Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Oct 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995gecoa..59.3887m&link_type=abstract
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 59, Issue 19, pp.3887-3907
Mathematics
Logic
2
Scientific paper
The Geysers, California, is the site of a long-lived hydrothermal system that initially developed 1.5-2 m.y. ago in response to the intrusion of a hypabyssal granitic pluton. Although wells drilled into The Geysers produce only dry steam, fluid inclusion, isotopic, and mineralogic data demonstrate that the present vapor-dominated regime evolved from an earlier and more extensive, liquid-dominated hydrothermal system. Circulation of these early fluids produced veins characterized by tourmaline ± biotite ± actinolite ± clinopyroxene within the pluton and adjacent biotite-rich hornfels, actinolite ± ferroaxinite ± epidote and epidote ± chlorite within the intermediate parts of the thermal system and calcite in the outer parts. Potassium feldspar and quartz are present in all assemblages. Pressure-corrected homogenization temperatures and apparent salinities of fluid inclusions trapped in vein minerals range from 440°C and 44 wt% NaCl equivalent within the hornfels (<600 m from the pluton) to 325°C and 5 wt% NaCl equivalent at distances of approximately 1500 m from the intrusion. We suggest that the shallow, moderate salinity fluids are connate waters modified by water-rock interactions while the high-salinity fluids are interpreted as magmatic brines. Halite-dissolution temperatures of inclusions in the hornfels and pluton indicate that the magmatic fluids were trapped at lithostatic pressures (300-900 bars). In contrast, homogenization temperatures of the connate fluids suggest trapping under hydrostatic pressures of less than several hundred bars. Whole-rock 18 O values of samples from The Geysers display systematic variations with respect to depth, location within the field, and grade of alteration. At depths below +610 m relative to mean sea level, the 18 O values are strongly zoned around a northwest-southeast trending low located near the center of the steam reservoir. As the pluton beneath The Geysers is approached, the 18 O values decrease from approximately + 14 per mil near the surface to +4 to +7 per mil within the hornfels. The 18 O values then increase to +8 to + 10 per mil at the intrusive contact, and thereafter, vary little within the pluton. Calculated rock-water fractionation factors suggest that temperature was the dominant control on the vertical decrease in the isotopic values of the reservoir rocks. In contrast, the increase in the 18 O values within the hornfels suggest equilibration with an isotopically heavy fluid and/or decreasing water:rock ratios. The formation of vapor-dominated conditions is reflected in the abrupt appearance of low salinity (0.0-0.4 wt% NaCl equivalent) fluid inclusions with homogenization temperatures near 265°C. These inclusion fluids are thought to represent steam condensate that formed as the early liquid-dominated system boiled off. Bladed calcite, which is corroded in places, and late-stage clays provide mineralogic evidence of boiling and the formation of an acidic condensate in the upper part of the reservoir and in the overlying caprock. At greater depths, however, clear mineralogic evidence of boiling is lacking. The present vapor-dominated regime at The Geysers consists of two hydraulically connected steam reservoirs. Within the main steam reservoir, pressures are vaporstatic and temperatures are nearly constant at 240°C. Beneath this reservoir in the northwestern third of the field, temperatures as high as 342°C have been encountered. Wells drilled into this deeper reservoir discharge corrosive, Cl-bearing steam.
Gunderson Richard P.
Moore Joseph N.
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