Digging deeper: the influence of historic mining on Glasgow’s subsurface thermal state to inform geothermal research

Watson, S. M., Westaway, R. and Burnside, N. M. (2019) Digging deeper: the influence of historic mining on Glasgow’s subsurface thermal state to inform geothermal research. Scottish Journal of Geology, 55(2), pp. 107-123. (doi: 10.1144/sjg2019-012)

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Abstract

Studies of the former northeast England coalfield in Tyneside demonstrated heat flow perturbations in boreholes to be due to the entrainment and lateral dispersion of heat from deeper in the subsurface through flooded mine workings. This work assesses the influence of historic mining on geothermal observations across Greater Glasgow. The regional heat flow for Glasgow is 60 mW m-2 and after correction for palaeoclimate is estimated as ∼80 mW m-2. An example of reduced heat flow above mine workings is observed at Hallside (∼10 km SE of Glasgow), where the heat flow through a 352 m deep borehole is ∼14 mW m-2. Similarly, the heat flow across the 199 m deep GGC01 borehole in the Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site is ∼44 mW m-2. The differences between these values and the expected regional heat flow suggests a significant component of horizontal heat flow into surrounding flooded mine workings. This deduction also influences the quantification of deeper geothermal resources, as extrapolation of the temperature gradient above mine workings would underestimate the temperature at depth. Future projects should consider the influence of historic mining on heat flow when temperature datasets such as these are used in the design of geothermal developments.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Burnside, Dr Neil and Westaway, Dr Robert and Watson, Mr Sean
Authors: Watson, S. M., Westaway, R., and Burnside, N. M.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
Journal Name:Scottish Journal of Geology
Publisher:Geological Society
ISSN:0036-9276
ISSN (Online):2041-4951
Published Online:02 October 2019
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 The Authors
First Published:First published in Scottish Journal of Geology 55(2): 107-123
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
190906EPSRC 2015 DTPMary Beth KneafseyEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/M508056/1Research and Innovation Services
190790EPSRC DTG 2014Mary Beth KneafseyEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/M506539/1Research and Innovation Services