Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

A developing complex research on naturally
therapeutic factors: geological, physicochemical,
microbiological, climatic and experimental
animal studies in the Turda aria
Poenaru D (1) , Cinteza D (1) , Munteanu C (1) , Mera O (1) , Lazarescu H (1)
(1) National Institute of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Balneology,
Bucharest, Romania
secretar@bioclima.ro
Introduction and Objectives
The natural resources research is crucial in promoting a spa resort by underlying
the therapeutic properties of natural factors and identifying the biological mechanisms
in action. In this context, the objective of this ongoing project is to create a
balneary research platform in the Turda area, strategically situated on the Romanian
Balneary Map, and having a huge balneary potential.
Materials and Methods
Geologically, the area of Turda town is situated at the joint between the Jurasic
facies limestones formations of Mount Petrid and the tertiary sedimentary rocks of
the Transylvanian Plateau floor, here formed from marns, clay, greystone, and
volcanic tuff strata. Approaching Turda, the strata comes bending towards the town,
where they appear deformed, due to the salt grains which lifted them in a vault-like
shape. Due to the erosion, the sediments’ cover was washed off and the salts from
these vaults rose to the surface, allowing exploitation. Because of these lowresistent
deposits, there are frequent land slidings in the area. Water flooding into
the former mines dissolved the salt, giving birth to salt lakes (the spas area). The
actual antropossaline lakes were formed in the Middle Ages, up to 13th century.
The existance of a salt deposit and the exploitation of this reserve over the centuries,
created in the North-East of the town, at about 2 Km from the center, a specific
landscape. It is the Salty Spas micro-depression.
The climatic factors are very stable during Turda’s history with the exception of
some minor and inconstant changes due to the human activities.
Another therapeutic factor of the zone is the medicinal mud situated at 0,5 –1m
depth; it is used for cure, spread on the body followed by heliotherapy. The treatment
is often applied in unorganized empirical manner.
The complex research consist of:
Balnea
2012, núm. 6, 319-320
319
ISBN: 978-84-669-1887-0
978-84-669-3482-4