3D VISUALISATION MODEL OF THE TAUPO VOLCANIC ZONE BASEMENT S.A. Alcaraz 1, M.S. Rattenbury 2, M.D. Rosenberg 1, S. Soengkono 1, G. Bignall 1 and H. van Moerkerk 3 1 GNS Science, Wairakei Research Centre, Private Bag 2000, Taupo 3352, New Zealand 2 GNS Science, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand 3 ARANZ Geo Ltd., PO Box 3894, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
[email protected] Keywords: 3D modelling, 3D visualisation, calderas, 2001). The TVZ has been drilled for geothermal and Taupo Volcanic Zone, Torlesse Supergroup, Leapfrog mineral exploration, with recent drilling including Geothermal exploration, production and injection of deep geothermal boreholes. These boreholes are providing new information ABSTRACT on the geology and structure of several TVZ geothermal The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ; ~350 km long, ~60 km systems, including Wairakei-Tauhara (Rosenberg et al., wide) constitutes the southern portion of the active Lau- 2009; Bignall et al., 2010; Alcaraz et al., 2010), Ohaaki Havre-Taupo extensional back arc basin, and formed by (Milicich et al., 2008; Milicich et al., 2010b), Kawerau extension of crust above the Hikurangi subduction zone in (Milicich et al., 2010a; Alcaraz, 2010) and Ngatamariki the central North Island. The fault-controlled depression is (Bignall, 2009). infilled by Quaternary volcanic rock and sediments, with the top of underlying basement greywacke displaced up to In recent years, the New Zealand geothermal community 1-2 km below sea level. has come to consider the potential of untapped, deeper and hotter geothermal resources in the TVZ – i.e. beyond the 1 A geological basement model of top surface of the Torlesse to 3 km depth interval that defines most of the >240°C greywacke in the TVZ is presented.