Boros István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 6. (Budapest 1955)
Halász, M.: The characteristic occurrences of blue green algae in the hot springs of Harkány
The Characteristic Occurrences of Blue-Green Algae in the Hot Springs of Harkány By M. H. Halász, Budapest I. The Typical Forms of Appearance of the Microvegetation The thermal springs of Harkány carry up bathygenous water to the surface, ascending along and emerging from the small scattered islets of remnant bedrock of the Middle-Triassic and Lower Cretaceous strata of South Baranya, according to the latest researches of E. Vadász (1949). The hot springs of Harkány are, geologically, connected with the thermae of Siklós, and Beremend-Kistapolca, — which all originate from a common reservoir. The hot water ascends along the tectonical lines determined by the limestone blocks. It does not originate directly from the limestone but breaks through considerably thick covering layers. Its tectonical fixation is shown by the temperature of the thermal water of the wells in this area being in inverse ratio with their distances (Zsigmondy 1973). (E. g. the water of a well in 12 m distance is 28,5° C, that of another in 190 m distance is 20° C, at 380 m 17,5° C, at 570 m 14° C, at 900 m 12,5° C). The hot springs in question are not disturbed in the'r present state by ground water. The water level of the hot water of the limestone blocks of both the Harkány and the other springs in southern Baranya corresponds with the constant ground water level of the whole area : 96—98 m above sea level. 1 The temperature of the hot springs of Harkány had been, until V. Zsigmondy's special borings to a depth of 34,77 m in 1866 and to 37,77 m in 1867, oscillating between only 18° Rand 42° R. After the completion of the borings, water of a constantly high temperature (50° R, that is, 62,5° R) spouted. B. Zsigmondy made two further borings in 1887 and 1888, to a depth of 47,74 m, by which the temperature of the water attained 62° C. My own measurements recorded a temperature of 62,5° C, in July —September of 1947, and in September 1948. P. K i t a i b e 1 had already commented on the hot springs of Southern Baranya, in his itinerary, in the year 1799 ; recording an odorless spring ot lukewarm water with a temperature of 16—19° R (on the 26th August, 1799) and two further springs with a sulphureous odor and a temperature of 18—19° R, that is, 21—22° R, in Tapolcza (on the 27th August, 1799). These two latter had been used for primitive bathing purposes, but their therapeutical value had been practically unknown. In 1825, the apllication for therapeutical purposes of the water springing in many localities had got under way, as recorded also in the Minutes of the Congress of the Hungarian Physicians and Naturalists in Pécs, 1845. The area had later been declared a natural Reservation (1894). 2 The hot spring of Harkány is to be relegated to the group of sulphureous springs, by the chemical examinations of K- Than (1867) and K- Emszt (1927) 3 . The therma is radioactive, and contains the gas carbonoxysulphide in a solution : a rare occurrence regarding springs for medical purposes, — as also free carbonic acid. The thermal water spouts to a 1 The report (MS collection) of Z s i g m o n d y, in the Geological Institution Budapest. 2 Ministry of Agriculture, Water Book copy, CX/1, 19 September, 1894. 3 K- Emszt: The Congress of the National League of Physicians, in Pécs. 7—9 September, 1929. 7 Term. Tud. Múzeum Évkörnve
