GeolCarp_Vol63_No4_343

www.geologicacarpathica.sk

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA

, AUGUST 2012, 63, 4, 343—351 doi: 10.2478/v10096-012-0027-1

Natural radioactive nuclides in the thermal waters of the

Polish Inner Carpathians

JAKUB NOWAK

, DINH NGUYEN CHAU

and LUCYNA RAJCHEL

Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków,

Poland; Nguyen.Chau@fis.agh.edu.pl

Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30,

30-059 Kraków, Poland

(Manuscript received April 27, 2012; accepted in revised form June 13, 2012)

Abstract: The chemical compositions and activity concentrations of

238

234

226

Ra,

228

Ra and

222

Rn were measured

in the thermal waters occurring in the Podhale Trough. This region, part of the Polish Inner Carpathians, is the artesian
basin situated between two groundwater recharging zones, the Tatras to the south and the Pieniny Klippen Belt to the north.
The thermal water samples were collected from nine selected boreholes with the depths from 1113 m (Zakopane IG-2) to
5526 m (Bańska Niżna IG-1). The waters belong to four hydrochemical types: HCO

-SO

-Ca-Mg-Na, SO

-HCO

-Cl-Na-Ca,

-Ca-Na and SO

-Cl-Ca-Na. Their mineralization and temperature range from several hundreds to 2500 mg/l and

23.9 to 86.3 °C, respectively. Excluding the waters from the Szymoszkowa GT-1 and Chochołów PIG-1 boreholes, the
activity concentrations of the uranium and radium isotopes in the waters are relatively low and vary from decimals to
above ten mBq/l and from several tens to about 600 mBq/l, respectively. They are classified as radon-poor waters. The
phenomena mentioned seem to be characteristic of the waters draining limestone formations overlaying the crystalline
rocks, namely the principal aquifers in the Tatras. The significant levels of the uranium and radium activity concentra-
tions in the waters from Szymoszkowa GT-1 and Chochołów PIG-1 can be connected with the presences of Lower
Triassic black shales with tuffites rich in uranium in the respective recharge areas. Comparing the parameters of the
Podhale thermal waters with those of some selected thermal waters occurring in other regions of Poland and in north-
west Croatia, the French Massif Central, Spanish Andalusia and north-east Tunisia, the authors found that the tempera-
ture of the thermal waters is contained between 16 and about 100 °C; the mineralization and concentrations of radionu-
clides vary in broad intervals and are considerably affected by the lithology and the geological structure of the region.
The

226

Ra activity concentration exceeds that of

228

Ra in almost each of the thermal waters compared, which is similar

to the waters from Podhale.

Key words: Inner Carpathians, Poland, thermal water, mineralization, natural radioactivity.

Introduction

Thermal water is defined when the temperature of groundwa-
ter at its outflow is higher than the annual average temperature
of the air in the region. In Poland groundwater is regarded as
thermal if its temperature exceeds 20 °C. Thermal waters were
initially used in medicine, then for heating purposes, and now-
adays thermal water is also utilized in power plants (Kępińska
2006)  and  even  as  drinking  water  (Marović  et  al.  1995;
Baradács et al. 2001; Gallup 2007). In some countries investi-
gations of the natural radioactive elements in the thermal wa-
ters have been carried out in recent years (e.g. Marović et al.
1995;  Szerbin  1996).  In  Poland  there  were  some  investiga-
tions dealing with the problem of radionuclides in waters, but
concerned  mainly  with  mineral  waters  (Kozłowska  2009;
Chau at al. 2010; Grabowski et al. 2010). The contribution of
the

226

Ra and

228

Ra isotopes to the total activities of the alpha

and beta nuclides in groundwaters is often significantly large
in comparison with that of other radioactive elements and con-
centrations of radium isotopes increase with the aquifer depths
(Asikainen & Kahlos 1979; Chau et al. 2011).

A high temperature of thermal waters is mainly associated

with substantial depths of their aquifers and/or is characteristic

of volcanic regions. Some scientists observed that volcanic ac-
tivity and also earthquakes affect another parameter, namely the
radon concentrations of such waters (Belin et al. 2002; Erees et
al. 2007; Whitehead et al. 2007; Chaudhuri et al. 2010).

