Subsurface structures and conceptual hydrothermal model of the area lying between Quseir and Safaga area, Red Sea Coast, Egypt

Haby Salaheldin Mohamed

doi:10.1007/s12517-020-06294-7

Abstract

The study area is located in the Quseir–Safaga area of the Egyptian Red Sea Coast. This location considered one of the most promising areas for touristic villages depending on groundwater domestic uses as well as geothermal energy. The geothermal energy is considered one of the promising sources in the studied area. Nevertheless, few attempts have been carried out to evaluate the geothermal setting of the area. The present study aims to throw more light on studying the predominant structures in the area and their relation with geothermal manifestations, as well as defining the hydrothermal system type at the study area. Achieving this goal is dependent on using aeromagnetic data in the form of reduced to northern Pole (RTP) anomalies. These data were subjected to different techniques of processing and interpretation through both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Two-dimensional (2D) modeling of aeromagnetic data has been used to simulate the subsurface structure configuration along some selected profiles trending in NW-SE and E-W directions. In addition, a conceptual model of the hydrothermal system was built based on geophysical results of the aeromagnetic data analysis and processed numerically to obtain a 2D hydrothermal model that contains all simplifications and assumptions made on the conceptual model. The HYDROTHERM Interactive (HTI) program version 3 was used for two-dimensional simulation in the study area to study the temperature and pressure distributions beneath the study area. The results of the study showed that the depth to basement from the ground surface ranges from 20 to 1200 m. The hydrothermal simulation in the area indicated that the origin of thermal water is due to high heat flow and deep groundwater circulation controlled by structures in the subsurface reservoir. Under the thermal water, the water speeds up and flows through the fractures and faults. In general, the high heat flow in the Eastern Desert is associated with shallow basement depths. Thus, the modeled hydrothermal system is considered a dynamic type.

Highlights

The Red Sea is characterized by a complex nature of geology and tectonic activity
MgCl2 waters are represented by the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, CaCl2 waters are confined to the coastal areas of the Eastern Desert and Sinai, NaSO4 waters are the most common water types in Egypt, while NaHCO3 waters are represented by the River Nile
The magnetic trends in the study area were deduced from the reduced to northern Pole (RTP) map and its derivative based on Gay technique (1972)

Summary

Introduction

The Red Sea is characterized by a complex nature of geology and tectonic activity. surface geology studies with geophysical surveys have been focused to study tectonic development where mechanisms of continental rifting, small ocean basin formation, and petroleum exploration occur. The eastern desert of Egypt, in particular the coastal region bordering the Red Sea, has a heat flow above normal (< 72 mW/m2) and a certain geothermal potential, only a thermal well (Umm Kharga: 35.8 °C) could be localized. In the large oases of the western desert (Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, and Bahariya), the regional temperature gradient is small (< 20 °C/km), but many of the wells develop deep artesian aquifers and produce large amounts of water in the range 35–43 °C. Such wells form a low temperature geothermal resource (Swanberg et al 1983). MgCl2 waters are represented by the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, CaCl2 waters are confined to the coastal areas of the Eastern Desert and Sinai, NaSO4 waters are the most common water types in Egypt, while NaHCO3 waters are represented by the River Nile

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Conclusion