Luozha Hot Spring, Namling County, in Xizang (Tibet)
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Luozha Hot Spring, Namling County, in Xizang (Tibet)

by Ping Zhao

The Luozha Hot Spring is located on a river beach south of the junction between the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains and the Gangdise Mountains on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, at an elevation of 4,540 meters above sea level. The spring outlet temperature reaches 81.5°C, and the water jets rise to a height of about 4 meters. The hot spring water is of the NaHCO₃ type, with the SiO₂ concentration of 108.7 ppm, and the estimated temperature of the geothermal reservoir exceeds 120°C at depth. The helium isotope ratio of the hot spring gases is 0.37 Rc/Ra, indicating the gas is dominated by crustal helium with a small contribution of mantle-derived helium. Local residents have built simple shelters near the hot spring to provide resting places for visitors bathing in the spring.