Geothermal Resources of the Asian Continent: A regional Assessment

Abstract

The present work is an attempt for regional assessment of geothermal resources of the continental region of Asia. It is based on integrated analysis of the results of experimental data on heat transfer by conduction as well as hydrothermal and magmatic processes in the upper crust. The current compilation makes use of geothermal data reported at the website of IHFC but also estimates based on available information on occurrences thermal springs and volcanic events. The resource assessment has been carried out for 11260 sites distributed in 46 countries. A modified method of magmatic heat budget (MHB) has been employed in deriving estimates of geothermal resources in areas of recent volcanic activity. These datasets were reevaluated and spatially gridded using kigrid interpolation to construction of regional distribution maps of geothermal resources and interpreted on the basis of available information on tectonic setting and geological characteristics. According to results obtained the total resource base (RB) is estimated to be 47024 ± 4525 GJ. The mean resource base per unit area (RBUA) is 1765 GJ. The most prominent features in geothermal maps are the significantly high values of resource base of greater than 1000 GJ in countries such as Japan, Indonesia, China, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. In addition, vertical distributions of temperatures were calculated in such areas for depths reaching down to 6 km. The results obtained indicate potential availability of high temperature resources in vast regions of the Asian continent.