Present Status of Geothermal Exploration in Chile
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VOCALS Site Survey Report
VOCALS Site Survey 30 September – 12 October 2007 Arica, Iquique, Santiago, Chile Brigitte Baeuerle, Henry Boynton, Bob Hannigan, José Meitín, Vidal Salazar, Rob Wood, Pete Daum, Juan Aravena GENERAL INFORMATION: Area 756,950 sq. km Population: 16,284,741 (2007 estimate) Government Type Republic President Michelle Bachelet Jeria Capital City Santiago GDP per capita $12,600 Unemployment Rate 7.8% Life expectancy 77 years Infant Mortality Rate 8.36 death / 1000 life births Currency unit Peso Highest point 22,572 ft (Nevado Ojos del Salado) Main cities Concepción, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso National Holiday Independence Day, 18 September OVERVIEW Chile is unique for its very long (2,650 miles) and comparatively narrow (maximum 250 miles) shape and for its great variety of natural features. It extends from latitudes 18 to 56 degrees south and contains one of the driest regions in the world and one of the wettest areas in South America. It is bound on the north by Peru, on the northeast by Bolivia, on its long eastern border (3,200 miles) by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. In its economy and public services, Chile is one of the most developed countries in the Andean region. Climate: Extending over 38 degrees of latitude, from the tropics to the vicinity of Antarctica, and from sea level to altitudes of over 20,000 feet, Chile has a wide variety of climatic conditions. Extreme aridity prevails over the northern part of the country; the average annual rainfall in this region is 0.04 inches. Temperatures are moderate along the coast throughout the year and more extreme inland, especially in the central basin. -
And Gas-Based Geochemical Prospecting Of
Water- and gas-based geochemical prospecting of geothermal reservoirs in the Tarapacà and Antofagasta regions of northern Chile Tassi, F.1, Aguilera, F.2, Vaselli, O.1,3, Medina, E.2, Tedesco, D.4,5, Delgado Huertas, A.6, Poreda, R.7 1) Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy 2) Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Av. Angamos 0610, 1280, Antofagasta, Chile 3) CNR-IGG Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy 4)Department of Environmental Sciences, 2nd University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy 5) CNR-IGAG National Research Council, Institute of Environmental Geology and Geo-Engineering, Pzz.e A. Moro, 00100 Roma, Italy. 6) CSIS Estacion Experimental de Zaidin, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008, Granada, Spain. 7) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 227 Hutchinson Hall, Rochester, NY 14627, U.S.A.. Studied area The Andean Central Volcanic Zone, which runs parallel the Central Andean Cordillera crossing from North to This study is mainly focused on the geochemical characteristics of water and gas South the Tarapacà and Antofagasta regions of northern Chile, consists of several volcanoes that have shown phases of thermal fluids discharging in several geothermal areas of northern Chile historical and present activity (e.g. Tacora, Guallatiri, Isluga, Ollague, Putana, Lascar, Lastarria). Such an intense (Fig. 1); volcanism is produced by the subduction process thrusting the oceanic Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. The anomalous geothermal gradient related to the geodynamic assessment of this extended area gives El Tatio, Apacheta, Surire, Puchuldiza-Tuya also rise to intense geothermal activity not necessarily associated with the volcanic structures. -
Universita' Degli Studi Di Milano Bicocca
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambiente e Territorio e Scienze della Terra Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienze della Terra XXVI ciclo Earthquake-induced static stress change in promoting eruptions Tutore: Prof. Alessandro TIBALDI Co-tutore: Dott.ssa Claudia CORAZZATO Fabio Luca BONALI Matr. Nr. 040546 This work is dedicated to my uncle Eugenio Marcora who led my interest in Earth Sciences and Astronomy during my childhood Abstract The aim of this PhD work is to study how earthquakes could favour new eruptions, focusing the attention on earthquake-induced static effects in three different case sites. As a first case site, I studied how earthquake-induced crustal dilatation could trigger new eruptions at mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan. Particular attention was then devoted to contribute to the understanding of how earthquake-induced magma pathway unclamping could favour new volcanic activity along the Alaska-Aleutian and Chilean volcanic arcs, where 9 seismic events with Mw ≥ 8 occurred in the last century. Regarding mud volcanoes, I studied the effects of two earthquakes of Mw 6.18 and 6.08 occurred in the Caspian Sea on November 25, 2000 close to Baku city, Azerbaijan. A total of 33 eruptions occurred at 24 mud volcanoes within a maximum distance of 108 km from the epicentres in the five years following the earthquakes. Results show that crustal dilatation might have triggered only 7 eruptions at a maximum distance of about 60 km from the epicentres and within 3 years. Dynamic rather than static strain is thus likely to have been the dominating “promoting” factor because it affected all the studied unrested volcanoes and its magnitude was much larger. -
