Geology and geophysics of the southern Raft River Valley geothermal area, Idaho, USA
By: Paul L. Williams, Don R. Mabey, Adel A. R. Zohdy, Hans D. Ackermann, Donald B. Hoover, Kenneth L. Pierce, and Steven S. Oriel
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Abstract
The Raft River valley, near the boundary of the Snake River plain with the Basin and Range province, is a north-trending late Cenozoic downwarp bounded by faults on the west, south, and east. Pleistocene alluvium and Miocene-Pliocene tuffaceous sediments, conglomerate, and felsic volcanic rocks aggregate 2 km in thickness. Large gravity, magnetic, and total field resistivity highs probably indicate a buried igneous mass that is too old to serve as a heat source. Differing seismic velocities relate to known or inferred structures and to a suspected shallow zone of warm water. Resistivity anomalies reflect differences of both composition and degree of alteration of Cenozoic rocks. Resistivity soundings show a 2 to 5 ohm·m unit with a thickness of 1 km beneath a large part of the valley, and the unit may indicate partly hot water and partly clayey sediments. Observed self-potential anomalies are believed to indicate zones where warm water rises toward the surface. Boiling wells at Bridge, Idaho are near the intersection of north-northeast normal faults which have moved as recently as the late (?) Pleistocene, and an east-northeast structure, probably a right-lateral fault. Deep circulation of ground water in this region of relatively high heat flow and upwelling along faults is the probable cause of the thermal anomaly.
Study Area
| Publication type | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Conference Paper |
| Title | Geology and geophysics of the southern Raft River Valley geothermal area, Idaho, USA |
| Volume | 2 |
| Year Published | 1976 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration |
| Publisher location | Washington, D.C. |
| Contributing office(s) | Energy Resources Program |
| Description | 10 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Book |
| Larger Work Subtype | Conference publication |
| Larger Work Title | Proceedings: second United Nations Symposium on the development and use of geothermal resources, San Francisco, California, USA, 20-29 May 1975 |
| First page | 1273 |
| Last page | 1282 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Idaho |
| Other Geospatial | Raft River Valley |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |