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Major and trace element concentrations in the geothermal springs along the west coast of Maharashtra, India

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Abstract

The west coast geothermal province in Maharashtra hosts a number of thermal springs along the 350 km linear stretch. Major and trace element analyses of thermal springs from 15 locations along with groundwater and surface water samples have been studied. The thermal waters had temperatures ranging from 40 to 71 °C, pH from 7.1 to 8.8 and total dissolved solids between 337 and 8698 mg/l. Most of the thermal waters are Na-Ca-Cl or Ca-Na-Cl type except one which is of Na-HCO3 type. The major ion data is comparable over three decades suggesting a mature geothermal system in the west coast. Trace elements concentrations were low in case of some elements such as<0.1 ppb of Ag and Cd, 1–3 ppb of Cr, Zn, Co, Cu, Pb and Ni, whereas elements like Li (19–386 ppb), B (104–1362 ppb), Sr (16–13,560 ppb), Rb (13–220 ppb), Cs (0.75–44 ppb) and Ba (3–2077 ppb) were much higher in concentration. The variations in the trace element concentration in the thermal waters indicate involvement of different rock types although all the thermal emergences are within the Deccan volcanic flows.

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Acknowledgments

This investigation is a part of Doctoral thesis of Trupti Gurav. The authors thank the Director IIT Bombay for supporting this work. Trupti Gurav also thanks Dr. J. S Ray and Ms. Ikshu Gautam from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for extending their support in trace element analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Trupti Gurav, Hemant K. Singh & D. Chandrasekharam

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  1. Trupti Gurav
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  2. Hemant K. Singh
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  3. D. Chandrasekharam
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Correspondence to D. Chandrasekharam.

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Gurav, T., Singh, H.K. & Chandrasekharam, D. Major and trace element concentrations in the geothermal springs along the west coast of Maharashtra, India. Arab J Geosci 9, 44 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2139-2

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