Shallow Temperature Surveys for Geothermal Exploration in the Great Basin, USA and Estimation of Shallow Aquifer Heat Loss
- Key words
- Blackwell; heat loss; heat flux; heat; flux; loss; shallow; temperature; survey; aquifer
- Location
- Great Basin; Desert Peak, Nevada; Desert Queen, Nevada; Stillwater, Nevada; Dixie Valley, Nevada
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 2014
- Session
- Exploration; Geophysical surveys; Shallow temperature survey
- Language
- English
Abstract
Temperature gradient and free-well temperature surveys, championed by David Blackwell, have been responsible for a significant number of blind geothermal discoveries in the Great Basin of the western USA. Because of cost and permitting issues, it is not always possible to drill temperature gradient wells in the early stages of green-fields exploration. Other temperature survey methods help fill in the gap, including shallow temperature surveys (typically to depths of 1-2 meters) and Geoprobes (to depths of up to 30 meters). Significant progress has been made in the development and improvement of these more reconnaissance-oriented surveys, which have contributed to the discovery of more than a half-dozen previously unknown geothermal systems in the Great Basin in the last six years.
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