RAPID: Assessing Thermal and Chemical Response of Hot-springs to Puerto Rico’s Continuing 2020 Seismic Sequence

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The temperature and discharge of the Coamo hot springs in Puerto Rico have rapidly changed in response to ongoing seismic activity. Groundwater systems are often affected by earthquakes as networks of fractures can be opened, closed, or rearranged during ground motion. Understanding any links between seismic activity and changes to groundwater is increasingly important for managing water resources, wastewater storage/injection, and assessing flooding hazards. This project will support 2-3 undergraduate students and one graduate student to continuously monitor the site and collect daily water samples for chemical analyses. These students will also be provided the opportunity to present their findings at a national conference. The results of this study, combined with information about the local geology, will also be used to create educational outreach materials to be provided to the public at the hot springs. This project will use a combined dataset of seismic records, temperature, water chemistry, and discharge to better understand the hydrologic changes to the Coamo hot springs in response to an ongoing seismic sequence on a nearby but separate fault system. To do this, the PIs will generate a year-long continuous dataset of temperature, discharge, and water chemistry (cations, anions, trace metals, δD, and δ18O) of the hot springs during the ongoing seismic sequence. Temperature measurements will be recorded every minute, water samples will be collected daily, and discharge will be measured daily. These data will be used with contemporaneous seismic data to explore both the short- and long-term hydrologic response to seismic activity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.