Hydrothermische

Hydrothermische refers to processes, systems or phenomena that involve hot water or steam interacting with rocks, minerals or synthetic materials under elevated temperatures and pressures. The term is used in geology, chemistry and engineering to describe environments where aqueous fluids carry heat and dissolved components through rocks or in closed reaction vessels.

In geology, hydrothermal processes originate when groundwater is heated by magma or hot rock at depth. The heated fluids circulate through fractures and pore spaces, leaching metals and altering minerals. As the fluids rise and mix with cooler waters or encounter different rock types, minerals precipitate to form hydrothermal ore deposits, including veins, porphyry systems and epithermal assemblages. Common alteration minerals include quartz, calcite, clay minerals and sulfides, with temperatures typically ranging from around 100 to several hundred degrees Celsius and pressures of several megapascals.

Hydrothermal vents are a notable oceanographic manifestation, where seawater penetrates the crust, becomes superheated, and is expelled as mineral-rich fluids through vent chimneys. These environments support unique chemosynthetic ecosystems and can produce prominent deposits of sulfides and metal-rich precipitates, such as those seen at black and white smokers.

In materials science and chemistry, hydrothermal synthesis uses aqueous solutions at high temperature and pressure within sealed reactors to crystallize materials. This method enables controlled morphologies and crystalline phases for nanoparticles, zeolites, titanates and other metal oxides, often at lower temperatures than conventional solid-state routes.

Overall, hydrothermische phenomena bridge natural geological processes and engineered synthesis, centered on the interaction of hot water, heat and minerals.