A simple analytical method for calculating temperature perturbations in a basin caused by the flow of water through thin, shallow-dipping aquifers

Fluid flow in sedimentary basins can be driven by a variety of mechanisms. Commonly, flow is localized in relatively thin aquifers or structures and often these permeable units may be approximated by a series of straight planar segments with shallow dip. A simple formula is derived that describes temperature perturbations in a straight aquifer segment with shallow dip. The temperature is determined everywhere along the segment if the flow rate and temperature at one point is known. “Daisy chaining” the solutions allows easy calculation of the temperature perturbation in a basin caused by fluid flow through a shallow-dipping network of linear fault and aquifer segments. The approach may find many applications but is here illustrated the a number of examples related to the origin of Mississippi Valley-type PbZn deposits. The cases considered emphasize the “salinity problem” encountered by models that hypothesize these deposits formed as the result of cross-basin hydrological flow.