Exploration Methods for Recognizing Blind Geothermal Resources

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

Renewable Energy Department, Energy and Environment Research Center, Niroo Research Institute (NRI), Tehran, Iran

10.22059/ses.2023.354016.1023

Abstract

Usually, geothermal resources have some surface manifestations. However, there are some resources without any surface evidences of geothermal activity. According to the recent studies, it is believed that in some parts of the earth this type of natural resources is more abundant than the known geothermal resources. These resources are called blind geothermal resources. The main reasons which prevent formation of surface manifestations are very thick cap rock, heavy rainfall in tropical regions, specific structural settings of the region, very deep water table and lateral underground flow of geothermal fluid to the ocean/sea. As blind resources have not any surface manifestations so some individual exploration methods are needed to find them. These methods are divided to two different levels, preliminary and detailed levels. Both of them include geological, geochemical and geophysical studies. In preliminary studies the size of the study area is very large (more than 10,000 km2) and the main target is to find geothermal prospects. In contrast, in detailed studies scientists search for precise characteristics of a given geothermal prospect. So far, the reasonable amount of blind geothermal resources has been determined in western part of the USA especially in Nevada State.

Keywords

References

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Journal of sustainable Energy Systems
Volume 1, Issue 3
April 2022
Pages 283-294

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