Interpretation of gravity and magnetic data on the hot dry rocks (HDR) delineation for the enhanced geothermal system (EGS) in Gonghe town, China

As a new kind of renewable and environmental-friendly energy to generate electricity, hot dry rocks (HDR) geothermal reservoirs have been studied, along with the enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Geophysical methods have been used for the geological characterisation in different scales. The small-sc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2020-08, Vol.79 (16), Article 390
Main Authors: Zhao, Xueyu, Zeng, Zhaofa, Wu, Yangang, He, Rongqin, Wu, Qiong, Zhang, Senqi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biogeosciences
Delineation
Density
Distribution
Drilling
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Enhanced geothermal systems
Environmental Science and Engineering
Exploitation
Exploration
Geochemistry
Geology
Geophysical data
Geophysical exploration
Geophysical methods
Geothermal gradient
Gravity
Heat flow
Heat transmission
Hydrology/Water Resources
Hydrothermal alteration
Igneous rocks
Inversion
Lithology
Magnetic data
Magnetic permeability
Magnetic surveys
Microgravity
Original Article
Sediments
Seismic surveys
Surveys
Terrestrial Pollution
Three dimensional models
Two dimensional models
Vertical distribution
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Summary:As a new kind of renewable and environmental-friendly energy to generate electricity, hot dry rocks (HDR) geothermal reservoirs have been studied, along with the enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Geophysical methods have been used for the geological characterisation in different scales. The small-scale geophysical data are required for the local geological analysis so as to provide prior information for HDR modelling. Gonghe basin is in the northeast margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Several drilling records indicate that this basin is a potential HDR prospecting area with high geothermal gradient, high heat flow and widespread igneous rock distribution, especially the Gonghe town (Qiabuqia) along with its neighbouring area. Gravity and magnetic surveys were carried out here. To better understand the areal and vertical distribution of the HDR, the gravity and magnetic data were inverted using 2D manual inversion and 3D cross-gradient joint inversion based on the smooth l 0 norm constraint of minimum support functional stabiliser. The 2D model showed the sedimentary cap with a thickness of around 1000–1500 m. Granites of different periods and intrusion process were widely distributed and underlined the sediments accompanied by some deep faults. As for the HDR delineation, 3D models showed a potential area along Gonghe town and Dongba. The density and susceptibility were estimated at over 2.6 g/cm 3 and 4 × 10 –3 SI separately, when referred with exiting HDR distribution along the geological profile of DR4–QR1–DR3–DR2 wells. The upper boundary of HDR was outlined at the depth of around 2000 m, and the volume of HDR was then estimated around 6100 km 3 above 3500 m depth. The appearance of the density and susceptibility models was affected by the lithology, stress and hydrothermal alteration. More precise geophysical methods including the microgravity, seismic and MT (magnetotelluric) surveys would be more applicable at the HDR exploitation stage.
ISSN:1866-6280
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s12665-020-09134-9