Assessing Structural Controls on Geothermal Fluids from a Three-dimensional Geophysical Model of Warner Valley, Oregon USA (original) (raw)

Warner Valley in southern Oregon (USA) is the site of a geothermal system that hosts several hotsprings in addition to Crump geyser – a geysering well that soon after being drilled in 1959 underwent frequent eruptions of boiling water. This, and thermochemical studies that estimate reservoir temperatures of 150°C, have prompted ongoing geological and geophysical investigations. Warner Valley is situated in a tectonically complex region in the northwest corner of the Great Basin - a basin and range province characterized by east-west extension. The regional geology consists predominantly of Neogene volcanics that have been faulted by a series of obliquely oriented NW and NNE-trending extensional faults. The valley forms an asymmetric graben, with the NNEtrending range front fault along the west Warner escarpement exposing over 600m of section. Warner Valley seems to be similar to other extensional geothermal systems in the Great Basin, which arise from deep circulation of meteoric wa...