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F.V. Grubb

Publications and source records attributed to F.V. Grubb.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2004

Heat flow in the SAFOD pilot hole and implications for the strength of the San Andreas Fault

Detailed thermal measurements have been acquired in the 2.2-km-deep SAFOD pilot hole, located 1.8 km west of the SAF near Parkfield, California. Heat flow from the basement section of the borehole (770 to 2160 m) is 91 mW m-2, higher than the published 74 mW m -2 average for the Parkfield area. Within the resolution of the measurements, heat flow is constant across faults that intersect the borehole, suggesting that fluid flow does not alter the conductive thermal regime. Reanalysis of regional heat flow reveals an increase in heat flow along the SAF northwest of Parkfield. This transition corresponds to a shallowing base of seismicity and a change in fault behavior near the northern terminus of the M6 1966 Parkfield earthquake rupture. The persistence of elevated heat flow in the Coast Ranges to the west appears to rule out frictional heating on the SAF as the source of the SAFOD value.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2004

Geothermal resources of California sedimentary basins

The 2004 Department of Energy (DOE) Strategic Plan for geothermal energy calls for expanding the geothermal resource base of the United States to 40,000 MW of electric power generating potential. This will require advances in technologies for exploiting unconventional geothermal resources, including Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and geopressured geothermal. An investigation of thermal conditions in California sedimentary basins through new temperature and heat flow measurements reveals significant geothermal potential in some areas. In many of the basins, the combined cooling effects of recent tectonic and sedimentary processes result in relatively low (<60 mW/m2) heat flow and geothermal gradients. For example, temperatures in the upper 3 km of San Joaquin, Sacramento and Ventura basins are typically less than 125??C and do not reach 200??c by 5 km. By contrast, in the Cuyama, Santa Maria and western Los Angeles basins, heat flow exceeds 80 mW/m2 and temperatures near or above 200??C occur at 4 to 5 km depth, which represents thermal conditions equivalent to or hotter than those encountered at the Soultz EGS geothermal site in Europe. Although the extractable geothermal energy contained in these basins is not large relative to the major California producing geothermal fields at The Geysers or Salton Sea, the collocation in the Los Angeles basin of a substantial petroleum extraction infrastructure and a major metropolitan area may make it attractive for eventual geothermal development as EGS technology matures.

Conference Paper↗