ARETA (Alpine caRbon cyclE daTAset): a dataset on physical, chemical and isotopic data of Alpine groundwaters

In Europe 65% of drinking water and 25% of water for agricultural irrigation come from groundwaters. Thermal and mineral groundwaters have an important role in society, for well-being and for economic purposes. Although widespread Alpine aquifers are critically important and highly vulnerable, regional-scale quantitative and qualitative studies on these groundwater resources remain remarkably limited. In this work we compiled a geo-dataset named ARETA (Alpine caRbon cyclE daTAset), containing more than 3,000 chemical analyses of georeferenced spring waters obtained both from the literature (technical reports, scientific publications, books, and other bibliographic sources) and from unpublished data collected during 2011-2022 fieldworks. For fewer than 20% of spring waters, analysis of the isotopic composition of water and carbon were also included, as well as flow rate values. The ARETA dataset significantly advances knowledge by addressing key geographic and hydrogeochemical gaps within the Alpine chain. Its broad coverage makes it an invaluable resource, especially when integrated with other established databases for large-scale studies. The dataset is publicly available at Figshare¹.