Abstract
Abstract. The important scientific questions that will form the basis of a full proposal to drill a deep well to the ductile–brittle transition zone (T>400 ∘C) at Newberry Volcano, central Oregon state, USA, were discussed during an International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) sponsored workshop held at the Oregon State University-Cascades campus in Bend, Oregon, from 10 to 13 September 2017. Newberry Volcano is one of the largest geothermal heat reservoirs in the USA and has been extensively studied for the last 40 years. The Newberry Deep Drilling Project (NDDP) will be located at an idle geothermal exploration well, NWG 46-16, drilled in 2008, 3500 m deep and 340–374 ∘C at bottom, which will be deepened another 1000 to 1300 m to reach 500 ∘C. The workshop concluded by setting ambitious goals for the NDDP: (1) test the enhanced geothermal system (EGS) above the critical point of water, (2) collect samples of rocks within the brittle–ductile transition, (3) investigate volcanic hazards, (4) study magmatic geomechanics, (5) calibrate geophysical imaging techniques, and (6) test technology for drilling, well completion, and geophysical monitoring in a very high-temperature environment. Based on these recommendations, a full drilling proposal was submitted in January 2018 to the ICDP for deepening an existing well. The next steps will be to continue building a team with project, technology, and investment partners to make the NDDP a reality.
Highlights
Bonneville et al.: The Newberry Deep Drilling Project (NDDP) workshop west Rift located 100 km southwest of the proposed International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) drill site are younger than 7000 years, the age of the regionally extensive Mazama ash from Crater Lake (McKay et al, 2009)
In addition to the geothermal conditions appropriate for conventional and super-critical enhanced geothermal system (EGS), the prospect of geothermal energy research and development at the Newberry Deep Drilling Project (NDDP) site has the strong support of all the local communities eager for the economic boost that geothermal energy would bring to the area
This conceptual geologic model and update of the site characterization inventory demonstrate that Newberry Volcano is one of the most extensively characterized EGS sites in the USA, making it an ideal location for implementation of an ICDP drilling project
Summary
Newberry Volcano is a broad shield volcano (Williams, 1935) that has been active for approximately the last 600 000 years (MacLeod et al, 1982; Jensen, 2006). The volcano constructed an elliptically shaped massif approximately 50 km by 30 km, and some lava flows reach more than 64 km to the north of the caldera (Fig. 1). Infrequent, widely distributed boulders with exotic lithologies interpreted to be glacial erratics (Donnelly-Nolan and Jensen, 2009) may indicate the presence of a glacier at the summit prior to the cataclysmic eruption at ∼ 75 ka that created the current caldera. The more gently sloped lower flanks are composed of ash and lahar deposits, basaltic lava, cinder cones, and minor silicic domes. Several basalt flows sourced from the North-
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