A thought-provoking EarthByte Seminar (15th May)!
Nick Mortimer from GNS Science’s Dunedin office, and an Honorary Associate at the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, will give an interesting talk with the title ”Basement terrane crustal structure under Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: a context for supercritical geothermal resources”
Seminar Details:
- Date: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
- Time: 11 am – 12 pm AEDT
- Location: Geoscience Conference Room 449, online
- Zoom Link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/81189495319?pwd=Ag8wRvMgFJprXliHjWjMBgk3pt6wLA.1&from=addon
Basement terrane crustal structure under Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: a context for supercritical geothermal resources
GNS Science is partway through a five-year multi-faceted research programme to investigate supercritical geothermal resources for future electricity generation. These resources potentially occur at greater depth under the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) than New Zealand’s present geothermal fields.
One research strand in the programme was to revisit and refine interpretations of mid-crustal structure and rock rheology. To do this, crustal basement xenoliths and ignimbrite clasts were sampled and analysed, and seismicity and P-wave velocity profiles interpreted. Results indicate the gently west-dipping rather than the subvertically-dipping terrane geometry under the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
