Exploration and Interpretation of the SW England Geothermal Anomaly

Wheildon, J.; Francis, M.; Ellis, Jenny; Thomas-Betts, A.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-9059-3_40

Cited by 16 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Additional results obtained across the Cornubian batholith of SW England, and considered here, were then discussed by Wheildon et al (1981) and found to be largely uncorrelated across the area. It was suggested that heat flow refraction played a significant role due to the complex 3D form of the batholith.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Beck 1977;Beardsmore and Cull 2001;Westaway and Younger 2013) and heat flow is then recalculated from the corrected temperature gradients. Topographic corrections are positive for hill-based localities and negative for valleys and those from Wheildon et al (1981) have been applied here. Table 1 lists the heat flow from Lee (1986) that included a palaeoclimate correction for recent climate only, raw heat flow (calculated in this study), the full palaeoclimate correction (calculated in this study), the topographic correction (from Wheildon et al 1981) and the revised heat flow (HF REV) which is the sum of the raw heat flow, the full palaeoclimate correction and the topographic correction.…”

Section: Heat Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main Camborne School of Mines (CSM) HDR project was carried out between 1977 and 1988. Heat production values obtained in the two main reports by Wheildon et al (1981) and by Thomas-Betts et al (1989) are used here. The locations of the heat production and heat flow results obtained by the CSM project are shown in Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The locations of on-granite borehole measurements of heat flow are shown in Fig. 1 and were reported by Wheildon et al (1981). Due to resource limitations, the majority of boreholes were only 100 m deep.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These combined results were published in summaries of the UK heat flow (Lee 1986;Lee et al 1987) and it is these publications which have been widely cited when referencing these data. However, as reported by Lee (1986) and Lee et al (1987) only a correction for recent climate change was applied, and this was only for boreholes less than 200 m deep, despite the fact that Wheildon et al (1981) had undertaken a full palaeoclimate correction. This has led to later criticism (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Cornubian geothermal province: heat production and flow in SW England: estimates from boreholes and airborne gamma-ray measurements

Beamish

Busby

2016

Geotherm Energy

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The Cornubian granite batholith provides one of the main high heat production and flow provinces within the UK. An extensive programme of borehole measurements was undertaken in the 1980s to characterise the geothermal resource. Here we revisit the published data on heat flow and heat production from 34 boreholes and revise the published heat flow values in accord with modern palaeoclimate knowledge. This leads to a more rigorous (and increased) set of estimated temperatures at depth across the granite outcrops. Predicted temperatures at a depth of 5 km largely exceed 200 °C and are 6-11 % higher than previously estimated values. We also reconsider the borehole heat production values in conjunction with new heat generation information from a recent regional-scale airborne geophysical survey. The radiometric (gammaray) data provide detailed (~70 m along-line) ground concentration estimates of the heat-producing radioelements. These are then combined to estimate heat production in the near surface. The airborne estimates are subject to attenuation by the soil profile. Here we demonstrate and then adopt an assumption that the observations of the soilbedrock medium undergo a flux attenuation by a factor of about two compared to the response of the underlying material. The revised estimates are then correlated with their equivalent deeper borehole estimates. Linear regression is then used to correct the shallow airborne estimates to values that are consistent with the deeper borehole determinations. The procedure provides a detailed and extensive mapping of heat production at both on-and off-granite locations across SW England. The Dartmoor and Land's End granite offer the greatest spatial geothermal potential in terms of their intrinsic radionuclide concentrations and associated heat production. District-scale heat production is studied using the airborne data acquired uniformly across conurbations. The analysis identifies the towns of Camborne, Penzance, St. Austell, Redruth and St Ives as having relatively high values (>4 μW m −3 ) within their urban perimeters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Heat Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Cornubian geothermal province: heat production and flow in SW England: estimates from boreholes and airborne gamma-ray measurements

Beamish

Busby

2016

Geotherm Energy

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Accounting for palaeoclimate and topography: A rigorous approach to correction of the British geothermal dataset

Westaway

Younger

2013

Geothermics

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Helium, radon, and hydrothermal circulation associated with the Carnmenellis radiothermal granite of southwest England

Gregory¹,

Durrance²

1987

J. Geophys. Res.

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The Carnmenellis granite of southwest England has higher than average radioelement concentrations and a heat flow greater than 100 mW m−2, more than twice the United Kingdom average. Measurements were made of 4He concentrations and 222Rn activities in surface waters over the granite and its immediate host rocks. High values (greater than 48 ppb 4He, 160 c/min 222Rn) for either or both gases are interpreted as indicating discharge of groundwater from the upwelling limbs of hydrothermal convection cells. 4He has a spatial distribution which agrees well with the observed variations of heat flow within the pluton, but 222Rn is also influenced by lithology and depth of groundwater flow. Although the distribution of convection cells is partly determined by the presence of NW‐SE faults, there is close similarity with theoretical models of groundwater circulation. It is concluded that 4He and 222Rn surveys provide a simple but effective method for mapping areas of modern hydrothermal activity.

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Exploration and Interpretation of the SW England Geothermal Anomaly

Cited by 16 publications

References 3 publications

The Cornubian geothermal province: heat production and flow in SW England: estimates from boreholes and airborne gamma-ray measurements

The Cornubian geothermal province: heat production and flow in SW England: estimates from boreholes and airborne gamma-ray measurements

Accounting for palaeoclimate and topography: A rigorous approach to correction of the British geothermal dataset

Helium, radon, and hydrothermal circulation associated with the Carnmenellis radiothermal granite of southwest England

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