Mineral, thermal and therapeutic waters of the Polish Carpathians

The province of the Polish Carpathians is characterized by a wealth of various mineral, thermal and potentially therapeutic waters, and by a coexistence of normal, mineral and thermal waters as well.
   The Inner Carpathians enclose the Podhale Basin and the Tatra Mountains, the latter being the major recharging area of underground waters. The Podhale Basin represents a classic artesian basin, in which the carbonate strata of Eocene and Triassic carry thermal waters recorded at the depths from 680 m (Zazadnia IG-1) to 5261 m (Bańska IG-1) in 14 boreholes. The temperature of the waters ranges from 20 to 86ºC at the mineralization (TDS) from about 0.3 to 3 g/dm³. They are utilized in recreation and in heating installations.
   The waters in question within the area of the Pieniny Clippen Belt are limited to a few springs of sulphurous water.
   The Outer, i.e., Flysch Carpathians, are composed of tectonic units of a lower rank overthrusted on each other, strongly dislocated and dismembered into separate blocks. Within their area the following water types have been found: carbonated waters, waters containing carbon dioxide, chloride waters, brines, thermal waters and sulphurous waters. The carbonated waters and waters containing carbon dioxide have currently been rendered accessible in 68 springs and 138 boreholes, and occur only within the areas of the Magura and Silesia units. They represent waters with mineralization (TDS) from 0.4 (acratopegae) to 27 g/dm³, and their hydrochemical types are HCO₃-(Ca)-(Mg)-(Na), (Fe), (I), and HCO₃-Cl-Na, (Fe), (I). In Krynica, waters of the Zuber type, unique in the world, are provided from four boreholes on the slopes of Parkowa Góra Mt. The Zubers are carbonated waters with the TDS content from 21.2 to 29 g/dm³ of the hydrochemical type HCO₃-Na-(Mg), I. The chloride waters and brines occur within all the tectonic units of the Outer Carpathians and their TDS content ranges from 35 to about 146 g/dm³ (the latter in Jaworze Dolne). They have been reported in many boreholes drilled mainly during oil and gas prospecting. The chloride waters (e.g. in Rabka and Poręba Wielka) and brines (Sól, Jaworze, Krosno) are mostly synsedimentary waters of the Cl-Na, I type. They are associated with both the Carpathian flysch strata and the older rocks (Devonian, Carboniferous) of the Carpathian basement (Ustroń Śląski, Kęty, Jaworze). For instance, the uptakes in Ustroń pump thermal brines of the Cl-Na-Ca type, the TDS content 103-126 g/dm³ and the temperature 50ºC from the Devonian basement. The sulphurous waters have been recorded in 125 springs within the Carpathians. They contain H₂S in the range 1-160 mg/dm3 at the TDS ranging from 0.3 to 3.6 g/dm³; most of these waters are acratopegae.
   Natural radioactivity of uranium (²³⁸U, ²³⁴U), radium (²²⁸Ra, ²²⁶Ra), radon (²²²Rn) and lead (²¹⁰Pb) isotopes as well as the total concentration of the α- and β-radioactive nuclides have been studied in 75 water samples from the area of the Polish Carpathians. The results indicate that in none of them the content of radioactive elements exceeds the values permitted by radiological regulations.
   The standard of therapeutic waters in the Polish Carpathians have those found in Andrzejówka, Dębowiec, Głębokie, Leluchów, Lubatówka, Łomnica, Iwonicz-Zdrój, Jastrzębik, Krościenko on the Dunajec, Krynica-Zdrój, Milik, Muszyna, Piwniczna-Zdrój, Polańczyk, Powroźnik, Rabka-Zdrój, Rymanów-Zdrój, Szczawa, Szczawnica, Szczawnik, Tylicz, Ustroń, Wapienne, Wysowa, Złockie, Zubrzyk and Żegiestów. The Carpathian mineral, thermal and therapeutic waters have been utilized in 12 statutory spas in balneotherapy (medicinal and recreation bathing), crenotherapy, production of CO₂, and also are bottled in several plants.
   Acknowledgements: Research has been supported by AGH - University of Science and Technology in Cracow, grants no. 11.11.140.447 and no. 11.11.140.598.