Thermal springs: hello from the bowels of the earth

Thermal sources are widely distributed on the Earth's surface. The geysers of Kamchatka, Iceland and the Yellowstone National Park have become world famous. And many other places where the access to the surface of hot and warm waters occurs in a more "peaceful" and quiet way, are well known not only in the countries in which they are located, but also far beyond their borders.

Many thermal springs have medicinal properties. This is due to the fact that, rising to the surface, hot water dissolves some rocks encountered on its way, rich in elements useful to humans and minerals.

Most of these sources are associated with volcanic activity. They are usually located in a seismically active area, where underground fire comes close to the surface of the Earth. Often in places of hot water outlet there are medical institutions. Such are the Caucasian Mineral Waters, the balneological resorts of South China, the health resorts of Italy and Bulgaria.

Thermal springs, depending on the composition of the water, are used to treat various diseases. Potassium-sodium can help with diseases of the respiratory system, skin or nervous system. And radon sources are good for the treatment of the musculoskeletal system: rheumatism, radiculitis, joint diseases. The composition of the hot springs may be different (depending on which rocks prevail at the point of water outlet to the surface).

Water from such sources can be used for both oral and oral bathing. In most cases, a doctor should be consulted for proper dosage or for choosing the method of administration of water. According to the temperature, thermal springs are subdivided into warm springs (with water temperature of twenty to thirty-seven degrees Celsius above zero), hot springs (thirty-seven to fifty degrees) and very hot (above fifty degrees).

Interestingly, some thermal springs are located far from seismically active regions. In these cases, water comes from a great depth. For every kilometer of depth, the temperature of the rocks that make up the earth's crust rises by thirty degrees. Therefore, wherever there are cracks in the earth's crust that extend to a depth of more than a kilometer, and there may be thermal springs. Tyumen, located in a seismically absolutely inert zone, perfectly confirms this rule. In the Urals and in Western Siberia are widely known and popular resorts located in the Tyumen and Yalutorovsk.

Thermal source can be used not only for recreational purposes. In 1967, the world's first geothermal power plant began operations . It was the Paratun Geothermal Power Plant in Kamchatka. Now power plants of this type (except Russia) are in twenty-three countries located on all continents. Geothermal power plants have a great advantage over other power plants: they do not depend on environmental conditions and do not use non-renewable resources to produce electricity . It would seem: here it is, an ecologically and economically perfect source of energy! But not everything is so simple. Although economically, GeoES is, indeed, very profitable, but with ecology often not everything is as rosy as it seems at first glance.

The fact is that the hot waters used at the GeoPP often contain various substances that are harmful to humans and animals. In particular, these are salts of some metals. Therefore, the used water can not be discharged into the reservoirs of the earth's surface. From the situation came out by pumping waste water back into the underground aquifer.