Experimental and Modeling Study of Water-Rock Interaction in Active Geothermal Fields: Los Azufres, Mexico

Abstract

The Los Azufres Geothermal Field in Mexico is a typical high temperature hydrothermal system along convergent plate boundaries. Models of high-temperature-pressure experiments and geochemical simulation calculations have been performed. Natural rock samples which had been cut and polished into small rock cylinders with a diameter around 4.0 mm were used as the solid phase in experimental study. Mineral alteration and the evolution of the equilibrium solution composition due to water-rock interation processes were explored in this study. A conceptual model of the origin and evolution of the fluids in Los Azufres hydrothermal system is presented. These achievements may have significance to the study of moderate temperature mineralization, exploitation of geothermal fields and the study of the migration of radionuclides in High Level Waste Repositories.