The Monte Alegre brachyanticline is located in the central-western Pará and is one of the most striking structures of the Paleozoic Amazon sedimentary basin. The dome outcropping surface is elliptical with axes of 30 and 20 km trending NESW and NW-SE, respectively. At the present erosion level, rocks of the Ererê, Barreirinha, Curiri, Oriximiná, Faro, Monte Alegre, Itaituba and Alter do Chão formations, as well as the Penatecaua diabase are exposed. Thermal springs with temperatures from 29 to 37ºC issue out of the Ererê Formation. The present study focuses on the physico-chemical characterization of surface and groundwater that occur within the dome and on the interaction with their mineral environment. In addition, the thermal waters are also characterized isotopically and their subsurface temperatures estimated with basis on the silica and Na-Ca-K geothermometers. Gravimetric and resistivity methods were applied aiming at detecting potential sources that could account for the heating of the thermal waters. The Piper diagrams show a wide chemical variation for both the surface and groundwater which spread over the bicarbonate, calc-sulfate and sodic-chloride fields. The thermal waters are chemically more homogeneous and fall on the bicarbonate and sodic-chloride fields. This variability reflects the composition of the rocks through which the waters migrate, whose components result mainly from hydrolysis and redox reactions involving pyrite and sulfate minerals. Most water samples are in equilibrium with kaolinite as deduced from activity diagrams constructed at 25ºC, 1 atm and at quartz saturation. The thermal water samples cluster near the boundary kaolinite-sericite, whereas a few samples of surface waters that drain the Itaituba Formation plot near the line separating the kaolinite and leonhardite stability fields. The samples of the Menino Deus thermal spring collected in October/2002 reached equilibrium with sericite but failed to equilibrate with paragonite despite their Na/K ratios being higher than unity. Furthermore, most water samples are saturated with quartz. During the dry season, sample FT-27 and those from the Menino Deus thermal spring presented higher silica contents causing them to equilibrate with pyrophyllite. Isotopic data show that the Monte Alegre thermal waters have a meteoric origin with δ18O and δD values coincident with the global meteoric water line, although slightly enriched in deuterium. The excess of deuterium varies seasonally, being recorded values of 11,8-14,8 ‰ in the dry season and 4-9,5 ‰ in the wet season. Sub-surface temperatures for the thermal waters estimated with the silica geothermometer yield mean values of 71°C (wet season) and 83°C (dry season). Average water circulation depths ranging from 1560 m (wet season) to 1900 m (dry season) were calculated assuming a geothermal gradient of 30°/km and using the estimated sub-surface temperatures. After infiltrating into the ground, these meteoric waters are heated and rise back to the surface through a channel way network, particularly NE-SW and N-S-trending faults which truncate the brachyanticline flanks. Gravimetric surveys allowed to infer the presence of a lacolith-like body at a depth of about 1.3 km. This body is thicker close to the central portion of the brachyanticline. Contact relationships between sedimentary units and the laccolith could also be defined. Likewise, fractures and faults could be mapped at depth whose traces are visible on SRTM radar images. Resistivity profiles did not identify any thermal anomaly in the area, but they confirm the lithological diversity of the geological units as well as faults that may have served as conduits to the fluids.
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