For Medical or Industrial Purposes? Issues of the Utilization of Thermal Waters in Southern Transdanubia in the Age of Socialism

Studies accomplished in freshwater demonstrate the importance of identify the presence of protozoa like free living amoebae (FLA). In particular, the genera Acanthamoeba is associated with severe infections in man, as the Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis (GAE). The most important factor for the development of these organisms is the high temperature of the water body. The region of the Huasteca Potosina in Mexico, with a tropical climate and great aquatic resorts, like rivers, waterfalls and pools of thermal waters, that allows the development of amoebae. In this study we evaluated the presence of amoebas in the most visited places on the Huasteca Potosina. Samples of a liter were taken in nine sites during the rainy and dry season. 54 strains of amoebas were identify, 46 belong to the genera Acanthamoeba, resulting 30 of them pathogenic in the animal tests. The pathogenic isolated amoebas were present in the most attended resorts by the people in the waterfalls or pools of the places sampling. Temperature turned out to be the most important factor for the presence of amoebae.

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Composition and origin of thermal waters in the Gulf of Suez area, Egypt

Applied Geochemistry ◽

10.1016/s0883-2927(96)00025-x ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 471-479 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

N STURCHIO ◽

G AREHART ◽

M SULTAN ◽

Y SANO ◽

Y ABOKAMAR ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Waters ◽

Gulf Of Suez

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Fissure Ridges: A Reappraisal of Faulting and Travertine Deposition (Travitonics)

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences11070278 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 278

Author(s):

Andrea Brogi ◽

Enrico Capezzuoli ◽

Volkan Karabacak ◽

Mehmet Cihat Alcicek ◽

Lianchao Luo

Keyword(s):

State Of The Art ◽

Tectonic Setting ◽

Original Data ◽

Apical Part ◽

Thermal Waters ◽

Growth Mechanisms ◽

Depositional Facies ◽

Geothermal Fluids ◽

Tectonic Features ◽

Travertine Deposition

The mechanical discontinuities in the upper crust (i.e., faults and related fractures) lead to the uprising of geothermal fluids to the Earth’s surface. If fluids are enriched in Ca2+ and HCO3-, masses of CaCO3 (i.e., travertine deposits) can form mainly due to the CO2 leakage from the thermal waters. Among other things, fissure-ridge-type deposits are peculiar travertine bodies made of bedded carbonate that gently to steeply dip away from the apical part where a central fissure is located, corresponding to the fracture trace intersecting the substratum; these morpho-tectonic features are the most useful deposits for tectonic and paleoseismological investigation, as their development is contemporaneous with the activity of faults leading to the enhancement of permeability that serves to guarantee the circulation of fluids and their emergence. Therefore, the fissure ridge architecture sheds light on the interplay among fault activity, travertine deposition, and ridge evolution, providing key geo-chronologic constraints due to the fact that travertine can be dated by different radiometric methods. In recent years, studies dealing with travertine fissure ridges have been considerably improved to provide a large amount of information. In this paper, we report the state of the art of knowledge on this topic refining the literature data as well as adding original data, mainly focusing on the fissure ridge morphology, internal architecture, depositional facies, growth mechanisms, tectonic setting in which the fissure ridges develop, and advantages of using the fissure ridges for neotectonic and seismotectonic studies.

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Are There Benefits from Thermal Bacteria for Health? The Hydrogenome Role

Water ◽

10.3390/w13111439 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 1439

Author(s):

Patrick Pascoal-Ferreira ◽

Daniel Glez-Peña ◽

Carla Miranda ◽

Patrícia Poeta ◽

João Coutinho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physicochemical Characterization ◽

16S Rrna Gene Sequencing ◽

Northern Region ◽

Mineral Waters ◽

Thermal Waters ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Physicochemical Composition ◽

Two Samples ◽

Medicinal Properties ◽

Rrna Gene Sequencing

In recent years, natural thermal mineral waters have been gaining the special attention of the scientific community, namely in the prevention and treatment of some diseases, due to the microbial properties that exist in these habitats. The aim of this work was to characterize the physicochemical composition and the microbial taxonomic communities present in three thermal waters of the Galician region in Spain and two samples of the northern region in Portugal. These collected water samples were analyzed for physicochemical characterization and the respective hydrogenome of the waters using next generation sequencing together with 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The sequencing showed a high diversity of microorganisms in all analyzed waters; however, there is a clear bacterial predominance of Proteobacteria phylum, followed by Firmicutes, Deinococcus-Thermus, Aquificae and Nitrospira. The main physicochemical parameters responsible for the clustering within the Spanish waters were sulfur compounds (SO32− and S2−), CO32− and neutral pH, and in the Portuguese waters were Mg, Ca and Sr, nitrogen compounds (NO3− and NH4+), Na, Rb, conductivity and dry residue. This work will allow for a better understanding of the microbial community’s composition and how these microorganisms interfere in the physicochemical constitution of these waters often associated with medicinal properties. Furthermore, the hydrogenome may be used as an auxiliary tool in the practice of medical hydrology, increasing the likelihood of safe use of these unique water types.

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