Word of the Week – Breccia
Breccia Angular to sub-angular fragments of broken rock that are cemented together that are highly permeable and form on the surface due to sedimentary or igneous processes or in fault zones. Read More »Word of the Week – Hydrothermal Eruption
Hydrothermal Eruption Rare explosive discharge of hot water and steam that is powerful enough to excavate a crater and lift rock fragments and its pulverized equivalents into the air to produce an apron deposit around the eruption vent. Read More »Word of the Week – Geochemical Tracer
Geochemical Tracer An environmentally benign chemical that is injected to trace fluid movement through the geothermal reservoir and that can be easily detected in produced hot fluid. Read More »Word of the Week – Stable Isotopes
Stable Isotopes Refers to non-radioactive isotopes of elements, including those of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. In geothermal geochemistry, the stable isotope ratios of oxygen (18O/16O) and hydrogen (2H/1H) in thermal waters are used to trace its origin (e.g., meteoric, magmatic). Read More »Did You Know … there is a mystical reason to travel to Monroe, Utah
Did you know… there is a mystical reason to travel to Monroe, Utah – the Mystic Hot Springs! The Mystic Hot Springs are naturally occurring geothermal pools in Central Utah, about a three hour drive south from Salt Lake City. They have been used ever since the Indigenous People, including the Ute, Piute and… Read More »Word of the Week – Tephra
Tephra Airborne particles of rock and ash produced by an explosive volcanic eruption. Tephra commonly deposits as a blanket that drapes over the underlying topography. Read More »Word of the Week – Lava Flow
Lava Flow A product of an erupting volcanic cone or fissure made up of liquid molten rock that flows downhill and eventually solidifies due to cooling. Read More »Word of the Week – Transcurrent Fault (Strike-Slip Fault)
Transcurrent Fault (Strike-Slip Fault) Vertically dipping fault that results from horizontal shear stress. Slip movement during an earthquake is sideways rather than up or down. Read More »Word of the Week – Normal Fault
Normal Fault High angle fault that results from extensional stress and forms a steeply dipping planar structure. Slip movement during an earthquake is vertical and down dip. The down-dropped block is called the hanging wall and the uplifted block is called the footwall. Read More »Geothermal Webinar Series V1
Introduction to Fervo Energy - a next-generation geothermal development company Fervo is applying proven technologies from the unconventional oil and gas sector, such as horizontal drilling, multistage completions, and fiber optic diagnostics, to improve reservoir performance and lower the cost of geothermal energy. Over the last several years, we have deployed our technology at the… Read More »At the Core 11th Edition (October 2022)
Keep up to date on what is going on at Utah FORGE. Read about it in the quarterly newsletter. SUBSCRIBE and receive updates and special announcements. Open and download a pdf version at-the-core-october-2022. Read More »Did You Know that renewable energy corridors can be the future of energy production?
Did You Know… Renewable Energy Corridors Can Be the Future of Energy Production? In the Escalante desert of southwestern Utah, near the town of Milford, there are four different types of renewable energy: wind, solar, biogas, and geothermal. They’re all being used to produce energy at the same time. The co-location and concentration of such… Read More »Word of the Week – Zircon
Zircon Zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) is a minor or accessory mineral in igneous and metamorphic rocks. It contains measurable albeit minor amounts of uranium and lead, which make it amenable for radiometric dating. Zircons are some of the oldest dated minerals on Earth. Read More »Word of the Week – Diorite
Diorite Dark colored, coarse grained, intrusive rock that contains less silica than granite and that is mostly made of plagioclase, biotite, hornblende, pyroxene, and minor to nil quartz. Read More »Word of the Week – Granite
Granite Light colored, coarse grained, intrusive rock with a felsic (silica-rich) composition that is mostly made of quartz, sodium and potassium-bearing feldspar, and plagioclase. Minor amounts of other minerals can include mica (muscovite, biotite), hornblende, magnetite (iron oxide), and ilmenite (titanium-iron oxide). Read More »Word of the Week – Hydraulic Gradient
Hydraulic Gradient The slope on the water table which promotes horizontal fluid flow in permeable rock units. Read More »Word of the Week – Vadose Zone
Vadose Zone A hydrogeological term that represents the volume of rock and unconsolidated materials between the ground surface and the underlying water table, in which pores and cracks are filled or partially filled with air. Read More »Did You Know that China is home to one of the oldest known geothermal pools in the world?
Did you know… that China is home to one of the oldest known geothermal pools in the world? Huaqing Pool, located near Mount Li in the province of Shaanxi, China, has a long and storied history. The complex of hot springs has been in use for close to three millennia and was a famous… Read More »Word of the Week – Geyser
Geyser A rare type of hot spring that periodically discharges a fountain of hot water and steam (or sometimes just gas). Read More »Word of the Week – Flowback
Flowback Return flow of slickwater that was injected during a stimulation. This is a highly controlled process in which well head pressure is reduced to allow managed fluid recovery. Fluids are commonly sampled and chemically analyzed to determine the effects of injection and stimulation in the reservoir. Read More »
