Implications of thrust and detachment faulting for the structural geology of the Thermo Hot Springs KGRA, Utah (OFR-587)

By: W. Anderson and R. L. Bruhn

The Sevier geothermal anomaly of southwestern Utah encompasses a broad region of enhanced heat flow with seven known high-temperature geothermal resource areas or "KGRA". The anomaly also encompasses the transition between the Colorado Plateau and the eastern Basin and Range Province, where the Paleozoic miogeocline was collapsed eastward by thrust faulting during the Cretaceous to early Tertiary Sevier orogeny, which also partially overlapped in space and time with the Laramide deformation in the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains.

This research project is an initial investigation into the role that low-angle faulting may play in the structure and permeability of geothermal reservoirs within the Sevier geothermal anomaly of southwestern Utah. The research consists of: (1) inspection of drill cuttings, thermal logs, and one available extended range micro-image (XRMI) scanner log for evidence of faulting at roughly similar stratigraphic position in the KGRA, and (2) inspection of stratigraphic sections and structures in analog outcrops from the central and southern Mineral Mountains for comparison with the lithology, deformation and alteration of drill hole samples and logging data. The primary focus in this 23-page report is determining the stratigraphy and evidence for or against low-angle thrust and/or detachment faulting.

Other Information:
Published: 2012
Pages: 23 p.
Location: Beaver County