Are Crustal Fault Zones viable geothermal resources? Insights from the Pontgibaud Fault in French Massif Central

Hugo Duwiquet (1, 2, 3, 4) , Laurent Arbaret (1, 4) , Mathieu Bellanger (3) , Laurent Guillou-Frottier (2, 1, 4) , Michael Heap (5)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
2 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
3 TLS-Geothermics
4 Géodynamique - UMR7327
5 IPGS-GE - Géophysique expérimentale (IPGS)

Numerous recent studies indicate that crustal-scale fault zones represent efficient conduits for meteoric fluid to flow down to mid-crustal depths (Haines et al., 2016), in particular near the brittle-ductile transition where temperature are around 350-450°C (Violay et al., 2016). The present study aims to understand the potential of a new and novel type of geothermal system for high temperature and electricity production: the Crustal Fault Zones (CFZ). The geothermal potential estimation in a basement context requires combination of geological, geophysical and thermal data. The Pontgibaud fault zone (Puy-de-Dôme, French Massif Central) includes an intensive multivariate dataset.

Mots clés: Permeability; porosity; high-temperature geothermal system; numerical modelling; Pontgibaud; French Massif Central

Domaines: Géologie appliquée; Sciences de la Terre

Hugo Duwiquet, Laurent Arbaret, Mathieu Bellanger, Laurent Guillou-Frottier, Michael Heap. Are Crustal Fault Zones viable geothermal resources? Insights from the Pontgibaud Fault in French Massif Central. European Geothermal Congress 2019 - EGC 2019, Jun 2019, La Haye, Netherlands. ⟨hal-02149864⟩