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The formation of the hot springs at Bath Spa, UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2007

RAMUES GALLOIS
RAMUES GALLOIS
Affiliation:
92 Stoke Valley Rd., Exeter EX4 5ER, UK
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Abstract

The hot springs that emerge at 46 °C in the centre of Bath Spa, Somerset, are unique in the UK. The four other thermal springs in Britain are also sourced in the Carboniferous Limestone, but they emerge at significantly lower temperatures (20 to 28 °C). Bath is situated in a region of low geothermal gradient (about 20 °C/km depth) in a geological setting that seems an unlikely place for hot springs. Why then are these the only hot springs in Britain, and why are they confined to such a small (20 × 80 m) area? The explanation presented here involves a sequence of geological events involving Triassic dissolution and Pleistocene permafrost that is unique to central Bath.

Keywords

Bath Spahot springshydrothermalorigin
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 144 , Issue 4 , July 2007 , pp. 741 - 747
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

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