Geothermal Exploration at Glass Butte, Oregon
- Key words
- Exploration; USA; Oregon; Glass Butte; Geology; Mercury; Volcanics; Temperature Gradients
- Location
- Glass Butte, Oregon
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 1983
- Session
- Exploration; Volcanism; Geological surveys; Geochemical surv
- Language
- English
Abstract
Glass Butte is a Pliocenet-Pleistocene bimodal volcanic center located in central Oregon along the Brothers Fault Zone. The silicic volcanic rocks were erupted within a northwestern trending graben. Hydrothermally altered rocks prove the former presence of a high temperature geothermal system. Data from temperature gradient wells define a thermal anomaly of about 8 square miles located adjacent to the alteration and within an area which has undergone subsidence. The temperatures and gradients measured are sufficient to suggest the possible presence of commercial geothermal temperatures at a depth of less than 10,000 feet.
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