Impact of the 6 February 2023 Earthquake in Türkiye on Borjomi Mineral Water Wells ()
1. Introduction
Exploration of the Borjomi mineral water deposit started in 30 s of the 19th century. Since then many Georgian and foreign scientists have been involved in exploring the deposit. As a result of the research it was established that “Borjomi” is a carbonate, hydrocarbonate-sodium mineral water.
The goal of this paper is to study and analyze the impact of earthquakes that occurred in the region on wells of Borjomi mineral water deposit, their regime (output, level) and chemical composition.
2. Analysis
Georgia and the regions adjacent to the Black and Caspian Seas are part of the global seismic belt. Several earthquakes of magnitude M6 and above have occurred in Georgia and neighboring countries. Table 1 shows a list of earthquakes that occurred between 1902 and 2011, compiled from various catalogues [1] .
Borjomi mineral water deposit is situated in the central part of the Small Caucasus, in a seismic active region where earthquakes of magnitude 3 - 4 are recorded several times a year. Earthquakes recorded in the area of the Borjomi mineral water deposit are shown in Figure 1.
On 6 February 2023, a M7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Türkiye-Syria border region in a fault zone in southeastern Türkiye, destroying thousands of buildings, killing more than 50,000 people and crippling many more. The earthquake had some impact on the Borjomi mineral water deposit (see Table 2). The effect of the earthquake on the deposit was manifested in changes in the level in some of the wells. Particularly, level rise within a range of 0.68 - 3.68 m was observed in Wells NN103, 41, 131 and 132 of the Central site; in Wells NN38, 25, 47, 70 of Vashlovani-Kvibisi site the level rise was 4.94 - 25.73 m; in Wells NN 39, 143, 144 of Zanavi site the level rose by 7. 54 - 25.29 m; in Well N54 of Likani site the level continued to fall as it was before the earthquake and was −1.18 m, from which we can conclude that this well was not affected by the earthquake (see Figure 1). According to the data presented in Table 3, the TDS of mineral water in the wells in all four sites of the deposit was virtually the same before the earthquake (January 2023) and after the earthquake (March 2023)].
Figures 2-4 show the impact of the 6 February 2023 earthquake in Türkiye on the output, level and TDS of the Borjomi mineral water deposit wells.
We have analyzed the available stock material and scientific articles on the stability of Borjomi mineral water. In the process of work the following facts were brought to our attention:
· After the Akhalkalaki earthquake (magnitude 6.2) of December 19, 1899 the output of the Ekaterininski spring increased up to 10,000 - 12,000 buckets (1 bucket = 12.3 liters) without changing its chemical composition (before the
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Table 1. M ≥ 6 earthquakes within Georgia and adjoining countries in 1902-2011 [1] .
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Table 2. Chemical composition of Borjomi mineral water wells in 1983-2021.
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Table 3. Data reflecting the impact of the February 6, 2023 earthquake on the wells of the Borjomi deposit.
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Figure 1. Borjomi mineral water deposit surrounding area is a remarkable site of moderate seismicity [2] .
earthquake the output was 7 000 buckets). This earthquake triggered a seismic survey. A seismic station was built in Borjomi in 1913 to monitor the seismic phenomena and their impact on the mineral springs, and accurate equipment was installed [3] ;
· T. Chichua in his work published in 1956 noted (p.39): “For the Borjomi mineral waters (which have been extracted by drilling at different periods of exploration) a decrease in the output is considered as typical. The character of the decrease in the output from the tapped wells turned out to be the same. A characteristic feature of all the springs should be considered constancy of the chemical composition in time, fluctuations within a significant range of the output are not accompanied by changes in the components: it was so
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Figure 2. The impact of the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Türkiye on the wells №47, №38 and №25 of the Kvibisi site.
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Figure 3. The impact of the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Türkiye on the wells of the Central (№41, №103, №132) and Likani (№54) sites.
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Figure 4. The impact of the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Türkiye on the wells №143, №39 and №144 of the Zanavi site.
before and it continues now” [4] .
· S. Chikhelidze in his monograph “Mineral Waters of Georgia” notes: “Borjomi's new tapped wells almost completely repeat the chemical composition of the old wells. Despite dramatic changes in the regime (output) during drilling and thereafter, the chemical composition of individual wells is quite stable and remains within the range of insignificant changes. In particular, water obtained by drilling from Well N 1 of the Park is identical in chemical composition to water of tapped well N 1 (former the Ekaterininski spring), although its temperature is 4˚ higher than that of Ekaterininski spring” [5] .
· On 29 October 2018, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded in the village of Rveli of Borjomi municipality [2] . The response to the earthquake in the Vashlovani-Kvibisi wells was more significant than in the Central site, as it was located closer to the earthquake epicenter. As a result of the earthquake, levels in the Central site dropped by 0.2 - 2.2 m, while levels in the Vashlovani-Kvibisi wells recovered by 2.5 - 47.8 m. In contrast to the Central site, peaks in the Vashlovani-Kvibisi site were detected asynchronously, indicating the existence of different fracture systems within the boundaries of this site. Nevertheless, there were no changes in the chemical composition of water obtained from wells in these sites [6] .
· R. Khargelia in her dissertation “Hydrochemical and environmental studies of the Borjomi mineral water deposit” noted: as a result of earthquakes registered in the Borjomi region, the debit and chemical composition of the Borjomi mineral water practically did not change, which indicates the hydrochemical stability of the mineral water deposit [7] .
Table 2 shows chemical composition of water from 4 wells (NN1, 41, 54 and 25) of Borjomi mineral water deposit in 1983-2021. As is known, since the Borjomi bottling plant was commissioned, the mineral water and finished products have been analyzed both at the Borjomi plant and at external testing laboratories, including those in Georgia and abroad.
3. Conclusions
Based on the study of the impact of the Turkish earthquake on February 6, 2023 on the wells of the Borjomi mineral water deposit, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1) Throughout the long history of studying the chemical composition of the mineral water “Borjomi”, the results of analyses carried out by various researchers show that the content of chemical elements in the water is stable and remains within insignificant changes. Throughout this period the type of water has not changed and it is hydrocarbonate-sodium. Borjomi mineral water is fully compliant with the standards set by the European Union and has been awarded the highest quality status—the category of natural mineral water.
2) The impact of the M7.6 earthquake of February 6, 2023 in the Turkish-Syrian border region on the Borjomi mineral water deposit has changed the water level in some wells and increased the output.
3) The stability of the chemical composition is one of the main factors in increasing the useful resources of the Borjomi mineral water deposit.
Acknowledgements
The article was prepared on the basis of data processing provided by the companies “DG Consulting” and “IDS BORJOMI GEORGIA”. I thank them for their help.