Waters of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas: their nature and origin
The 47 hot springs of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, issue from the plunging crestline of a large overturned anticline, along the southern margin of the Ouachita anticlinorium, in the Zigzag Mountains. The combined flow of the hot springs ranges from 750,000 to 950,000 gallons per day (3.29 x 10/sup -2/ to 4.16 x 10/sup -2/ cubic meters per second). The radioactivity and chemical composition of the hot-water springs are similar to that of the cold-water springs and wells in the area. The tritium and carbon-14 analyses of the water indicate that the water is a mixture of a very small amount of water less than 20 years old and a preponderance of water about 4400 years old. The presence of radium and radon in the hot-springs waters has been established by analyses. Mathematical models were employed to test various conceptual models of the hot-springs flow system. The geochemical data, flow measurements, and geologic structure of the region support the concept that virtually all the hot-springs water is of local, meteoric origin. Recharge to the hot-springs artesian-flow system is by infiltration of rainfall in the outcrop areas of the Bigfork Chert and the Arkansas Novaculite. The water moves slowly to depth where it is heated by contact with rocks of high temperature. Highly permeable zones, related to jointing or faulting, collect the heated water in the aquifer and provide avenues for the water to travel rapidly to the surface.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Washington, DC (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6718099
- Report Number(s):
- USGS-PP-1044-C; ON: DE83900374
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ARKANSAS
HOT SPRINGS
THERMAL WATERS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
ORIGIN
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FLOW MODELS
FLOW RATE
RADIUM
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SILICA
TRITIUM
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
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WATER SPRINGS
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Geothermal Legacy
150201* - Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems- USA- (-1989)