Study of the Geothermal Potential of the Locality of Kaladi and Its Surroundings (Adamawa-Cameroon) from the Frequency Processing of Magnetic Data

Abstract

The aim of this study is to estimate the variations in curie point depth, geothermal gradient and heat flux from the frequency analysis of magnetic data in order to evaluate the geothermal potential of the Kaladi locality and its surroundings. For this purpose, the magnetic field map was first reduced to equator (RTE). The centroid method was used to divide the RTE grid into a set of 40 blocks. The spectral analysis applied to each block allowed determining the depth to top (Zt), center (Z0) and bottom (Zb also called curie point depth or CPD) of the magnetic sources. Knowing the different CPD, the geothermal gradient associated with each block was calculated. The heat flow was then calculated from the geothermal gradient associated with the anomaly block considered. From the set of values obtained for each block, maps of geothermal gradient and heat flow variations were established. Analysis of these maps shows that the sectors that could be favourable for geothermal exploration are the north of Kaladi and the Goro-Bembara corridor, because they show variations in the geothermal gradient and heat flow between 0.4 and 0.8℃/m and between 1.2 and 2 mW/m2 respectively. In addition, the superposition of the different hot springs highlighted in previous studies with areas of high geothermal gradient and heat flow values supports this analysis. The proposed models can be used as background documents for any geothermal exploration project in the study area.