Pagosa hot springs

Pagosa hot springs (Ute: Pah gosah) are a cluster of thermal pools located in the San Juan Basin of Archuleta County, Colorado. The town of Pagosa Springs claim they are the world's deepest known geothermal hot springs.[1][2]

Pagosa hot springs
LocationSouthern Colorado
Coordinates37°16′5″N 107°1′28″W
Elevation7,126 feet
Typegeothermal spring
Temperature110 °F to 144 °F (62 °C)
Depth1002 feet

History

Before the arrival of Hispanic and Anglo settlers, the springs were used by the Ancestral Puebloan people, and later by Ute, Navajo and Apache.[3][4] The springs are known to the Ute people as Pah gosah which is translated to mean either "healing water" or "water (pah) that has a bad smell (gosah)", referring to the pungent odor of hydrogen sulphide gas produced by the interaction of sulphur with anaerobic bacteria in the mineral water.[5][6]

Geology

The Pagosa geothermal hot springs are located on the western slope of the Continental Divide. The sulfur-rich water emerging from what is called the "Mother Spring" has been measured between 110 °F and 144 °F (62 °C).[4] The water originates from 6,000 feet below the surface from volcanic activity.[7]

Water profile

The mineral content of the waters consist of arsenic 0.12 mg/L, boron 1.8 mg/L, chloride 180 mg/L, fluoride, 4.3 mg/L iron 0.08 mg/L, lithium 2.9 mg/L, manganese 0.23 mg/L, magnesium 25 mg/L, potassium 90 mg/L, silica 25 mg/L, sodium 790 mg/L, sulfate 1400 mg/L, and zinc 0.01 mg/L.[8]

  • Pagosa Hot Spring on the shore of the San Juan river, Colorado
  • The Mother Spring - Pagosa Hot Springs, Colorado
  • Sulphur formation at Pagosa Springs
  • Hot Springs in winter
  • Pagosa hot springs in 1874, photograph: Timothy O'Sullivan
  • Man Bathing in Pagosa Hot Spring, 1874, photograph: Timothy O'Sullivan

See also

References
  1. Boster, Seth (May 21, 2018). "World's deepest hot spring also site of Colorado luxury". The Gazette. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. "Deepest geothermal hot spring measured by plumb line". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  3. "History of Archuleta County". Archuleta County Colorado. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  4. Gulliford, Andrew (2011). A Brief Human History of the Eastern San Juan Mountains. University of Colorado Press. pp. 203–212. ISBN 9781607320845. JSTOR j.ctt46nssv.19.
  5. "Why do Some Hot Springs Smell?". Hot Springs Guide. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. Hudson, Bill (July 14, 2015). "Taking the Heat, Part Two". Pagosa Daily Post. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. "Pagosa Springs". Colorado Encyclopedia. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  8. "The Great Pagosa Hot Springs - Mineral Content". Pagosa.com. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
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