CENOZOIC VOLCANISM AND GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES IN NORTHEAST CHINA

1 INTRODUCTION Northeast China is located in the eastern marginal part of Eurasian plate. There are about 700 Cenozoic volcanoes and about 50 000km2 volcanic rocks in Northeast China. The Cenozoic volcanism is related to the Pacific plate subducting, back-arc spreading and corresponding marginal continental rifting. About 700 Cenozoic volcanoes in Northeast China are concentrated at some places, so Shuangliao, Keluo, Wudalianchi, Yitong, Shulan, Shangzhi, Longgang, Jingbo Lake, …

Cenozoic volcanism and geothermal resources in Northeast China

This paper is concentrated on Cenozoic volcanism and geothermal resources in Northeast China. There are a lot of Cenozoic volcanoes, a large area of volcanic rocks, a large number of active faults and rich geothermal resources in Northeast China. The time and space characteristics of Cenozoic volcanism and the space distribution characters of hot springs and high geothermal flux regions in Northeast China are described and discussed on the basis of geological, geothermal, drilling and volcanological data. It is revealed that the hot springs and high geothermal flux regions are related to the Cenozoic volcanism, rifting and faulting in Northeast China. It is especially emphasized that the hot springs and high geothermal anomaly areas are controlled by active deep faults. It is proposed that the Cenozoic volcanism regions, rift basins, active fault belts, activated plate suture zones and large earthquake occurrence points are the best areas for prospecting geothermal resources. The geothermal resources in younger volcanic zones are richer than those in older volcanic belts. The hot springs and active or activated faults might be a very good clue for looking for geothermal resources.