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| Map of NE England showing the principal geological features and selected deep boreholes. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2016. Geological data are from the British Geological Survey DiGMapGB © NERC 2015 |
The postulate that geothermal energy might be recoverable from strata laterally equivalent to the Fell Sandstone Formation (Carboniferous: Mississippian) beneath Newcastle upon Tyne has been examined by the drilling and testing of the 1821 m deep Newcastle Science Central Deep Geothermal Borehole.
This proved 376.5 m of Fell Sandstone Formation below 1400 m, much of which resembled braided river deposits found at outcrop, although some lower portions were reddened and yielded grains of aeolian affinity.
Downhole logging after attainment of thermal equilibrium proved a temperature of 73°C at 1740 m, and allowed estimation of heat flow at about 88 mW m−2. This relatively high value probably reflects deep convective transfer of heat over a distance of >8 km from the North Pennine Batholith, along the Ninety Fathom Fault.
Younger, Paul L.; Manning, David A.C.; Millward, David; Busby, Jonathan P.; Jones, Charles R.C.; Gluyas, Jonathan G.. 2016 Geothermal exploration in the Fell Sandstone Formation (Mississippian) beneath the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: the Newcastle Science Central Deep Geothermal Borehole. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 49 (4). 350-363. 10.1144/qjegh2016-053