on 7/26/2019, and the water level increased over time until 12/20/2020, when the crater again filled with lava, vaporizing the lake. In the...
Water-Chemistry and Isotope Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, Streams, and Rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (ver. 2.0, March 2025) Water-Chemistry and Isotope Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, Streams, and Rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (ver. 2.0, March 2025)
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 hydrothermal 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...
Chemical and Stable Isotope Data for Discrete Water Samples Collected in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 2011-2012 Chemical and Stable Isotope Data for Discrete Water Samples Collected in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 2011-2012
This data set consists of chemical and stable isotope data obtained through the analysis of discrete water samples collected from 14 fixed sampling locations in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at roughly monthly intervals between April 2011 and November 2012.
Water chemistry data for selected hot springs and rivers in Southwest Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Water chemistry data for selected hot springs and rivers in Southwest Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Water analyses are reported for 66 samples collected from numerous thermal and non-thermal (rivers and streams) features in the southwestern areas of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) during 2009, 2017, and 2018. Water samples were collected from sources near Boundary Creek, Bechler River, Falls River, Mountain Ash Creek, Upper Snake River, Spirea Creek, and Lewis Lake. These water samples...
Filter Total Items: 13
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem 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...
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 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...
Authors
Joseph K. Fackrell, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Megan B. Young, Carol Kendall, Sara Peek
The structure and volume of large geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA and the mineralogy and chemistry of their silica sinter deposits The structure and volume of large geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA and the mineralogy and chemistry of their silica sinter deposits
Siliceous sinter is formed by biogenic and abiogenic opal deposition around hot springs and geysers. Using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry we generated three-dimensional models of Giant and Castle Geysers from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. We use these models to calculate an approximate mass of sinter for each (~2 and ~ 5 kton, respectively) and estimate a...
Authors
Dakota Churchill, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, David Damby, Richard Conrey, John R. Wood, R. Blaine McCleskey, William E. Keller, Behnaz Hosseini, Jefferson D.G. Hungerford
Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser shut down by a severe 13th century drought Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser shut down by a severe 13th century drought
To characterize eruption activity of the iconic Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park over past centuries, we obtained 41 new radiocarbon dates of mineralized wood preserved in the mound of silica that precipitated from erupted waters. Trees do not grow on active geyser mounds, implying that trees grew on the Old Faithful Geyser mound during a protracted period of eruption...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, John King, Gregory T. Pederson, Justin Martin, David Damby, Michael Manga, Jefferson Hungerford, Sara Peek
Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale
We describe a new effort to date hydrothermal silica sinter deposits (geyserite) from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park using 14C of co-deposited organic matter, U-series and cosmogenic 10Be methods. A majority of the samples were collected from stratigraphic sections, mainly at Riverside, Giant, and Castle Geysers. Ages obtained from 41 14C analyses range from modern...
Authors
Dakota M. Churchill, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi, James B. Paces
Hydrothermal activity in the southwest Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field Hydrothermal activity in the southwest Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field
In the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service have studied hydrothermal activity across the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field (YPVF) to improve the understanding of the magmatic-hydrothermal system and to provide a baseline for detecting future anomalous activity. In 2017 and 2018 we sampled water and gas over a large area in the southwest YPVF and...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, R. Blaine McCleskey, Deborah Bergfeld, Sara Peek, David Susong, David A. Roth, Jefferson Hungerford, Erin B White, Lauren Harrison, Behnaz Hosseini, R. Greg Vaughan, Andrew G. Hunt, James B. Paces
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Denver Radiogenic Isotope Lab, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
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 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
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 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...
Chemical and isotopic composition of gas, water, and solids from the 2019-2020 water lake in Halema’uma’u Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Chemical and isotopic composition of gas, water, and solids from the 2019-2020 water lake in Halema’uma’u Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Following the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano (Neal et al, 2019) and the subsequent collapse of the Halema’uma’u crater, groundwater gradually seeped into the newly-deepened crater (Nadeau and others, 2020). Water was first observed in the crater on 7/26/2019, and the water level increased over time until 12/20/2020, when the crater again filled with lava, vaporizing the lake. In the...
Water-Chemistry and Isotope Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, Streams, and Rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (ver. 2.0, March 2025) Water-Chemistry and Isotope Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, Streams, and Rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (ver. 2.0, March 2025)
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 hydrothermal 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...
Chemical and Stable Isotope Data for Discrete Water Samples Collected in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 2011-2012 Chemical and Stable Isotope Data for Discrete Water Samples Collected in the Northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 2011-2012
This data set consists of chemical and stable isotope data obtained through the analysis of discrete water samples collected from 14 fixed sampling locations in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at roughly monthly intervals between April 2011 and November 2012.
Water chemistry data for selected hot springs and rivers in Southwest Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Water chemistry data for selected hot springs and rivers in Southwest Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Water analyses are reported for 66 samples collected from numerous thermal and non-thermal (rivers and streams) features in the southwestern areas of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) during 2009, 2017, and 2018. Water samples were collected from sources near Boundary Creek, Bechler River, Falls River, Mountain Ash Creek, Upper Snake River, Spirea Creek, and Lewis Lake. These water samples...
Filter Total Items: 13
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem 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...
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 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...
Authors
Joseph K. Fackrell, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Megan B. Young, Carol Kendall, Sara Peek
The structure and volume of large geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA and the mineralogy and chemistry of their silica sinter deposits The structure and volume of large geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA and the mineralogy and chemistry of their silica sinter deposits
Siliceous sinter is formed by biogenic and abiogenic opal deposition around hot springs and geysers. Using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry we generated three-dimensional models of Giant and Castle Geysers from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. We use these models to calculate an approximate mass of sinter for each (~2 and ~ 5 kton, respectively) and estimate a...
Authors
Dakota Churchill, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, David Damby, Richard Conrey, John R. Wood, R. Blaine McCleskey, William E. Keller, Behnaz Hosseini, Jefferson D.G. Hungerford
Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser shut down by a severe 13th century drought Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser shut down by a severe 13th century drought
To characterize eruption activity of the iconic Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park over past centuries, we obtained 41 new radiocarbon dates of mineralized wood preserved in the mound of silica that precipitated from erupted waters. Trees do not grow on active geyser mounds, implying that trees grew on the Old Faithful Geyser mound during a protracted period of eruption...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, John King, Gregory T. Pederson, Justin Martin, David Damby, Michael Manga, Jefferson Hungerford, Sara Peek
Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale
We describe a new effort to date hydrothermal silica sinter deposits (geyserite) from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park using 14C of co-deposited organic matter, U-series and cosmogenic 10Be methods. A majority of the samples were collected from stratigraphic sections, mainly at Riverside, Giant, and Castle Geysers. Ages obtained from 41 14C analyses range from modern...
Authors
Dakota M. Churchill, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi, James B. Paces
Hydrothermal activity in the southwest Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field Hydrothermal activity in the southwest Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field
In the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service have studied hydrothermal activity across the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field (YPVF) to improve the understanding of the magmatic-hydrothermal system and to provide a baseline for detecting future anomalous activity. In 2017 and 2018 we sampled water and gas over a large area in the southwest YPVF and...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, R. Blaine McCleskey, Deborah Bergfeld, Sara Peek, David Susong, David A. Roth, Jefferson Hungerford, Erin B White, Lauren Harrison, Behnaz Hosseini, R. Greg Vaughan, Andrew G. Hunt, James B. Paces
By
Water Resources Mission Area, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Denver Radiogenic Isotope Lab, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory