Catalog of geothermal play types based on geologic controls

The key element in the characterization, assessment and development of geothermal energy systems is the resource type. Throughout the past 30 years many resource type schemes and definitions were published, based on temperature and thermodynamic properties. An alternative possibility to cataloging geothermal energy systems is by their geologic characteristics, referred to as geothermal plays. Applied to worldwide case studies, a new catalog is developed based on the effects of geological controls and structural plate tectonic positions on thermal regime and heat flow, hydrogeologic regime, fluid dynamics, fluid chemistry, faults and fractures, stress regime, and lithological sequence. Understanding geologic…