Physical and hydraulic properties of modern sinter deposits: El Tatio, Atacama

Physical and hydraulic properties of modern sinter deposits: El Tatio, Atacama

Sinters are siliceous, sedimentary deposits that form in geothermal areas. Formation occurs in two steps. Hot water circulates in the subsurface and dissolves silica from the host rock, usually rhyolites. Silica then precipitates after hot water is discharged and cools. Extensive sinter formations a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of volcanology and geothermal research 2016-10, Vol.325, p.156-168
Main Authors: Munoz-Saez, Carolina, Saltiel, Seth, Manga, Michael, Nguyen, Chinh, Gonnermann, Helge
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Computational fluid dynamics
Deposits
Fluid flow
GEOSCIENCES
Geothermal
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Hydraulics
Microbe filaments
Permeability
Porosity
Seismic velocity
Silica sinter
Sinter
Texture
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sinters are siliceous, sedimentary deposits that form in geothermal areas. Formation occurs in two steps. Hot water circulates in the subsurface and dissolves silica from the host rock, usually rhyolites. Silica then precipitates after hot water is discharged and cools. Extensive sinter formations are linked to up-flow areas of fluids originating from high temperature (>175°C) deep reservoirs. Fluid geochemistry, microbial communities, and environmental conditions of deposition determine the texture of sinter and pore framework. Porosity strongly influences physical and hydraulic properties of rocks. To better understand the properties controlling the transport of fluids, and interpret geophysical observations in geothermal systems, we studied 17 samples of modern geyserite sinter deposits (
ISSN:0377-0273
1872-6097