Characteristics Of The Typical Hot Springs In The Central Tibet

Tibet is rich in geothermal resources, especially high temperature geothermalresources, which can be testified by various hot springs in the plateau. As one kind ofinexhaustible new energy, geothermal resources without causing any environmentalpollution like coal and oil, will play an important role in energy supply for Tibetconstruction. Geothermal resources mainly located in south area, as well as centralarea. Hence, geothermal fields formed by hot springs can be easily found in lots ofcounties inTibet, such as damxung, Nyima, Xaitongmoin, Sa’gya, and Namling.The method of hydrothermal chemistry was used in this paper to studygeothermal fields of research area. The characteristics of isotope of water samplefrom hot springs is used to estimate the age of geothermal water and supply source,while thermal is estimated by geochemical standard.Piper graph indicates that the chemical types of hot springs are various:Na-HCO₃for the water of Songduo hot spring, Na-Cl for Yabajing, Na-Cl-HCO₃forQucai, Na-HCO₃-SO4-Cl for Riduo, Na-Cl-HCO₃for Gulu, Na-Cl-HCO₃forDongweng.Based on samples, the mineralization of Songduo and Yangbajing, belongs tofresh water, is less than1g/l; the mineralization of Qucai and Dongwen, belongs tobrackish water is between1g/l to3g/l; the mineralization of Gulu, belongs to saltwater is more than3g/l. pH value is between7.16to8.89, which indicates that thealkaline of water. Besides, the mainly source of supply is atmospheric precipitation,with supply elevation from4286to4657m, accordant with sea level height in thatarea. Thermal cycling depth in shallow is675.0to845.7m, while thermal cyclingdepth in deep area is1037.2to1570.8m. The age of geothermal water is between19to30. And there are cold water running into hot springs with mixing ration from51%to88%. The reservoir temperature in shallow is between100.7℃to126.3℃, whileit is between155℃to235℃in deep area.Based on research and analysis, Tibet, dynamic in volcano, magmatism, andneotectonics, has great potential in the development of geothermal resources. Withlarge amount of geothermal resources, Tibet can solve the problem of energy shortage.And the exploitation of geothermal resources would be helpful in reducing energystress.