Złoty Stok : an attempted Sudetic health resort with arsenical waters

Złoty Stok, located in the Eastern Sudetes, deserves the particular attention considering its long and interesting mining history and occurence of distinct groundwaters containing elevated concentration of arsenic. Based on the waters drained from so-called „arsenic-iron spring” the plans of new Sudetic health resort foundation were developed in the beginning of 20th Century. Unfortunately, according to recent legal regulations considering arsenic as highly toxic and carcinogenic, the whole idea was dispelled, and the arsenic-iron spring showed up to be the ordinary outflow from one of the mine adits. The article presents the results of recent and former chemical analyses of water from above-mentioned outflow as well as the results of exploration works carried out at this point

Mineral waters of the Sudetic region (SW Poland) : selected problems

Mineralized waters used for medical treatment are common in the Sudetes. Due to reservoir rock types and the depth of groundwater circulation, two main types of groundwater deposits are distinguished. These are fissure deposits, the most often present in granites and gneisses, andfissure-porous deposits present first of all in sandstones. The main types of mineralized groundwater are CO2-rich waters, containing up to 99.5% of CO2 as the primary gas component, thermal waters characterized by the temperatures up to 87°C, which classifies these waters as the warmest in Poland, as well as radon waters, containing the highest activity concentrations of 222Rn, reaching above 2,000 Bq/dm3. All these groundwater types are infiltration waters. Discharge rates of the intakes in the Sudetes changes with time, which is influenced by changes in atmospheric parameters. The time of reaction is similar for all the intakes in the same hydrogeological structure. The process of mixing between the highly-mineralized, deep-circulation groundwater component and the shallow-circulation, low-mineralized component is intensely studied. Another problem is the presence of CO2 in the amount exceeding its solubility in the water. Juvenile CO2 flows from the deep crust through tectonic discontinuities, where it dissolves in groundwater, forming CO2-oversaturated waters, as well as itforms gas anomalies in soil air. CO2 concentrations may reach in soils more than 60 vol.%, and the flux of this gas reaches even 66 g/m2/d. Radon dissolves in groundwater in the zone of its out flow, where reservoir rocks are densely cracked, weathered, and cut by tectonic faults. The hydrogeochemical background of 222Rn in groundwater of the Sudetes is between 4 and 306 Bq/dm3

Mineral and thermal waters of Poland

Definitions, history, resources, origin, and use of mineral and thermal waters in Poland are discussed. Mineral and some thermal waters have been used on the present territory of Poland for therapeutic purposes probably since the Roman times and according to documents since medieval ages. Nowadays, different types of mineral and thermal waters are exploited in a number of Spas for therapeutic purposes, whereas in some other areas thermal waters are exploited for recreation and heating purposes. Their occurrences, origin, chemical types, legal aspects of exploitation, potential vulnerability and bottling are presented

Chemical facies of CO2-rich waters in the Flysch Carpathians versus water age

Wykazano, że skład chemiczny i mineralizacja zwykłych szczaw w zachodniej części polskich Karpat fliszowych silnie zależą od wieku wody. Wody współczesne są zazwyczaj typu HCO3-Ca z mineralizacją poniżej 3 g/dm3, a wody wieku glacjalnego reprezentują różne typy ze zwiększonym udziałem jonów Mg2+ Mg2+ i Na+ lub Na+ i Mg2+, o mineralizacji znacznie przekraczającej 3 g/dm3. Zaobserwowane zależności mogą być przydatne dla lepszej identyfikacji wieku wód oraz procesów mieszania się wód o bardzo zróżnicowanym wieku.Chemical composition and total dissolved solids (TDS) of CO2-rich waters in the western part of the Polish Carpathians depend strongly on the age of water. Modern waters are of the HCO3-Ca type with TDS usually below 3 g/l, whereas glacial age waters are of different types with increased contents of Mg2+, Mg2+ and Na+, or Na+and Mg2+, with TDS content significantly above 3 g/l. The relationships observed may serve for a better identification of ages and mixing patterns between waters of significantly different ages