A Preliminary Geochemical Description of the Geothermal Reservoir at Astor Pass, Northern Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Abstract

Samples from a well drilled in the Astor Pass area six-km north of the Needle Rocks area of Pyramid Lake indicate that the reservoir fluid is dominantly sodium, chloride, and sulfate, with a H between 8.6 and 8.9. The total dissolved solids in the reservoir is approximately 1600 mg/l, about half that of the TDS of the fluids in the Needle Rocks area. One sample of dissolved gas from fluids produced during a well test in the reservoir had 4He value of 2.32 x 1014 atoms 4He/g water, or approximately 100 times the value of atmospheric 4He. This measurement, in conjunction with a R/Ra measurement of 0.28, suggests that most of the reservoir helium is derived from the crust, with possibly a small value (~3.3 percent) derived from the mantle. Tritium concentration of the sample was 0.09 TU, indicating that the reservoir fluid was recharged more than 60 years ago; a simple model based upon carbon-14 suggests recharge has occurred within the past 1500 years.