Abstract
Abstract. We present a 3-D lithospheric-scale model covering the area of Germany that images the regional characteristics of the structural configuration and of the thermal field. The structural model resolves major sedimentary, crustal and lithospheric mantle units integrated from previous studies of the Central European Basin System, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin, together with published geological and geophysical data. A combined workflow consisting of 3-D structural, gravity and thermal modelling is applied to derive the 3-D thermal configuration. The modelled temperature distribution is highly variable in response to an imposed heterogeneous distribution of thermal properties assigned to the different units. First order variations in the temperature field are mainly attributed to the thermal blanketing effect from the sedimentary cover, the variability in the amount of radiogenic heat produced within the different crystalline crust compartments and the implemented topology of the thermal Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary.
Highlights
Being a key topic for the present-day scientific and industrial community, the global climate change leaves us no choice but developing a strategy of provision of renewable energy resources, such as geothermal
Though several regional models have focussed on different regions of Germany (Sippel et al, 2013; Scheck-Wenderoth et al, 2014; Przybycin et al, 2015; Freymark et al, 2017), a consistent subsurface structural and thermal model for the whole territory of Germany is still missing
We integrate all available information of these studies into a consistent 3-D model of Germany referred to as 3-D-Deutschland (3-D-D) hereafter, that provides the background to be further used in future regional-to-local investigations
Summary
Being a key topic for the present-day scientific and industrial community, the global climate change leaves us no choice but developing a strategy of provision of renewable energy resources, such as geothermal. Geothermal energy is transported by conduction and convection from deeper parts of the earth towards the surface and can be extracted by geothermal power and heating plants from natural and/or engineered reservoirs. Using such energy requires knowing the temperature distribution in the light of the causative processes, the latter being influenced by the tectonic, geological and hydrogeological setting of the target area. We integrate three regional structural models based on data comprising borehole measurements, seismic profiles, isopach and geological maps and constrained by gravity and thermal data (Fig. 1): (1) the Central European Basin System (CEBS, Maystrenko and Scheck-Wenderoth, 2013), (2) the Molasse Basin (MOLA, Przybycin et al, 2014) and (3) the Upper Rhine Graben (URG, Freymark et al, 2017)
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