Making Water Tracing Rock Solid: A national, geologic map-based visualization of water strontium isotope data

We aim to create an online map of strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) for water samples analyzed for/by the USGS on top of a national-scale geologic map. Strontium isotope ratios increase with age of underlying rocks, and are used to “map” surface and groundwater water sources. Rock strontium isotope ratios transfer unchanged into waters, and then by eating and drinking, into plants, animals, and people. They are globally applicable, and used by govt. and non-govt. agencies to trace material origins in hydrology, ecology, archaeology, and forensics. Currently, a fraction of the USGS’ published data is in the NWIS database. More is published in reports, maps, and articles of various vintage. We will compile, standardize, and serve the data in spatial relation to underlying geology, enhancing data discovery and predictive power in sourcing studies. Our map/database will become a scalable, updatable, nationwide resource to access existing data for area(s) of interest. This poster was presented at the 2024 July ESIP Meeting in Asheville, NC (July 22-26, 2024).

本数据集旨在构建一个基于美国地质调查局（USGS）分析的水样锶同位素比值（87Sr/86Sr）的在线地图，并将其叠加于国家规模的地质图之上。锶同位素比值随底层岩石年龄的增长而增加，并被应用于绘制地表水和地下水水源分布图。岩石中的锶同位素比值在转化为水体时保持不变，随后通过摄取和饮用，进入植物、动物及人类体内。这些比值具有全球适用性，并由政府及非政府机构用于追踪水文学、生态学、考古学和法医学中的物质起源。目前，USGS发布的数据中有一部分存储在NWIS数据库中，其余则散布于各种年代报告、地图和文章中。我们将对这些数据进行汇编、标准化，并以其与底层地质的空间关系为依据提供服务，从而提升数据在水源研究中的发现能力和预测效力。我们的地图/数据库将成为一个可扩展、可更新的全国性资源，便于访问感兴趣区域已有的数据。本海报于2024年7月22日至26日在北卡罗来纳州阿什维尔举办的2024年7月ESIP会议上展出。