Word of the Week – Slickwater
Slickwater Water that is injected during reservoir stimulation. It is modified with low concentrations of chemical additives, including polyacrylamide, that reduce friction and enhance fluid flow. Proppant (e.g., sand) is often added to help keep stimulated fractures open. Read More »Word of the Week – Interlayered Clay
Interlayered Clay A mixture of different clays such as illite, chlorite, and montmorillonite that are structurally interlayered and form via rock alteration at moderate temperatures in shallow zones that overlie producing geothermal reservoirs. Read More »Did You Know NZ is home to geothermal golf course?
Did you know… New Zealand is home to a geothermal golf course? Arikikapakapa is not your typical golf course. Located in Rotorua, New Zealand, the 18-hole course is referred to as a geothermal golfing experience. Along with the naturally abundant plant life, the geothermal activity in the area provides a beautiful landscape around the course.… Read More »Word of the Week – Brine
Brine In producing geothermal fields, this term refers to the hot water that is produced from wells. It is rarely as salty as implied. Instead, the salinities of most natural hot waters are commonly less than seawater, but they contain a wide range of rock-forming soluble elements. Read More »Word of the Week – Cap Rock
Cap Rock A poorly permeable or impermeable layer that overlies a geothermal reservoir. The term is borrowed from the oil industry and was once considered an essential feature of a producing geothermal resource in confining the flow and pressure of hot water. Experience has proven the opposite. Read More »Word of the Week – Fumarole
Fumarole A steam vent and surface thermal feature that is commonly associated with steaming ground and mud pots in hydrothermally and volcanically active areas. Read More »Word of the Week – Adularia
Adularia Hydrothermal potassium bearing feldspar that forms in volcanic hosted geothermal reservoirs and is a favorable indicator of boiling and permeable conditions. Read More »At the Core 10th Edition (July 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-july-2022. Read More »Word of the Week – Hot Dry Rock
Hot Dry Rock Hot crystalline rock with essentially no porosity and lacking producible hot water. Geothermal production from hot dry rock reservoirs is the primary goal of EGS (enhanced geothermal system) research in which cold water is injected and hot fluid is produced. Read More »Did you know… there is a geothermal “ocean” in Utah?
Did you know... there is a geothermal “ocean” in Utah? Just 30 minutes from Salt Lake City is Utah’s very own “ocean”. Built out of natural hot springs is the Bonneville Seabase, where you can go snorkeling and scuba diving! You will also find many different types of tropical fish during your underwater expedition. Seabase… Read More »Word of the Week – Liquid-Dominated Reservoir
Liquid-Dominated Reservoir Typical of the large proportion of conventional geothermal resources in which wells are self-flowing or pumped depending on reservoir temperature. Self-flowing wells produce a mixture of steam and hot water from reservoirs that are close to boiling point or vapor-saturation. Pumped wells produce hot water only from reservoirs that are well below boiling… Read More »Word of the Week – Vapor-Dominated Reservoir
Vapor-Dominated Reservoir The highest grade of geothermal resource in which self-flowing wells produce dry steam from a reservoir containing a mixture of hot water and steam. Larderello, Italy and The Geysers, California, USA are examples, and they are extremely rare. Read More »Word of the Week – Turbine
Turbine Spinning axle mounted with fan blades that converts a fluid flow stream into mechanical energy. To produce electricity, the mechanical energy from the turbine is connected to a generator. Read More »Word of the Week – Magma
Magma Molten rock typically having a temperature between 800° and 1100° C (~1500-2000° F). Magma is the source of high-grade geothermal energy in conventional resources. Read More »Did you know… geothermal energy is growing flowers?
Did you know... geothermal energy is growing flowers? Newcastle, Utah is home to Milgro Nursery – and they use geothermal energy to power their greenhouses! In fact, their facility is one of the most successful geothermal energy applications for space heating in the United States. Milgro Nursery first opened in 1980 in Oxnard, California, before… Read More »Word of the Week – Mud Pots and Mud Pools
Mud Pots and Mud Pools Depressions filled with hot bubbling mud commonly associated with steaming ground. The mud is mostly made up of clay minerals which form as an alteration product and interaction between acidic condensed steam and rock-forming minerals. Read More »Word of the Week – Steaming Ground
Steaming Ground Hot thermal ground associated with diffuse steam discharge. Vegetation is typically stunted or non-existent. Read More »Word of the Week – Aquifer
Aquifer Porous and permeable rock unit or unconsolidated layer in the subsurface in which all the pores and voids are filled with water. Water supply for wells comes from aquifers. Read More »Word of the Week – Epidote
Epidote Alumino-silicate hydrothermal mineral having a distinctive yellow-green color that is used a mineral geothermometer, forming at temperatures above ~230°C. The first down hole occurrence of epidote commonly coincides with the top of a high-temperature geothermal reservoir where it is hosted by igneous rocks. Read More »Word of the Week – Illite
Illite A potassium-bearing mica-like clay mineral that is a product of hydrothermal alteration. It commonly replaces feldspars and other alumino-silicate minerals and it forms above ~220°C. It also reflects a weakly acidic pH condition in hydrothermal fluids. Read More »