The aims of this work included determinations of the

radioactivity (activity concentrations of

222

Rn and radium

and uranium isotopes:

228

Ra,

226

Ra,

238

234

U) and chemical

composition  of  thermal  waters  occurring  in  the  Podhale
Trough of the Polish Inner Carpathians. The radioactive data
were  interpreted  regarding  the  temperature  and  mineraliza-
tion  of  the  waters  as  well  as  the  geological  conditions  of
their  aquifers.  The  data  on  the  Podhale  waters  were  com-
pared with those of the thermal waters occurring in selected
regions  of  Poland  and  in  north-west  Croatia,  the  French
Massif Central, Spanish Andalusia and north-east Tunisia.

Study region

The Podhale Trough is located between the Tatra Mts to the

south and the Pieniny Klippen Belt to the north (Fig. 1a).
Structurally, the Tatras are composed of the crystalline core,
made up of a Carboniferous granitoid intrusion and its meta-

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GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2012, 63, 4, 343—351

morphic envelope. The crystalline rocks are overlain, but only
from the N, by the Permian-Cretaceous sedimentary cover de-
veloped structurally as two sub-Tatra and high-Tatra nappes
(Książkiewicz 1972).

The Podhale Trough is a broad syncline filled with the

Eocene-Oligocene  flysch  series  (Podhale  flysch)  about
3000 m  thick  that  overlay  from  the  N  Tatra  nappe  structures
composed mainly of the Mesozoic carbonate rock sequences.
The oldest member of the Trough, directly laying on the Tatra
nappe rocks, is represented by the sediments of the so-called
nummulite  Eocene:  a  complex  of  conglomerates,  coarse-
grained  sandstones,  detrital  limestones,  dolomites  and  num-

Fig. 1. Location of the water sampling points in the Podhale Trough (a) and a geological
cross-section of the region (after Chowaniec 2003, modified) (b).

mulite limestones. The next in the profile are
the  Oligocene  Szaflary  Beds,  developed  as
sandstones,  conglomerates,  mudstones  and
shales, followed by the Oligocene Zakopane
Beds,  represented  by  shales,  conglomerates,
sandstones  and  ferruginous  dolomites.
The  sandstone-mudstone  Chochołów  Beds
make  up  the  upper  part  of  the  profile  and
are  overlain  in  the  western  part  of  the
Podhale Trough by the thick-bedded sand-
stones  with  insets  of  shales  belonging  to
the  Ostrysz  Beds  (Książkiewicz  1972).
Conglomeratic-sandy  covers  and  colluvia
are Quaternary deposits.

The massif of the Tatra Mts has most ef-

fect  on  the  hydrogeological  conditions  of
the Podhale Trough, which is a classical ar-
tesian  basin.  The  origin  of  the  thermal  wa-
ters  is  associated  mainly  with  meteoric
waters that recharge fractured and karstified
Mesozoic  and  Eocene  limestones  of  the
Tatra  cover  laying  on  the  crystalline  core
(Fig. 1b).  These  sediments  dip  to  the  north
under  impermeable  and  weakly  permeable
strata  of  the  Podhale  flysch.  The  Pieniny
Klippen Belt, which forms the northern clo-
sure of the Podhale Trough (Małecka 1981)
makes an impermeable barrier for the waters
flowing  from  S.  The  thermal  waters  of  the
Podhale  Trough  migrate  through  the  rocks
of low permeability but a high level of frac-
turing particularly in fault zones.