Field Excursion Report 2010
Presented at “Short Course on Geothermal Drilling, Resource Development and Power Plants”, organized by UNU-GTP and LaGeo, in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, January 16-22, 2011. GEOTHERMAL TRAINING PROGRAMME LaGeo S.A. de C.V. GEOTHERMAL ACTIVITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AMERICA: SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE STATUS IN BOLIVIA, CHILE, ECUADOR AND PERU Ingimar G. Haraldsson United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme Orkustofnun, Grensasvegi 9, 108 Reykjavik ICELAND [email protected] ABSTRACT South America holds vast stores of geothermal energy that are largely unexploited. These resources are largely the product of the convergence of the South American tectonic plate and the Nazca plate that has given rise to the Andes mountain chain, with its countless volcanoes. High-temperature geothermal resources in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru are mainly associated with the volcanically active regions, although low temperature resources are also found outside them. All of these countries have a history of geothermal exploration, which has been reinvigorated with recent changes in global energy prices and the increased emphasis on renewables to combat global warming. The paper gives an overview of their main regions of geothermal activity and the latest developments in the geothermal sector are reviewed. 1. INTRODUCTION South America has abundant geothermal energy resources. In 1999, the Geothermal Energy Association estimated the continent’s potential for electricity generation from geothermal resources to be in the range of 3,970-8,610 MW, based on available information and assuming the use of technology available at that time (Gawell et al., 1999). Subsequent studies have put the potential much higher, as a preliminary analysis of Chile alone assumes a generation potential of 16,000 MW for at least 50 years from geothermal fluids with temperatures exceeding 150°C, extracted from within a depth of 3,000 m (Lahsen et al., 2010). -
The Volcanic Ash Soils of Chile
' I EXPANDED PROGRAM OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE No. 2017 Report to the Government of CHILE THE VOLCANIC ASH SOILS OF CHILE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ROMEM965 -"'^ .Y--~ - -V^^-.. -r~ ' y Report No. 2017 Report CHT/TE/LA Scanned from original by ISRIC - World Soil Information, as ICSU World Data Centre for Soils. The purpose is to make a safe depository for endangered documents and to make the accrued information available for consultation, following Fair Use Guidelines. Every effort is taken to respect Copyright of the materials within the archives where the identification of the Copyright holder is clear and, where feasible, to contact the originators. For questions please contact [email protected] indicating the item reference number concerned. REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OP CHILE on THE VOLCANIC ASH SOILS OP CHILE Charles A. Wright POOL ANL AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OP THE UNITEL NATIONS ROME, 1965 266I7/C 51 iß - iii - TABLE OP CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 RECOMMENDATIONS 1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 3 The nature and composition of volcanic landscapes 3 Vbloanio ash as a soil forming parent material 5 The distribution of voloanic ash soils in Chile 7 Nomenclature used in this report 11 A. ANDOSOLS OF CHILE» GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, FORMATIVE ENVIRONMENT, AND MAIN KINDS OF SOIL 11 1. TRUMAO SOILS 11 General characteristics 11 The formative environment 13 ÈS (i) Climate 13 (ii) Topography 13 (iii) Parent materials 13 (iv) Natural plant cover 14 (o) The main kinds of trumao soils ' 14 2. NADI SOILS 16 General characteristics 16 The formative environment 16 tö (i) Climat* 16 (ii) Topograph? and parent materials 17 (iii) Natural plant cover 18 B. -
Eruptive Activity of Planchón-Peteroa Volcano for Period 2010-2011, Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, Chile
Andean Geology 43 (1): 20-46. January, 2016 Andean Geology doi: 10.5027/andgeoV43n1-a02 www.andeangeology.cl Eruptive activity of Planchón-Peteroa volcano for period 2010-2011, Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, Chile *Felipe Aguilera1, 2, Óscar Benavente3, Francisco Gutiérrez3, Jorge Romero4, Ornella Saltori5, Rodrigo González6, Mariano Agusto7, Alberto Caselli8, Marcela Pizarro5 1 Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Avda. Santa María 0104, Santiago, Chile. 2 Present address: Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avda. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile. [email protected] 3 Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile. [email protected]; [email protected] 4 Centro de Investigación y Difusión de Volcanes de Chile, Proyecto Archivo Nacional de Volcanes, Santiago, Chile. [email protected] 5 Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Geología, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile. [email protected]; [email protected] 6 Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avda. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile. [email protected] 7 Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, 1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. [email protected] 8 Laboratorio de Estudio y Seguimiento de Volcanes Activos (LESVA), Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Roca 1242, (8332) Roca, Argentina. [email protected] * Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT. Planchón-Peteroa volcano started a renewed eruptive period between January 2010 and July 2011. This eruptive period was characterized by the occurrence of 4 explosive eruptive phases, dominated by low-intensity phreatic activity, which produced almost permanent gas/steam columns (200-800 m height over the active crater). -
