Abstract
Geothermal fluids, surface water, and sediments were collected from the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) on the North Island of New Zealand. This region is characterized by hydrothermal activity with groundwaters feeding Lake Taupo, Waikato River, and the Wairakei and Wai-O-tapu hydrothermal fields of Rotorua. pH values ranged from near neutral (6.5–7.2) to alkaline (7.3–8.5). Surface water temperatures were between 15–16°C, while geothermal fluid temperatures ranged between 22 and 90°C. The major element chemistry of these waters describes the sample populations as geothermal and rhyolitic-sourced with some samples representing a mixture of these end-members. Using the rare earth element (REE) composition of the geothermal and surface waters, the competitive influences of mixing and water-rock interactions on fractionation were explored. Comparison of the REE composition of geothermal fluids, surface water, and sediments/ precipitates, indicate that temperature has a strong effect on REE fractionation in the sampled fluids. Eu- and Ce-anomalies (Eu/Eu*, Ce/Ce*) are visible in several samples and are related both to the inheritance of Eu and Ce abundances from geologic host materials and fractionation of these elements during water-rock interactions. These two anomalies are inversely related in the waters and sediments with sediments showing a positive relationship between Eu/Eu* and Ce/Ce* and waters showing an equally significant negative correlation between these two variables. The unique relationships between the Eu- and Ce- anomalies are indicative of the chemistry of the fluids and the nature of their interaction with the aquifer material such that precipitation of material during cooling led to the development of negative Eu-anomalies under reducing conditions. The REE, trace element and major element data demonstrate that competitive processes, including water-rock interaction at depth with aquifer wall-rock, differential leaching of REE from mineral phases and precipitation of secondary minerals from geothermal fluids result in highly evolved fluids discharging into the surface waters of the TVZ.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anders, E. and Grevesse, N. 1989. Abundances of the elements: meteoric and solar. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 197–214.
Bence, A.E., Grove, T.L. and Papike, J.J. 1980. Basalts as probes of planetary interiors; constraints on the chemistry and mineralogy of their source regions. Precam-brian Res., 10, 249–279.
Bower, J.E. and Timperley, M.H. 1988. Lithium and rubidium in the Waikato River, New Zealand. NZ J. Mar. Fresh. Res., 22, 201–214.
Braun, J.J., Pagel, M., Muller, J.P., Bilong, P., Michard, A. and Guillet, B. 1990. Cerium anomalies in lateritic profiles. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 54, 781–795.
Brookins, D.G. 1989. Eh-pH diagrams for Geochemists. Springer-Verlag Pubs., NY, 176p.
Brookins, D.G. 1989. Aqueous geochemistry of rare earth elements. In: P.H. Ribbe (ed.) Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Rare Earth Elements. Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 21. Mineralogical Society of America (Washington, DC), pp. 201–225.
Cole, J.W., 1979. Structure, petrology and genesis of Cenozoic volcanism, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand — a review. NZ J. Geol. Geophys., 22, 631–657.
deBaar, H.J.W., German, C.R., Elderfield, H., and Van Gaans, P. 1988. Rare earth element distributions in anoxic waters of the Cariaco Trench. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 52, 1203–1220.
Dia, A., Gruau, G., Olivie-Lauquet, G., Rious, C, Molenat, J. and Curmi, P. 2000. The distribution of rare earth elements in groundwaters: Assessing the roe of source-rock composition, redox changes and colloidal particles. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 64, 4131–4151.
Ding, Z.L., Sun, J.M., Yang, S.L. and Liu, T.S. 2001. Geochemistry of the Pliocene red clay formation in the Chinese Loess Plateau and implications for its origin, source provenance and paleoclimate change. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 65, 901–913.
Elderfield, H.R., Upstill-Goddard, R. and Sholkovitz, E.R., 1990. The rare earth elements in rivers, estuaries and coastal sea waters: processes affecting crustal input of elements to the ocean and their significance to the composition of sea water. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 54, 971–991.
Eser, P. and Rosen, M.R. 1999. The influence of groundwater hydrology and stratigraphy on the hydrochemistry of Stump Bay, South Taupo Wetland, New Zealand, J. Hydrol., 220, 27–47.
Gibbs, M.M. 1979. Groundwater input to Lake Taupo, New Zealand: Nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from Taupo township. NZ J. Sci., 22, 235–243.
Giggenbach, W.F., Sheppard, D.S., Robinson, B.W., Stewart, M.K. and Lyon, G.L. 1994. Geochemical structure and position of the Waiotapu geothermal field, New Zealand. Geothermics, 23, 599–644.
