Jacek Majorowicz

University of Alberta | UAlberta · Department of Physics

Heat flow (Q) determined from bottom-hole temperatures measured in oil and gas wells in Alberta show a large scatter with values ranging from 40 to 90mWm–2. Only two precise measurements of heat flow were previously reported in Alberta, and were made more than half a century ago. These were made in wells located near Edmonton, Alberta, and penetrat...

Canadian well temperature logs for 141 sites are analyzed and show evidence of extensive ground surface temperature (GST) warming beginning in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries following a lengthy period of cooling (the Little Ice Age) over most of the past millennium. The method of functional space inversion (FSI) is applied to the complete...

The Cordillera of western Canada lies in a region of oceanic and island-arc lithosphere accreted to North America during subductions of the last 200 Ma. Magnetometer arrays have shown the crust of the region to be highly conductive. Magnetotelluric (MT) soundings across the Intermontane and Omineca tectonic belts between 50°N and 54°N reveal struct...

Heat flow variations with depth in Europe can be explained by a model of surface temperature changes >10°C. New heat flow map of Europe is based on updated database of uncorrected heat flow values to which paleoclimatic correction is applied across the continent. Correction is depth dependent due to a diffusive thermal transfer of the surface tempe...

Rapid gas hydrate release (the “clathrate gun” hypothesis) has been invoked as a cause for the rapid global warming and associated negative carbon isotope excursion observed during the Latest Permian Extinction (LPE). We modeled the stability of gas hydrates through a warming Middle to Late Permian world, considering three settings for methane rese...

Gain of heat and temperature in the shallow subsurface over the last decades/century has been impacted by the industrial period climatic surface air temperature (SAT) increase. Detailed study of the available temperature-depth data based on 43 wells with single and repeated temperature logs done by the first author has been combined with data base...

We examined the geothermal energy resources of the Northwest Territories (NWT), with particular focus on remote communities with higher geothermal resource potential. The broad area of eastern NWT underlain by the Canadian Shield has low heat flow and geothermal gradients limiting resources largely to heat pump systems, or potentially Enhanced Geot...

Heat flow patterns variability related to the age of the consolidated, and differences in, sedimentary thickness of the sedimentary succession are important constraints upon the thermal state of the sedimentary fill and its geothermal energy potential. Heat flow in the Permian basin of central Europe varies from a low of 40 mWm −2 in the Precambria...

Here we examine the potential of sedimentary basin derived geothermal heat and power production for small communities (populations >3k-<10k), with specific focus on the Canadian province of Alberta, which is underlain by the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). The range of feasible net geothermal heat and geothermal power production was assess...

Functional space inversions (FSI) of precise temperature logs from 43 wells, located in low conductivity clastic sediments of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, (WCSB), reveal evidence of extensive, recent ground surface temperature (GST) warming. Simultaneous inversion of log data acquired during the period of 1987-2005, as well as averaging...

We summarize the feasibility of using geothermal energy from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to support communities with populations >3000 people, including those in northeastern British Columbia, southwestern part of Northwest Territories (NWT), southern Saskatchewan, and southeastern Manitoba, along with previously studied communities...

We examined the potential of geothermal energy to supply power and heat for larger communities (population > 10,000) located over the Alberta Basin in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). The major cities and seven towns in Alberta examined, with a combined total population of >2,500,000 people, were scrutinized for their geothermal poten...

Poland is situated in a place of contacts between three continental scale geologic structural units: the Precambrian East European Craton (EEC) to the northeast, the Variscan West European Platform (WEP) terranes to the southwest, and the younger Carpathian Alpine arc in the south. The Trans-European suture zone (TESZ) between the EEC and WEP is a...

This paper presents a review of geophysical studies of the crust and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) in the ocean-continent transition in the area of Spitsbergen (Svalbard Archipelago) in high Arctic. Over last decades many investigations were performed during Polish geophysical expeditions, as well as in the framework of international...

Abstract. Low efficiency of turbines used in geothermal power production, along with large power demand for geothermal fluid pumping, limits use of geothermal resources for power production in the Canadian low to mid enthalpy basins. Much larger areas of Canadian sedimentary basins have potential for geothermal direct heating, but use will be depen...

The relation between heat flow, topography and Moho depth for recent maps of Europe is presented. Newest heat flow map of Europe is based on updated database of uncorrected heat flow values to which paleoclimatic correction is applied across the continental Europe (Majorowicz and Wybraniec 2010). Correction is depth dependent due to a diffusive thermal...

Geotherms of four crustal profiles across the Variscan orogen in SW Poland have been constructed to better understand the variation in thermal state of the region. Seismic and drilling data as well as rock sequences in exposed parts of the orogen were used for Wilcza Góra (Sudetic Block), Polkowice-Rudna (Middle Odra Horst), Święciechowa (Wolsztyn-...

High-resolution 3D seismic P-wave velocity model of Poland (Grad et al., Tectonophysics 666:188–210, 2016) and corrected for paleoclimate heat flow map (Majorowicz and Wybraniec, Int J Earth Sci 100(4):881–887, 2011) gridded to a common mesh are used together with four independent thermal models of the crust and upper mantle to calculate heat flow...

