Hydrogen Sulfide Springs in the Pieniny Mountains

The paper compares chemical composition of sulfide springs located within the Pieniny National Park and its buffer zone on both sides of the Polish-Slovak border. The springs differed in hydrochemical terms from typical Pieniny waters and showed high variability in mineralization and ionic composition. The most distinctive spring was a sulfide one in Wielki Lipnik, Slovakia that showed the highest content of minerals and sulfide. It was also rich in fluorine, which enabled its classification as a fl uoride spring. A solution model analyzed in PHREEQC program indicated high partial pressure of carbon dioxide (10(-77) atm). Moreover, as compared with the other investigated waters, those from this spring were capable of dissolving potassium feldspar as well as illite formed in the course of weathering of feldspars and other aluminosilicates. The process in which a chemical composition of sulfide springs evolves is complex and still not fully understood. Therefore, all described springs deserve both scientific interest and protection to preserve their unique character.