Wärmeerzeugende Granitoide Nordpakistans als potenzielle Ziele geothermischer Nutzung
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
This project was aimed at establishing a scientific basis for geothermal projects in the high mountains of northern Pakistan where numerous hot springs indicate elevated heat flow and, locally, some of the highest active exhumation rates on earth have been inferred. The size of the area, its rugged topography, limited road infrastructure, and harsh climate hinder largescale exploration on the ground. We found that remote sensing of surface thermal anomalies from spectral data alone is not a promising technique, but ground truthing suggests that a combination with remote mapping of lineament density and hydrothermal alteration from mineral spectra constrains promising areas reasonably well. We have demonstrated by in-situ and laboratory analyses that granitoids and gneisses commonly exposed in the western Himalaya and Karakorum have elevated contents of radiogenic elements and, hence, high heat production. Modelling shows that radiogenic heat production substantially contributes to local and regional geothermal gradients and should be considered in geothermal exploration. These bedrock-related effects on geothermal gradients are of similar magnitude but spatially more extensive than those caused by fast exhumation. Modelling also suggests that strong enrichment of radiogenic elements and high heat production must be limited to the upper crust. Using measured surface values for entire crustal profiles in the models results in excessive surface heat flow and unrealistic geothermal gradients. The correlation of hot springs with increased fracture density and alteration indicative of exhumed hydrothermal systems strongly suggests an important role of deeply circulating fluids in creating local heat anomalies. Our multi-scale and multi-method study has revealed the Nanga Parbat region and central-eastern Karakoram as potential geothermal target regions with hydrothermal and hot-dry rock geothermal play types that warrant more detailed and site-specific investigations. Our work provides new key data for understanding the region’s geothermal regime on a larger scale and lays the groundwork for future geothermal exploration. The execution of this project has benefitted enormously from combining a DAAD scholarship to an early career scientist with a modest amount of additional DFG funding that supported field work, sampling, sample transport and laboratory analyses.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
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Heat-producing granitoids of North Pakistan as potential geothermal prospects. Proceedings European Geothermal Congress 2022, Berlin, Germany, 17 – 21 October 2022, 8 pp.,
Anees, M., Kley, J., Leiss, B., Luijendijk, E., Wagner, B. & Shah, M.M.
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Spatial variation of radiogenic heat production related to the crystalline rock types in the western Himalaya-Karakoram region of Pakistan . Copernicus GmbH.
Anees, Muhammad; Kley, Jonas; Leiss, Bernd; Wagner, Bianca & Shah, Mumtaz Muhammad
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Application of in-situ gamma spectrometry for radiogenic heat production estimation in the Western Himalaya, Kohistan, and Karakoram in northern Pakistan. Geothermal Energy, 11(1).
Anees, Muhammad; Kley, Jonas; Leiss, Bernd; Hindle, David; Wajid, Ali Abbas; Wagner, Bianca; Shah, Mumtaz M. & Luijendijk, Elco
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Fundamental data and conceptual framework for the exploration of geothermal resources in the Himalaya-Karakoram Orogenic belt, northern Pakistan. University Goettingen Repository.
Anees, Muhammad
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Granitoids of the western Himalaya and Karakoram as potential geothermal reservoirs – A petrological, geochemical and petrophysical study. Geothermics, 121, 103040.
Anees, Muhammad; Sosa, Graciela; Van den Kerkhof, Alfons; Leiss, Bernd; Kley, Jonas; Shah, Mumtaz M. & Weydt, Leandra
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Remote sensing-based Identification of Potential Geothermal Zones in the Himalaya-Karakoram Orogenic Belt, Northern Pakistan. Stanford Geothermal Workshop, California, USA, 12 – 14 February 2024.
Anees, M., Wemmer, K., Sosa, G., Van den Kerkhof, A., Leiss, B., Kley, J., Shah, M. & Qureshi, J.A.
