SUMMARY

Deformation characteristics of the Điện Biên - Lai Châu active fault and geothermal potential of the U Va area,
southwest of the Điện Biên trough

Vũ Văn Tích, Chu Văn Ngợi, Lương Thị Thu Hoài, Dương Thị Toan, Phạm Khắc Hùng

In North Việt Nam, some active fault zones, including the Red River, Điện Biên - Lai Châu ones have been studied and presented by geologists. And most of them have been seriously studied in geo-hazards, such as assessment of seismic possibility or landslide along the these faults, etc.. However, the investigation on renewable energy use related to these fault zones is still not paid attention. This work is the first study on the assessment of geothermal potential of the Điện Biên - Lai Châu fault zone, which is based on the presence of hot springs in the south of Điện Biên trough, just in the U Va area. This study is concentrated on the examination of characteristics of deformation of fault, determination of heating source based on both the electric field geophysical document and the geo-thermometric calculations of K⁺-Na⁺ geochemical pair from mineral water in this area, in combination with assessement of groundwater potential by hydrogeological survey. The results, firstly, show that the outcrop of hot spring at U Va area (with the exploitable flow of 216 l/day) is related to the Điện Biên Lai Châu deep-seated fault, and secondly, the geothermal potential in the U Va area belongs to medium level in comparing to worldwide classification with calculated heating of heat source is up to 145^OC. The examination on restorable capacity of groundwater and its geothermal potential suggests that thermal water in the U Va area can be used in the construction of a geothermal power plant of small scale.

Ngày nhận bài: 11/8/2009

Người biên tập: GS.TS Trần Văn Trị

(Tổng hội Địa chất Việt Nam)