GTO-DOE/Industry Cost Shared Research; Microseismic Characterization and Monitoring in Geothermal Systems
The application of passive seismic studies in geothermal regions have undergone significant changes in the last 15 years. The primary application is now in the monitoring of subsurface processes, rather than exploration. A joint Geothermal Technology Organization (GTO) industry/DOE, monitoring project involving GEO, Unocal Geothermal, and LBL, was carried out at The Geysers geothermal field in northern California using a special high frequency monitoring system. This several-month-long experiment monitored the discrete and continuous seismic signals before, during, and after a fluid stimulation of a marginal production well. Almost 350,000 liters of water were pumped into the well over a four-hour, and a three-hour time period for two consecutive days in June of 1988. No significant changes in the background seismicity or the seismic noise were detected during the monitoring period. Analysis of the background seismicity did indicate that the earthquakes at The Geysers contain frequencies higher than 50 Hz. and possibly as high as 100 Hz.
- Research Organization:
- Center for Computational Seismology, LBNL (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 890488
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-890352-9; TRN: US200622%%641
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: DOE Research and Development for the Geothermal Marketplace, Proceedings of the Geothermal Program Review VII; San Francisco, CA, March 21-23, 1989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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