IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i18p4684-d410757.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Validation and Evaluation of an Estimation Method for Deep Thermal Structures Using an Activity Index in Major Geothermal Fields in Northeastern Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Yota Suzuki

    (Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Koriyama, Fukushima 963-0298, Japan)

  • Hirofumi Muraoka

    (Institute of Regional Innovation, Hirosaki University, Aomori 030-0813, Japan)

  • Hiroshi Asanuma

    (Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Koriyama, Fukushima 963-0298, Japan)

Abstract

A considerable number of rock bodies with varying percentages of supercritical fluid exist around the brittle–ductile transition (BDT) zone at a depth of several kilometers from the surface of the Earth, in northeastern Japan. As the BDT zone in the granitic basement of the continental crust is estimated to occur at about 380 °C, the identification of the depth corresponding to 380 °C is important to utilize the thermal energy inside the “supercritical geothermal systems”. In this study, we focused on an estimation method to determine the depth of the isothermal layer corresponding to 380 °C, using the activity index (AI) obtained from the maximum-temperature data of the geothermal wells and hot springs. The thermal profiles of deep and hot exploration boreholes and the hypocentral distribution of natural earthquakes were used to evaluate the characteristics and accuracy of the deep thermal structure, using the activity index. The estimated depth corresponding to 380 °C tended to be higher than the actual depth, with a maximum possible estimation error of approximately 9.7 km. Distribution maps showing the depth of the isothermal layer corresponding to 380 °C were created for six major geothermal fields in northeastern Japan, using the results from this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Yota Suzuki & Hirofumi Muraoka & Hiroshi Asanuma, 2020. "Validation and Evaluation of an Estimation Method for Deep Thermal Structures Using an Activity Index in Major Geothermal Fields in Northeastern Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:18:p:4684-:d:410757
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4684/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4684/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yota Suzuki & Seiichiro Ioka & Hirofumi Muraoka, 2014. "Determining the Maximum Depth of Hydrothermal Circulation Using Geothermal Mapping and Seismicity to Delineate the Depth to Brittle-Plastic Transition in Northern Honshu, Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-9, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yota Suzuki & Hirofumi Muraoka & Hiroshi Asanuma, 2021. "Thermal Monitoring of the Lithosphere by the Interaction of Deep Low-Frequency and Ordinary High-Frequency Earthquakes in Northeastern Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-11, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yota Suzuki & Seiichiro Ioka & Hirofumi Muraoka, 2016. "Comparative Study of the Subsurface Thermal Structure in Northern Honshu, Japan, Based on Normalized Temperature Data and Solute Geothermometers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-9, May.
    2. Yota Suzuki & Seiichiro Ioka & Hirofumi Muraoka, 2017. "Geothermal Resource Exploration by Stream pH Mapping in Mutsu Hiuchi Dake Volcano, Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-11, July.
    3. Yota Suzuki & Hirofumi Muraoka & Hiroshi Asanuma, 2021. "Thermal Monitoring of the Lithosphere by the Interaction of Deep Low-Frequency and Ordinary High-Frequency Earthquakes in Northeastern Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Paul L. Younger, 2015. "Geothermal Energy: Delivering on the Global Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-18, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:18:p:4684-:d:410757. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.