Geochemical Characteristics of Geothermal Fluids of a Deep Ancient Buried Hill in the Xiong’an New Area of China

Abstract

The Xiong’an New Area is one of the areas with the richest geothermal resources in the east-central part of China. However, the genesis of the geothermal water in Jixianian carbonate reservoirs in this area is still unclear. This study conducted systematical geochemical and isotopic analyses of the geothermal water in the Jixianian carbonate reservoirs in the Rongcheng geothermal field and summed up the genetic mechanisms of geothermal fluids in deep geothermal reservoirs. The results are as follows: the geothermal water in the study area has a hydrochemical type of Cl·HCO3-Na and originates from meteoric water in the Taihang Mountains. The age of the geothermal water increases from 22 ka in the west to 45 ka in the east, and its transport rate is approximately 1.02 m/a. The Sr concentration and 87Sr/86Sr ratio of the geothermal fluids increase along their runoff direction and are related to the dissolution and filtration of minerals such as dolomite and gypsum and the decay of 87Rb in the Earth’s crust. The geothermal water is involved in deep circulation and occurs in a closed system. These results are consistent with those obtained using the PHREEQC inverse model. The reverse hydrogeochemical simulation results exhibited the precipitation of gypsum and halite, the dissolution of anorthite and quartz, and desulfurization. The geothermal reservoir temperatures were estimated to be 92–113 °C using a SiO2 geothermometer, and the thermal groundwater may have undergone deep circulation, with a prolonged retention time. Moreover, the groundwater occurs in a closed environment, strong water-rock interactions occur between the groundwater and related minerals, and the groundwater absorbs the heat from the deep heat source, thus forming geothermal water.