A Macroscale Hydrogeological Numerical Model of the Suio Hydrothermal System (Central Italy)
Michele Saroli,
Matteo Albano,
Gaspare Giovinco,
Anna Casale,
Marco Dell’Isola,
Michele Lancia,
Marco Petitta
Affiliations
Michele Saroli
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Cassino 03043, Italy
Matteo Albano
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome 00143, Italy
Gaspare Giovinco
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Cassino 03043, Italy
Anna Casale
Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick, Inc., Shelby Charter Township, MI 48315, USA
Marco Dell’Isola
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Cassino 03043, Italy
Michele Lancia
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Marco Petitta
DST-Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome 00185, Italy
The complex behaviour of the Suio hydrothermal system (central Italy) and its potential exploitation as a renewable energy source are still unclear. To quantitatively evaluate the geothermal resource, the Suio hydrothermal system has been investigated with a hydrogeological numerical model that couples fluid flow, thermal convection, and transport of diluted species inside a hybrid continuum-discrete medium. The numerical model, calibrated and validated with available and new experimental data, unveiled the complex behaviour of the hydrothermal system. The normal tectonic displacements, the fracturing of the karst hydrostructure, and the aquitard distribution strongly influence the hydrothermal basin. In particular, a dual fluid circulation, sustained by steady-state thermal and pressure gradients, modulates the hydrothermalism at the several springs and wells. The presence of a medium to a low-temperature reservoir allows for potential exploitation of the geothermal resource.