Measurement methods

Radionuclides and chemical composition

To determine the uranium isotopes, the

water  samples  of  5 l  were  reduced  by
evaporation  to  about  1 l  and  uranium  was
co-precipitated  with  MnO

in a form of

uranyl ammonium [(NH

)

]. The tracer

232

U standard solution of about 100 mBq

activity was added to each water sample at
the beginning of the evaporation. Then ura-
nium ions were separated out from other

ions in the precipitate using the procedure described in detail
by  Kronfeld  (1974)  and  modified  by  Skwarzec  (1997).  The
final  precipitate  was  placed  onto  a  plastic  membrane  filter
with  porosity  of  0.1 µm.  The  activity  of  uranium  isotopes
was  measured  using  an  alpha  spectrometer  Canberra™
model  7401.  The  measurement  time  lasted  until  a  relative
standard  uncertainty  of  the  net  count  rates  under  the

232

U peak lower than 2 % was obtaining.

Radium isotopes were determined in 2-liter water samples.

Radium ions were co-precipitated with barium as a sulphate
compound and separated from other isotopes in the precipi-
tate following the procedure described in detail by Tomza

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NATURAL RADIOACTIVE NUCLIDES IN THE THERMAL WATERS OF THE POLISH INNER CARPATHIANS

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(1975). Next the sample was transferred into a 22 ml glass
vial and mixed with 12 ml of the Packard™ gel scintillation
cocktail. The radium isotopes activity was measured using a
Wallac™ Gardian Liquid Scintillation counter.

Determinations of the

222

Rn activity concentration were

made on water samples collected “under the cap” at the lami-
nar water flow (these condition assure that the radon would
not escape from the sample) into glass bottles with the
volume 0.5 l. The samples were transported to the laboratory
as fast as possible. To make a correction for fast radon decay
(T

1/2

= 3.82 days), the sample collection times were noted

and a time-radon amount correcting factor was introduced.
The radon activity was measured in a mixture of 10 ml of the
collected water sample with 10 ml of a PerkinElmer™ min-
eral oil liquid scintillator placed in the glass vial using a
Wallac™ Gardian Liquid Scintillation counter.

The chemical composition was determined using a

PerkinElmer™ ICP-AES spectrometer with the Merck™
multi-element standards.

The temperature and acidity (pH) of the water were measured

directly at the borehole using a WTW™ pH 340/ION device
calibrated with the standard Hamilton Duracal™ solution.

Detection limits of the methods

The low limit detection (LLD) of a given method was esti-

mated according to the formula described by Currie (1968):

LLD=k ·

where k – arbitral coefficient equal to 2.75,

– uncertain-

ty of the blank sample measurement. The

value

is mainly

controlled  by  the  chemical  compounds  used  in  preparation
as  well  as  instrumental  and  measurement  conditions.  Blank
samples  were  prepared  using  distilled  water.  The  detection
thresholds are: for the uranium isotopes 0.5 mBq, for

222

0.5 Bq and for

226

Ra and

228

Ra 5 mBq and 10 mBq, respec-

tively (Chau 2010).

The detection threshold of the ICP-AES method depends

on the element assayed for and varies from a few to several
hundred ppb.

Results and discussion

Thermal waters in the Inner Carpathians

The results obtained are presented in Tables 1 and 2. The

temperature  and  mineralization  of  the  waters  vary  from  26.6
to 86.3 °C and 330 to 2500 mg/l, respectively, and clearly re-
late both to the depth of the aquifers and the distance between
the  water  wells  and  the  Tatra  Mts  (Fig. 2a—d).  The  linear
dependence  of  the  water  temperature  on  the  depth  aquifer
reveals that the waters are heated up by geothermal degree.

The activity concentrations of

234

U and

238

U excluding the

water from Szymoszkowa GT-1 vary from 1.1 to several tens
mBq/l.  The  uranium  concentration  neither  depends  on  the
water  temperature  nor  on  the  aquifer  formation  depth
(Fig. 3a,b).  In  each  water  the  activity  concentration  of

234

exceeds that of

238

U, the phenomenon being the consequence

of the recoil effect (Osmond 1980).

The activity concentrations of

226

Ra and

228

Ra range from

29 to over 2200 mBq/l and 25 to 359 mBq/l, respectively

Concentrations of major ions [mg/l]

Borehole

depth [m]

Temp.

