Canada:

Snowmelt as Indicators of Geothermal Activity (The Rocky Mountain Goat)

(Courtesy The Rocky Mountain Goat)

Spots of bare ground among the snow might be good examples of what geologists want to see when looking for geothermal potential – spots where the heat beneath the ground is seeping to the surface along faults, fissures, and cracks in the crust.

Craig Dunn, chief geologist for Borealis Geopower explained that when looking for geothermal potential, either for power generation or for direct use like district heating projects or greenhouses, you are not looking for water, but for areas of heat flow. Changes in vegetation may indicate that, but in our Canadian environment, snow melting first is the easiest to notice. Dunn says that in areas that have a higher than average surface temperature, a 30 centimeter probe into the ground can indicate areas of interest for geothermal exploration.

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