• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2009

Mineralogical characteristics of secondary precipitate formed at some mineral water springs in Gyeongbuk Province, Korea were studied in relation to water chemistry. The chemical water types of mineral water springs are mostly classified as $Ca-HCO_3$ type, but $Na(Ca)-HCO_3$ and $Ca-SO_4$ types are also recognized. Ca, Fe, and $HCO_3\;^-$ are the most abundant components in the water. The pH values of most springs lie in 5.76${\sim}$6.81, except Hwangsu spring having pH 2.8. Saturation indices show that all springs are supersaturated with respect to iron minerals and oxyhydroxides such as hematite and goethite. The result of particle size analysis shows that the precipitate is composed of the composite with various sizes, indicating the presence of iron minerals susceptible to a phase transition at varying water chemistry or the mixtures consisting of various mineral species. The particle size of the reddish precipitate is larger than that of the yellow brown precipitate. Based on XRD and SEM analyses, the precipitate is mostly composed of ferrihydrite (two-line type), goethite, schwertmannite, and calcite, with lesser silicates and manganese minerals. The most abundant mineral fanned at springs is ferrihydrite whose crystals are $0.1{\sim}2\;{\mu}m$ with an average of $0.5\;{\mu}m$ in size, characterized by a spherical form. It should be interestingly noted that schwertmannite forms at Hwangsu spring whose pH is very low. At Shinchon spring, Gallionella ferruginea, one of the iron bacteria, is commonly found as an indicator of the important microbial activity ascribed to the formation of iron minerals because very fine iron oxides with a spherical form are closely distributed on surfaces of the bacteria. A genetic relationship between the water chemistry and the formation of the secondary precipitate from mineral water springs was discussed.