[°C]

TDS

[mg/l]

2–

HCO

–

Bukowina Tatrzańska

PIG/PNiG-1 3780 64 7.0 1510 763 159

113 160 17.7

184 15.5

Białka Tatrzańska GT-1

2500

6.8

1980

671

252

379

314

33.9 183

42.8

Bańska Niżna PGP-1

3242

86.3

8.2

2500

818

334

492

470

188

40.0

Bańska Niżna IG-1

5526

6.5

2330

756

285

482

432

42.6 183

34.9

Zakopane IG-2

1113

23.9

7.5

349

239

8.60 2.27 1.13 46.0

22.4

Zakopane IG-1

3073

34.2

7.4

368

39.1

220

3.60 10.1

3.32 45.4

20.5

Szymoszkowa GT-1

1737

26.6

7.7

333

4.5

241

3.60 5.35 1.60

40.0

22.8

Poronin PAN-1

3003

7.5

1140

n/a

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Chochołów PIG-1

3572

n/a

1260

607

194

27.2

87.7

18.5 191.9

40.8

TDS — total dissolved solids (mineralization); n/a — not analysed

Table 2: The activity concentrations of radon-222, radium and uranium isotopes in the thermal waters of the Podhale Trough.

Table 1: The physical and chemical properties of the thermal waters of the Podhale Trough.

Radium isotopes [mBq/l]

Uranium isotopes [mBq/l]

Borehole

222

[Bq/l]

226

228

226

Ra/

228

234

238

234

238

Bukowina Tatrzańska PIG/PNiG-1

2.9

595

359

1.66

1.1

11.8

Białka Tatrzańska GT-1

n/a

342

106

3.22

5.3

3.4

1.58

Bańska Niżna PGP-1

0.2

589

7.45

5.9

3.1

1.90

Bańska Niżna IG-1

570

171

3.33

4.8

3.7

1.30

Zakopane IG-2

18.7

294

9.20

7.6

2.9

2.62

Zakopane IG-1

0.2

1.16

4.7

2.5

1.88

Szymoszkowa GT-1

25.4

309

9.08

313

328

0.95

Poronin PAN-1

n/a

254

10.2

58.5

1.43

Chochołów PIG-1

n/a

2250

5.9

2.7

2.19

n/a — not analysed

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GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2012, 63, 4, 343—351

few to ca. 30 Bq/kg (Plewa & Plewa 1992), but the concentra-
tions  of  natural  radionuclides  in  the  water  samples  from
Szymoszkowa  GT-1  and  Chochołów  PIG-1  are  elevated  in
comparison to those in the waters from other sampling sites.
Such relations must be connected with the lithology and geo-
logical structure of the Tatras and, particularly with a presence
of rocks of significant uranium concentrations drained by the
two  waters.  It  is  worth  adding  that  in  the  Dolina  Białego
Valley  of  the  Tatras  the  exploitation  work  for  uranium  was
carried out in Lower Triassic black shales with tuffites in the
1950s.  Considering  only  minor  amounts  of  this  element,  its
exploitation stopped, but is witnessed by two adits ca. 500 m
long (Grodzicki 1993; Szczepanek 2003; Bac-Moszaszwili &
Jurewicz  2010).  The  radon  concentrations  and  gamma  ray
dose  rates  measured  in  these  adits  are  significantly  high  and
range  from  600  to  15,000 Bq/m

and from 40 to above

5500 nSv/h, respectively (Kozak et al. 2010).

Comparisons

In order to understand better the factors controlling the lev-

el of the radioactive nuclides, dissolved materials and temper-
ature of the thermal waters concerned, the authors attempted
to compare the data obtained with those already published.

Some examples from Poland

In Poland apart from the Inner Carpathians, thermal waters

also occur in some regions such as the Outer Carpathians,
the Sudetes and central Poland.

