Geodetic measurements and numerical models of transient deformation at Raft River geothermal field, Idaho, USA
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); AIR-Worldwide, Boston, MA (United States)
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
- Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- US Geothermal Inc., Boise, ID (United States)
- Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Here, we perform synthetic aperture radar interferometry using data acquired between 2004 and 2016 by the Envisat, and ALOS-2 satellite missions to measure transient deformation at the Raft River geothermal field in Cassia County in Southern Idaho where geothermal production began in late 2007. Time-series analysis of multiple interferometric pairs indicates uplift at an exponentially decaying rate, over an ~8 km-by-5 km area centered near three injection wells that recycle produced brine. Similarly, subsidence at an exponentially decaying rate is observed in a 4 km-by-4 km area west of the production wells. These two signatures stay in the same location in all of the well-correlated Envisat interferometric pairs spanning the time interval between 2007 and 2010. The boundary separating the uplifting and subsiding areas is associated with the steeply dipping Bridge fault zone. Using two-dimensional numerical models, we explore first-order, bi-directional coupling between hydrological and mechanical processes. Our results suggest that: (i) most of the deformation occurs due to pore pressure changes following the start of geothermal production, (ii) the rate of deformation decays to zero over a time scale on the order of ~5 years as the system reaches steady state, and (iii) a reservoir-scale permeability of the order of ~1E–14 m2 is required to explain the transient deformation.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0006760; EE0005510; EAR-1347190; DGE-1256259
- OSTI ID:
- 1630100
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1693607
- Journal Information:
- Geothermics, Vol. 74, Issue C; ISSN 0375-6505
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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