Heat flow patterns of the North American continent: A discussion of the DNAG Geothermal Map of North America

摘要

The large and small-scale geothermal features of the North American continent and surrounding ocean areas illustrated on the new 1:5,000,000 DNAG Geothermal Map of North America are summarized. Sources for the data included on the map are given. The types of data included are heat flow sites coded by value, contours of heat flow with a color fill, areas of major groundwater effects on regional heat flow, the top-of-geopressure in the Gulf Coast region, temperature on the Dakota aquifer in the midcontinent, location of major hot springs and geothermal systems, and major center of Quaternary and Holocene volcanism. The large scale heat flow pattern that is well known for the conterminous United States and Canada of normal heat flow east of the Cordillera and generally high heat flow west of the front of the Cordillera dominates the continental portion of the map. However, details of the heat flow variations are also seen and are discussed briefly in this and the accompanying papers.