Geochemical characterization of the geothermal system at Villarrica volcano, Southern Chile; Part 1: Impacts of lithology on the geothermal reservoir

Schill, Eva; Schneider, Jochen; Nitschke, Fabian; Morata, Diego; Neumann, Thomas; Köhl, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2018.03.004

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The fault zone is accompanied by the Villarrica Quetrupillán Lanín volcanic chain that trends N50°W (Lara, 2004). Along this LOFS section, one finds both geothermal springs (Sánchez et al, 2013;Wrage et al, 2017;Held et al, 2018) and monoge netic cones (Cembrano et al, 1996). Anomalously high electric conduc tivities found in the lower crust (Brasse and Soyer, 2001;Kapinos et al, 2016;Held et al, 2016) suggest a way to connect near surface anoma lies at the LOFS to their underlying roots.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Visualizing preferential magmatic and geothermal fluid pathways via electric conductivity at Villarrica Volcano, S-Chile

Pavez

Schill

Díaz

et al. 2020

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Visualizing preferential magmatic and geothermal fluid pathways via electric conductivity at Villarrica Volcano, S-Chile

Pavez

Schill

Díaz

et al. 2020

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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“…These mixing models indicate a geothermal groundwater contribution of ~30 percent at the base of J1003. Pore water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr at J1003 is less radiogenic than seawater and can also be attributed to mixing with regional geothermal groundwaters, which are in isotopic equilibrium with the plutonic host rock 11 . Using geothermal groundwater endmember (0.7043) from the Villarrica region just north of J1003, which has a similar bedrock lithology as the Aysén region 32 , a binary mixing model for d 18 O and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr yields a lower contribution of ~10 percent (Supplemental Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rainfall exceeding 7,500 mm yr -1 in southern Chile 10 promotes substantial recharge to kilometers depth through faulting in the bedrock. As a result, geothermal groundwaters in southern Chile can contain up to 50 percent meteoric fluid 11 and attain a chemical overprint, with dilute elemental concentrations (e.g., Clnear zero) and 18 O/ 16 O and 2 H/ 1 H isotope ratios (d 18 O and dD, respectively) that fall along the regional meteoric water line (MWL) 12,13 . Widespread offshore freshening of pore waters on the Chilean Margin, as indicated by 20-200 mM reductions in Clcompared to seawater, have been attributed to methane hydrate dissociation or mineral dehydration 14,15 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep submarine infiltration of altered geothermal groundwater on the south Chilean Margin

Clementi¹,

Rosenthal²,

Bova³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Submarine groundwater discharge is increasingly recognized as an important component of the oceanic geochemical budget, but knowledge of the distribution of this phenomenon is limited. To date, reports of meteoric inputs to marine sediments are typically limited to shallow shelf and coastal environments, whereas contributions of freshwater along deeper sections of tectonically active margins like the Chilean Margin have generally been attributed to silicate diagenesis, mineral dehydration, or methane hydrate dissociation. Here we report that substantial pore water freshening on the south Chilean Margin reflects deep and focused contributions of meteorically modified geothermal groundwater, which has infiltrated marine sediments through regional fault systems. Geochemical fingerprinting of pore water data from Site J1003, recovered during D/V JOIDES Resolution Expedition 379T, highlights mixing between this fresh groundwater endmember and seawater, and provides the first constraints on the depth of geothermal groundwater reservoirs in the Aysén region of Patagonia. Collectively, our results identify an unappreciated locus of deep submarine groundwater and geothermal discharge along active margins, with potential implications for coastal biogeochemical processes and tectonic instability.

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“…Hydrothermal systems containing water or steam, or a mixture of both, are the most widely used geothermal reservoirs in various countries, including Indonesia [8,9]. This system has been applied in Villarrica volcano, Southern Chile [10], North-West Sabalan, Iran [8], and Torre Alfina, Italy [11]. In addition, there also exists a hot dry rock system that does not contain steam and water [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping of Fault and Hydrothermal System beneath the Seulawah Volcano Inferred from a Magnetotellurics Structure

et al. 2021

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Magnetotellurics (MT) is an important geophysical method for exploring geothermal systems, with the Earth resistivity obtained from the MT method proving to be useful for the hydrothermal imaging changes of the system. In this research, we applied the MT method to map the geothermal system of the Seulawah Agam volcano in northern Sumatra, a site intended for the construction of a geothermal power plant with an estimated energy of 230 Mwe. Herein, 3D MT measurements were carried out, covering the entire area of the volcano and the various intersecting local faults from the Seulimeum segment in the NW–SE direction. Based on Occam 2D inversion, a conductive anomaly (<10 ohm·m) near the surface was identified in response to specific manifestation areas, including the Heutsz crater on the northern side and the Cempaga crater on the southern side. A further conductive anomaly was also found at a depth of 1 km, which was presumably due to a clay cap layer covering the fluid in the reservoir layer below the surface, where the manifestation areas are formed at various locations (where faults and fractures are found) owing to the fluid in the reservoir rising to the surface. The MT modeling also revealed that the reservoir layer in Seulawah Agam lies at a depth of 2 km with a higher resistivity of 40–150 ohm·m, which is the main target of geothermal energy exploration. At the same time, the heat source zone where magma is located was estimated to lie in two locations, namely, on the northern side centering on the Heutsz crater area and the southern side in the Cempaga crater area. A clear 3D structure obtained via Occam inversion was also used to visualize the hydrothermal flow in the Seulawah Agam volcano that originates from two heat source zones, where one structure that was consistent across all models is the conductive zone that reaches a depth of 5 km in the south in response to the regional faulting of the Seulimeum segment. Based on the MT research, we concluded that the volcano has the geothermal potential to be tapped into power plant energy in the future.

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Geochemical characterization of the geothermal system at Villarrica volcano, Southern Chile; Part 1: Impacts of lithology on the geothermal reservoir

Cited by 22 publications

References 42 publications

Visualizing preferential magmatic and geothermal fluid pathways via electric conductivity at Villarrica Volcano, S-Chile

Visualizing preferential magmatic and geothermal fluid pathways via electric conductivity at Villarrica Volcano, S-Chile

Deep submarine infiltration of altered geothermal groundwater on the south Chilean Margin

Mapping of Fault and Hydrothermal System beneath the Seulawah Volcano Inferred from a Magnetotellurics Structure

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