Abstract
Thermal waters are natural resources of great value to geothermal sciences, the tourism industry, and health. In this work, geochemical classification of physicochemical results of 17 sources at the Puracé-La Mina (Cauca, Colombia) sector was implemented in order to strengthen and determine their potential applications and enhance the continental tourism in Colombia. The analyzed parameters were developed following the Standard Methods 22nd edition, at Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Manizales. According to the results obtained by means of a geochemical classification, it was found that most of the sources have a sulfated-acid nature which makes them heated vapor waters and volcanic waters. Likewise, it was observed that all the sources are immature waters and still do not reach chemical equilibrium. On the other hand, mineralogical and chemical characterization by means of XRD and XRF showed a high content of silica isomorphous minerals with a low concentration. In addition, the presence of Fe2O3 was observed, which is insoluble at pH > 5 and remains in the rock. Nevertheless, considering that mine sources possess pH ± 2 and temperatures of 40°C, leaching is possible for iron justifying its presence in the water. Instead, elements like Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ have high mobility at the conditions of mine sources (low pH) as a consequence of hydrolysis processes, which produce variations in water composition.
Highlights
Geothermal processes are directly related to the composition of hot springs giving useful information about the components that affect these hot springs and allowing the evaluation of their applications [1], such as heating, medicinal applications, and bathing [2]
Several studies of hot springs placed in different countries have been reported in the literature as it is the case of Chabaane et al [5] who developed a work that attempted to enhance and optimize the potential exploitation of the Hammam Sayala thermal spring in NW Tunisia
The physicochemical characteristics of 17 sources of the Puracé-La Mina sector were analyzed by means of ternary diagrams allowing their classification based on the most representative ions
Summary
Geothermal processes are directly related to the composition of hot springs giving useful information about the components that affect these hot springs and allowing the evaluation of their applications [1], such as heating, medicinal applications, and bathing [2]. Hot springs can be located around the world in different countries and regions These different locations make hot springs exhibit a great diversity of geophysical, geochemical, and biological properties depending on the region and the origin of the waters. In this way, rock and mineral chemistry is important in hot spring studies taking into account that information about water-rock interactions can be obtained [3]. Rock and mineral chemistry is important in hot spring studies taking into account that information about water-rock interactions can be obtained [3] These differences make hot springs an interesting area of research for specific biotechnological or ecological applications [4]. These studies might be meaningful for geochemical monitoring of active volcanoes through the changes in the calculated equilibrium temperatures of appropriate minerals for volcanic hot springs
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