Active Faults and Geothermal Potential in Vietnam: A Case Study in Uva Area, Southern Dien Bien Phu Basin, Along with Dien Bien Phu Fault, Vietnam

Abstract

In Vietnam, most of active fault zones are strongly studied in the geo-hazard projects such as assessment of seismic possibility or landslide along the faults but the researches on geothermal energy relating to these fault zones have still not been implemented. This study aims to evaluate the geothermal potential based on the geological, geochemical and geophysical data and shows the first study on geothermal potential relating to Dien Bien Phu fault zone in North-western Vietnam. The study bases on the occurrences of hot springs at southern part of Dien Bien Phu basin where is called Uva hot spring area. The study concentrates on the deformation characteristics of fault, determination of the heat source basing on both electrical geophysical data and geothermometric calculations using K+-Na+ cations, in combination with the assessment of groundwater potential by hydrogeological survey. The result firstly shows that the hot spring in Uva area is related to Dien Bien Phu deep fault, and secondly, the geothermal potential in Uva area could be ranked at a medium level of potential with the geothermometer of up to 150OC. Considering on restorable capability of groundwater and it’s heat potential, this result suggests that the Uva geothermal resource can be developed for constructing a small scale geothermal power plant.