Formation characteristics of hot springs and its development prospects in mountain areas around the capital of China

The paper is the result of geothermal geology survey engineering. ObjectiveThe mountainous areas surrounding the capital city belong to the ecological conservation area of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, including the contiguous areas of extreme poverty, and are rich in hot spring resources, but the degree of exploration and development is low. It is of certain guiding significance to carry out research on the distribution pattern and development characteristics of hot springs for the exploration and development of geothermal resources in mountainous areas. MethodsIn this paper, based on the collection of information on hot springs and deep tectonics in the mountainous areas of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, superimposed analysis reveals the connection between hot spring distribution and deep tectonic thermal background, and explores in depth the hot spring heat source and its formation. Combined with supplementary surveys, sample collection and comprehensive research, the development characteristics of hot springs were summarized, and prospects for hot spring development and utilization in the study area were proposed according to local conditions. ResultsThe results show that hot springs are mainly distributed along NE and EW deep major fractures in the form of bands or beads, 90% of the hot springs are distributed within the deep structural variation zone of the Moho surface in the study area. The temperature of hot springs has a certain negative correlation with the depth of dwelling, the depth of dwelling in the high hot spring area in the northern Yanshan being about 20km, the depth of dwelling in the relatively high hot spring area in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains junction zone being about 22~24 km and the depth of dwelling in the low hot spring area in the southeast Yanshan being 22~26 km; the heat source of hot springs mainly comes from the mantle heat or "low-velocity-high-conductivity layer", and the upper mantle diapirs and deep large faults provide good channels for the upwelling of deep heat sources; On the regional scale, there is no direct correspondence between the hot spring outcrop temperature and the depth of circulation, and the thermal reservoir temperature of sedimentary rock reservoirs in the intermountain basin is low, with a large flow rate of hot springs, up to about 120 m3/h. The thermal reservoir temperature of metamorphic rocks is generally greater than 100℃, with a smaller flow rate. The hot spring water in the study area generally has medical development and utilization value, among which, the northern Yanshan and intermountain basins, have a better potential for space heating, and areas such as Qijia-Maojingba can be further developed in the direction of thermol-electric integration. ConclusionsThe distribution and development characteristics of hot springs in the mountains area around the capital city are influenced by the deep tectonic and regional geological structure. The northern Yanshan Mountains and intermountain basins have good development and utilization prospects.