Use of mean residence time of water, flowrate, and equilibrium temperature indicated by water geothermometers to rank geothermal resources. Application to the thermal water circuits of Northern Calabria

A new hydro-geochemical survey was carried out on the thermal sites of Northern Calabria. By use of new and historical data, it was possible to improve the knowledge on the deep systems of interest. First, thermal waters were characterized by means of a classical approach, including water classifications, use of the triangular diagram of Cl-Li-B, and geothermometry through suitably selected functions. Then, the tritium-based mean residence time and flowrate of the thermal waters of Northern Calabria were used to evaluate the volume of the geothermal reservoir and its component terms. Based on these results, the heat stored in the geothermal reservoir was computed by means of the volume method. Their natural heat discharge was also calculated. These parameters as well as the reservoir temperature indicated by water geothermometers were used to rank the geothermal resources of Northern Calabria. Sambiase resulted to be the thermal circuit of highest geothermal potential.