Equilibrium temperature data from shafts in a mining area of SW Poland in the Paleozoic Platform were used for heat-flow calculations. A new technique to calculate paleoclimatic correction for heat-flow determination from single deep temperature data and equilibrium surface temperatures was applied. Elevated surface heat flow of 82–87 mW m−2 and ma...

Previous estimates of geothermal energy potential in Canada give an indication of available heat to be �farmed� at depth. This article examines in more detail depth–temperature relationships near large population centers in western Canada, as well as remote communities in northern Canada, in order to provide a first order assessment of Enhanced Geo...

Seismic P- and S-wave velocities of the lower lithosphere and underlying asthenosphere at the SW margin of the East European Craton in northern Poland were obtained with different seismic techniques: seismic refraction, P-residuals of the first arrivals from teleseismic earthquakes, P-wave receiver function, and inversion of the Rayleigh surface wa...

Comparison of the map of anomalies in GST warming with lands cover map shows that the warming is unlikely related to land use as most of the data are in areas where not much clearing took place. Also, the data show large regional variability of the GST histories with very high GST warming in ridge like areas north and east of the Great Lakes, and c...

Studies of the thermal state of the sedimentary basin in Western and Northern Canada have shown that there is no definitive explanation of the source of heat from the old Precambrian crust below the sediments and the ways this is redistributed through the Phanerozoic succession. Interpretations of recently compiled Precambrian heat production data...

Using a previously published temperature log of the 2363-m-deep borehole Hunt well (Alberta, Canada) and the results of its previous interpretation, the new reconstructions of ground surface temperature and surface heat flux histories for the last 30 ka have been obtained. Two ways to adjust the timescale of geothermal reconstructions are discussed...

Abstract Seismic P- and S-wave velocities of the lower lithosphere and underlying asthenosphere at the SW margin of the East European Craton in northern Poland were obtained with different seismic techniques: seismic refraction, P-residuals of the first arrivals from teleseismic earthquakes, P-wave receiver function, and inversion of the Rayleigh s...

Geothermal potential of Hinton, Alberta are has been recently getting attention in the scientific papers and in the Alberta media (CBCetc„). In fact, the area is in the deepest part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin WCSB and due to this large depth and at moderate geothermal gradient temperatures as high as 150 C were measured (Kushibor et.al....

The NE margin of Variscan Orogen in Europe comprises Sudety Mts., Fore-Sudetic Block, Odra Fault Zone and Fore-Sudetic Homocline. The Sudety Mts. together with the located to the NE Fore-Sudetic Block form NE part of the Bohemian Massif. The Variscan crystalline basement is exposed at the surface here. The Odra Fault Zone is situated further to the...

Using a previously published temperature log of the 2363-m-deep borehole Hunt well (Alberta, Canada) and the results of its previous interpretation, the new reconstructions of ground surface temperature and surface heat flux histories for the last 30 ka have been obtained. Two ways to adjust the timescale of geothermal reconstructions are discussed...

The analysis of the warming/cooling patterns from inversion of 94 well temperature logs for the study area of Central Canada shows very high variability (−1 to 3 °C). Analysis of the warming/cooling patterns in last 2–3 centuries indicates that warming has not affected the whole study area and some surface areas have significantly cooled. Regions o...

Abstract Heat flow high −80 ± 10 mW/m2 in the northern western parts of the Western Canadian foreland basin is in large contrast to low heat flow to the south and east (50 ± 7 mW/m2) of the same basin with the same old 2E09 year’s Precambrian basement and some 200-km-thick lithosphere. Over-thrusted and flat-laying sedimentary units are heated from...

NEW APPROACH TO PALEOCLIMATIC INTERPRETATION OF THE 2.3 KM DEEP HUNT WELL TEMPERATURE LOG (PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, CANADA) Demezhko D.Yu., Gornostaeva A.A. – Institute of Geophysics UB RAS, Yekaterinburg, Russia Majorowicz, J. – University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Šafanda, J. – Geophysical Institute, AS CR, Prague, Czech Republic Abstract. Using p...

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00531-014-1075-9?wt_mc=alerts.TOCjournals#page-2

Heat flow of the sedimentary succession of the Eastern Canada Sedimentary Basins varies from 40 mW/m2 close to the exposed shield in the north to high 60–70 mW/m2 in the southwest–northeast St. Lawrence corridor. As high fluid flow rates are required for a successful geothermal application, the most important targets are deep existing permeable aqu...

Models of talik, permafrost and gas hydrate (GH) histories below shallow lakes are investigated and compared to models of Beaufort Mackenzie Basin (BMB) GH occurrences to describe lacustrine inundation effects, which are compared against factors controlling the variations among Mackenzie Delta (MD) permafrost, GH and talik occurrence. Models using...

A number of potential geothermal targets have been previously identified in the Alberta Basin (Canada). These targets were identified mainly based on temperature data collected by the oil and gas industry, which are known to be inherently biased by drilling activities and contain large measurement errors. Utilizing the vast number of measurements a...