Energy, Water and Alternatives – Chilean Case Studies
A Global Context and Shared Implications • Change • Uncertainty • Ambiguity Social • Technical Challenge Technical • Expansion • Constraint • Knowledge • Rapid Pace Suzanne A. Pierce Research Assistant Professor Assistant Director Center for International Energy & Environmental Policy Digital Media Collaboratory Jackson School of Geosciences Center for Agile Technology The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin ‘All the instances of scientific development and practice . are as much embedded in politics and cultures as they are creations of the researchers, practitioners, and industries.’ (Paraphrased from Heymann, 2010; Dulay, unpublished image) Common Pool Resources Come into Conflict Integrated Water Resources Management Collaborative processes meld the use of scientific information with citizen participation and technical decision support systems Finding rigorous and effective approaches to science- based resource management and dialogue. IWRM Case Study – Northern Chile Coyahuasi Copper Mine February 2012 Mining Water Energy Multi-Scale Complexity Global demand for Copper drives localized use of energy and water resources Energy and Water Primary Resource Candidates Geothermal: Estimated 3,300 and 16,000 MW potential estimated by the Energy Ministry. Key sites throughout country with highest potential sites currently at Puchuldiza, Tatio, and Tolhuaca. Playa lake: an arid zone feature that is transitional between a playa, which is completely dry most of the year, and a lake (Briere, 2000). In this study, a salar is an internally drained evaporative basin with surface water occurring mostly from spring discharge. Energy Context Installed Capacity: 15.420 MW NextGen: 33.024 MW Per Ministerio de Energía, Perez-Arce, May 2011 Renewables Recurso Eólico Recurso Solar Recurso Hidrológico Recurso Geotérmico (Concesiones) (En desarrollo) Per Ministerio de Energía, Perez-Arce, May 2011 Geothermal Energy Resource Development • Chile has about 3000 volcanoes along the Andes, and ~150 are active. -
Final Copy 2021 03 23 Ituarte
This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Ituarte, Lia S Title: Exploring differential erosion patterns using volcanic edifices as a proxy in South America General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. Exploring differential erosion patterns using volcanic edifices as a proxy in South America Lia S. Ituarte A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Master by Research in the Faculty of Science, School of Earth Sciences, October 2020. -
Effects of Volcanism, Crustal Thickness, and Large Scale Faulting on the He Isotope Signatures of Geothermal Systems in Chile
PROCEEDINGS, Thirty-Eighth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Stanford University, Stanford, California, February 11-13, 2013 SGP-TR-198 EFFECTS OF VOLCANISM, CRUSTAL THICKNESS, AND LARGE SCALE FAULTING ON THE HE ISOTOPE SIGNATURES OF GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS IN CHILE Patrick F. DOBSON1, B. Mack KENNEDY1, Martin REICH2, Pablo SANCHEZ2, and Diego MORATA2 1Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA 2Departamento de Geología y Centro de Excelencia en Geotermia de los Andes, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, CHILE [email protected] agree with previously published results for the ABSTRACT Chilean Andes. The Chilean cordillera provides a unique geologic INTRODUCTION setting to evaluate the influence of volcanism, crustal thickness, and large scale faulting on fluid Measurement of 3He/4He in geothermal water and gas geochemistry in geothermal systems. In the Central samples has been used to guide geothermal Volcanic Zone (CVZ) of the Andes in the northern exploration efforts (e.g., Torgersen and Jenkins, part of Chile, the continental crust is quite thick (50- 1982; Welhan et al., 1988) Elevated 3He/4He ratios 70 km) and old (Mesozoic to Paleozoic), whereas the (R/Ra values greater than ~0.1) have been interpreted Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) in central Chile has to indicate a mantle influence on the He isotopic thinner (60-40 km) and younger (Cenozoic to composition, and may indicate that igneous intrusions Mesozoic) crust. In the SVZ, the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault provide the primary heat source for the associated System, a major intra-arc transpressional dextral geothermal fluids. Studies of helium isotope strike-slip fault system which controls the magmatic compositions of geothermal fluids collected from activity from 38°S to 47°S, provides the opportunity wells, hot springs and fumaroles within the Basin and to evaluate the effects of regional faulting on Range province of the western US (Kennedy and van geothermal fluid chemistry. -
