This data release documents three Microsoft Excel tables that contain data for understanding environmental tracer concentrations in groundwater of the Columbia Plateau aquifer system. Results of dissolved-gas modeling using environmental tracer concentrations (tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, and radiogenic helium-4), for the sample network (VPFS, vertical flow path study) are described. Dissolved gas modeling results (ModOut) contains detailed information on the calibration of dissolved gas models to measured dissolved-gas concentrations (neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and nitrogen). Calibration was done using methods described by Aeschbach-Hertig and others (1999 & 2000) with modifications to include nitrogen gas (Weiss, 1970). In most cases, a single set of noble-gas concentrations (neon, argon, krypton, and xenon) was used to solve for recharge conditions (recharge temperature, excess or entrapped air, and fractionation) using the unfractionated excess air (UA) and closed equilibration (CE) models (Aeschbach-Hertig and others, 1999 & 2000). In cases where noble gas data were not available, multiple analyses of nitrogen and argon (collected sequentially on the same sample date) were used to solve for recharge conditions. Environmental tracer results (TrcOut) contains detailed information on calculations of environmental tracer data. Dissolved gas models were paired with measured helium isotope ratios (3He/4He) and helium concentrations to calculate concentrations of tritiogenic helium-3 (the component of 3He derived from tritium decay; Solomon and Cook, 2000) and radiogenic helium-4 (the component of 4He derived from the decay of uranium and thorium in aquifer materials; Solomon, 2000). Tracer concentrations were computed for each combination of measure dissolved gas concentrations when sites had multiple measured gas results and analyses for helium isotopes. Average environmental tracer results (AvgTrcOut) contains average tracer concentrations for a given site used for determination of groundwater ages. Aeschbach-Hertig, W., F. Peeters, U. Beyerle, and R. Kipfer (1999), Interpretation of dissolved atmospheric noble gases in natural waters, Water Resour. Res., 35(9), 2779–2792,https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/1999WR900130. Aeschbach-Hertig, W., F. Peeters, U. Beyerle, and R. Kipfer (2000), Paleotemperature reconstruction from noble gases in ground water taking into account equilibration with entrapped air, Nature, v. 405, Iss. 6790, pg. 1040-1044, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35016542 Solomon, D.K., and P.G. Cook. 2000. 3H and 3He. In Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology, ed. P.G. Cook and A.L. Herczeg, 197-424. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Solomon, D.K. 2000. 4He in groundwater. In Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology, ed. P.G. Cook and A.L. Herczeg, 425-439. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Weiss, R. F., 1970, The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon in water and seawater, Deep Sea Research, vol. 17, pp. 721-735, https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(70)90037-9.

Geochemical data for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal fluids around the Utah FORGE site. The data is compiled into four tables in the attached Excel File. Table 1 is a compilation of compositions (anions, cations, weak acids, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon isotopes) for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal waters in the Milford valley, Utah. Table 2 is a compilation of noble gas (He, Ne, Ar) and He and Ne isotopic compositions for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal waters in the Milford valley, Utah. Table 3 provides values for calculated advective and diffusive fluxes of helium. Table 4 provides values of calculated subsurface stored heat between the Opal Mound fault and the Utah FORGE site, which are related to volumes of recently solidified magmatic heat sources.

Geochemical data for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal fluids around the Utah FORGE site. The data is compiled into four tables in the attached Excel File. Table 1 is a compilation of compositions (anions, cations, weak acids, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon isotopes) for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal waters in the Milford valley, Utah. Table 2 is a compilation of noble gas (He, Ne, Ar) and He and Ne isotopic compositions for cold groundwaters and produced geothermal waters in the Milford valley, Utah. Table 3 provides values for calculated advective and diffusive fluxes of helium. Table 4 provides values of calculated subsurface stored heat between the Opal Mound fault and the Utah FORGE site, which are related to volumes of recently solidified magmatic heat sources. The associated paper for this study will be open access (Simmons, S.F., and Kirby, S. 2024. Formation of a Large Cold Groundwater Mantle Helium Anomaly and High Temperature Geothermal Resources in Response to Bimodal Magmatism near Roosevelt Hot Springs and Utah FORGE, Milford Valley, southwest Utah. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, in press.).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the Department of Interior WaterSmart Program compiled published estimates of groundwater discharge to streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin into a dataset and developed a geospatial database. For the purpose of this compilation, groundwater discharge to streams consists of base-flow, and may include contributions from groundwater discharge from various flow paths, lateral seepage, hyporheic flow, and irrigation return flow. Stream reaches from the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) where there was groundwater discharge estimates were delineated in the geospatial database. Attributes describing the methods used for estimating groundwater discharge were created. Feature class attributes associated with each stream reach include: groundwater discharge (acre-ft/yr), method of measurement, report reference, defined reach, base flow index estimate (acre-ft/yr), and 8-digit HUC(s) (hydrologic unit code(s) for the reach). In addition, groundwater discharge estimates were calculated using attributes from a flow characteristics dataset (Wolock, 2003), the average annual base-flow index (BFI) value and the average daily streamflow value. The calculated groundwater discharge estimates were included in the database as separate attributes and were compared to reported estimates of groundwater discharge. Groundwater discharge estimates calculated using BFI were greater than reported groundwater discharge estimates. References cited: Wolock, D., 2003, Flow Characteristics at U.S. Geological Survey Streamgages in the Conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2003-146, accessed July 2, 2012 at https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/qsitesdd.xml

