Geothermal Research Program of the U.S. Geological Survey

Abstract

The USGS Geothermal Research Program is committed to an improved understanding of the nature, distribution, and magnitude of geothermal resources in the United States to help enable a proper role for the Nation's geothermal resources as a significant alternative energy source. Major accomplishments of the Geothermal Research Program include national resource assessments, in-depth studies of prominent geothermal areas, and development of exploration and evaluation techniques. Major activities of the current, reduced program are focused on the Cascade Range, leading toward a resource assessment of that province, and on investigations to characterize the types of geothermal resources associated with young igneous systems, including the development of advanced seismic techniques to identify and characterize magma bodies.