Abstract
The Gonghe Basin Complex is a pull-apart basin located in the Northeastern Qinghai–Tibet plateau (Qinghai, China) displaying several geothermal features, such as high geothermal gradients and hot springs. The adjacent mountain ranges and the basement are comprised of granitoid rocks, which, at sufficient depth and temperature, are suitable for deep enhanced geothermal systems. Nonetheless, the origin of the heat source mechanisms is not conclusively determined so far. The presented study provides insights of the radiogenic heat productions of the Gonghe Basin Complex and its surroundings. In total, 30 newly sampled Triassic, Silurian, Ordovician, and Devonian intrusive rocks were extracted from outcrops in the surroundings and within the Gonghe Basin Complex, of which one sample was retrieved from exploration well DR2 at c. 1800 m. Samples were analyzed by thin section analysis and a petrographic description is provided. To geochemically characterize the samples, X-ray fluorescence measurements were performed, and radiogenic heat productions were subsequently calculated. Additionally, analysis of 341 intrusive, 105 extrusive, 155 sedimentary, and 76 metamorphic rocks of the Qinling–Qilianshan–Kunlunshan were taken from the literature and compared to the data sampled in the Gonghe Basin Complex. As evidenced in the presented research, the radiogenic heat production values measured in the Gonghe Basin Complex are within the highest calculated for the Qinling-Qilianshan-Kunlunshan. However, radiogenic heat production rates in the Gonghe Basin Complex range from < 1 µW m−3 in tonalites to > 5 µW m−3 in two-mica granites and syenogranites. Nonetheless, average heat productions analyzed do not evidence large intrusions of HHP (high heat producing) granitoids as a source of the geothermal features in the Gonghe Basin Complex.
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Availability of data and materials
Geochemical datasets for this research are available at Weinert et al. (2020b, https://doi.org/10.25534/tudatalib-260) and petrophysical properties under Weinert et al. (2020a, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8808-9). Few samples are stored at the archive at the Technical University of Darmstadt and may be requested from the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Hendrik Biewer and Alica De Witt for their support in sampling, sample preparation and measuring. Furthermore, the authors thank Qinghai Guo and Xiaobo Zhang for their dedicated support during the field campaign. The authors are also grateful to Jürgen Schreuer and his team at Ruhr-Universität Bochum for analyzing the samples. This study was partly financed by the DAAD (“Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst”) by means of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the CSC (“Chinese Scholarship Council”). Furthermore, the authors thank for the financial support by the DFG in the framework of the Excellence Initiative, Darmstadt Graduate School of Excellence Energy Science and Engineering [GSC 1070].
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Weinert, S., Bär, K., Scheuvens, D. et al. Radiogenic heat production of crystalline rocks in the Gonghe Basin Complex (northeastern Qinghai–Tibet plateau, China). Environ Earth Sci 80, 270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09558-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09558-x