7 Studies on, the Use and Protection of Springs in Poland
117
do not exist anywhere else. This is not only favored by the considerable thermal
inertia of spring water but also by its specific or even unique chemistry.
After having stayed among the rocks for a rather long time, groundwater can
dissolve many of the substances and chemical compounds contained in the rock
material. Therefore, spring water almost inevitably contains an amount of dissolved
substances, so that their high or specific content may indicate either a mineral water
spring (with geogenic contamination) or one with polluted groundwater (with anthropogenic pollution). Such mineralization may then either be natural or be connected
with the anthropogenic degradation of a volume of groundwater or its surrounding
area.
Springs have always been rather mysterious sites. The question of where the
water in the spring comes from has always been appealing: it has contributed a lot
to the development of life sciences and produced many a legend or fantastic theory.
The water spurting from the springs has been believed to have healing properties or
revered as an object of cult. Examples of this include: Massbielle in Lourdes (France),
Kassotis at Delphi (Greece), Aquae Sulis in Bath (England), Bo˙ za Góra (Mount of
God) in Poczajow (Ukraine), Manitou Springs in Colorado (USA), Baotu Quán in
Jinan (China), Maggie Springs in Ayers Rock (Australia), Kalwaria in Wambierzyce
(Poland). The so-called “miraculous” or “holy” springs have long been the places
of rituals and destinations of pilgrimages in many religions and beliefs of the world.
To name a few, such places include: Oyun Musa in Synai (Egypt), Narbada (India),
Hot Springs (USA), Zamzam in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), Enzayimarku near Gonder
(Ethiopia), Gomuhk – the holy spring of the Ganges (India), Waikoropupu Spring
– the holy spring of the Maori on South Island (New Zealand), or the springs in
Grabarka or ´
Swi˛ eta Woda (Poland). Many of the above sites gave rise to health resorts
and baths existing now or in the past, thus confirming the “miraculous” properties
of their spring waters (Bath, Baden Baden, Bormio, Lourdes, Bad Gastein, Karlove
Vary, Kudowa Zdrój).
Spring water may contain dissolved gases ranging from the commonly found
carbon dioxide (Fig. 7.4) or nitrogen to hydrogen sulfide and methane. There have
also been very rare instances, when “noble” springs discharge a mixture of water and a
noble gas, such as helium. The gas pressure in the groundwater bed may intermittently
be high enough to form a kind of geysers propelled by the gas pressure. Such is the
case of the quasi-geyser in Herlany in Slovakia: it ejects several thousand liters of a
mixture of water and carbon dioxide a dozen meters high once in a few dozen hours;
this makes it a tourist attraction of the region.
Springs which discharge thermal water (hot springs) are rather frequent though
not as frequent as common springs. The existence of this type of discharge is usually
connected with deep tectonic dislocation zones, the presence of young volcanoes in
the area and, less frequently, with a low geothermal degree. In the extreme cases,
the temperature of water in this kind of springs may be higher than 100 °C – such
as in the thermal sulfur springs in the Lipari Islands (the Vulcano Island). Nearly
as hot are the Hammam springs in Algieria (95 °C) and the water discharged in
North Italy (Albano, Pisciarelli – 84 °C), in Canada (Rabbitkettle – 70 °C), in USA
(Thermopolis – 70 °C) and Germany (Baden-Baden – 68 °C). More than 12,000
117
do not exist anywhere else. This is not only favored by the considerable thermal
inertia of spring water but also by its specific or even unique chemistry.
After having stayed among the rocks for a rather long time, groundwater can
dissolve many of the substances and chemical compounds contained in the rock
material. Therefore, spring water almost inevitably contains an amount of dissolved
substances, so that their high or specific content may indicate either a mineral water
spring (with geogenic contamination) or one with polluted groundwater (with anthropogenic pollution). Such mineralization may then either be natural or be connected
with the anthropogenic degradation of a volume of groundwater or its surrounding
area.
Springs have always been rather mysterious sites. The question of where the
water in the spring comes from has always been appealing: it has contributed a lot
to the development of life sciences and produced many a legend or fantastic theory.
The water spurting from the springs has been believed to have healing properties or
revered as an object of cult. Examples of this include: Massbielle in Lourdes (France),
Kassotis at Delphi (Greece), Aquae Sulis in Bath (England), Bo˙ za Góra (Mount of
God) in Poczajow (Ukraine), Manitou Springs in Colorado (USA), Baotu Quán in
Jinan (China), Maggie Springs in Ayers Rock (Australia), Kalwaria in Wambierzyce
(Poland). The so-called “miraculous” or “holy” springs have long been the places
of rituals and destinations of pilgrimages in many religions and beliefs of the world.
To name a few, such places include: Oyun Musa in Synai (Egypt), Narbada (India),
Hot Springs (USA), Zamzam in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), Enzayimarku near Gonder
(Ethiopia), Gomuhk – the holy spring of the Ganges (India), Waikoropupu Spring
– the holy spring of the Maori on South Island (New Zealand), or the springs in
Grabarka or ´
Swi˛ eta Woda (Poland). Many of the above sites gave rise to health resorts
and baths existing now or in the past, thus confirming the “miraculous” properties
of their spring waters (Bath, Baden Baden, Bormio, Lourdes, Bad Gastein, Karlove
Vary, Kudowa Zdrój).
Spring water may contain dissolved gases ranging from the commonly found
carbon dioxide (Fig. 7.4) or nitrogen to hydrogen sulfide and methane. There have
also been very rare instances, when “noble” springs discharge a mixture of water and a
noble gas, such as helium. The gas pressure in the groundwater bed may intermittently
be high enough to form a kind of geysers propelled by the gas pressure. Such is the
case of the quasi-geyser in Herlany in Slovakia: it ejects several thousand liters of a
mixture of water and carbon dioxide a dozen meters high once in a few dozen hours;
this makes it a tourist attraction of the region.
Springs which discharge thermal water (hot springs) are rather frequent though
not as frequent as common springs. The existence of this type of discharge is usually
connected with deep tectonic dislocation zones, the presence of young volcanoes in
the area and, less frequently, with a low geothermal degree. In the extreme cases,
the temperature of water in this kind of springs may be higher than 100 °C – such
as in the thermal sulfur springs in the Lipari Islands (the Vulcano Island). Nearly
as hot are the Hammam springs in Algieria (95 °C) and the water discharged in
North Italy (Albano, Pisciarelli – 84 °C), in Canada (Rabbitkettle – 70 °C), in USA
(Thermopolis – 70 °C) and Germany (Baden-Baden – 68 °C). More than 12,000