Climatic impacts on hydrogeochemical characteristics of mineralized springs: a case study of the Garab travertine zone in the northeast of Iran

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to indicate that hydrogeochemical characteristics of the mineralized spring waters of the Garab travertine zone, in the northeast of Iran, are changed in accordance of regional climatic impacts. Some 18 hydrogeological and 8 meteorological variables from documented data of Garab water samples for the years 1970, 1984, 2001, and 2011 are employed. The temporal trends show that the years 1984 and 2011 are classified as the humid and wet periods and the years 1970 and 2001 are classified as the arid and dry periods in the study area. Our results revealed that the concentrations of Ca 2+ , Na + , K + , Cl − , and CO 3 2− were enhanced in the wet period by increasing carbonate precipitation and dissolution of surfacial Neogene Na-Cl soils. The recorded 8°C difference between water temperature and air temperature can be related to thermogene conditions of spring water and thick travertine deposits, while the same variability of water temperature and air temperature in the wet and dry periods exhibits meteogene conditions of spring water and tufa generation. The hydrogeochemical analysis revealed that the abundant values of electrical conductivity (~11,000 μs/ cm), total dissolved solids (~6,700 mg/l), and CO 2 (~350 mg/ l) together with the observed water type (Na-Cl and Ca-HCO 3 -SO 4 ) are due to thermal water origin and possible leakage of fossil seawaters in deeper ground.