Mineralogical and hydrogeological study of 'pouhons' in the lower Palaeozoic formations of the Stavelot-Venn Massif, Belgium
| Autor: | Frédéric Hatert, Hyacinthe-Willy Vanderschueren, Alain Dassargues, Martin Depret, Yannick Bruni, Jean-Marc Marion, Agathe Defourny |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
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| Zdroj: | Geologica Belgica. 24:109-124 |
| ISSN: | 2034-1954 1374-8505 |
| DOI: | 10.20341/gb.2021.001 |
| Popis: | 1. Introduction Numerous naturally ferruginous and CO2-rich mineral water springs, locally called pouhons, occur in southeast Belgium. These water sources are mainly concentrated in the Cambro-Ordovician formations of the Stavelot-Venn Massif (SVM). Some are exploited, such as the mineral and thermal waters of Spa (Marie-Henriette) or the mineral waters of Bru-Chevron. These sources are also known for their curative properties and were first mentioned in journals (Naturalis Historiae) of Pliny the Elder (77–79 AD). Although these water springs have been known and exploited for a long time, many questions remain as their age, their underground circulation pathway, the origins of the CO2 and their particular composition. Indeed, hydrogeological interpretations are relatively difficult in the SVM due to its complex geological setting. Pouhons are characterised by a red-orange colour resulting from iron oxide and hydroxide precipitation linked to changing redox conditions near the surface. Radon measurements have shown that these ferruginous deposits are weakly radioactive (Vanderschueren, 2011). Uranium, at the origin of radon activity, was probably gradually leached from rocks, transported in solution, and finally concentrated in ferruginous muds. In this paper, we present a combined geological, mineralogical, geochemical, and hydrogeological study of pouhons; these data will improve our global understanding of these ferruginous springs. 2. Geological setting The SVM, mainly l |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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