Basin and range projects

The Basin and Range Geologic Province extends from eastern California to central Utah and from southern Idaho into Sonora, Mexico.  The picture above depicts a typical Basin and Range geothermal resource. Due to plate tectonic movement generated by the Pacific ocean plate pushing against and under the North American continental plate along the Pacific coast, it causes massive pressures inland, and that area of the Earth's crust has been pushed into accordian-like effects inland. 

The Basin (down-dropped valleys) and Range (upthrust mountains) Province has been subjected to extensions of valley floors which thinned and cracked the crust as it is being pulled apart (extended), creating large faults.  Along these roughly north-south trending faults, mountains were uplifted and valleys down-dropped, producing the distinctive alternating pattern of linear mountain ranges and valleys of the Basin and Range. 

In general, the Basin and Range is characterized by abnormally high heat flow, a high frequency of hot springs, abundant faulting, and high levels of seismicity which means the faults are open and conducting very hot water from great depths to shallower depths where wells can be drilled for natural superheated water.  The physical characteristics are caused by either the decay of heat coming from radioactive material in the shallow crust of the earth, by magmatic (volcanic) heating at shallow depths due to crustal thinning, or a combination of the two.

These geologic conditions have been proven to be highly prospective for geothermal resources and power development.  There are numerous geothermal power plants currently producing electricity in the Basin and Range.