Correlation of Silica Heat Flow and Temperature Gradients, Central and Western New York

Abstract

The correlation between chemical geothermometers and temperature gradients from bottomhole temperatures in central and eastern New York indicates that the silica heat flow interpretation technique is useful in detecting areas of elevated heat flow but the method may not always be able to precisely locate the anomalous zone. A revised geothermal gradient map that corrects for transient thermal disturbances due to drilling shows three distinct geothermal anomalies near East Aurora, Cayuga and Elmira, N.Y. Gradient over the entire area range from 24°C/km to about 36°C/km over these anomalies. A silica heat flow map has been contoured from a data set of over 500 values and shows a good correlation with the temperature gradient map for the Cayuga anomaly. The East Aurora and Elmira anomalies are not distinctly defined by the silica heat flow.