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- Title
Short Duration Aquifer Test within a Fractured Crystalline Basement Reservoir, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
- Authors
Pepin, J. D.; Butler Jr., J. J.; Folsom, M.; Witcher, J. C.; Sherman, M.; Grano, R.; Person, M. A.
- Abstract
Recent 2D hydrothermal modeling efforts published by Pepin et al. (2015) suggest that the low-temperature (~41°C) geothermal system in Truth or Consequences, NM is characterized by deep (2-8 km) groundwater circulation within permeable (10-12 m²) fractured crystalline rocks. Their models were constrained by geochemistry, temperature, flow velocity, and carbon-14 data but lack calibration to aquifer test data. On June 13, 2015, we conducted an aquifer test in a newly drilled 73-meter deep geothermal well within the town's hot-springs district. The production interval of this well is 24 meters long and is within fractured Precambrian metamorphic rocks. We installed pressure transducers in the production well and in two observation wells to monitor water levels during the test. The production rate averaged 1.8 x 10-2 m³/s (283 gpm) and the two observation wells were located 20 and 38 meters away from the production well, respectively. The two observation wells were shallower and completed in Quaternary alluvium. Production well water levels oscillated during the first two minutes of the aquifer test due to inertial effects. Net drawdown in the production well after 97 minutes of pumping was approximately 0.6 meters, while minimal drawdown was evidenced in the observation wells. Applying the Cooper-Jacob model provided a transmissivity estimate of 1.1 x 104 m²/day and thereby a permeability range of 5 x 10-10 to 2 x 10-12 m². These results are further evidence that the crystalline basement rocks within the Rio Grande Rift can be remarkably permeable when significantly fractured.
- Subjects
TRUTH or Consequences (N.M.); NEW Mexico; AQUIFERS; CRYSTALLINITY; RESERVOIRS; GEOTHERMAL resources
- Publication
New Mexico Journal of Science, 2015, Vol 49, Issue 1, p39
- ISSN
0270-3017
- Publication type
Article