Research article Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology Published online November 17, 2016 https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2016-053 | Vol. 49 | 2016 | pp. 350–363 Geothermal exploration in the Fell Sandstone Formation (Mississippian) beneath the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: the Newcastle Science Central Deep Geothermal Borehole Paul L. Younger1,2, David A. C. Manning1,3, David Millward4, Jonathan P. Busby5, Charles R. C. Jones6 & Jonathan G. Gluyas7* 1 Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS), Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK 2 Present address: School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK 3 School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Drummond Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK 4 British Geological Survey, The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK 5 British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK 6 Mott MacDonald, 22 Station Road, Cambridge CB1 2JD, UK 7 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: The postulate that geothermal energy might be recoverable from strata laterally equivalent to the Fell Sandstone Formation (Carboniferous: Mississippian) beneath Newcastle upon Tyne has been examined by the drilling and testing of the 1821 m deep Newcastle Science Central Deep Geothermal Borehole. This proved 376.5 m of Fell Sandstone Formation below 1400 m, much of which resembled braided river deposits found at outcrop, although some lower portions were reddened and yielded grains of aeolian affinity. Downhole logging after attainment of thermal equilibrium proved a temperature of 73°C at 1740 m, and allowed estimation of heat flow at about 88 mW m−2.