• Characteristics of South Korea's Geothermal Water in Relation to Its Geological and Geochemical Feature
  • Lee, Chung-Mo;Hamm, Se-Yeong;Lee, Cholwoo;Choi, Sung-Ja;Chung, Sang Yong;
  • Division of Earth Environmental System, Pusan National University;Division of Earth Environmental System, Pusan National University;Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources;Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources;Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Pukyong National University;
Abstract
The volcanic type of geothermal water is linked intimately to active or potentially active volcanoes and takes place near the plate boundaries. In contrast to the volcanic type, the geothermal water in Korea has a non-volcanic origin. Korea's geothermal water is classified into the residual magma (RM) type and deep groundwater (DG) type according to the criterion of $35^{\circ}C$. This study reviewed the relationship between the physical and chemical features of the 281 geothermal water sources in South Korea in terms of the specific capacity, water temperature, and chemical compositions of two different basements (igneous rock and metamorphic rock) as well as the geological structures. According to the spatial relationship between the geothermal holes and geological faults, the length of the major fault is considered a key parameter determining the movement to a deeper place and the temperature of geothermal water. A negligible relationship between the specific capacity (Q/s) and temperature was found for both the RM type and DG type with the greater specific capacities of the RM- and DG-igneous types than the RM- and DG-metamorphic types. No relationship was observed between Q/s and the chemical constituents ($K^+$, $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, $SO_4{^{2-}}$, $HCO_3{^-}$, and $SiO_2$) in the DG-igneous and DG-metamorphic types. Furthermore, weak relationship between temperature and chemical constituents was found for both the RM type and DG type.

Keywords: Geothermal water;Residual magma type;Deep groundwater type;Specific capacity;Geology;Chemical constituents;

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This Article

  • 2014; 19(2): 25-37

    Published on Apr 30, 2014

  • 10.7857/JSGE.2014.19.2.025
  • Received on Apr 3, 2014
  • Revised on Apr 28, 2014
  • Accepted on Apr 28, 2014