Fluid-Rock Interactions in a Paleo-Geothermal Reservoir (Noble Hills Granite, California, USA). Part 1: Granite Pervasive Alteration Processes away from Fracture Zones

• Published in: Geosciences (Basel) 2021-08, Vol.11 (8), p.325
• Main Authors: Klee, Johanne, Potel, Sébastien, Ledésert, Béatrice A., Hébert, Ronan L., Chabani, Arezki, Barrier, Pascal, Trullenque, Ghislain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Calcite; Chemical composition; Clay minerals; Crystals; Drilling; Earth science; Earth Sciences; element variations; Fault lines; fluid/rock interactions; Fracture zones; Geochemistry; Geology; Granite; Hills; Illite; Illites; Kaolinite; Lithology; metamorphic grade; Mica; Mineralogy; Montmorillonite; Montmorillonites; Mountains; newly formed minerals; Noble Hills granite; Owlshead Mountains granite; Oxides; Permeability; Petrography; Porosity; Reservoirs; Rocks; Sciences of the Universe; Scientific imaging; Smectites; Temperature gradients; Weathering
• ISSN: 2076-3263; 2076-3263
• DOI: 10.3390/geosciences11080325

Only few data from geothermal exploited reservoirs are available due to the restricted accessibility by drilling, which limits the understanding of the entire reservoir. Thus, analogue investigations are needed and were performed in the framework of the H2020 MEET project. The Noble Hills range, located along the southern branch of the Death Valley pull-apart (CA, USA), has been selected as a possible granitic paleo-reservoir. The aim is to characterize the pervasive alteration processes affecting this granite, away from the influence of the faults, in terms of mineralogical, petrophysical and chemical changes. Various methods were used as petrographic, geochemical and petrophysical analyses. Mineral changes, clay mineralogy, bulk rock chemical composition, calcite content and porosity were determined on different granite samples, collected in the Noble Hills granite, far from the faults and in the Owlshead Mountains, north of the Noble Hills, considered as its protolith. In order to complete the granite characterization, the metamorphic grade has been studied through the Noble Hills granite body. This complete characterization has allowed distinguishing the occurrence of three stages of alteration: (1) a pervasive propylitic alteration characterized by calcite-corrensite-epidote-K-white mica assemblage, (2) a more local one, only present in the Noble Hills granite, producing illite, kaolinite, illite/smectite, calcite and oxides, characteristic of the argillic alteration, which overprints the propylitic alteration and (3) weathering evidenced by the presence of montmorillonite in the Owlshead Mountains, which is considered as negligible in both granites. Alteration was also outlined by the correlation of the loss on ignition, representing the hydration rate, to porosity, calcite content and chemical composition. Moreover, the Kübler Index calculated from illite crystals allowed to identify a NW-SE temperature gradient in the Noble Hills.