Topic 8: Georesources

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About Topic 8

Mission:

The mission of Topic 8 is to provide a scientific basis for accessing safe, clean energy and the raw materials needed for our 21st-century infrastructure, enabling the energy transition and supporting a growing circular economy. To this end, Topic 8 will address two key challenges related to georesources for the energy transition and a high-tech society: where to find the resources that we need today and in the future, and how to access those resources in the most sustainable way.

Our focus:

More people than ever live in urban centres and use sophisticated technologies. Topic 8 will address one of the most fundamental challenges facing society: securing the future supply of energy and raw materials needed to sustain our 21st century infrastructure, to enable the transition from fossil and nuclear energy to renewables. In doing so, we want to achieve the targeted reduction of CO₂ emissions and also to support a growing circular economy. During this transition, geoscience solutions to sustainable energy, raw materials supply, and subsurface storage of waste will be required, with a growing emphasis on the deep subsurface.

Our research foci include:

development and application of new technologies for georesources
accessing clean geothermal energy as an integral part of the energy supply
constraining the key processes that form high value ore deposits
developing knowledge-based approaches for the safe disposal of waste from energy production
designing new observational, experimental and simulation platforms to assess the coupled thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, chemical, and biological controls on resources
integrating geodynamics as a fundamental control on the occurrence of resources and a defining boundary condition for safe subsurface utilization
the role of biological-solid-fluid interactions and the deep biosphere in georesource systems

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Recent Highlights

Machine Learning in Georesources

3D seismic interpretation with deep learning

Topic 8 Researchers demonstrate how to automate and accelerate the analysis of large seismic data sets with machine learning. Using deep convolutional neural networks, the researchers were able to perform typical seismic interpretation tasks such as mapping tectonic faults, salt bodies, and sedimentary horizons at high accuracy. Once trained, the models can analyze large volumes of data within seconds, opening a new pathway to study the processes shaping the internal structure of our planet.

Volcanic gas monitoring

Volcanic CO2 emissions respond to changes in hydrothermal system

PGE Deposits

Stable isotopes reveal origin of water in the Bushveld Complex magmas

Structure

Graphic Representation of Subtopics

Subtopics in detail

Geothermal systems, carbon resources, and subsurface storage repositories are hosted in upper crustal rocks and are either the products of, or are modified by, mass and energy transport processes and feedbacks. In subtopic 8.1: Geoenergy, we study the properties and processes of both natural and engineered systems that will allow optimal and safe utilisation of the deep underground. We investigate the potential of geothermal resources, the secure subsurface storage of energy materials (e.g., Syngas, H2, CO2, radioactive waste) and the properties and processes of carbon resources (e.g., gas hydrates, oil and gas, role of the deep biosphere).

Geothermal energy is an important domestic source for the future energy mix. We aim to provide the geothermal solutions for thermal energy provision in cities (heating and cooling), and to constrain the key processes necessary for the exploitation of intermediate depth, deep, and superhot geothermal systems. Additionally, our research focusses on the minimization of risks related to the utilization of geothermal reservoirs. We will develop optimized production strategies to minimize the induced hazards associated with reservoir stimulation.

Subsurface storage of energy products (e.g., heat, synthetic gas, Hydrogen) and energy waste material (e.g., radioactive waste, CO2) will become increasingly important in the near future as the subsurface allows the safe and sustainable storage of large quantities of energy on different time scales. Our research focusses on the development of: i) strategies for underground heat and cold storage at different depths, ii) approaches for efficient and sustainable storage of hydrogen and synthetic gas, iii) research platforms offering geoscience solutions for the save and reliable storage of radioactive waste. Geochemical and petrophysical experiments and measurement will form the basis for advanced modelling of the key processes.

Within our carbon resources (i.e., hydrocarbon and gas hydrate) research, the interaction processes of deep organic fluids or hydrate phases with the host rock matrix, formation waters, and microbial communities are of central interest. We will also focus on the geomechanical and physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments, a risk for slope stability.

