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Sedimentation sequence of a high-temperature silica-rich hot spring: evidence from isothermal evaporation experiments and from petrology and mineralogy of sinters

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Abstract

High-temperature SiO2-rich springs are one of the most indicative manifestations of deep geothermal activities. Although they often represent the valuable geothermal potentials and significances of the areas, their high SiO2 contents usually bring some non-negligible problems when we exploit the geothermal resources, especially the silica scales. To understand the sedimentation sequences of SiO2-rich hot springs and to expose its potential relationships with natural sinter deposits and silica scales in geothermal plants, this study make a couple of analyses of the water and solid samples collected from a natural SiO2-rich hot spring in Tengchong (i.e. Dagunguo spring) and isothermal evaporation experiments, including water chemistry analyses, X-ray diffraction, thin-section observation, and electron microscopy analyses. The modern sinters in Dagunguo spring are amorphous SiO2 which is largely formed of tight siliceous layers and some amorphous SiO2 spheres. Some silicified microorganisms, elemental sulfur, and clay are also found. The Dagunguo spring water is Na–Cl–HCO3-type SiO2-rich water, with a pH of about 8 and low dissolved concentrations of Al3+, Fe3+ and Mg2+. Isothermal evaporation (T = 84 °C) resulted in a sequence of precipitated minerals: amorphous SiO2 → halite → sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate (trona) → potassium chloride (sylvine), accompanied by calcite, hydrous sodium sulfate (mirabilite) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The amorphous SiO2 produced in the evaporation experiments exhibited different shapes and structures than the spherical opal-A formed by hot spring water precipitation under natural conditions. The study of precipitation sequence and minerals of hot spring water provides insight into the scaling mechanism of silica-rich geothermal water and anti-scaling measures that can be applied in the process of exploitation and utilization of geothermal resources.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank researcher Zhou Jiayun and associate researcher Gong Daxing of the Institute of Minerals Comprehensive Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences for providing experimental guidance. The English in a draft version was edited by Prof. James Ogg. This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41572097; 41972109; 41002033; 41472088).

Funding

This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41572097; 41972109; 41002033; 41472088). To be used for non-life science journals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sedimentary Geology, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Ze Yan, Wenli Xu, Yaxian You & Huaguo Wen

  2. Hunan Mining and Metallurgy Bureau Of Nuclear Industry, Hunan, 410016, China

    Ze Yan

  3. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation (Chengdu University of Technology), Chenghua District, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan Province, China

    Wenli Xu & Huaguo Wen

  4. Chongqing 208 Engineering Testing Co., Ltd, Chongqing, 400700, China

    Xiaotong Luo

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Contributions

Conceptualization: WX, HW; methodology: HW, ZY, XL; formal analysis and investigation: YY, XL; writing—original draft preparation: ZY; writing—review and editing: HW, WX, XL; funding acquisition: WX, HW; resources: WX, HW; supervision: WX, HW.

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Yan, Z., Xu, W., Luo, X. et al. Sedimentation sequence of a high-temperature silica-rich hot spring: evidence from isothermal evaporation experiments and from petrology and mineralogy of sinters. Carbonates Evaporites 36, 29 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-021-00687-9

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