Of or pertaining to hot water, to the action of hot water, or to the products of this action, such as mineral deposits precipitated from a hot aqueous solution
Produced by extremely hot water Hydrothermal fluids, typically 100 to 300 degrees celsius, are the last watery remnants of molten rock that solidified deep in the Earth's crust John Comer, Indiana Geological Survey
Hot fluids, usually mainly water, sometimes acidic which may carry metals andother compounds in solution to the site of ore deposition or wall rock alteration
These fluids can be either water or steam trapped in fractured or porous rocks; they are found from several hundred feet to several miles below the Earth's surface The temperatures vary from about 32 deg C to 360 deg C (90 deg F to 680 deg F) but roughly 2/3 range in temperature from 65 5 deg C to 121 1 deg C (150 deg F to 250 deg F) The latter are the easiest to access and, therefore, the only forms being used commercially
Hydrothermal refers to hot water and steam rich in dissolved minerals which may pass through cracks and fissures in the rock and leave behind 'hydrothermal' veins of deposited minerals