Giff, F. and Grisby, C.O. 1982. Valles caldera geothermal systems, New Mexico, USA. J. Hydrol., 56, 119–136.
Goldstein, S.J. and Jacobsen, S.B., 1987. The Nd and Sr isotopic systematics of river water dissolved material: implications for the sources of Nd and Sr in seawater. Chem. Geol., 66, 245–272.
Goldstein, S.J. and Jacobsen, S.B., 1988a. The Nd and Sr isotopic systematics of river water suspended material: implications for crustal evolution. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 87, 249–265.
Goldstein, S.J. and Jacobsen, S.B., 1988b. Rare earth elements in river waters. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 89, 35–47.
Graham, I.J. 1992. Strontium isotope composition of Rotorua geochemical waters. Geothermics, 21, 165–180.
Grange, L.I. 1937. The geology of the Rotorua-Taupo subdivision, Rotorua and Kaima-nawa Divisions. Geol. Surv. NZ Bull., 37, 138 p.
Haas, J.R., Shock, E.L. and Sassani, D.C. 1995. Rare earth elements in hydrothermal systems: Estimates of standard partial molal thermodynamic properties of aqueous complexes of the rare earth elements at high pressures and temperatures. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 59, 4329–4350.
Hannigan, Robyn E. and Basu, Asish R. 1998. Late Diagenetic Trace Element Remobilization in Organic-Rich Black Shales of the Taconic Foreland Basin of Québec, Ontario and New York. In, J. Schieber, W. Zimmerle and P. Sethi (eds.) Mudstones and Shales: Recent Progress in Shale Research, Schweizer-bart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 209–234.
Hannigan, R.E. and Sholkovitz, E.R. 2001. Rare Earth Element Chemistry of Natural Waters: Chemical Weathering and Dissolved REE Contents in Major River Systems. Chem. Geol., 175, 495–508.
Healy, J. 1975. Volcanic lakes. In, V.H. Jolly and J.M.A. Brown (eds.) New Zealand lakes. New Zealand, Auckland University Press. 388 p.
Houghton, B.F., and Wilson, C.J.N. 1998. Fire and water: Physical roles of water in large eruptions at Taupo and Okataina calderas. In, G.B. Arehart and J.R. Hulston (eds.) Proc. Water-Rock Interaction 9, 25–30.
Irber, W. 1999. The lanthanide tetrad effect and its correlation with K/Rb, Eu/Eu*, Sr/Eu, Y/Ho, and Zr/Hf of evolving peraluminum granite suites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 63, 489–508.
Johannesson, K.H., Lyons, W.B., Yelken, M.A., Gaudette, H.E. and Stetzenbach, K.J., 1996. Geochemistry of the rare-earth elements in hypersaline and dilute acidic natural terrestrial waters: Complexation behavior and middle rare-earth element enrichments. Chem. Geol., 133, 125–144.
Johannesson, K.H., Stetzenbach, K.J., and Hodge, V.F. 1997a. Rare earth elements as geochemical tracers of regional groundwater mixing. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 61, 3605–3618.
Johannesson, K.H., Stetzenbach, K.J., Hodge, V.F., and Kreamer, D.K. 1997b. Delineation of groundwater flow systems in the southern Great Basin using aqueous rare earth element distributions. Ground Water, 35, 807–819.
Johannesson, K.H., Farnham, I.M., Guo, C. and Stetzenbach, K.J. 1999. Rare earth element fractionation and concentration variations along a groundwater flow path within a shallow, basin-fill aquifer, southern Nevada, USA. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 60, 1695–1707.
Land, M., Ohlander, B., Ingri, J. and Thunberg, J. 1999. Solid speciation and fractionation of rare earth elements in a spodosol profile from northern Sweden as revealed by sequential extraction. Chem. Geol., 160, 121–138.
Michard, A., 1989. Rare earth element systematics in hydrothermal fluids. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 745–750.
Moeller, P. 1998. Eu anomalies in hydrothermal minerals: Kinetic versus thermody-namic interpretation. Proc. Quad IAGOD Symp., 9, 239–246.
Morey, G.B. and Setterholm, D.R. Rare earth elements in weathering profiles and sediments of Minnesota: Implications for provenance studies. J. Sed Res., 67, 105–115.]
Nördstrom, D.K., Ball, J.W., Donahoe, R.J. and Whittemore, D. 1989. Groundwater chemistry and water-rock interactions at Stripa. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 1727–1740.
