Fluids-Faults relationships over the seismic area of Southern Apennine (Calabria region, Southern Italy): geochemical information from thermal and sulphurous water discharges.

The first comprehensive geochemical data-set of the fluids circulating over a 14,000 km2-wide seismic-prone area of the Southern Apennines, Calabria Region (Italy), is presented here. The geochemical investigations were carried out with the two-fold aim of constraining the origin and interactions of the circulating fluids and to investigate possible relationships with local faults. We collected 60 samples of both thermal and cold waters, from which we extracted the dissolved gases . The geochemical features of the water samples display different types and degrees of water-rock interactions, irrespective of the outlet temperature. The calculated equilibrium temperatures of the thermal waters (60-160°C) and the low heat flow of the whole study area, are consistent with a heating process due to deep water circulation and rapid upflow through lithospheric structures. The composition of the dissolved gases reveals that crustal-originating gases (N2 and CO2-dominated ) feed all the groundwaters. The 3He/4He ratios of the dissolved helium, in the range of 0.03 to 0.22Rac for the thermal waters and 0.05-0.63Rac for the cold waters (Rac = helium isotope ratio corrected for atmospheric contamination), are mainly the result of a two-component (radiogenic and atmospheric) mixing, although indications of mantle-derived helium are found in some cold waters. As the study area had been hit by 18 of the most destructive earthquakes (magnitude ranging from 5.9 to 7.2) occurring over a 280-year time span (1626-1908) in Southern Apennines, the reported results on the circulating fluids may represent the reference for a better inside knowledge of the fault-fluid relationships and for the development oflong-term geochemical monitoring strategies for the area