| Abstract |
As part of a large-scale update of the 2004 Geothermal Map of North America, Arizona and New Mexico were designated as a specific study area. An additional 932 published heat flow measurements from the study area were analyzed for the update. Of these measurements, 930, all but two, are from American Metals Climax (AMAX). The measurements were primarily located in the Rio Grande Rift and Basin and Range geologic provinces. The addition of the AMAX dataset infers lower heat flow in the Basin and Range in many places. Many of the wells were too shallow (less than 100 meters) to have been reliable indicators and, therefore, were excluded from the final contouring. 814 conventional heat flow measurements were added in the study area for the final contouring. Location quality of AMAX data in the Basin and Range is low because USGS quadrangles are the only location information. In contrast to the Basin and Range data, the AMAX data for the Rio Grande Rift confirmed high heat flow and even increased heat flow in areas, highlighting potential areas for further exploration. In addition to the conventional heat flow measurements, the 2011 update also included the addition of bottom-hole temperature (BHT) data from the AAPG Geothermal Survey of North America dataset. These BHT measurements were used to calculate heat flow for 370 wells. Primarily located in sedimentary basins, the addition of BHT values generally supported the conventional heat flow measurements in the area and resulted in increased data density of the map. New BHT calculations for the Colorado Plateau in Northeast Arizona were helpful in confirming lower heat flow where very little data were previously available. Temperature-depth data are a useful calibration tool for BHT data but were only available for the San Juan Basin. Temperature-atdepth maps produced for the study area highlight many areas containing high temperatures. |