The Outer Carpathians localized north of the Inner

Carpathians are composed principally of the thick Cretaceous-
Miocene  flysch  formations  folded  in  different  forms.  On  the
basis  of  the  sediment  type  and  the  shape  of  folds,  the  Outer
Carpathians are divided into different units. In contrast to the
Inner Carpathians, the Outer Carpathians are very rich in min-
eral waters, whereas thermal waters can be found in only a few
places such as Lubatówka and Ustroń. Both sites belong to the
Silesian Unit, Lubatówka being situated in its eastern part, and
Ustroń in the western part. The groundwaters occurring in the
Eastern  Outer  Carpathians  often  belong  to  the  Cl-HCO

-Na

hydrochemical type and their mineralization ranges from a
few to 20 grams/l. Oil and gas deposits also occur in this re-
gion. The waters in the Outer Western Carpathians often be-
long to the Cl-Na-Ca type, their mineralization is considerably
higher than that of the Outer Eastern Carpathians and reaches
even above 100 g/l (Ciężkowski et al. 2010).

The Sudetes are composed mainly of a complex mosaic of es-

sentially igneous and metamorphic rock types and, as a result,
water  migrates  horizontally  and  vertically  through  fractures
connecting  very  different  rock  formations.  The  mineralization
of  the  groundwater  of  the  region  is  generally  low  and  ranges
from a few tenths to a few g/l (Ciężkowski et al. 2010).

The central part of Poland belongs to the so-called hydro-

logical province of the Paleozoic Platform. The sandstone
formations are major aquifers in the province and the Cl-Na
is the common hydrochemical type of the groundwaters in
the region (Paczyński & Płochniewski 1996).

The measured physical parameters, chemical composition

as well as activity concentrations of some selected thermal

Fig. 4. The relations between

226

Ra and

228

Ra activity concentra-

tions in thermal waters analysed and the mineralization (a), aquifer
depth (b) and the Tatra Mts-water well distances (c).

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Radium isotopes [mBq/l]

Uranium isotopes

[mBq/l]

Borehole

222

[Bq/l]

226

228

226

Ra/

228

234

238

234

238

Lubatówka 12

2.9 1420

1390

1.02

7.7 2.7

2.85

Ustroń U-3

57700 13100

4.41

7.7 22.1

0.35

Ustroń U-3A

65000 13700

4.74

9.6 4.8

2.09

Lądek Zdrój L-2

145

1.00

0.62 0.91

0.68

Duszniki Zdrój GT-1 3.4 3270

910

3.59

32.3 14.5

2.23

Cieplice C-1

8.1 19

n/e

0.5 0.5

n/e

Uniejów PIG/AGH-2 2.1 532

609

0.87

0.95 0.5

n/e

Poddębice GT-1

5.1 41

0.68

0.5 0.5

n/e

Mszczonów IG-1

3.1 42

0.84

0.5 1.49

0.34

not estimated

Table 4: The activity concentrations of radon-222, radium and uranium isotopes
of some selected thermal waters of Poland (Przylibski et al. 2012).

Concentrations of major ions [mg/l]

Borehole

Geological unit

Borehole

depth[m]

Temp

[°C]

TDS

[mg/l]

2–

HCO

–

Lubatówka 12

960

7.1 17700 0.5

4270 7090

5910

37.3 51.6 57.2

Ustroń U-3

1728

6.9 101000 370

79 62400

26400

579

8290

2530

Ustroń U-3A

Outer Carpathians

17310

6.7 117000 426

101 71700

30800

727

9410

2660

Lądek Zdrój L-2

700

43.6 9.2

201 21.6

24 5.6 49

0.78 3.05 0.01

Duszniki Zdrój GT-1

1695

28.3 6.8

3430 72.2

2330 8.92 301

182

297

95.1

Cieplice C-1

Sudetes

(Lower Silesia)

2002

65.3 7.8

663 153

146 42.5 153

5.1 7.8 0.02

Uniejów PIG/AGH-2

2025

63.9 7.0

6770 98.0

296 3770

2350

28.9 141

27.7

Poddębice GT-1

2039

49.0 7.3

461 14.3

262 21.6 78.8 4.50 23.9 4.22

Mszczonów IG-1

central region of

Poland

1793

41.8 7.3

292 3.37

320 7.59 30.7 11.1 53.1 11.7

Table 3: The physical and chemical properties of some selected thermal waters of Poland (Przylibski et al. 2012).

