30 research outputs found
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Geological, Geophysical, And Thermal Characteristics Of The Salton Sea Geothermal Field, California
The Salton Sea Geothermal Field is the largest water-dominated geothermal field in the Salton Trough in Southern California. Within the trough, local zones of extension among active right-stepping right-lateral strike-slip faults allow mantle-derived magmas to intrude the sedimentary sequence. The intrusions serves as heat sources to drive hydrothermal systems. We can characterize the field in detail because we have an extensive geological and geophysical data base. The sediments are relatively undeformed and can be divided into three categories as a function of depth: (1) low-permeability cap rock, (2) upper reservoir rocks consisting of sandstones, siltstones, and shales that were subject to minor alterations, and (3) lower reservoir rocks that were extensively altered. Because of the alteration, intergranular porosity and permeability are reduced with depth. permeability is enhanced by renewable fractures, i.e., fractures that can be reactivated by faulting or natural hydraulic fracturing subsequent to being sealed by mineral deposition. In the central portion of the field, temperature gradients are high near the surface and lower below 700 m. Surface gradients in this elliptically shaped region are fairly constant and define a thermal cap, which does not necessarily correspond to the lithologic cap. At the margin of the field, a narrow transition region, with a low near-surface gradient and an increasing gradient at greater depths, separates the high temperature resource from areas of normal regional gradient. Geophysical and geochemical evidence suggest that vertical convective motion in the reservoir beneath the thermal cap is confined to small units, and small-scale convection is superimposed on large-scale lateral flow of pore fluid. Interpretation of magnetic, resistivity, and gravity anomalies help to establish the relationship between the inferred heat source, the hydrothermal system, and the observed alteration patterns. A simple hydrothermal model is supported by interpreting the combined geological, geophysical, and thermal data. In the model, heat is transferred from an area of intrusion by lateral spreading of hot water in a reservoir beneath an impermeable cap rock
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Velocity and Attenuation Structure of the Geysers Geothermal Field, California
The Geysers geothermal field is located in northern California and is one of the world's largest producers of electricity from geothermal energy. The resource consists of primarily dry steam which is produced from a low, porosity fractured graywacke. Over the last several years steam pressure at the Geysers has been dropping. Concern over decline of the resource has prompted research to understand its fundamental nature. A key issue is the distribution of fluid in the matrix of the reservoir rock. In this paper we interpret seismic compressional-wave velocity and attenuation data at the Geysers in terms of the geologic structure and fluid saturation in the reservoir. Our data consist of approximately 300 earthquakes that are of magnitude 1.2 and are distributed in depth between sea level and 2.5 km. Using compressional-wave arrival times, we invert for earthquake location, origin time, and velocity along a three-dimensional grid. Using the initial pulse width of the compressional-wave, we invert for the initial pulse width associated with the source, and the one-dimensional Q structure. We find that the velocity structure correlates with known mapped geologic units, including a velocity high that is correlated with a felsite body at depth that is known from drilling. The dry steam reservoir, which is also known from drilling, is mostly correlated with low velocity. The Q increases with depth to the top of the dry steam reservoir and decreases with depth within the reservoir. The decrease of Q with depth probably indicates that the saturation of the matrix of the reservoir rock increases with depth
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Shallow Drilling In The Salton Sea Region, The Thermal Anomaly
During two shallow thermal drilling programs, thermal measurements were obtained in 56 shallow (76.2 m) and one intermediate (457.3 m) depth holes located both onshore and offshore along the southern margin of the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley, California. These data complete the surficial coverage of the thermal anomaly, revealing the shape and lateral extent of the hydrothermal system. The thermal data show the region of high thermal gradients to extend only a short distance offshore to the north of the Quaternary volcanic domes which are exposed along the southern shore of the Salton Sea. The thermal anomaly has an arcuate shape, about 4 km wide and 12 km long. Across the center of the anomaly, the transition zone between locations exhibiting high thermal gradients and those exhibiting regional thermal gradients is quite narrow. Thermal gradients rise from near regional (0.09 C/m) to extreme (0.83 C/m) in only 2.4 km. The heat flow in the central part of the anomaly is >600 mW/m{sup 2} and in some areas exceeds 1200 mW/m{sup 2}. The shape of the thermal anomaly is asymmetric with respect to the line of volcanoes previously thought to represent the center of the field, with its center line offset south of the volcanic buttes. There is no broad thermal anomaly associated with the magnetic high that extends offshore to the northeast from the volcanic domes. These observations of the thermal anomaly provide important constraints for models of the circulation of the hydrothermal system. Thermal budgets based on a simple model for this hydrothermal system indicate that the heat influx rate for local ''hot spots'' in the region may be large enough to account for the rate of heat flux from the entire Salton Trough
A New Seismic-Geotechnical Strong Motion Approach
We have developed a new approach to estimate site-specific strong motion due to earthquakes on specific faults or source zones. It combines seismologic and geotechnical studies. It entails obtaining records of small earthquakes at the site, both at the surface and downhole in bedrock, as well as performing geotechnical dynamic site characterization. This new approach has the dual result of providing an optimized definition of the dynamic geotechnical site properties and providing calculated free-field, strong motion estimates. The procedure is demonstrated at the Painter Street Bridge site in Rio Dell, CA, for which we provide a range of surface motions corresponding to an earthquake of magnitude 7 on the subducting plate underlying this region. These calculated motions bracket the records of the Petrolia event (M = 7) measured near the site
