Hot Dry Rock CollectionMain MenuHot Dry Rock OverviewAt the Earth's CorePreliminary Study of the Nuclear SubterreneA Method of Extracting Heat from Dry Geothermal ReservoirsCandidate Sites for Future Hot Dry Rock Development in the United StatesHot Dry Rock: A Realistic Energy OptionMining the Earth’s Heat: Hot Dry Rock Geothermal EnergyCreditsJoshua Finnell57ae41618b76550ccf46776d4829c462ae03ca90Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library
Fenton Hill, New Mexico
1media/page1-350px-VallesGeothermalAreasMap.pdf.jpgmedia/page1-350px-VallesGeothermalAreasMap.pdf.jpg2017-03-20T14:00:11-07:00Joshua Finnell57ae41618b76550ccf46776d4829c462ae03ca901629410plain2017-03-22T08:22:57-07:00Joshua Finnell57ae41618b76550ccf46776d4829c462ae03ca90Experiments began at Fenton Hill, New Mexico. Fenton Hill is located on the western flank of the Valles Caldera, a 22-km-diam volcanic collapse crater superimposed on a complex volcanic field. The site is also conveniently located only 33 km west of Los Alamos. Heat flow measurements indicated that the geothermal gradient, VT (rate at which rock temperature increases with depth), at this site is about 100.C/km in the sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks and 55.C/km in the Precambrian metamorphic and plutonic rocks [heat flow of 3.8 hfu (1 hfu = heat flow unit/10-6ca1/cm2s = 41.8 rrM/m20). The anomalously high heat flow (average terrestrial heat flow is =1.5 hfu) is most likely due to residual heat from a large, cooling magma body located below the volcanic field.