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The deep thermal field of the Glueckstadt Graben

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Abstract

With this paper, we assess the present-day conductive thermal field of the Glueckstadt Graben in NW Germany that is characterized by large salt walls and diapirs structuring the graben fill. We use a finite element method to calculate the 3D steady-state conductive thermal field based on a lithosphere-scale 3D structural model that resolves the first-order structural characteristics of the graben and its underlying lithosphere. Model predictions are validated against measured temperatures in six deep wells. Our investigations show that the interaction of thickness distributions and thermal rock properties of the different geological layers is of major importance for the distribution of temperatures in the deep subsurface of the Glueckstadt Graben. However, the local temperatures may result from the superposed effects of different controlling factors. Especially, the upper sedimentary part of the model exhibits huge lateral temperature variations, which correlate spatially with the shape of the thermally highly conductive Permian salt layer. Variations in thickness and geometry of the salt cause two major effects, which provoke considerable lateral temperature variations for a given depth. (1) The “chimney effect” causes more efficient heat transport within salt diapirs. As a consequence positive thermal anomalies develop in the upper part and above salt structures, where the latter are covered by much less conductive sediments. In contrast, negative thermal anomalies are noticeable underneath salt structures. (2) The “thermal blanketing effect” is caused by thermally low conductive sediments that provoke the local storage of heat where these insulating sediments are present. The latter effect leads to both local and regional thermal anomalies. Locally, this translates to higher temperatures where salt margin synclines are filled with thick insulating clastic sediments. For the regional anomalies the cumulative insulating effects of the entire sediment fill results in a long-wavelength variation of temperatures in response to heat refraction effects caused by the contrast between insulating sediments and highly conductive crystalline crust. Finally, the longest wavelength of temperature variations is caused by the depth position of the isothermal lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary defining the regional variations of the overall geothermal gradient. We find that a conductive thermal model predicts observed temperatures reasonably well for five of the six available wells, whereas the steady-state conductive approach appears not to be valid for the sixth well.

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Acknowledgments

We thank R. Kirsch and colleagues from the State Agency for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas in Schleswig–Holstein for feedback on observed temperatures and for helpful discussions. The results have been obtained in the frame of a bachelor thesis project that received financial support from the project GeoEn funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the programme “Spitzenforschung in den neuen Ländern” (BMBF grant 03G0767A/B/C). We appreciate the valuable input provided by two anonymous reviewers, which helped to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    Philipp Balling

  2. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Yuriy Maystrenko & Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth

  3. Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), Trondheim, Norway

    Yuriy Maystrenko

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  1. Philipp Balling
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Correspondence to Philipp Balling.

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Balling, P., Maystrenko, Y. & Scheck-Wenderoth, M. The deep thermal field of the Glueckstadt Graben. Environ Earth Sci 70, 3505–3522 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2750-z

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