Hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical reassessment of selected potentially medicinal waters of the Sudetes (SW Poland)

Abstract

The Sudetes, like the other parts of the Bohemian Massif, are rich in medicinal waters, though the wealth of these resources have still not yet been sufficiently identified nor analysed. The Sudetes are characterised by extensive fractured and fractured-porous aquifers, significant depth of water infiltration and coexistence of fresh, medicinal and thermal waters. These often mix with ordinary groundwater under various geological and hydrogeological conditions, which results in complex groundwater chemistry. In this study, we analyse selected occurrences of potentially medicinal waters, i.e. radon, carbonic and acidulous ones among eight currently unused prospective areas and reassess their hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical properties. Physicochemical parameters of water were measured in situ in winter 2023 and 12 new samples were taken for laboratory analysis. The results were compared to historical hydrogeological and hydrochemical datasets from between 1968 and 2022. They help to understand the conditions of occurrence of potentially medicinal waters in the Polish Sudetes, and to some extent in the proximal parts of the Bohemian Massif showing similar geological and hydrogeological settings, including the hard-rock crystalline massif environment and the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin.