Dataset for Field Parameters, Chemistry Concentrations, and Isotopes of Water, and Down-Hole Geophysical Measurements Primarily in the Summit Area at Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed and Critical Zone Observatory, Southwestern Idaho, USA

Summary & Purpose

Water-rock interactions involving belowground respiratory CO₂ in groundwater constitute an understudied portion of the critical zone, which limits our understanding of global carbon cycles. For example, basalt weathering is estimated to sequester approximately 0.21 petagrams of carbon per year (PgC yr^-1), which is comparable to other systems (e.g. total terrestrial CO₂ sink: 2.9±1 PgC yr^-1, riverine fluxes: 0.78 PgC yr^-1), however these basalt weathering estimates do not account for processes in deep groundwater. At the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW) and Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), located south of the western Snake River Plain in the Intermountain West of the United States, we trace critical zone reactions in conjunction with groundwater flow and residence times in semi-arid weathered silicate aquifers using hydrochemical and geophysical techniques aimed to address these knowledge gaps. Using data from 10 groundwater monitoring wells in the Summit area, 6 springs across the watershed and 2 irrigation pond samples, multiple findings were published and are briefly listed herein. (1) Most sampled groundwater is from fractured basalt aquifers (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr 0.70445 – 0.70545), though 3 springs are influenced by granitic aquifers (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr 0.70616 – 0.70690). (2) Groundwater from monitoring wells is more affected by evaporation than springs, with less evaporation in older, deeper groundwater (as low as 10%) as compared to younger, more shallow groundwater (as high as 54%), though evapoconcentration occurs in all wells. Furthermore, evaporation of shallow groundwater likely occurred subaerially, whereas evaporation of deeper groundwater likely occurred predominantly in the unsaturated zone. (3) Shallow groundwater samples are generally less mixed and more recent (10 to 70 ³H yrs BP) than deeper groundwater samples (1469 to 6350 ¹⁴C yrs BP). (4) A previously unknown blind hydrothermal system is present, with cool (as low as 11.8^oC) groundwater over warm (up to 28.6^oC) groundwater, as detected by down-hole measurements, showing that mixing is limited between shallow and deeper fracture zones. (5) Most groundwater initially evolves under open system conditions (in contact with belowground respiratory CO₂), followed by continued water-rock reactions under closed system conditions, as indicated by pH, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and δ¹³C_DIC isotope values. (6) Silicate weathering (including clay formation) and secondary calcite precipitation drive carbon sequestration, as determined by geochemical modeling, possibly sequestering 9% of belowground respiratory CO₂ as calcite. Analyses of multiple parameters for each sample has resulted in an extensive dataset, and improved our knowledge of water-rock interactions in RCEW-CZO. Application of these results increases our understanding of the effects of critical zone groundwater-rock interactions on earth systems.

Authors

Melissa E. Schegel, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Kathleen A. Lohse, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Jennifer Souza, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Sara R. Warix, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Erin M. Murray, USDA ARSFollow
Sarah E. Godsey, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Mark S. Seyfried, USDA-ARSFollow
Mark D. Schmitz, Boise State UniversityFollow
Bradley J. Carr, University of WyomingFollow
Bruce Finney, Idaho State UniversityFollow
Zane Cram, USDA-ARSFollow

Author Identifier

Melissa E. Schlegel, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4562-8489

Kathleen A. Lohse, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1779-6773

Jennifer Souza, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8174-6474

Sara R. Warix, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2509-6849

Erin M. Murray, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5007-3449

Sarah E. Godsey, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-7886

Mark S. Seyfried, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8081-0713

Mark D. Schmidt, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2888-0321

Bradley J. Carr, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1378-4911

Bruce Finney, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2639-6512

Date of Publication or Submission

6-10-2024

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18122/reynoldscreek.30.boisestate

Publications Related to this Data

Schlegel, M.E., Souza, J., Warix, S.R., Murray, E.M., Godsey, S.E., Seyfried, M.S., Cram, Z., Lohse, K.A., In Review. Carbon evolution and mixing effects on groundwater age calculations in fractured basalt, southwestern Idaho, U.S.A. Schlegel, M.E., Souza, J., Warix, S.R., Murray, E.M., Godsey, S.E., Seyfried, M.S., Cram, Z., Lohse, K.A., In Review. Estimated in-situ carbon sequestration rates in a weathered silicate basin, southwestern Idaho, U.S.A. Schlegel, M.E., Souza, J., Carr, B.J., Schmitz, M., Warix, S.R., Murray, E.M., Godsey, S.E., Seyfried, M.S., Cram, Z., Lohse, K.A., In Preparation. Temporal variation in evaporation extent in a semi-arid fractured basalt watershed, southwestern Idaho, U.S.A. Souza, J.L., 2022. Evolution of carbon and water through the subsurface of a semi-arid basin: A geochemical and geophysical approach [Master’s Thesis, Idaho State University]. https://www.proquest.com/openview/58d7d9fe46ce91c461cc99e962f006a6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Funding Citation

This study was conducted in collaboration and cooperation with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Northwest Watershed Research Center, Boise, Idaho, and landowners within the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed and Critical Zone Observatory (RCEW-CZO). The Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed is supported by the USDA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network. Support for this research was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) via RCEW-CZO Cooperative agreement NSF EAR- 1331872 (Lohse, Seyfried), NSF CAREER 1653998 (Godsey), and ISU Internal Seed Grant (LIGS17).

Single Dataset or Series?

Single Dataset

Data Format

*.xlsx; *.txt

File Size

3.44MB

Data Attributes

For additional information see metadata included in a spreadsheet tab of each *.xlsx file.

Time Period

2020-07-16 - 2021-06-22

Privacy and Confidentiality Statement

Boise State is explicitly compliant with federal and state laws surrounding data privacy including the protection of personal financial information through the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, personal medical information through HIPAA, HITECH and other regulations. All human subject data (e.g., surveys) has been collected and managed only by personnel with adequate human subject protection certification.

Use Restrictions

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

1. Use our data freely. All CZO, USGS, and USDA-ARS Data Products* except those labelled Private** are released to the public and may be freely copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon under the condition that you give acknowledgement as described below.
2. Give proper acknowledgement. Publications, models and data products that make use of these datasets must include proper acknowledgement, including citing datasets in a similar way to citing a journal article (i.e. author, title, year of publication, name of CZO “publisher”, edition or version, and URL or DOI access information. See http://www.datacite.org/whycitedata).
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BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR PROVIDED AS PART OF THE SYSTEM FOR ANY PURPOSE. ALL SUCH INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

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Recommended Citation

Schegel, Melissa E.; Lohse, Kathleen A.; Souza, Jennifer; Warix, Sara R.; Murray, Erin M.; Godsey, Sarah E.; Seyfried, Mark S.; Schmitz, Mark D.; Carr, Bradley J.; Finney, Bruce; and Cram, Zane. (2024). Dataset for Field Parameters, Chemistry Concentrations, and Isotopes of Water, and Down-Hole Geophysical Measurements Primarily in the Summit Area at Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed and Critical Zone Observatory, Southwestern Idaho, USA [Data set]. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.18122/reynoldscreek.30.boisestate