Analysis of the geothermal vortexes triggering the Xingtai earthquake in 1966

ＡｎａｌｙｓｉｓｏｆｔｈｅｇｅｏｔｈｅｒｍａｌｖｏｒｔｅｘｅｓｔｒｉｇｇｅｒｉｎｇｔｈｅＸｉｎｇｔａｉｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｉｎ１９６６ＭＡＯＣＡＮＧＴＡＮＧ（汤懋苍）ＸＩＡＯＱＩＮＧＧＡＯ（高晓清）ＬａｎｚｈｏｕＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＰｌａｔｅ...     

A research on the geothermal structure in Yanqing-Huailai Basin and its neighbouring region

ＡｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｏｎｔｈｅｇｅｏｔｈｅｒｍａｌｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｉｎＹａｎｑｉｎｇ┐ＨｕａｉｌａｉＢａｓｉｎａｎｄｉｔｓｎｅｉｇｈｂｏｕｒｉｎｇｒｅｇｉｏｎＪＩＮ－ＨＵＡＺＵ（祖金华）ＱＩＡＮ－ＦＡＮＷＵ（吴乾蕃）ＹＵ－ＦＡＮＧＬＩＡＮ（廉雨方）...     

Study on the relationship between geothermal exploitation and seismic activity in Xi''''an region

IntroductionGeothermal energy is a new and clear energy resource. It is very useful in heating and generating electricity and medical treating. The Assembly of International Environmental Protection in 1992 predicted that the usage and development of geothermal energy would exceed the traditional energy such as oil and coal, and its developmental prospect will be very bright.There are great geothermal resources in Weihe basin. The average value of heat flow in Weihe basin is 7.88(10(2 W/m2…     

Hydrogeophysical modelling of Hisarcik (Kütahya) geothermal field,western Turkey

Western Anatolia hosts many low-to-moderate and high-temperature geothermal sources in which active faults play a dominant role to control the recharge and the discharge of geothermal fluid. In this study, we used the two-dimensional geoelectric structure of Kütahya Hisarcık geothermal field, and created a conceptual hydrogeophysical model that includes faults, real topographical variations and geological units. The temperature distribution and fluid flow pattern are also investigated. The depth extension of Hisarcık Fault, electrical basement and low resistivity anomalies related to the presence of geothermal fluid are determined by using resistivity studies in the area. Numerical simulations suggest that Hisarcık fault functioning as a fluid conduit primarily enables hot fluid to be transported from depth to the surface. It is shown that the locations of predicted outflow vents coincide with those of hot springs in the area.     

Halite clogging in a deep geothermal well – Geochemical and isotopic characterisation of salt origin

The sandstone formation of the Middle Buntsandstein (Lower Triassic) in the geothermal well Groß Buchholz Gt1, Hanover, Northern Germany, was hydraulically stimulated to generate a heat exchanger surface, using 20000 m³ of fresh water. After six months of enclosure the recovered water was oversaturated with respect to halite at surface conditions. Due to cooling induced precipitation a salt plug formed between 655 and 1350 m depth in the tubing. While the Na/Br and the Cl/Br ratio of the recovered water reflect the signature of a relic evaporative solution the recovered water contains tritium, indicating a significant proportion of fresh water. Leaching experiments of the reservoir rocks point towards presence of traces of soluble salt minerals in the formation. Therefore we assume that the salinity cannot be attributed solely to halite dissolution nor to the production of a pure formation brine. The recovered water is a result of a combination of both salt dissolution by injected fresh water and of mixing with a formation brine which has undergone water–rock interaction. The calculated fresh water proportion in the recovered water is around 40%. The presence of salt mineral traces in pores of a target formation is a potential threat for the operation of geothermal wells, as cooling-induced salt scaling jeopardizes their performance.     

Numerical modeling of geothermal groundwater flow in karst aquifer system in eastern Weibei, Shaanxi Province, China

The quantitative assessment of geothermal water resources is important to the exploitation and utilization of geothermal resources. In the geothermal water systems the density of groundwater changes with the temperature, therefore the variations in hydraulic heads and temperatures are very complicated. A three-dimensional density-dependent model coupling the groundwater flow and heat transport is established and used to simulate the geothermal water flow in the karst aquifers in eastern Weibei, Shaanxi Province, China. The multilayered karst aquifer system in the study area is cut by some major faults which control the regional groundwater flow. In order to calibrate and simulate the effect of the major faults, each fault is discretized as a belt of elements with special hydrological parameters in the numerical model. The groundwater dating data are used to be integrated with the groundwater flow pattern and calibrate the model. Simulation results show that the calculated hydraulic heads and temperature fit with the observed data well.     

