Did you know… the story of the 'hot' snake, the fish, and the toad? Tucked away in different...
Propylitic Alteration
A term borrowed from studies of hydrothermal ore deposits that refers to an assemblage of secondary hydrothermal minerals which forms in igneous rocks. This assemblage is made up of chlorite, illite, feldspar (both Na and K-rich varieties), epidote, calcite and pyrite, imparting a dark green tint to the appearance of altered rocks. It is commonly developed in volcanic-plutonic sequences that host high-temperature geothermal reservoirs.
Geothermal Glossary
Word of the Week – Granitoid
Granitoid A generic term referring to hard, coarsely crystalline plutonic rock that is produced by intrusion of magma followed by a long period of slow cooling and solidification below the surface (>10 km depth). The mineralogy and composition are variable, ranging...
Word of the Week – Heat Exchanger
Heat exchanger A device or engineered system that is used to transfer thermal energy in soil, rock or produced fluid to heat a closed loop through which another fluid is circulated. Heat exchangers are used in ground sourced heat pumps, binary plants, and a range of...
Word of the Week – Heat Mining
Heat Mining The process of extracting geothermal heat by the heating of initially cold water that flows through fractures in hot rock below the surface. Heat transfer is achieved by conduction through the solid rock and convection by the flowing water.