The Artesia Lake area is 3 to 6 km north and northeast of Hinds' Hot Springs and is a continuation of the thermal anomalies along the Pine Nut Mountains from Wellington to Artesia Lake. Warm-water wells and springs are reported in Secs. 25, 27, 34, Tl3N, R23E and Sec. 10, Tl2N, R23E. Well temperatures are up to 28°C for the Ambassador well; no temperature data are available for the springs, except that they are warm (Moore, 1969, pl. 1). The Ambassador well is 869 m deep and artesian. Measurements of uranium and radium in water from this well indicate that it may penetrate volcanic rocks at depth (Scott and Barker, 1962).
Nevada Hot Springs (Hinds')
The third hottest springs in Lyon County, after Hazen and Wabuska, are found near the edge of the Pine Nut Mountains along the western margin of Smith Valley. These springs are named for J.C. Hinds, the first settler in the north end of Smith Valley. Hinds utilized the springs as early as 1860 for agriculture and in a spa built on the site (Loeltz and Eakin, 1953; Thompson and West, 1881). The flow of the springs was also used to turn a water wheel, which powered a rock arrastre employed to mill various ores from mines in the vicinity (Pioneer Nevada, 1951, p. 96).
The temperatures reported at Hinds' are as high as 65°C (L.J. Garside, unpub. data), although cool sulfur water reportedly issues from a spring only a few hundred feet away. Thermal springs are also found along the edge of the valley from half a mile south of the main springs at Hinds' to a point due south of the alkali flat. Generally the flow of each spring is less than 19 L/min and the temperature is a little less than 21°C (Loeltz and Eakin, 1953). The water from these springs is probably rising from depth along a system of faults. The fluoride content of Hinds' Hot Springs has been reported as 2.7 and 3.1 ppm. Most water in Smith Valley whose temperature indicates little if any mixing with thermal water contained only 0.2 to 0.4 ppm fluoride. It appears that high contents of fluoride in this area are associated with the thermal water found along the south and west sides of Smith Valley, presumably along fault planes (Loeltz and Eakin, 1953). An estimate of the reservoir temperature of Hinds' Hot Springs, using the Na-K-Ca geothermometer, is 86°C, and deposits of travertine are reported (Mariner and others, 1974).
In the early 1960s, U.S. Steel Corp. drilled three geothermal exploration wells at Hinds' Hot Springs. The temperatures encountered in these wells were reportedly lower than the maximum temperatures from nearby springs. Today the water from Hinds' Hot Springs is used to irrigate pasture and other salt-tolerant grasses, and in a swimming pool near the site of two of the geothermal wells. The third geothermal well is a short distance to the south of the pool.
Hinds' Hot Springs are only one of several thermal water areas along the eastern edge of the Pine Nut Mountains. The contact between alluvium and bedrock along the mountain front is a series of faults (Moore, 1969). Recent faulting is indicated in this area by discordant breaks in slope on some alluvial fans, such as on the small fan just south of Hinds' Hot Springs (Loeltz and Eakin, 1953). The other thermal areas are the Wellington area, 16 km to the south, and the Artesia Lake area, 3 to 6 km north of Hinds' Hot Springs.