Detecting natural fractures with ground penetrating radar and airborne night-thermal infrared imagery around Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA

•Ground penetrating radar around Old Faithful Geyser detected intersecting fractures.•Thermal infrared trends are consistent with “blind” fractures.•Thermal infrared trends are consistent with mapped Old Faithful fractures.•Ground penetrating radar detected fractures in Yellowstone National Park.•Co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geothermics 2020-05, Vol.85, p.101775-12, Article 101775
Main Authors: Jaworowski, Cheryl, Lynne, Bridget Y., Heasler, Henry, Foley, Duncan, Smith, Isaac J., Smith, Gary J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airborne radar
Fluid flow
Fractures
Geothermal power
Geysers
Ground penetrating radar
Hydrothermal systems
Infrared imagery
Infrared radar
National parks
Night
Old Faithful fractures
Old Faithful Geyser
Radar
Thermal infrared
Trends
Yellowstone National Park
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Summary:•Ground penetrating radar around Old Faithful Geyser detected intersecting fractures.•Thermal infrared trends are consistent with “blind” fractures.•Thermal infrared trends are consistent with mapped Old Faithful fractures.•Ground penetrating radar detected fractures in Yellowstone National Park.•Combined tools contribute new information about the shallow hydrothermal system. Both surface and shallow (∼3 m depth) subsurface natural fractures exist around the siliceous sinter cone of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Surface fracture trends identified using night-thermal infrared (TIR) imagery are consistent with previously mapped fault and fracture trends in the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful area. An April 2015 ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the Old Faithful Geyser cone detected similar “blind” subsurface fracture trends around the siliceous sinter cone of Old Faithful Geyser. Intersecting NE and NW as well as WNW and ENE trends in the shallow subsurface provide potential fracture pathways for the flow of hydrothermal fluids around Old Faithful Geyser. Both the TIR and GPR techniques contribute new information on the permeable pathways around Old Faithful Geyser.
ISSN:0375-6505
1879-3576
DOI:10.1016/j.geothermics.2019.101775