waters occurring in the mentioned regions are summarized in
Tables 3 and 4. The temperatures of the waters from other re-
gions  of  Poland  are  contained  within  the  same  interval  of
those  of  the  waters  of  Podhale  (Table 3).  The  mineralization
values  of  the  waters  from  the  Sudetes  are  similar,  but  those
from  central  Poland  and,  particularly,  from  the  Outer
Carpathians (Lubatówka and Ustroń) are considerably higher
in  comparison  with  those  obtained  for  the  waters  from  the
Podhale  Trough.  Generally,  the  uranium  activity  concentra-
tions  of  the  Polish  waters  compared  are  low  and  contained
within the same range, however the activity concentrations of
radium isotopes vary considerably in a wide interval (from ca.

20 to 65,000 mBq/l). The radon activity concen-
tration in the water from Lądek (the Sudetes) is
the highest and amounts to 145 Bq/l. Such high
values must be connected with emanations of ra-
don from uranium-rich granites into the water.

The relations between the temperature, miner-

alization and the aquifer depth for all the Polish
thermal  waters  are  shown  in  Figure  5a  and  5b.
Except  for  the  water  of  Lądek  (L-2),  the  water
temperature  increases  with  the  depth  of  aquifer
(Fig. 5a), which can be explained by the geother-
mal gradient. Though the depth of the aquifer in
Lądek Zdrój (the Sudetes) is shallow in compari-
son  with  other  aquifers  (700 m),  the  water  tem-
perature  is  relatively  high  (43 °C).  This  could
result from ascension of waters from deeper for-

Fig. 5. The relations between the temperature (a) and mineralization (b) of some Polish thermal waters and the depths of the aquifer formations.

mations migrating through rock fissures (Ciężkowski et al.
2011). The relation between the water mineralization and the
aquifer depth seems to be complicated and depends on the
geology of the individual region (Fig. 5b).

The activity concentrations of radium isotopes increase

with the mineralization for all Polish thermal waters in ques-
tion (Fig. 6). It is worth adding that the activity concentra-
tion of

226

Ra is lower than that of the

228

Ra for the waters

from the central region of Poland. This is probably related to
the

232

Th activity concentration exceeding that of the

238

U in

the sandstone formation, which is the main aquifer in the
central region of Poland.

TDS – Total dissolved solids

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Fig. 6. The relations between activity concentrations of radium
isotopes and mineralization of some Polish thermal waters.

Some examples from outside Poland

On the basis of the data concerning the temperature, mine-

ralization and uranium and radium activity concentrations of
some  selected  thermal  waters  from  north-west  Croatia
(Marović  et  al.  1996),  the  French  Massif  Central  (Rihs  &
Condomines 2002), Spanish Andalusia (Due±as et al. 1998)
and from north-east Tunisia (Labidi et al. 2002), the values
of  statistical  parameters  were  estimated  and  summarized
(Table 5). The following remarks have arisen from the analy-

sis of these data. (1) The temperature of the thermal waters
compared  ranges  from  15  to  near  100 °C.  (2)  The  mineral-
ization and radium isotopes concentrations vary in broad in-
tervals.  (3) The  median  values  of  mineralization  and  the
activity  concentrations  of  radium  and  uranium  isotopes  are
much lower than average, so we can state that for every re-
gion  the  number  of  the  waters  with  low  mineralization  and
low  radioactivity  level  is  far  larger  than  that  of  the  waters
with high mineralization and high radioactivity level. (4) Gen-
erally, the activity concentrations of uranium isotopes are far
lower than those of radium isotopes. (5) In most of the thermal
waters compared, the activity concentration of

228

Ra is lower

than that of

226

Ra. This must be connected with radioactive

characteristics of most aquifers, in which the

238

U concentra-

tions are higher than those of

232

Th.

Conclusions

For several years the Podhale thermal waters have been

well known and used in heating and for therapeutic purpos-
es, but their radioactive properties have been investigated for
a relatively short time.

The temperature of the waters of the Podhale Trough ranges

from 26 to about 100 °C and increases with the depth of the
host rock formations.