Seismic signals in geothermal areas of active volcanism: a case study from ‘La Fossa’, Vulcano (Italy)

Since the last eruption (1888–1890) volcanism at Vulcano, Aeolian Archipelago, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, has taken the form of persistent fumarolic activity. The gas-vapour phases of the geothermal systems are mainly discharged within two restricted areas about 1 km apart from each other, in the northern part of the island. These areas are La Fossa crater, and the beach fumaroles of the Baia di Levante. Fluids released at the two main fumarolic fields display quite different chemical and temperature characteristics, implying different origins. The local seismicity essentially takes the form of discrete shocks of shallow origin (depth1 km) at La Fossa, usually with energy < 10¹³ ergs. They are thought to be related to the uprise of pressurized hot gases and vapours discharged at the crater fumaroles. The present investigation points to the existence of two principal categories of seismic events (called M-shocks and N-shocks). These are short events (normally < 10 s). M-type shocks are thought to be due to resonance vibrations within the interior of the volcano, probably driven by the excitation of shock-waves within cavities deeply affected by deposition and alteration of self-sealant hydrothermal minerals. N-type events display features that resemble those of volcano-tectonic earthquakes, but have no recognizable S-phases. Here they are tentatively attributed to microfracturing of rocks which have been extensively hydrothermally altered. Results of the present study permit a preliminary conceptual model of the local shallow seismic processes in the framework of geochemical modelling of fumarolic activity and geological inferences from geothermal drilling.     

Microseismicity induced during fluid-injection: A case study from the geothermal site at Groß Schönebeck,North German Basin

The technical feasibility of geothermal power production in a low enthalpy environment will be investigated in the geothermal site at Groß Schönebeck, North German Basin, where a borehole doublet was completed in 2007. In order to complete the Enhanced Geothermal System, three massive hydraulic stimulations were performed. A seismic network was deployed including a single 3-component downhole seismic sensor at only 500 m distance to the injection point. Injection rates reached up to 9 m³/min and the maximum injection well-head pressure was as high as ～60 MPa. A total of 80 very small (?1.8 < M _W < ?1.0) induced seismic events were detected. The hypocenters were determined for 29 events. The events show a strong spatial and temporal clustering and a maximum seismicity rate of 22 events per day. Spectral parameters were estimated from the downhole seismometer and related to those from other types of induced seismicity. The majority of events occurred towards the end of stimulation phases indicating a similar behavior as observed at similar treatments in crystalline environments but in our case at a smaller level of seismic activity and at lower magnitudes.     

U–Pb dating of zircon in hydrothermally altered rocks as a correlation tool: Application to the Mangakino geothermal field,New Zealand

Recognition and correlation of rock units within geothermal fields is often hampered by high degrees of alteration that obscure primary mineralogies and lithological boundaries, and preclude direct dating by radiometric techniques. Magmatic zircons are commonly present in silicic volcanic rocks, where zircon saturation was achieved and zircons crystallized up to the point of eruption. Young zircons are highly resistant to hydrothermal alteration and can yield a record of their crystallization ages in otherwise heavily altered rocks. Zircon crystallization-age spectra have been obtained by SIMS techniques (SHRIMP-RG) from three samples of cuttings and a core sample from ignimbrite penetrated in 3 drillholes up to ~ 3.2 km deep at the Mangakino geothermal field in New Zealand. The crystallization ages are similar between the drillcore and cutting samples, indicating that downhole mixing of cuttings has not been important, and showing collectively that volcanic units of closely similar ages are represented between ~ 1.4 and ~ 3.2 km depth. This is despite apparent changes in the inferred primary volcanic lithology that had led to earlier inferences that multiple ignimbrites of contrasting age were present in this depth interval. Comparisons of zircon crystallization-age spectra and inferred primary mineralogical characteristics from the drillhole samples with surficial ignimbrites that crop out west of Mangakino suggest that the boreholes have entered a > 1.8-km-thick intracaldera fill of ignimbrite generated in the closely-spaced Kidnappers and Rocky Hill eruptions at ~ 1 Ma.     

Geochemistry,mineral paragenesis and geothermal conditions of oreforming fluids from the Ain El Bey Cu–Fe deposit: potential occurrence of native gold and precious metal traces(North African orogenic belt,Northern Tunisia)

The Ain El Bey abandoned mine, in North-West Tunisia, fits into the geodynamic context of the European and African plate boundary. Ore deposit corresponds to veins and breccia of multiphase Cu–Fe-rich mineralization related to various hydrothermal fluid circulations. Petromineralogical studies indicate a rich mineral paragenesis with a minimum of seven mineralization phases and, at least, six pyrite generations. As is also the case for galena and native silver, native gold is observed for the fi...