Hot dry rock geothermal resource potential in the Wudalianchi volcanic field, NE CHINA: Implications from geophysical exploration

Li Shengtao,Xu Tianfu,Feng Bo,Tian Puyuan,Yue Dongdong,Feng Zhaolong,Zhang Qiuxia,Jia Xiaofeng,Zhang Senqi

doi:10.1177/0144598718810257

Li Shengtao, Xu Tianfu + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/0144598718810257

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Abstract

Hot dry rock is regarded as the clean energy of the future and is an important part of geothermal resources, with great research value and development prospects. The Weishan volcano, located in the northern part of the Wudalianchi volcanic group, was formed in the Pleistocene, and its age is only (0.57–0.31) ± 0.05 Ma. This area has a geothermal setting similar to but a younger age than that of the Fenton Hill volcano (formed 1.40–1.10 Ma) where a hot dry rock power project has operated since 1973. In this study, we used ambient noise tomography and magnetotelluric sounding methods to investigate deep heat sources beneath the Weishan volcano. The results show good geothermal conditions for hot dry rock formation in this region. A cooling magma chamber that might be the hot dry rock heat source is indicated in the upper crust at 6.5–13 km depth, with a volume of ∼200 km3. Our study suggests that the monzonitic granites of the Indosinian Xiaohongshan unit, which lies beneath the Late Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation and the Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian Beikuanhe Formation, should be the main target for further hot dry rock geothermal energy exploration and development.

Highlights

Under the triple pressures of energy depletion, economic development and CO2 emissions, finding and developing new clean energy sources have become an urgent task for our society
The low-speed and low-resistance properties of high-temperature rocks mean that the combination and mutual correction of seismic ambient noise tomography and magnetotelluric sounding (MT) are quite suitable for geophysical exploration of these rocks in the deep earth
The P-wave travel time 3-D seismic tomography of Yellowstone National Park in the United States shows that the magma chambers in the upper crust are distributed at depths of 5–17 km

Summary

Introduction

Under the triple pressures of energy depletion, economic development and CO2 emissions, finding and developing new clean energy sources have become an urgent task for our society. The goals of the plan are to accomplish technological breakthroughs for HDR exploration and development through demonstration of HDR exploitation and to meet the green electricity demands of 100 million households in the United States, which is nearly 100 times higher than the output from current hydrothermal systems. Through this project, HDR resources would become representative of clean, reliable, flexible and renewable energy

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