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Double Difference Earthquake Locations at the Salton Sea Geothermal Reservoir
The purpose of this paper is to report on processing of raw waveform data from 4547 events recorded at 12 stations between 2001 and 2005 by the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF) seismic network. We identified a central region of the network where vertically elongated distributions of hypocenters have previously been located from regional network analysis. We process the data from the local network by first autopicking first P and S arrivals; second, improving these with hand picks when necessary; then, using cross-correlation to provide very precise P and S relative arrival times. We used the HypoDD earthquake location algorithm to locate the events. We found that the originally elongated distributions of hypocenters became more tightly clustered and extend down the extent of the study volume at 10 Km. However, we found the shapes to depend on choices of location parameters. We speculate that these narrow elongated zones of seismicity may be due to stress release caused by fluid flow
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Strong ground motion synthesis along the Sanyi-Tungshih-Puli seismic zone using empirical Green`s functions
We synthesize strong ground motion from a M=7.25 earthquake along the NW-trending Sanyi-Tungshih-Puli seismic zone. This trend extends from Houlong to Taichung and forms a nearly continuous 78 km long seismic zone identified by the occurrence of M<5 events. It extends from a shallow depth all the way down to about 40 km. The entire length of the fault, if activated at one time, can lead to an event comparable to that the 1995 Kobe earthquake. With the improved digital CWBSN data now provided routinely by CWBSN, it becomes possible to use these data as empirical Green`s functions to synthesize potential ground motion for future large earthquakes. We developed a suite of 100 rupture scenarios for the earthquake and computed the commensurate strong ground motion time histories. We synthesized strong ground motion with physics-based solutions of earthquake rupture and applied physical bounds on rupture parameters. the synthesized ground motions obtained for a fixed magnitude and identifying the hazard to a site from the statistical distribution of engineering parameters, we have introduced a probabilistic component to the deterministic hazard calculation, The time histories suggested for engineering design are the ones that most closely match either the average or one standard deviation absolute acceleration response values
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Geophysical Measurement of Geothermal Fluid Production and Injection
Geothermal operators use complex reservoir engineering models to design their well fields and production/injection strategies and to predict the performance of their reservoirs. Collection of in-situ data for input and validation of these models in wells is expensive, and geophysical measurements from the surface or remotely at some distance from boreholes can be cost effective. The Hydrothermal Research Program of DOE is developing techniques to track injected fluid and to monitor the effects of production and injection geothermal fields using geophysical means
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Borehole Gravity Measurements in the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Program Well State 2-14
Borehole gravity measurements over a depth range from 1737 to 1027 m, and the vertical gradient of gravity above ground were measured at the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Program well State 2-14. Uncorrected borehole gravimetric densities match values from gamma-gamma logs, indicating that the high densities seen in State 2-14 in the depth range 0.5 to 3 km extend for a few kilometers from the well. The above-ground gradient was found to be 4.1 {micro}gal/m higher than expected; correcting for this value increases the gravimetric density in the borehole. Combining the borehole gravity and estimated vertical gravity gradients on the surface, they find that this densified zone coincides with much of a broad thermal anomaly that has been found to the northeast of the Salton Sea Geothermal Field
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Interpretation of Self-Potential Anomalies Using Constitutive Relationships for Electrochemical and Thermoelectric Coupling Coefficients
Constitutive relationships for electrochemical and thermoelectric cross-coupling coefficients are derived using ionic mobilities, applying a general derivative of chemical potential and employing the zero net current condition. The general derivative of chemical potential permits thermal variations which give rise to the thermoelectric effect. It also accounts for nonideal solution behavior. An equation describing electric field strength is similarly derived with the additional assumption of electrical neutrality in the fluid Planck approximation. The Planck approximation implies that self-potential (SP) is caused only by local sources and also that the electric field strength has only first order spatial variations. The derived relationships are applied to the NaCl-KCl concentration cell with predicted and measured voltages agreeing within 0.4 mV. The relationships are also applied to the Long Valley and Yellowstone geothermal systems. There is a high degree of correlation between predicted and measured SP response for both systems, giving supporting evidence for the validity of the approach. Predicted SP amplitude exceeds measured in both cases; this is a possible consequence of the Planck approximation. Electrochemical sources account for more than 90% of the predicted response in both cases while thermoelectric mechanisms account for the remaining 10%; electrokinetic effects are not considered. Predicted electrochemical and thermoelectric voltage coupling coefficients are comparable to values measured in the laboratory. The derived relationships are also applied to arbitrary distributions of temperature and fluid composition to investigate the geometric diversity of observed SP anomalies. Amplitudes predicted for hypothetical saline spring and hot spring environments are less than 40 mV. In contrast, hypothetical near surface steam zones generate very large amplitudes, over 2 V in one case. These results should be viewed with some caution due to the uncertain validity of the Planck approximation for these conditions. All amplitudes are controlled by electrochemical mechanisms. Polarities are controlled by the curvature of the concentration or thermal profile. Concave upward thermal profiles produce positive anomalies, for constant fluid concentrations, whereas concave upward concentration profiles produce negative anomalies. Concave downward concentration profiles are characterized by small negative closures bounding a larger, positive SP anomaly