University of Nevada, Reno a Study of Pleistocene Volcano Manantial
University of Nevada, Reno A study of Pleistocene volcano Manantial Pelado, Chile: Unique access to a long history of primitive magmas in the thickened crust of the Southern Andes A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geology by Heather Winslow Dr. Philipp Ruprecht, Thesis Advisor May 2018 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by HEATHER WINSLOW Entitled A Study Of Pleistocene Volcano Manantial Pelado, Chile: Unique Access To A Long History Of Primitive Magmas In The Thickened Crust Of The Southern Andes be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Philipp Ruprecht, Ph.D., Advisor Wenrong Cao, Ph.D., Committee Member Adam Csank, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2018 i ABSTRACT Textural and geochemical analysis of lavas and tephra from a poorly studied, glacially dissected, mafic, stratocone, Manantial Pelado, in the Southern Andean Volcanic Zone was collected to characterize the volcano’s petrogenesis and assess its primitive nature. Manantial Pelado lies within the transitional segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone (35.5°S) amidst thickened crust (~55 km) while surrounded by extensive silicic volcanism such as the Descabezado Grande-Cerro Azul Volcanic Complex. How mafic magmas reached the surface through thickened continental crust is a larger question at hand, but prior to addressing broader processes at work, initial geochemical characterization is necessary. Understanding the full extent of its primitive nature is crucial for broader insight of proximal vent interactions and relationships as well as insight towards magma genesis. -
A Structural and Geochronological Study of Tromen Volcano
Volcanism in a compressional Andean setting: A structural and geochronological study of Tromen volcano (Neuqu`enprovince, Argentina) Olivier Galland, Erwan Hallot, Peter Cobbold, Gilles Ruffet, Jean De Bremond d'Ars To cite this version: Olivier Galland, Erwan Hallot, Peter Cobbold, Gilles Ruffet, Jean De Bremond d'Ars. Vol- canism in a compressional Andean setting: A structural and geochronological study of Tromen volcano (Neuqu`enprovince, Argentina). Tectonics, American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2007, 26 (4), pp.TC4010. <10.1029/2006TC002011>. <insu-00180007> HAL Id: insu-00180007 https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00180007 Submitted on 29 Jun 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destin´eeau d´ep^otet `ala diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publi´esou non, lished or not. The documents may come from ´emanant des ´etablissements d'enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche fran¸caisou ´etrangers,des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou priv´es. TECTONICS, VOL. 26, TC4010, doi:10.1029/2006TC002011, 2007 Volcanism in a compressional Andean setting: A structural and geochronological study of Tromen volcano (Neuque´n province, Argentina) Olivier Galland,1,2 Erwan Hallot,1 Peter R. Cobbold,1 Gilles Ruffet,1 and Jean de Bremond d’Ars1 Received 28 June 2006; revised 6 February 2007; accepted 16 March 2007; published 2 August 2007. [1] We document evidence for growth of an active [3] In contrast, a context of crustal thickening, where the volcano in a compressional Andean setting. -
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work Title Assessment of high enthalpy geothermal resources and promising areas of Chile Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9s55q609 Authors Aravena, D Muñoz, M Morata, D et al. Publication Date 2016 DOI 10.1016/j.geothermics.2015.09.001 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Assessment of high enthalpy geothermal resources and promising areas of Chile Author links open overlay panel DiegoAravena ab MauricioMuñoz ab DiegoMorata ab AlfredoLahsen ab Miguel ÁngelParada ab PatrickDobson c Show more https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2015.09.001 Get rights and content Highlights • We ranked geothermal prospects into measured, Indicated and Inferred resources. • We assess a comparative power potential in high-enthalpy geothermal areas. • Total Indicated and Inferred resource reaches 659 ± 439 MWe divided among 9 areas. • Data from eight additional prospects suggest they are highly favorable targets. • 57 geothermal areas are proposed as likely future development targets. Abstract This work aims to assess geothermal power potential in identified high enthalpy geothermal areas in the Chilean Andes, based on reservoir temperature and volume. In addition, we present a set of highly favorable geothermal areas, but without enough data in order to quantify the resource. Information regarding geothermal systems was gathered and ranked to assess Indicated or Inferred resources, depending on the degree of confidence that a resource may exist as indicated by the geoscientific information available to review. Resources were estimated through the USGS Heat in Place method. A Monte Carlo approach is used to quantify variability in boundary conditions.