Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of thermal waters of Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope rations of thermal waters from 46 spas in Okayama Prefecture range from -62.6 to -29.2% in δD and from -10.0 to -4.4% in δ18O, respectively. The isotope rations indicate that all but one of the thermal water in Okayama prefecture are meteoric in origin. The Ofuku thermal water is the only exception, which is probably a mixture of seawater and meteoric water with the ratio of about 1. Sulfur isotope rations of dissolvel sulfate in the thermal waters range from -6.2 ti 59.3% in δ34S. The high δ34S values observed in some thermal waters may be due to bacterial reduction of sulfate.