Preliminary geological and geophysical evaluation of the Castle Dome HDR geothermal prospect, Southwestern Arizona
The Castle Dome HDR geothermal prospect is located in Yuma County, Arizona, in a region centered about 80 km north of Yuma along US Rte. 95. The area of interest is broadly defined by a negative residual Bouguer gravity anomaly which is about 45 km across, steep-sided in many places, and as much as 30 mgals in magnitude. The geology of this Basin and Range area is poorly known, but the few published reports and current Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) field studies indicate that the Castle Dome Mountains and adjacent ranges are chiefly a thick pile of welded ash-flow tuffs of probable mid-Tertiary age. The tuffs rest unconformably on Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks exposed only outside steep edges of the gravity low. This gravity anomaly may reflect the presence of a large caldera. A regional magnetotelluric study now in progress will define the depths to electrical conductors within the crust and upper mantle and contribute to understanding of crustal structure, the gravity anomaly, and the Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal potential of the Castle Dome area.
- Research Organization:
- Wesleyan Univ., Middletown, CT (USA); Texas Univ., Richardson (USA); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 5286985
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-80-1488; CONF-800920-3
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Geothermal Resource Council annual meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, 9 Sep 1980
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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