NOTE!!! LOGS WITHOUT EMAILS/MESSAGES ANSWERING THE QUIZ WILL BE REGRETFULLY DELETED (THOUGH NOT WITHOUT NOTICE). ONE EMAIL/MESSAGE PER GROUP IS FINE.
******Congratulations to Quarqus for the FTF!******
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Here you are at Hanna Springs, one of Lampasas’ several natural mineral springs. After you appreciate the fascinating waters and its history, take a stroll around the sculpture garden. It’s better every time I visit!
“TAKING THE WATERS” https://texastimetravel.com/cities/lampasas/
It’s a tall order to be called the “Saratoga of the South,” but the mineral springs along the Sulphur Creek branch of the Lampasas River have attracted health-seekers from Native Americans, to Spanish explorers, to 19th and 20th Century visitors. The reputed curative powers of the waters helped Lampasas recover from a tense era of floods, fires and feuds following the Civil War. After the railroad arrived in 1882 the town grew as a resort — and as the Lampasas County seat -- with spas, hotels and saloons. Visitors wanting to “take the waters” were transported from the railroad depot to their hotels by mule-drawn streetcars. By 1911 the town’s Hancock Springs Park included a swimming pool and a bathhouse. During World War II, soldiers stationed at nearby Camp Hood came to the park’s Hostess House for dances. Today, that restored structure hosts special events, the sulphur springs flow, and the stone walls of the park’s bathhouse have been preserved.
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Tonkawas, Apaches, and Comanches were all drawn to the mineral springs in the Lampasas area long before the first white settler showed up. The mineral springs continued to court visitors, especially when the cool sulfur water was credited with miracle cures. Originally called Burleson, the city became Lampasas Springs, now shortened to Lampasas.
[The Texas Almanac states the word came from a Spanish word for "lilies" that are found in nearby streams. Another source states the word comes from the Spanish word "Lampazos." It was given to the river by the Spanish Aquayo Expedition in 1721. It is believed the name was inspired by a Mexican town that also had beautiful springs. https://www.lampasas.org/246/History-of-Lampasas But I digress.]
AHEM!
History shows that in the mid-1850's, Moses Hughes brought his family and ailing wife to Lampasas to bathe in and drink the healing water of the springs and her health was restored. Others came and also enjoyed the waters’ curative powers. Lampasas’ fame grew: visitors traveled from all over Texas to bathe in the healing waters.
“Promotional literature for most spas featured a chemical analysis of the water plus testimonials from people who claimed to have been successfully treated. Some included physicians’ statements as to the efficacy of the water in curing specific medical problems, but hardly any scientific studies were done. With no documented medical diagnosis before treatment and no follow-up, confirmations of cures were virtually nil.” https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/mineral-water-spas-of-texas
That said, modern research supports the anecdotal evidence: “Sulphurous mineral waters have been traditionally used in medical hydrology as treatment for skin, respiratory, and musculoskeletal disorders. However, driven by recent intense research efforts, topical treatments are starting to show benefits for pulmonary hypertension, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, ischemia-reperfusion injury, heart failure, peptic ulcer, and acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. The beneficial effects of sulphurous mineral waters, sulphurous mud, or peloids made from sulphurous mineral water have been attributed to the presence of sulphur mainly in the form of hydrogen sulphide. This form is largely available in conditions of low pH when oxygen concentrations are also low. In the organism, small amounts of hydrogen sulphide are produced by some cells where they have numerous biological signalling functions. WHILE HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN SULPHIDE ARE EXTREMELY TOXIC, enzymes in the body are capable of detoxifying it by oxidation to harmless sulphate. HENCE, LOW LEVELS OF HYDROGEN SULPHIDE MAY BE TOLERATED INDEFINITELY.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5397653/ emphasis added
After all, the ubiquitous soak, Epsom Salts breaks down into magnesium and sulfate.
All non-distilled water contains some amount of dissolved minerals, also called "salts." Water with a combined mineral content greater than 500 milligrams per liter is called “mineral water.”
The easily available (and readable) literature is surprisingly mum on the source of Lampasas’ sulfur waters. It is true the predominant minerals in Texas' mineral waters are usually sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, or iron. We might associate the sulfur with “hydrocarbons” – e.g. crude oil – but while there is oil production about, there is no evidence of crude in these waters. So Waterweasel & I suspect the culprit is more likely deposits of the mineral celestite (strontium sulfate), which occurs mainly in sedimentary rocks such as bedded deposits of gypsum and halite; also in bedded limestone and dolomite, in cavities. [https://www.mindat.org/min-927.html] E.g. most of Central Texas, “including localities in Brown, Coke, Comanche, Fisher, Lampasas, Mills, Nolan, Real, Taylor, Travis, and Williamson counties.” [https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/nonpetroleum-minerals] Most of these occurrences are very minor, making these concentrated springs celebrities.