Nyakairu, G.W.A. and Koeberl, C. 2001. Mineralogical and chemical composition and distribution of rare earth elements in clay-rich sediments from central Uganda. Geochem. J., 35, 13–28.
Potts, P.J., Tindle, A.G. and Webb, P.C., 1992. Geochemical reference material compositions: rocks, minerals, sediments, soils, carbonates, refractories & ores used in research & industry. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 126 pp.
Rosen, M.R. and Coshell, L. 1998. Influence of eruptive volcanic lithologies on surface and groundwater chemical compositions, Lake Taupo, New Zealand. In, G.B. Arehart and J.R. Hulston (eds.) Proc. Water-Rock Interaction 9, 181–184.
Rutherford, J.C. 1984. Trends in Lake Rotorua water quality. NZ J. Mar. Fresh. Res., 18, 355–365.
Rutherford, J.C., Williamson, R.B. and Cooper, A.B. 1987. Nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen dynamics in rivers. In, A.B. Viner (ed.) Inland Waters of New Zealand. DSIR Bulletin, 241, 139–165.
Sholkovitz, E.R., 1992. Chemical evolution of rare earth elements: fractionation between colloidal and solution phases of filtered river water. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 114, 77–84.
Sholkovitz, E.R., 1995. The Aquatic Chemistry of Rare Earth Elements in Rivers and Estuaries. Aquat. Geochem., 1, 1–34.
Schouten, S.G. 1983. Budget of water and its constituents for Lake Taupo. In: Dissolved Loads of Rivers and surface water quality relationships. Inter. Assoc. Hydro. Sci. Pub., 141, 277–297.
Shiller, A.M., Chen, Z. and Hannigan, R. In Press. A time series of dissolved rare earth elements in the Lower Mississippi River. Proc. Water-Rock Interaction 10, 1005–1008.
Simmons, S.F., Stewart, M.K., Robinson, B.W. and Glover, R.B. 1994. The chemical and isotopic compositions of thermal waters at Waimangu, New Zealand. Geothermics, 23, 539–553.
Smedley, P.L. 1991. The geochemistry of rare earth elements in groundwater from the Carnmennellis area, southwest England. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 55, 2767–2779.
Taylor, S.R. and McLennan, S.M., 1985. The Continental Crust: its Composition and Evolution. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston, 312 pp.
Taylor, S.R. and McLennan, S.M. 1995. The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. J. Rev. Geophys., 33, 241–265.
Timperley, M.H. 1983. Phosphorus in spring waters of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand. Chem. Geol., 38, 287–306.
Timperley, M.H. 1987. Regional influences on lake water chemistry. DSIR Bull., 241, 97–111.
Timperley, M.H. and Huser, B.A. 1994. Natural geothermal inflows to the Waikato River. In, S. Soengkono and K.C. Lee (eds.), Proceedings of the 16th New Zealand geothermal workshop, 57–63.
Viers, J., Dupre, B., Polve, M., Schott, J., Dandurand, J-L., and Braun, J-J. 1997. Chemical weathering in the drainage basin of a tropical watershed (Nsimi-Zoetele site, Cameroon): Comparison between organic-poor and organic-rich waters. Chem. Geol., 140, 181–206.
White, E., Downes, M., Gibbs, L., Kemp, L., Mackenzie, L. and Payne, G. 1980. Aspects of the physics, chemistry and phytoplankton biology of Lake Taupo, NZ J. Mar. Fresh. Res., 14, 139–148.
Wombacher, F. and Muenker, C. 2000. Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopes and REE systematics of Cambrian sediments from New Zealand: Implications for the reconstruction of the early Paleozoic Gondwana margin along Australia and Antarctica. J. Geol., 108, 663–686.
Wood, S.A. 1990a. The aqueous geochemistry of the rare-earth elements and yttrium, 1: Review of available low temperature data for inorganic complexes and the inorganic REE speciation of natural waters. Chem. Geol., 82, 159–186.
Wood, S.A. 1990b. The aqueous geochemistry of the rare-earth elements and yttrium, Part 2: Theoretical predictions of speciation in hydrothermal solutions to 350°C at saturated water vapor pressure. Chem. Geol., 88, 99–125.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hannigan, R.E. (2005). Rare Earth, Major, and Trace Element Geochemistry of Surface and Geothermal Waters from the Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island New Zealand. In: Johannesson, K.H. (eds) Rare Earth Elements in Groundwater Flow Systems. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3234-X_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3234-X_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3233-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3234-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)