Bernard A. Owusu

Determining subsurface temperature using geophysical-petrological modelling

Abstract
     Determining subsurface temperature is critical for our understanding of the geothermal potential of any region and de-risking access to geothermal resources. However, directly measuring temperature in boreholes is expensive and often not practical at depth. Recent inversion and forward modelling programs have been developed which allow the estimation of sub-surface temperature throughout the crust and mantle, based on multiple geophysical and petrological datasets. This petrological-geophysical coupling is opening up exciting opportunities for characterizing the thermal structure of the subsurface. In this research, we will be developing a new joint geophysical-petrological-lithological inversion scheme to account for 3D lithospheric structure and lateral heatflow effects and test this for a high enthalpy geothermal system at Krafla.
    

This work is part of the MOD3LTHERM Project.