The south-eastern territory of the province of Québec (Eastern Canada), a region located along the Saint-Lawrence River Valley, including the Gaspésie Peninsula and the Madeleine and Anticosti Islands, has been identified as an interesting area for the future use of deep geothermal energy several decades from now. This region includes a thick 1-5 k...

The Alberta Basin as foreland basin of the Rocky Mountains is known for its resources of oil, gas and coal. Due to its characteristic flexure of the foreland lithosphere this basin type deepens significantly towards the orogenic belt. These foreland deeps host potentially sedimentary layers containing hot fluids and structurally or facies controlle...

Canadian well temperature logs for 141 sites are analyzed and show evidence of extensive ground surface temperature (GST) warming beginning in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries following a lengthy period of cooling (the Little Ice Age) over most of the past millennium. The method of functional space inversion (FSI) is applied to the complete...

The Beaufort Sea–Mackenzie Basin hosts an immense petroleum resource. Fifty-two petroleum fields found by 263 wells, including four gas hydrate research wells, have discovered petroleum expected to be 172.75 x 10 6 m 3 recoverable crude oil and condensate and 254.67 x 10 9 m 3 marketable conventional natural gas. The region is estimated to have an...

Northern Quebec, a large and cold climate territory located north of the 49th parallel, has low average heat flow density (40 ± 9 mW/m2) typical of the Canadian Shield. The lack of the thermal blanket otherwise provided by sediments in the platform of southern Quebec results in deep drilling requirements for potential mining heat (80 °C at some 5 k...

High heat production A in the ‘granitic’ basement of covered cratons is in many cases an indication of high heat flow q and good EGS geothermal potential. The Australian Cooper basin is the best example of such a geothermal system. However, in other circumstances, it will be difficult and sometimes misleading to predict high heat flow solely on mea...

The new estimates of the paleotemperatures obtained from the Hunt well temperature log by FSI inversion and by the upward extrapolation from the depth of 2,250 m are quite consistent, but by 2–3 K higher than the previous preliminary estimates by Majorowicz et al. (2012a). They indicate that the average surface temperature of the 100 kyr glacial cy...

Recent geothermal exploration indicated that the Cambrian Basal Sandstone Unit (BSU) in central Alberta could be a potential target formation for geothermal heat production, due to its depth and extent. Although several studies showed that the BSU in the shallower Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) has good reservoir properties, almost no info...

he ‘low’ in the transient temperature versus depth borehole profiles around 120 m seen from deep temperature logs in the Canadian Prairies (southern Alberta– southern Saskatchewan), as well as in some of the European data, has been interpreted to be related to the Little Ice Age (LIA). Data point to the lowest ground surface and subsurface temperat...

Abstract This study explores the siliciclastic Granite Wash Unit in northwestern Alberta as a potential geothermal reservoir. The approach covers regional 3D structural geological modelling of a 90 km 9 70 km area based on well log and legacy 2D seismic data. The fault strike was interpreted from lineaments, which were identified with the refined t...

The province of Alberta has a high demand of thermal energy for both industrial and residential applications. Currently, the vast majority of the heat used in these applications is obtained by burning natural gas. Geothermal energy production from deep aquifer systems in the sedimentary basin could provide an alternative sustainable source of heat...

Heat flow and geothermal gradient of the sedimentary succession of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) are mapped based on a large thermal database. Heat flow in the deep part of the basin varies from 30 mW/m2 in the south to high 100 mW/m2 in the north. As permeable strata are required for a successful geothermal application, the most impo...

We examined the potential of geothermal energy development in northern Canadian communities to support local energy demand, along with providing an initial assessment of the economic viability of geothermal energy resources for (a) low enthalpy heating systems and (b) electrical power generation from high temperature resources. We estimate yearly e...

Northwest Alberta is characterized by high subsurface temperatures that may represent a significant geothermal resource. In this paper we present new data that allows us to make predictions of the temperatures that might be found within the crystalline basement rocks. In this region the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) is composed of up to 3...

Abstract We examined the potential of geothermal energy development in northern Canadian communities to support local energy demand, along with providing an initial assessment of the economic viability of geothermal energy resources for (a) low enthalpy heating systems and (b) electrical power generation from high temperature resources. We estimate...

We model numerically regions of the Canadian continental shelves during successive glacio-eustatic cycles to illustrate past, current and future marine gas hydrate (GH) stability and instability. These models indicated that the marine GH resource has dynamic features and the formation age and resource volumes depend on the dynamics of the ocean-atm...

crystalline basement heat source in the Northern Alberta basin as a potential artificially fractured subsurface heat exchanger to deliver heat for oilsands processing and/or deep geothermal energy for heating to offset CO2 emission is currently underway as part of the University of Alberta Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative (HAI) geothermal energy projec...

The research into a geothermal energy option for a deeper crystalline basement heat source in the Northern Alberta basin as a potential artificially fractured subsurface heat exchanger to deliver heat for oilsands processing and/or deep geothermal energy for heating to offset CO2 emission is currently underway as part of the University of Alberta H...