Numerical modeling of the geothermal hydrology of the Volcanic Island of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe

Abstract

Basse-Terre island in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) is part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc and has good potential for high-enthalpy geothermal resources (Laplaige et al. 2013). A geothermal plant was installed in 1984 at the Bouillante site on the island's west coast (Jaud and Lamethe 1985), where surface hot springs had indicated a possible high-enthalpy resource. This plant has now a production capacity of 15 MWe. The rest of the island, however, remained largely unexplored for geothermal resources. In recent years, several projects have been launched to determine the potential of other targets

Induced polarization images alteration in stratovolcanoes

“…Fig. 25 shows the conductivity distribution obtained from a magnetotelluric survey from Raguenel et al (2019). Induced polarization can be used to better interpret such tomograms in terms of temperature, water content, CEC, and permeability distributions.…”

The Basse-Terre Island of Guadeloupe (Eastern Caribbean, France) and Its Volcanic-Hydrothermal Geodiversity: A Case Study of Challenges, Perspectives, and New Paradigms for Resilience and Sustainability on Volcanic Islands

“…Figure 6 shows a typical profile for a hydrothermal system associated with andesitic arc volcanism, which could potentially be represent La Soufriere's. The profile is extended west-ward (Figure 6A) to take into account the Bouillante area, which based on magneto-telluric (MT) soundings (Figure 6B) is not related to large-scale heat transfer from La Soufrière to Bouillante but requires a second magma chamber, that lacks at surface volcanic manifestations, beneath the Bouillante geothermal system and high-permeability vertical conduits transferring hot fluids circulating at depth (Figure 6B; Raguenel et al 2019 [53]). Thermal waters are mostly meteoric in origin, however, some exhibit a magmatic signature that becomes important for fumarolic steam waters (Jeremie and Pascarelli, 1992;Brombach et al 2000;and Villemant et al 2014 [45,46,65]).…”

“…(A) Geothermal sketch related to an active volcanic field typical for an island arc setting above a subduction zone and approximating the Soufrière-Bouillante sectors of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe (modified from Moeck, 2014 [64]). (B) Magneto-telluric (MT) cross-section along La Soufrière et Bouillante sectors showing a well-defined dome-shaped horizon with conductive properties (1), a deep upflow likely rising from La Soufrière magma chamber (2), a deep resistive zone in the Soufrière roots (3), which could correspond to a potential heat reservoir, and a well-resolved resistive unit associated with the Bouillante reservoir (4) (modified from Raguenel et al 2019[53]). The MT section of (B) can thus be interpreted in line with the schematic representation in (A).…”

Simulation study of the Lower Cretaceous geothermal reservoir for aquifer thermal energy storage

“…Mathematical description of heat and mass exchange processes is often led by numerical solutions that help to consider complex geometry and time-dependent boundary conditions (Dendys et al, 2015 ). Several authors present their concepts from different countries (Franco & Vaccaro, 2014 ; Pola et al, 2015 ; Ganguly et al, 2017 ; Winterleitner et al, 2018 ; Raguenel et al, 2019 ; Ma et al, 2020 , Zhang et al, 2020 ). A static model, which can correctly represent the geological nature of the reservoir, is necessary in order to achieve a reliable evaluation and assessment through numerical simulations (Wang & Bauer, 2016 ).…”