Hydrogeochemical Studies of Hot Springs in Gilan Province, N-Iran

Abstract

Gilan Province is one of the most important tourism attraction area in Iran located in the Southern Caspian Sea. Average annual precipitation of the area is 1000 mm. The area is gained more than 10000 springs with discharge of up to 2 m3/s mostly located in highlands and cold. 10 hot springs is known. All of them located in highlands and categorized in 3 regions: west, east and south of the province with maximum temperature of 36oC. There are also some cold springs with high EC. In the south of the province, hot springs are studied more and preliminary hydrogeochemical investigations indicate strong influence of natural groundwater in the system by using Giggenbach triangle diagram that strong tectonic activity of the area emphasizes their possible tectonic origin. In the south springs are utilized for Olive farming except Sangrood hot spring with water type of C4S1 in Wilcox diagram that is not suitable for farming. Baleonological application is the best choice among future planes at case of touristic attractively of the area.