Isotopic Analysis- Fluid At Dixie Valley Geothermal Area (Kennedy & Soest, 2005)

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

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Exploration Activity: Isotopic Analysis- Fluid At Dixie Valley Geothermal Area (Kennedy & Soest, 2005)

Exploration Activity Details
Location	Dixie Valley Geothermal Area
Exploration Technique	Isotopic Analysis- Fluid
Activity Date	2004 - 2005
Usefulness	could be useful with more improvements
DOE-funding	Unknown

Exploration Basis

The focus of this study was to investigate the relationship between known geothermal resources with deep, fault hosted permeable fluid flow pathways and the helium Isotopic composition of the surface fluids. The authors suggest that helium isotopes are the best and possibly the only indication of deep permeability where high temperature fluids are masked beneath a cold reservoir.

Notes

3He/4He ratios were measured in many locations across the Basin and Range region. A spike in 3He levels at Dixie Valley indicates that the faults there are deep permeable pathways which transmit fluid from near the mantle. The composition of helium isotopes was determined from several springs, wells, and fumaroles within Dixie Valley. More work needs to be done for this study, but it appears that helium isotopes could be a good tool for determining deep faults with high enough permeability to host viable geothermal resources.

References

• B. Mack Kennedy, Matthijs C. van Soest (2005) Regional And Local Trends In Helium Isotopes, Basin And Range Province, Western North America- Evidence For Deep Permeable Pathways

• Patrick Laney (2005) Federal Geothermal Research Program Update - Fiscal Year 2004