Geochemistry of the high-PCO2 waters in Logudoro, Sardinia, Italy

A geochemical study of the high-PCO2 waters in Logudoro, northern Sardinia, was carried out starting from regional hydrogeochemical prospecting for geothermal energy, based on the major dissolved components and some minor elements. This preliminary investigation led to the identification of five different lithologies marking the different aquifers. The high-PCO2 waters can be divided into the less saline (TDS < 1g/l) with high tritium unit (T.U.) values and the more saline ones (TDS= 1–3.5 g/l) with T.U. values close to zero. The water-rock interaction process affecting the major components is shown to be the result of interaction between CO2-rich waters and aluminosilicates; the process takes place at different degrees depending on the depth at which CO2 interacts with different aquifers while migrating upward from the mantle. Consideration of the SO4/Cl and F/Cl ratios in the solution allowed the deep ciruits of S. Martino and Abbarghente in the Oligo-Miocene volcanic rocks and S. Lucia in the carbonate-schistose-granitic basement of the Goceano Mountains to be located.