Alaska geothermal features

1
Alaska geothermal resource inventory

• Statewide inventories by USGS, UAF, State of
  Alaska conducted episodically until the mid 1980s
• About 110 sites were identified with geothermal
  features at the surface
• These have (almost) all been described, measured,
  mapped, sampled
• Little resource inventory work has been done
  since the mid 80s
• Surface work is reasonably complete
• Funding for geothermal resource investigation was
  very limited during cheap-oil times
• Christopher Nye, Alaska DNR Geological
  Geophysical Surveys

2
Alaska geothermal features
3
Alaska geothermal take-away points

• We know where geothermal resources bleed to the
  surface, and variable amounts about the quality
  of those resources.
• Geothermal resources form under unusual
  conditions which permit water to be much hotter
  than normal near the surface.
• Individual resources have small footprints and
  are widely separated from their neighbors.
• To be a resource the hot ground must be shallow
  enough to be economically reachable, hot enough,
  and in a reservoir with sufficient water and
  permeability.
• We have very little knowledge of resources hidden
  at depth. We dont know IF they exist or how to
  effectively target exploration efforts.

Circle hot springs
Makushin test well