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Groundwater and volcanoes: examples from the Azores archipelago

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Groundwater at the Azores archipelago is a strategic resource for the freshwater supply. Freshwater, mineral and thermal water discharges occur in the archipelago, and especially at the Fogo and Furnas volcanoes (São Miguel). These discharges provide data for case studies of groundwater chemistry from volcanic monitoring due to the stable composition of the sampled waters. The mineral and thermal discharges are mainly of sodium bicarbonate types and present a large range of temperatures, from cold springs to waters at about 90 °C. Some boiling discharges have a sulfate-dominated composition, suggesting a steam-heating mechanism. Geochemical studies on these mineral and thermal waters began in the 19th century. Data gathered since these earlier studies provide a baseline for pH, temperature, CO2 and major-element composition. Weekly measurements of pH and temperature also denote a rather stable behavior.

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges all the members of the Commission on Mineral and Thermal Waters (IAH) who attended the 2000 annual meeting at Ponta Delgada (Azores, Portugal) for the fruitful discussions, and Dr. Philip LaMoreaux for the invitation to submit this paper. The author is grateful to the critical comments of an anonymous reviewer.

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  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Azores, Rua da Mãe de Deus, Apartado 1422, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    José Virgílio Cruz

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Correspondence to José Virgílio Cruz.

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Cruz, J.V. Groundwater and volcanoes: examples from the Azores archipelago. Env Geol 44, 343–355 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0769-2

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