Self-potential survey results from the Beowawe KGRA, Nevada

Conference · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980 · Trans. - Geotherm. Resour. Counc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6375229

DeMoully, G T; Corwin, R F

A dipolar self-potential anomaly of about 500 mV peak-to-peak amplitude and about 500 m peak-to-peak wavelength has been measured over an area of near-surface geothermal activity at the Beowawe KGRA, Nevada. The anomaly does not appear to be caused by topographic effects, and shows little correlation to changes in surface soil properties such as moisture content, conductivity, pH, or temperature. A source mechanism by which surface self-potential anomalies are generated by sub-surface flow of fluid or heat along faults that separate regions of different electrokinetic or thermoelectric coupling coefficients was used to model the Bewawe anomaly. The model study results indicated that the measured anomaly could be generated by geothermal activity along a set of nine steeply dipping faults extending from about 50 to 150 m deep. Six of the faults lie along the trend of the Malpais fault zone, a major structural feature of the region, and two modelled faults running perpendicular to this trend may represent significant near-surface offsets of shallow geothermal activity along the Malpais fault zone. However, the data sampling density was not sufficient for reliable determination of the existence of these cross faults.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Berkeley
• OSTI ID: 6375229
• Report Number(s): CONF-800920-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. - Geotherm. Resour. Counc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150301* -- Geothermal Exploration & Exploration Technology-- Geophysical Techniques & Surveys
DATA ANALYSIS
ELECTRICAL SURVEYS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
KGRA
MAPS
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
SELF-POTENTIAL SURVEYS
SURVEYS
USA
WESTERN REGION