Magnetotelluric-Geochemistry Investigations of Blawan Geothermal Field, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

An integrated magnetotelluric (MT) and geochemical study of the Blawan geothermal field has been performed. The character of the hot springs, the reservoir temperature, and geothermal reserve potential of Blawan geothermal field are assessed. MT measurements, with 250 m up to 1200 m spacings, were made at 19 sites, and 6 locations at the Blawan hot springs have been sampled for geochemical survey. The results of 2D modelling indicated that the geothermal system in the research area consisted of a cap rock zone (≤32 Ω•m), reservoir zone (>32 – ≤512 Ω•m), and heat source zone (>512 Ω•m), and also identified faults. The characteristics of the hot spring water were identified through analyzing the major and minor elements. A ternary diagram (Cl-SO4-HCO3) showed that the Blawan hot springs consist of bicarbonate water (at locations of AP-01, AP-02, AP-03) and chloride water (at locations of AP-04, AP-05, and AP-06), with a reservoir temperature of approximately 90 °C based on the Na–K–Ca geothermometer results. An estimate of the geothermal energy using the volumetric method, gave a total geothermal reserve potential of 1.823 MWe.

Keywords

• magnetotelluric
• geochemistry
• geothermal
• Blawan
• reservoir