The mineralization of the Podhale Trough thermal waters

is relatively low, and varies from 330 to 2550 mg/l. The con-

Table 5: Statistical values of TDS (total dissolved solids), temperature,

238

226

Ra and

228

Ra activity concentrations of some selected ther-

mal waters occurring outside Poland (Marović et al. 1996; Duenas et al. 1998; Rihs & Condomines 2002; Labidi et al. 2002).

No. of

Statistic

TDS

238

234

226

228

Region

samples paramet.

Temperature

[°C]

[mg/l] [mBq/l] [mBq/l] [mBq/l] [mBq/l]

min

max 96

6200

average 46

1322

median

283.5

Croatia

[Marović
et al. 1996]

stand. dev.

23.3

895.8

min

3608

588

260

max

5608

2287

1590

average

4137

1158

854

median

4137

947

794

France

[Rihs &
Condomines
2002]

stand. dev.

9.4

746.2

8.4

627.8

452.5

min

201

0.5

max

117000

328

313

65000

13700

average

47.9

14405

7404

1806

median

1385

3.1

7.6

437

Poland

stand. dev.

34766

83.4

79.2

19684

4382

min

289

max 52

14790

1367

average

3702

263

median

2070

157

Spain
[Dueñas et

al. 1989]

stand. dev.

12.4

4432.8

328.5

min

200

1.2

1.3

max

24600

69.1

153.4

1630

1032

average

6604

9.6

18.3

507

177

median

2840

4.3

7.0

358

113

Tunisia

[Labidi
et al. 2002]

stand. dev.

15.9

7606.3

15.5

33.0

489

217.6

min 29

120

max 90

700

average 51

337

median 47

315

Turkey

[Belin et al.
2002]

stand. dev.

13.3

156.7

350

NOWAK, CHAU and RAJCHEL

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2012, 63, 4, 343—351

centrations of radium isotopes are relatively high and in-
crease with mineralization and temperature. In the thermal
waters of Podhale the

226

Ra activity concentration is consid-

erately higher than that of

228

Ra. The fact is connected with

much higher activity concentrations of uranium than thorium
in the limestone aquifer.

The temperature, mineralization and radium activity con-

centration of the thermal waters increase with the distance
between the well pumping the water and the Tatra Mts.

Generally the uranium concentrations in the investigated

waters are low, ranging from decimals to tens mBq/l, and de-
pend neither on the aquifer depth nor on the water tempera-
ture or its mineralization. Most of the investigated waters are
classified as radon-poor ones.

The concentrations of the natural radionuclides in the wa-

ters in sedimentary rocks of the sub-Tatra and high Tatra
nappes from Szymoszkowa GT-1 and Chochołów PIG-1 are
significantly higher in comparison with those in waters from
other places in the Podhale Trough. It may result from a
presence of specific, uranium-rich rocks strata drained by the
water pumped from these two localities.

The mineralization, activity concentrations of the natural

radioactive nuclides in the thermal waters occurring in the
other regions in Poland as well as in some other countries
range within far broader intervals in comparison with the re-
spective parameters of the waters from the Podhale Trough.

Generally, the heat of the thermal waters, particularly the

Polish ones, results from the geothermal gradient. The radium
activity concentrations increase with water mineralization.

Usually in thermal water the

226

Ra activity concentration is

far larger than that of

238

U. This phenomenon is explained by

the differences of geochemical properties of radium and urani-
um in groundwaters, where the reduction conditions are often
prevailing, under such conditions uranium is insoluble, on the
other hand the radium is not effected by the environment.

The activity content of

226

Ra is higher than that of

228

Ra in

most of the waters. This is probably connected with the rela-
tion between the uranium and thorium contents in the rock
aquifers.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the “Doctus
– Małopolska Scholarship for PhD” co-funded by the Euro-
pean Union (Project No. MCP.ZS.4110-29.1/2009), the stat-
utory research of the AGH University of Science and
Technology (Grants No’s 11.11.220.01 and 11.11.140.021)
and the funds of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher
Education (Project No. 3931/B/T02/2010/39).

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