Definition
Hydrothermal Environments , Terrestrial. Areas on the Earth’s surface that are under the influence of geothermal waters, steam, and associated gases discharged from hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles.
Introduction
Terrestrial hydrothermal environments are those settings where fluids discharge either at or close to the land surface at a temperature that is significantly above the local ambient air temperature. The hydrothermal processes transfer heat and dissolved matter to the surface in a liquid or vapor (gas) phase. Those fluids originate at variable depths below the Earth’s surface and have a wide range of temperature and chemical composition. Visible features of terrestrial hydrothermal environments include hot springs , geysers , fumaroles , and steam vents. Travertine (calcite and aragonite: CaCO3) and sinter (mainly opal-A: SiO2. nH2O), precipitated from thermal water, commonly form mounds and terraces around many spring and geyser vents. In contrast, chemical...
Keywords
- Geothermal System
- Geothermal Field
- Hydrothermal Environment
- Taupo Volcanic Zone
- Chloride Water
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Renaut, R.W., Jones, B. (2011). Hydrothermal Environments, Terrestrial. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_114
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