Estimation of the Formation Conditions of the Bishuli Thermomineral Water (Crimean Plain) by Isotope Geochemical Methods

Abstract

The formation conditions of the Bishuli thermomineral waters from the Crimean Plain were determined by a complex of isotopic methods. The absence of tritium (3H < 0.1 TU) and considerable radiocarbon age (τ = 28 ± 3 ka) are in line with the light isotopic composition of the mineral water (δ18O = –13.4‰ and δ2H = –96‰), which is strongly different from that of the recent precipitation, river water, and groundwater of the region (δ18O from –7.4 to 8.7‰ and δ2H from –50 to –62‰). The formation of the mineral waters should be assigned to the Dnestr pluvial interstadial of the last glaciation, which reached the maximum in the region approximately 27 ka ago. The recharge zone is probably located on the northern slope of the Crimean Mountains (at a distance of ~60 km), which, together with the absence of tritium, indicates that the mineral waters are protected from an anthropogenic impact.