Organic Matter in Hydrotherms of the Pauzhetka Field: Composition and Comparative Analysis with Other Sites

The composition of medium-volatile organic matter (OM) was studied in the steam–water mixture condensate (SWC) from deep production wells of the Pauzhetka geothermal field. Using solid-phase extraction and chromatography–mass spectrometry, 17 organic compounds, including 14 aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon (HC), were identified in the studied SWC. These components are strongly dominant in the Pauzhetka hydrothermal system and a number of other geothermal fields in Kamchatka, with their average contents amounting to higher than 60%. According to the specifics of the molecular weight distribution of the saturated HC, the high temperature of the steam–water mixture condensate (more than 108°C at the wellhead), and the absence of obviously biogenic components, these HC are thought to be produced by thermogenic processes: the transformation of organic remnants under the effect of high temperatures and pressures. The contents of the other compounds are much lower, and these components are mostly oxygen-containing compounds (ketones, aldehydes, and alcohols). Similarities between the spectra of organic compounds in the Pauzhetka and Uzon SWC may be at least partly explained by their extraction from volcanogenic–sedimentary layers containing buried organic matter.