Editing Hot spring (section)

==Definitions==
<!-- This section is linked from [[Bath, Somerset]] -->
<!-- It's fine to show range of definitions. Do not add any new definitions that are merely slight variations on ones already here,
and only if the source is particularly reliable. -->
There is no universally accepted definition of a hot spring. For example, one can find the phrase ''hot spring'' defined as
* any spring heated by [[geothermal activity]]<ref>{{cite web|title=MSN Encarta definition of hot spring |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861692101 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122234830/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861692101 |archive-date=2009-01-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* a spring with water temperatures above its surroundings<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=hot+spring Miriam-Webster Online dictionary definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ho/hotsprin.html Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, article on hot spring] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211173244/http://www.bartleby.com/65/ho/hotsprin.html |date=2007-02-11 }}</ref>
* a natural spring with water temperature above [[human body temperature]] (normally about {{convert|37|°C|°F}})<ref>[http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?script=search&matchent=hot+spring&matchtype=exact Wordsmyth definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/35/H0293500.html American Heritage dictionary, fourth edition (2000) definition of hot spring] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310162547/http://www.bartleby.com/61/35/H0293500.html |date=2007-03-10 }}</ref><ref name="pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca">{{cite journal|doi=10.1139/e03-083 |author1=Allan Pentecost |author2=B. Jones |author3=R.W. Renaut |title=What is a hot spring? |journal=Can. J. Earth Sci. |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=1443–6 |year=2003 |url=http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/rp/rp2_abst_e?cjes_e03-083_40_ns_nf_cjes |bibcode=2003CaJES..40.1443P |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311064433/http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/rp/rp2_abst_e?cjes_e03-083_40_ns_nf_cjes |archive-date=2007-03-11 |url-access=subscription }} provides a critical discussion of the definition of a hot spring.</ref><ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/hot+spring Infoplease definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hot+spring&r=66 Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. definition of hot spring]</ref>
[[File:Rio Quente 16 (27822967745).jpg|thumb|Hot water springs in [[Rio Quente|Rio Quente, Brazil]]]]
* a natural spring of water whose temperature is greater than {{convert|21|°C|°F|0}}<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hot+spring&r=66 Wordnet 2.0 definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://www.ultralingua.com/onlinedictionary/?service=ee&text=hot+spring Ultralingua Online Dictionary definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=hot_spring Rhymezone definition of hot spring]</ref><ref>[http://lookwayup.com/lwu.exe/lwu/d?s=f&w=hot_spring Lookwayup definition of hot spring]</ref>
* a type of thermal spring whose water temperature is usually {{convert|6 to 8|C-change|0|abbr=on}} or more above mean air temperature.<ref>{{cite book |author=Don L. Leet |title=Physical Geology |publisher=Prentice-Hall |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |year=1982 |edition=6th |url=http://www.webref.org/geology/h/hot_spring.htm |quote=A thermal spring is defined as a spring that brings warm or hot water to the surface. |isbn=978-0-13-669706-0 |access-date=2006-11-03 |archive-date=2010-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101002101223/http://www.webref.org/geology/h/hot_spring.htm |url-status=dead }} Leet states that there are two types of thermal springs; hot springs and warm springs. Note that by this definition, "thermal spring" is not synonymous with the term "hot spring".</ref>
* a spring with water temperatures above {{convert|50|°C|°F}}<ref>US [[NOAA]] Geophysical Data Center definition</ref>

The related term "'''warm spring'''" is defined as a spring with water temperature less than a hot spring by many sources, although Pentecost et al. (2003) suggest that the phrase "warm spring" is not useful and should be avoided. In 1923, Menzier proposed that a warm spring be defined as a thermal spring where the water is below that of the human body, but above that of the mean air temperature around the spring, though this definition is contested.<ref name="Out of ground-water hydrology">{{Cite tech report |last=Meinzer |first=Oscar Edward |title=Outline of ground-water hydrology, with definitions |type=Water Supply Paper |publisher=United States Geological Survey |doi=10.3133/wsp494 |year=1923 |volume=494 |page=54 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/wsp494 |access-date=13 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca" />