Determining the Maximum Depth of Hydrothermal Circulation Using Geothermal Mapping and Seismicity to Delineate the Depth to Brittle-Plastic Transition in Northern Honshu, Japan

Yota Suzuki, Seiichiro Ioka and Hirofumi Muraoka
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Yota Suzuki: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8561, Japan
Seiichiro Ioka: North Japan Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, Hirosaki University, 2-1-3 Matsubara, Aomori 030-0813, Japan
Hirofumi Muraoka: North Japan Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, Hirosaki University, 2-1-3 Matsubara, Aomori 030-0813, Japan

Energies, 2014, vol. 7, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: This paper defines the maximum possible vertical extent of hydrothermal circulation in granitic crust, and thus the maximum depth within which geothermal reservoirs can be encountered. To evaluate prospective geothermal fields we constructed a geothermal database in northern Honshu, Japan that includes 571 points of thermal data of existing wells and hot springs. Depth-temperature curves were normalized by the Activity Index for three-dimensional extrapolation and a depth contour map of the 380 °C isotherm was plotted as an assumed brittle-plastic transition for granitic crust. Shallower-depth anomalies of the brittle-plastic transition on this map are closely coincident with the Quaternary volcanoes and their prospective geothermal fields. It should be noted that the bottom of the spatial distribution of seismicity in the volcanic fields shows strong correlation to the 380 °C isotherm. This result indicates reliability of the subsurface three-dimensional thermal map and suggests that the 380 °C isotherm strongly constrains the bottom surface of seismicity, fracturing and hydrothermal convection in granitic crust.

Keywords: geothermal energy; geothermal exploration; geothermal mapping; brittle-ductile transition; brittle-plastic transition; seismicity; hydrothermal convection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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