CO2 efflux, soil temperature and carbon/helium isotope results from the Los Humeros geothermal field, Mexico
Cite as:
Jentsch, Anna; Jolie, Egbert; Jones, David G.; Taylor-Curran, Helen; Zimmer, Martin; Peiffer, Loic; Lister, Bob (2020): CO2 efflux, soil temperature and carbon/helium isotope results from the Los Humeros geothermal field, Mexico. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.6.2020.001
Status
I N R E V I E W : Jentsch, Anna; Jolie, Egbert; Jones, David G.; Taylor-Curran, Helen; Zimmer, Martin; Peiffer, Loic; Lister, Bob (2020): CO2 efflux, soil temperature and carbon/helium isotope results from the Los Humeros geothermal field, Mexico. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.6.2020.001
Abstract
Magmatic volatiles can be considered as the surface fingerprint of active volcanic systems, both during periods of quiescent and eruptive volcanic activity. The spatial variability of gas emissions at Earth’s surface is a proxy for structural discontinuities in the subsurface of volcanic systems. We conducted extensive and regular spaced soil gas surveys within the Los Humeros geothermal field to improve the understanding of the structural control on fluid flow.
Surveys at different scales were performed with the aim to identify areas of increased gas emissions on reservoir scale, their relation to unknown/knows volcano-tectonic structures on fault scale favoring fluid flow, and determine the origin of gas emissions. Herein, we show results from a carbon dioxide efflux scouting survey, which was performed across the main geothermal production zone together with soil temperature measurements. We identified five areas with increased carbon dioxide emissions, where further sampling was performed with denser sampling grids to understand the fault zone architecture and local variations in gas emissions.
We show that a systematic sampling approach on reservoir scale is necessary for the identification and assessment of major permeable fault segments. The combined processing of CO2 efflux and carbon/helium isotopes facilitated the detection of permeable structural segments with a connection to the deep, high-temperature geothermal reservoir, also in areas with low to intermediate carbon dioxide emissions. The results of this study complement existing geophysical datasets and define further promising areas for future exploration activities in the north- and southwestern sector of the production field.
The data are presented as one zip folder with 4 data tables (tab delimited text format) according to the measurement variable. The columns are defined in each data file.
Authors
Jentsch, Anna;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Jolie, Egbert;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Jones, David G.;BGS British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Taylor-Curran, Helen;BGS British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Zimmer, Martin;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Peiffer, Loic;CICESE Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Lister, Bob;BGS British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Contact
Jentsch, Anna
(PhD); GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;
Funders
H2020 Energy:
GEMex (727550)
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología:
GEMex (2015-04-268074)
Keywords
multi-scale soil gas survey, CO2 efflux, carbon and helium isotopes, geothermal exploration, structural analysis
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0001-7552-507X affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0003-2424-3085 affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
creator
creatorName (nameType=Personal): Jones, David G.
givenName: David G.
familyName: Jones
affiliation: BGS British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom
creator
creatorName (nameType=Personal): Taylor-Curran, Helen
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0002-8848-2336 affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0001-7552-507X affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
contributor (contributorType=DataCollector)
contributorName (nameType=Personal): Jentsch, Anna
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0001-7552-507X affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
contributor (contributorType=Researcher)
contributorName (nameType=Personal): Jentsch, Anna
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0001-7552-507X affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier=0000-0003-2424-3085 affiliationIdentifierScheme=ORCID): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
contributor (contributorType=ContactPerson)
contributorName: Jentsch, Anna
affiliation (affiliationIdentifier= affiliationIdentifierScheme=): GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
CharacterString: Magmatic volatiles can be considered as the surface fingerprint of active volcanic systems, both during periods of quiescent and eruptive volcanic activity. The spatial variability of gas emissions at Earth’s surface is a proxy for structural discontinuities in the subsurface of volcanic systems. We conducted extensive and regular spaced soil gas surveys within the Los Humeros geothermal field to improve the understanding of the structural control on fluid flow.
Surveys at different scales were performed with the aim to identify areas of increased gas emissions on reservoir scale, their relation to unknown/knows volcano-tectonic structures on fault scale favoring fluid flow, and determine the origin of gas emissions. Herein, we show results from a carbon dioxide efflux scouting survey, which was performed across the main geothermal production zone together with soil temperature measurements. We identified five areas with increased carbon dioxide emissions, where further sampling was performed with denser sampling grids to understand the fault zone architecture and local variations in gas emissions.
We show that a systematic sampling approach on reservoir scale is necessary for the identification and assessment of major permeable fault segments. The combined processing of CO2 efflux and carbon/helium isotopes facilitated the detection of permeable structural segments with a connection to the deep, high-temperature geothermal reservoir, also in areas with low to intermediate carbon dioxide emissions. The results of this study complement existing geophysical datasets and define further promising areas for future exploration activities in the north- and southwestern sector of the production field.
The data are presented as one zip folder with 4 data tables (tab delimited text format) according to the measurement variable. The columns are defined in each data file.
CI_OnLineFunctionCode (codeList=http://www.isotc211.org/2005/resources/Codelist/gmxCodelists.xml#CI_OnLineFunctionCode codeListValue=http://www.isotc211.org/2005/resources/Codelist/gmxCodelists.xml#CI_OnLineFunctionCode_information): information
Released
Dataset
Abstract
;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
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