Influence of the Chuxiong Yao'an Earthquake on the Mineralization of Hot Springs in the Tengchong Geothermal Area, Southwestern China

The Tengchong geothermal area, an active tectonic region with frequent earthquakes, is located in Yunnan Province of southwestern China. This area contains abundant active hot springs, which often display high metal concentrations and obvious mineralization phenomena. At 19:19 on 9 July 2009, an earthquake occurred in Yao'an, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, which is 300 km to the northeast of the Tengchong geothermal area. We sampled water in the hot springs in the Tengchong area from 4 July to 9 July 2009 and from 10 July to 15 July 2009 to study the changes of elemental concentrations before and after the earthquake and discuss the influence of the earthquake on the mineralization of the hot springs. The concentrations of most trace elements increased slightly, but the concentration of REE (rare earth elements) decreased by 50% after the earthquake in the hot springs around a NS-trending fault. The elemental concentrations remained unchanged in Longtan and Suanshuigou, which are related to an inactive crater. The elemental concentrations in other springs controlled by superficial and small-scale faults decreased after the earthquake. The earthquake can stimulate the activity of deep faults and magma chambers, as is responsible for the increase of metal concentrations in the hot springs along the NS-trending deep fault; whereas it can decrease the porosity of permeable rocks, resulting in the decline of the flux of ore-bearing fluids and the corresponding mineralization in the hot springs related to superficial faults.