Antu County in the Changbai Mountains is an important source of mineral water, but there is a lack of research on the source of groundwater characteristic components, affecting the protection of water resources. This study obtained hydrochemical and isotopic data (28 groups in total, April and September in 2019) by summarizing research and sampling data in order to identify the formation process of characteristics. The formation mechanism of the characteristic components was revealed using geostatistical, isotopic, and hydrogeochemical inversion simulations. The results show that the metasilicic acid is a common component of groundwater water chemistry in the study area. The water body primarily receives stable recharge from low-mineralized precipitation with ages ranging from 27.7 to 38.4 years and recharge elevations ranging from 1160 to 2393 m, providing ample time for water-rock interaction. The dissolution of olivine, pyroxene, albite, and other siliceous minerals is the source of characteristic components, and deep faults and deep basalt heat flow are the key conditions for the formation of metasilicic acid. When low-mineralized precipitation recharges the underground aquifer, it dissolves the silica-aluminate and silicon-containing minerals in the surrounding rocks through the water-rock action under the effect of CO2, causing a large amount of metasilic acid to dissolve into the groundwater and forming metasilic acid-type mineral water.
Keywords: Antu County; Formation mechanism; Groundwater recharge; Hydrogeochemistry; Inverse modeling; Mineral water.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.