Geothermal Resource Potential of the Great Basin Province in Western Utah Mason Edwards Dept. of Geology & Geophysics University of Utah (ecoki.com, 2010)

Study Motivation (Henrikson, 2001) High Temperature at depth High ‘q’ (90 mWm -1 ) Low ‘k’ basin fill

T z T0T0 T1T1 T2T2 k1k1 k2k2 q0q0 Determining Heat Flow & Temperature Case 1: q 0 = 90 mWm -2 z 1 = 2 km T 0 = 10 °C k 1 = 3 Wm -1 K -1 Case 2: q 0 = 90 mWm -2 z 1 = 2 km T 0 = 10 °C k 1 = 1.5 Wm -1 K -1 T(2 km) = 70 °C T(2 km) = 130 °C Fourier’s Law: T(z) = T 0 + q 0 ΔziΔzi kiki Σ q = k ∇ T

Measuring Thermal Conductivity Divided Bar Method Known Standard ‘k’ Measured Temperatures No Lateral Heat Loss T1T1 T2T2 ThTh TcTc ΔT1ΔT1 ΔT2ΔT2 ΔT3ΔT3 Sample Cell k1k1 l1l1 l sample l3l3 k3k3 q 1 = k 1 ΔT1ΔT1 l1l1 q sample = k sample ΔT2ΔT2 l sample q 1 = q sample k sample = k 1 ΔT1ΔT1 l1l1 ΔT2ΔT2 l sample

Questions?