Nature and role of CO 2 in some hot and cold HCO 3 /Na/CO 2 -rich Portuguese mineral waters: a review and reinterpretation

Abstract

At the northern part of the Portuguese mainland, the upflow zone of several hot and cold HCO3/Na/CO2-rich mineral waters is mainly associated with important NNE–SSW faults. Several geochemical studies have been carried out on thermal and non-thermal hydromineral manifestations that occur along or near these long tectonic alignments. The slight chemical differences that exist between these meteoric hot and cold HCO3/Na/CO2-rich mineral waters seem to be mainly caused by CO2. δ13C(TIDC) values observed in these groundwaters range between –6.00 and –1.00‰ versus V-PDB (V denotes Vienna, the site of the International Atomic Energy Agency; PDB originates from the CaCO3 of the rostrum of a Cretaceous belemnite, Belemnitella americana, collected in the Peedee formation of South Carolina, USA) indicating a deep-seated (mantle) origin for most of the CO2. Nevertheless, in the case of the heavier δ13C(TIDC) values, the contribution of metamorphic CO2 or the dissolution of carbonate rock levels at depth cannot be excluded. Concerning the hot waters, the lack of a positive 18O-shift should be attributed to water-rock interaction in a low temperature environment, rather than to the isotopic influence of CO2 on the δ18O-value of the waters.