Skład gazów rozpuszczonych w wodzie termalnej eksploatowanej odwiertem KT-1 w Karpnikach na obszarze granitu karkonoskiego w Sudetach

The detailed research of a gas mixture released from the thermal water, which is extracted from borehole KT-1 at Karpniki, showed the predominance of nitrogen (98.08% by volume) with subordinate Ar (1.52%) and He (0.32%) and trace amounts of CO2 (0.07%) and CH4 (0.01%). The 222Rn radionuclide is also dissolved in this water, showing an activity concentration of 245 Bq/dm3 at the outflow and 256 Bq/dm3 in the aquifer. A small value of the gas exponent (0.014), and also a value of the δ coefficient close to 1 (0.93) were calculated based on the dissolved Ar and N2 content in the water examined, as well as on concentrations of argon and nitrogen in water, assuming that atmospheric air is present above the water surface with a contemporary composition and under normal pressure. The data obtained indicate that these gases and additionally CO2 and CH4 are of atmospheric origin. These gases were either dissolved in rainwater, which infiltrated deep into the Karkonosze granite massif, orformed within the organic layer covering this exposed intrusion. This is evidenced by concentrations of these gases that can be comparable to their atmospheric equivalents. Helium is a radiogenic gas formed as a result of nuclear transformation of isotopes assigned to natural radioactive series. The radiogenic and also radioactive gas is represented by the 222Rn radioisotope which is released from reservoir rocks, in an amount of 5% of the atom poolforming in the reservoir rock, into thermal water that subsequently reaches borehole KT-1 from a distance of 34 m at most. The thermal paleoinfiltration water has been heated up as a result of the conduction, and the source of heat is the temperature of the rocks resulting from an average geothermal gradient of 2.96°C per 100 m. The results of the authors’research indicate that there are no traces of inflow of hotfluids (especially water) from the deeper layers of the crust or from the mantle. If the examined thermal water is considered as paleoinfiltration water, its static resources may be limited, non-renewable.