Borehole research in New York State can advance utilization of low-enthalpy geothermal energy, management of potential risks, and understanding of deep sedimentary and crystalline geologic systems

Abstract

Abstract. In January 2020, a scientific borehole planning workshop sponsored by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program was convened at Cornell University in the northeastern United States. Cornell is planning to drill test wells to evaluate the potential to use geothermal heat from depths in the range of 2700–4500 m and rock temperatures of about 60 to 120 ∘C to heat its campus buildings. Cornell encourages the Earth sciences community to envision how these boreholes can also be used to advance high-priority subsurface research questions. Because nearly all scientific boreholes on the continents are targeted to examine iconic situations, there are large gaps in understanding of the “average” intraplate continental crust. Hence, there is uncommon and widely applicable value to boring and investigating a “boring” location. The workshop focused on designing projects to investigate the coupled thermal–chemical–hydrological–mechanical workings of continental crust. Connecting the practical and scientific goals of the boreholes are a set of currently unanswered questions that have a common root: the complex relationships among pore pressure, stress, and strain in a heterogeneous and discontinuous rock mass across conditions spanning from natural to human perturbations and short to long timescales. The need for data and subsurface characterization vital for decision-making around the prospective Cornell geothermal system provides opportunities for experimentation, measurement, and sampling that might lead to major advances in the understanding of hydrogeology, intraplate seismicity, and fluid/chemical cycling. Subsurface samples could also enable regional geological studies and geobiology research. Following the workshop, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded funds for a first exploratory borehole, whose proposed design and research plan rely extensively on the ICDP workshop recommendations.

Multi-disciplinary characterizations of the BedrettoLab – a new underground geoscience research facility

“…For subsurface engineering development, fluid flow and the associated seismo-mechanical response need to be controllable (NRC, 1996). For example, in the context of engineered geothermal systems (EGSs) (Tester et al, 2006;Jordan et al, 2020), the enhancement of fluid flow typically results from fracture reactivation and seismicity. Conversely, the latter needs to be minimized concerning certain underground facilities (e.g., CO 2 storage, nuclear waste disposal, X.…”

Heterogeneity Versus Anisotropy and the State of Stress in Stable Cratons: Observations From a Deep Borehole in Northeastern Alberta, Canada

“…CO 2 injection to the Basal Cambrian sandstone in NE Alberta has also led to minor levels of seismicity up to 2.5 km depths within the craton beneath the Quest CCS project (Harvey et al., 2021) while in contrast, no detectable seismicity had yet appeared from injection to the Cambrian Deadwood Formation clastics at the Aquistore project in the Williston Basin in 2018 (Stork et al., 2018). The deepest porous formations, too, contain the most heat energy, making them attractive geothermal reservoirs (Jordan et al., 2020; Moeck et al., 2009; Weides et al., 2014), with the same basal Deadwood Formation of the Williston Basin currently being commercially developed for combined electrical generation and direct heat (Marcia & Scott, 2021).…”

Heterogeneity versus Anisotropy and the State of Stress in Stable Cratons: Observations from a Deep Borehole of Opportunity in Northeastern Alberta, Canada

“…CO2 injection to the Basal Cambrian sandstone in NE Alberta has also led to minor levels of seismicity up to 2.5 km depths within the craton beneath the Quest CCS project (Harvey et al, 2021) while in contrast as in 2018 no detectable seismicity had yet appeared from injection to the Cambrian Deadwood Formation clastics at the Aquistore project in the Williston Basin . The deepest porous formations, too, contain the most heat energy making them attractive geothermal reservoirs (Jordan et al, 2020;Moeck et al, 2009;Weides et al, 2014) with the same basal Deadwood Formation of the Williston Basin currently being commercially developed for combined electrical generation and direct heat (Marcia & Scott, 2021).…”