Geothermal refraction problem for a 2-D body of polygonal cross-section buried in the two-layered earth

Abstract

We present the exact boundary integral formulae for calculation of the geothermal anomaly due to a two dimensional body whose thermal conductivity is λT and its cross-section is bounded by the closed general polygonal contour. This body is buried in the superficial layer of conductivity λ1 . The half-space z > h with the thermal conductivity λ2 is considered as a substratum of models. The boundary integral technique for the solution of this problem requires the application of logarithmic potential terms in infinite series. Numerical calculations based on derived formulae revealed that the surface anomaly heat flow reflects the “topography” mainly of the upper boundary of the perturbing body. The derived algorithm and the developed numerical program enable calculations for a number of interesting models: intrusions, protrusions of the substratum etc.

Keywords

• geothermal models, boundary integral technique, geothermal measurements, heat flow refraction