Evaluation of the Hot-Dry-Rock Geothermal Potential of an Area Near Mountain Home, Idaho

摘要

Evaluation of an area near Mountain Home, Idaho, was performed to assess the hot dry rock (HDR) potential of the prospect. The techniques reported include telluric and gravity profiling, passive seismic, hydrology and water chemistry surveys, and lineament analysis. Gravity and telluric surveys were unsuccessful in locating fractures buried beneath recent volcanics and sediments of the plain because density and conductivity contrasts were insufficient. Gravity modeling indicated areas where granite was not likely to be within drilling depth, and telluric profiling revealed an area in the northwest part of the prospect where higher conductivity suggested the presence of fractures or water or both, thereby making it unsuitable for HDR. Water geochemistry indicated that (hot water) reservoir temperatures do not exceed 100 exp 0 C. An area in the east central part of the prospect was delineated as most favorable for HDR development. Temperature is expected to be 200 exp 0 C at 3-km depth, and granitic rock of the Idaho Batholith should be intersected at 2- to 3-km depth. (ERA citation 07:043094)