Geothermal Atlas of the Sudetes and their foreland
Project start date: 01.2021
Project end date: 12.2024
Founding: National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW)
The deep thermal waters in the Sudetes and its foreland are mainly fissured waters and are most often located within steep and deep tectonic zones, while in other areas of Poland the underground waters usually occur in extensive layered collectors made of sedimentary rocks. Due to the nature of the thermal waters, the task "Geothermal Atlas of the Sudetes and their foreland" aims to continue the identification of tectonic discontinuities in terms of the potential occurrences of thermal waters using research methods developed in the course of the already completed tasks "Recent faults and fracture zones vs. geothermal conditions in the Sudetes and their foreland in the light of geochronological, structural and thermometric investigations - stages I and II ", i.e. magnetotelluric, seismic, electric resistivity tomography and radiometric research across key tectonic zones. A thorough reconnaissance of the surface and underground distribution of rock petrophysical parameters (thermal conductivity, radiogenic heat, specific heat, density) is crucial for thermal field modeling of the prospective regions of Lower Silesia. To obtain rock material for systematic petrophysical investigations, intensive field campaigns and selection of samples from existing rock cores are carried out. It is also planned to conduct geophysical surveys in the existing geothermal boreholes, which will provide additional information for modeling and thermal analyses.
At the same time, a synthesis of the research and archive data is carried out in terms of the possibility of the occurrence of thermal waters, in order to present them together with the newly acquired data and analyses, as possibly the most complete picture of the geothermal potential for selected areas of the Sudetes and their foreland. The Geothermal Atlas of the Sudetes and their foreland will also include a synthesis of the research carried out on the potential of low-temperature geothermal energy.