Grant: Alliance Grants

Geothermal energy is not widely used in Canada, and the location and extent of available resources are poorly understood. We will examine the geothermal viability throughout the southern Yukon, as several factors suggest the region is ideal for geothermal prospecting. First, the southern Yukon exhibits evidence of high temperatures at shallow depths. Additionally, large crustal faults transect the southern Yukon and likely mark locations of increased rock permeability that can facilitate fluid flow and heat transport. Finally, there are hot springs in the area where geothermal heat reaches the surface. Investigating geophysical conditions in the southern Yukon will facilitate the future development of geothermal resources in northern Canada by addressing specific knowledge gaps. These gaps include: (1) detecting and precisely locating earthquakes, (2) inferring the state of stress and style of deformation around large crustal faults, and (3) generating geophysical images of Earth's subsurface near these faults. Addressing these knowledge gaps will allow us to illuminate the location and extent of faulted rocks at depth, which act as pathways for geothermal fluids. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from this work will allow us to differentiate between regions where fluids can circulate and regions where tectonic forces close rock fracture networks and inhibit flow. For this project, we are partnering with the Yukon Geological Survey, which has significant experience studying the geology of the territory and has recently initiated several investigations related to the geothermal potential in the Yukon. Our study will exploit recent advances in monitoring technology that uses fiber-optic sensing to provide near-continuous spatial sampling of the seismic wavefield and thermal variations. As part of this work, we will collaborate with MoMacMo who are experts in distributed acoustic and temperature sensing (DAS and DTS) and will assist in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of these advanced datasets. The insights into fault structure and dynamics attained by this project will contribute to geothermal development in the Yukon, as well as in regions with similar geological conditions elsewhere in Canada and globally.