The contents of this data release represent the results of the noble gas composition analysis and are presented in support of the planned publication Gao et al., 2023, titled Lead and noble gas isotopic constraints on the origin of Te-bearing adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposits in a calc-alkaline magmatic arc. Tellurium (Te)-bearing adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposits are widely distributed in calc-alkaline magmatic arcs and are an important current and future source of precious and critical metals. However, the source of ore-forming fluids in these deposits remain unclear due to the lack of isotopic evidence on Au-, Ag-, and Te-bearing minerals. To advance understanding of the source of Te and precious metals, He, Ne, and Ar isotope analysis were performed on gases extracted from fluid inclusions contained in ore and gangue minerals from two Te-rich (Sandaowanzi and Yongxin, Xing’an Block) and two Te-poor (Dong’an, Songliao Block, and Tuanjiegou, Jiamusi Massif) epithermal Au-Ag deposits that occur in an early Cretaceous magmatic arc in the North Heilongjiang Belt, northeastern China. Samples were collected by Shen Gao (see Gao et al. 2022) and were analyzed at the U.S. Geological Survey Noble Gas Laboratory by Andrew Hunt from August 2019 to March 2020.

Twenty-five ore and gangue mineral separates from the Miocene-age Goldfield and Tonopah epithermal Au-Ag deposits in southwestern Nevada were analyzed to determine the helium, neon, and argon (He, Ne, and Ar) isotopic compositions contained in fluid inclusions. Four mineral separates from the Butte Main Stage vein deposit and two from the Bingham pyrite-enargite vein deposits were also analyzed. Fifteen separates are from hand samples collected from underground mine workings and the remaining 16 are from mine tailings piles and pits excavated within the past 100 years. The separates consist dominantly of pyrite, enargite, and quartz, with lesser amounts of sphalerite, galena, potassium feldspar, bismuthinite, marcasite, alunite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, rhodonite, and gold. Fluid inclusion gases were extracted by thermal decrepitation at 300 to 350°C, with the exception of samples CL-480 and M2763A which were crushed under ultrahigh vacuum. Ar and Ne isotopic ratios are similar to atmospheric compositions while He isotopic ratios (helium-3/helium-4 [3He/4He]) range widely from 0.03 to 34.12 times the atmospheric 3He/4He value (R/RA, measured 3He/4He normalized to the atmospheric value of 1.384 x 10^-6).

This USGS Data Release represents Soil-Water Balance (SWB) groundwater infiltration modeling results for the Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB). The data release was produced in compliance with 'open data' requirements as a way to make the scientific data associated with USGS research efforts and publications available to the public. There are 3 separate groups of datasets associated with this Data Release: 1. SWB model results from simulations run using projected climate data, summarized by month from 1950 through 2099, for the LCRB within the United States 2. SWB model results from simulations run using projected climate data, summarized by month from 1950 through 2099, for the Grand Canyon region 3. SWB model results from simulations run using projected climate data, summarized by month from 1950 through 2099, for the alluvial basins of Arizona.

A three-dimensional groundwater flow model, MODFLOW-NWT, was developed to simulate saturated groundwater hydrology, streamflow, and groundwater/surface-water interaction within the Colorado Plateau principal aquifer system. The model was used to evaluate and compare the hydrologic responses of groundwater and streamflow to natural and anthropogenic drivers of change between a recent wet period (1982-1999) and drought period (2000-2022) for four headwater subregions in the Upper Colorado River Basin. This child item contains all of the MODFLOW-NWT input and output files for the simulations described in the associated journal article (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102554).

This data release contains five comma separated value (csv) files that describe the location and water-quality data for wells, springs, and streams compiled for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) investigation of the groundwater resources of the Harney Basin, Oregon. The data included are site IDs, various site location information, well-construction details and hydrostratigraphy, monitoring status, spring elevation, summarized historic spring discharge, date of each spring discharge measurement, source of the discharge measurement, and results of geochemical analyses for sites sampled as part of the associated USGS Scientific Investigations Report. Some of the data presented here references sections of the the larger work which can be found here: Gingerich, S.B., Johnson, H.M., Boschmann, D.E., Grondin, G.H., and Garcia, C.A., 2022, Groundwater resources of the Harney Basin, southeastern Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2021–5103, 118 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215103.

This data release contains environmental tracer concentrations, modeled recharge conditions (water temperature, excess air), and resulting estimated groundwater residence times. This dataset supports an integrated hydrogeochemical investigation of solute sources, groundwater recharge processes, and groundwater flow in the Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer. The data release contains five comma separated value (CSV) files. The CSV files contain the model inputs (gas and tracer concentrations) and the model outputs (simulated recharge temperature, excess air, apparent groundwater age, and mean groundwater residence time). Data were collected in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center.