Stratigraphy and Alteration, 15 Shallow Thermal Gradient Holes, Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA and Vicinity, Millard and Beaver Counties, Utah

摘要

Fifteen shallow thermal gradient drill holes were recently completed by Geothermal Power Corporation (GPCR) in the vicinity of the Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA. Five holes penetrated Tertiary granitic rocks and Precambrian gneiss east of the KGRA. Seven holes completed entirely in alluvium near the southwestern corner of the KGRA encountered a near-surface marker horizon of Pleistocene pumice and perlite. Maximum calculated alluvial sedimentation rates since initial deposition of this pumice and perlite range from 1 foot in 12,500 years to 1 foot in 2,300 years. Three holes east of the Mineral Mountains penetrated late Cenozoic basaltic andesite beneath a thin veneer of alluvium. All 15 GPCR drill holes appear to be peripheral to a central zone of anomalously high thermal gradient and low resisitivity delineated by previous investigations. GPCR-8 and -14, however, are characterized by high heat flow and relatively abundant manganese oxide mineralization, which may reflect a favorable hydrologic system controlling thermal fluid flow at depth. These holes thus seem most encouraging for discovery of a deeper high-temperature geothermal resource. (ERA citation 05:015493)