Model for the heat source of the Cerro Prieto magma-hydrothermal system, Baja California, Mexico
Earlier studies at Cerro Prieto led to the development of a qualitative model for fluid flow in the geothermal system before it was drilled and perturbed by production. Current efforts are directed towards numerical modeling of heat and mass transfer in the system in this undisturbed state. This one-dimensional model assumes that the heat source was a single basalt/gabbro intrusion which provided heat to the system as it cooled. After compilation of various information of the physical properties of the reservoir, the enthalpy contained in two 1 cm thick sections across the reservoir orthogonal to each other was calculated. Various shapes, sizes and depths for the intrusion were considered as initial conditions and boundary conditions for the calculations of heat transfer. A family of numerical models which so far gives the best matches to the conditions observed in the field today have in common a funnel-shaped intrusion with a top 4 km wide emplaced at a depth of 5 km some 30,000 to 50,000 years ago, providing heat to the geothermal system.
- Research Organization:
- California Univ., Riverside (USA). Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Physics; Arizona Univ., Tucson (USA). Dept. of Geosciences
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC07-80ID12145
- OSTI ID:
- 5791458
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ID/12145-T1; ON: DE83016670
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Hydrothermal-flow regime and magmatic heat source of the Cerro Prieto geothermal system, Baja California, Mexico
Hydrothermal flow regime and magmatic heat source of the Cerro Prieto geothermal system, Baja California, Mexico
Related Subjects
CERRO PRIETO GEOTHERMAL FIELD
HEAT SOURCES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
BASALT
DENSITY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
INTRUSION
MAGMA SYSTEMS
POROSITY
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE
SPECIFIC HEAT
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMAL FIELDS
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
ROCKS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
VOLCANIC ROCKS
Geothermal Legacy
150202* - Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems- Non-USA- (-1989)