New High Temperature Geothermal Areas Highlighted by Analogy with Geothermal Fields of an up-to-date Database

Abstract

This study uses a new classification of high temperature geothermal systems (Hermant et al., 2019) based on a rigorous methodology. It comprises comprehensive geodynamical processes at lithospheric scales (10^4 to 10^1 km), and accounts for the analysis of tens of parameters (production, petrophysical properties, geochemistry,…) of 110 high temperature geothermal fields worldwide. The analysis of parameters from the geodynamical context to the local geology allows for defining favorable criteria for geothermal resources locations. These criteria can be geodynamically scaled (lithosphere thinning) but also locally scaled (volcanism). The cross checking of favorable areas for each criteria identifies regions of interest at the global scale. Some of these areas are already largely well-known. Unexpected ones should deserve more interest regarding their geothermal potential assessment. Primary and ancillary favorable criteria are to be sought/assessed during the exploration of a new area. They provide essential information to identify the best analogue of this area among the existing high temperature geothermal systems.