Origin of geothermal waters or natural steam

Abstract

It is suggested that for the generation of geothermal water or natural steam, a static reservoir of meteoric water, a heat source, and a second reservoir of dynamic meteoric water circulating through natural permeable channels to the heat source and back to the static meteoric water reservoir through a different permeable channel, are required. A treatment of how the heated dynamic meteoric water from the heat source invades the static meteoric reservoir is given for two cases; one for the case of purely heated meteoric water, the other for heated meteoric water mixed with juvenile water from the heat source. Using Darcy's law with the theoretical treatment of invasion, it has been shown that the heated water from the heat source would invade the static reservoir along a wide based cylindrical zone in both cases. Verification of the above theoretical finding has been demonstrated through geophysical and drilling results obtained at the Gecik-Afyon and Sarayköy-Denizli geothermal areas in Turkey and the Broadlands geothermal area in New Zealand. Mc Nabb's and G. V. Keller's works were also cited as supporting evidence for the theoretical finding.