In general, sulfur on land, is deposited in five major ways: precipitation, direct fallout from the atmosphere, rock weathering, decomposition of organic material and geothermal vents. [LibreTexts https://bio.libretexts.org › Courses › 5.08:_Sulfur_Cycle] Here in Texas, we can thank the organic matter: algae, sea grasses, and, yes, even ocean critter poo (their shells aren’t the only things left in the geologic record).
Sulfur is actually the tenth most abundant element by mass in the universe and the fifth most on Earth. Though sometimes found in pure, native form, sulfur on Earth usually occurs as sulfide and sulfate minerals (which we often call “salts”). “Sulfur is an essential element for all life, but almost always in the form of organosulfur compounds or metal sulfides. Amino acids (two proteinogenic: cysteine and methionine, and many other non-coded: cystine, taurine, etc.) and two vitamins (biotin and thiamine) are organosulfur compounds crucial for life. Many cofactors also contain sulfur, including glutathione, and iron–sulfur proteins. Disulfides, S–S bonds, confer mechanical strength and insolubility of the (among others) protein keratin, found in outer skin, hair, and feathers. Sulfur is one of the core chemical elements needed for biochemical functioning and is an elemental macronutrient for all living organisms….” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur]
“There are studies pointing that many deposits of native sulfur in places that were the bottom of the ancient oceans have biological origin…[indicating that these] native sulfurs have been obtained through biological activity, but what is responsible for that (sulfur-oxidizing bacteria or sulfate-reducing bacteria) is still unknown for sure.” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur]
In short: the presence of sulfur, sulfides, and sulfates in limestone is NOT astonishing. Rather, given we’re standing on an ancient seabed, to be expected. It's part of the fossil record, weathered out of the rock [dissolved along with the aquifer's limestone -- the same mechanism that forms caverns; though here we get aromatic water and streambed precipitation (now there's a word for you!) not speleothems.] That it comes out in such concentrations in the water is less common. Which is why Lampasas and other spa spring cities (Mineral Wells, for example) were (and are) celebrities.
Just one of the seven local springs, and no longer open to spa soaking, HANNA SPRINGS bubbles out of the limestone at 70 gallons per second. The cool, 72-degree water is certainly mineralized, with a distinct, sulfuric smell that is stronger on some days than others. It is, however, less… odiferous …than Hancock Springs (which deserves its own earthcache – another day).
Now, move around the cistern to the outflow. Isn’t that an incredible color?
Limestone is composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) which is white. These waters’ concentrations of sulfur and other minerals (“salts”) cause them to become even more acidic and erode the limestone further. The limestone is dissolved into tiny crystals, which are mixed up in the water along with the mineral salts. When sunlight hits these micro crystals, they reflect that amazing blue color.
Go ahead and feel the water. It may seem a bit – soapy or slick feeling. That would be the dissolved salts. You can taste it if you like.
OK, QUIZ TIME===========================================================
- What makes a spring a mineral spring?
- What is the difference between a mineral spring and a thermal or “hot” spring? Which of these is Hanna Springs?
- Spring or Well?
- Describe that smell! Do you know what that is? Do you see why that is? [E.g. are there gas bubbles rising through the spring waters?]
- “In general, sulfur on land, is deposited in five major ways: precipitation, direct fallout from the atmosphere, rock weathering, decomposition of organic material and geothermal vents…” How do you think the sulfur in Texas was deposited? [Note: more than one cause may be in effect... but NOT all. =wink= Answers listing what is NOT at work are valid.]
- Describe the runoff. Is it unnaturally colorful? What "vibrant" and possibly unexpected colors do you see?
What about the waters in the spring itself? Do they also seem to be an "unusual" color for a pond of water? Describe.
- Take a photo of yourself and the spring pool or runoff and post THAT with your log(s). [If not you, be artistic with your GPS or keys or personal Travel Bug.... I suck at selfies, too!]
I recommend you go to the historical marker at N31 04.142 W98 10.676 to learn more about the springs' and local history.
Email or message your answers – don’t put them in your log. One email per group is fine – just list who all was with you. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
Enjoy your visit – and thank you for doing my earthcache!
