Change in color of the hot spring deposits at the Chinoike-Jigoku hot pool, Beppu geothermal field

Abstract

The Chinoike-Jigoku hot pool in Beppu geothermal field, Central Kyushu, Japan, displays a blood-red color due to the hematite (Fe 2O 3) deposited at the bottom of the pool. The colors of the deposits collected on 1 October 1990, on 27 March 1995, and on 6 March 1996 were measured with a colorimeter. The results show that the red deposits became yellower in 1995 and 1996 than they were in 1990. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and chemical compositions of the deposits indicate that the discoloration of the Chinoike-Jigoku pool water is caused by an increase in the content of jarosite [KFe 3(SO 4) 2(OH) 6]. The temperature of the subsurface thermal water beneath the Chinoike-Jigoku hot pool, as estimated by the anhydrite chemical geothermometer, has declined from 200 to 150 °C over the past 25 years. The Na and Cl concentrations of the hot spring water discharging from Chinoike-Jigoku have decreased, while the SO 4 concentration has increased. The temporal variations in subsurface temperature and dissolved ion concentrations suggest that the mixing ratio between the high–temperature, neutral Na–Cl type water and the relatively low-temperature, acid H–SO 4 type water that form the thermal water of Chinoike–Jigoku has changed over the last 25 years. Hydrothermal studies of jarosite stability have confirmed that the increase in jarosite content in the deposits was caused by a temperature drop of the mixed thermal water beneath Chinoike-Jigoku pool, due to an increase in the contribution of the cooler H–SO 4 water type to the thermal mixture.