Spokespersons:

Olaf Kolditz (UFZ)
Simona Regenspurg (GFZ)

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New sources of metals for the energy transition and high-tech society are required for the development of metal-intensive ‘green technologies’ and to support our growing energy infrastructure. Topic 8 research focusses on major commodities of strategic (e.g., Cu, Zn) and critical metals (e.g., Rare Earth Elements (REE), W, Co) that will drive the energy transition. Our research focuses on developing new mineral system models for resources that can make a substantive contribution to future global supply and raw material security. These models incorporate new physical-, chemical-, and thermal controls on metal sources, sinks and transport pathways, taking into account the regional space/time variations imposed by different geodynamic settings and placing new constraints on the processes that govern resource distribution. Of major interest are the following three broad groups of deposits:

Magmatic deposits related to mafic-ultramafic, alkalic-carbonatitic and felsic-pegmatitic intrusions provide much of the world’s Cr-Ni-PGE (platinum-group elements), REE, and Li-Nb-Ta supplies. To better constrain if an intrusion is barren or mineralized, research in ST8.2 focusses on processes that lead to the enrichment of metals in these systems. We combine geochemical/isotopic tracers of magma source and evolution with experiments that determine how metals behave during melting and crystallization.

Magmatic-hydrothermal deposits in subduction and collisional zones (e.g., Andean and Variscan belts) are major suppliers for Cu, Mo, Au, Ag, Sn, and W. Quantifying the processes of generation, emplacement, and degassing of fertile magmas in these systems and identifying the mechanisms of focused fluid flow and ore precipitation by physical and chemical fluid-rock interactions are key to guiding future exploration. Fundamental processes that are addressed include the importance of pre-enrichment in source areas for melt generation, the manner of volatile release from incrementally growing magmatic intrusions, and the role of fault structures in dynamic ore-forming hydrothermal systems.

Massive sulfide deposits in volcanic and sedimentary basins have the potential to host significant Cu, Zn, and Pb resources. Researchers in ST8.2 study the interactions of diagenetic and hydrothermal processes coupled to the 4D evolution of permeability and porosity that govern heat and fluid flow in volcanic and sedimentary systems. Other key aspects of our research are i) the role of biotic communities and organic material, ii) the sulfur cycle, iii) mobility of redox-sensitive metals.

Spokespersons:

Sarah Gleeson (GFZ)
Sven Petersen (Geomar)

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Strong synergies exist between the ST8.1 Geoenergy and ST8.2 Raw Materials because essentially the same processes and interactions control the distribution of energy and metal resources in the Earth system and the research approaches in both fields are highly complementary. For example, geothermal energy infrastructure provides samples of deep hydrothermal fluids that are direct analogs for ore-forming fluids in ancient magmatic and hydrothermal systems. Ancient ore-forming systems record the long-term effects of fluid-rock interaction, which provide important constraints on aspects of geothermal energy production (e.g., scaling in geothermal wells) and the search for safe, long-term repositories for energy or radioactive waste (e.g., development of fractured reservoirs).

In ST 8.3 we integrate research on i) the geodynamics and structural controls on the distribution of energy and raw material resources in the crust, ii) the physical, chemical, and biological processes and their interactions that control the formation of resources, iii) the development of next-generation technologies for the detection, delineation and monitoring.

Geodynamic drivers of energy and mineral systems like plate tectonics play a key role in energy and mass transfer within the Earth and controls the regional-scale distribution of resources. ST8.3 aims to identify crustal architecture and fault systems that control melt and fluid pathways and thereby provide a 4D-framework for integrating plate-boundary processes (magmatism, deformation, uplift and sedimentation) into mineral and energy system models. One focus of our research is to quantify the capacity of large-scale sedimentary basins for ore formation, geothermal energy, and storage of mineral and energy wastes which is directly linked to their geodynamic history, including far-field and near-field stresses, thermal regimes, and the development of heterogeneous physical rock properties. These data are critical for assessing potential risks in different systems, e.g., induced seismicity in response to reservoir utilization, thermal variation, and the long-term stability of repositories for nuclear waste.

Coupled Interactions of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes act over a large range of temporal and spatial scales and control the formation of energy and raw material resources. ST8.3 aims to develop new system models that integrate coupling, feedback and cascading effects into conventional THMC models of fluid flow, reactive transport and permeability evolution. This includes studying the role of organic-inorganic and microbial interactions, which can be particularly important for the formation of mineral and energy resources in sedimentary basins, and for developing strategies for energy production and storage potential.

Advanced Technologies for analysis and discovery are required to extract maximum value from the resources and to safeguard against the negative impacts of exploitation. In ST8.3, we advance technological applications on several fronts: i) fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) for real-time monitoring, imaging of the underground and exploration of geothermal and mineral systems, ii) multi-parameter sensor systems for exploration, assessment, and monitoring of deep geothermal and mineral resources, iii) analytical and experimental laboratories on-site and in the field, iv) underground research labs, v) advanced data concepts.

Spokespersons:

Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth (GFZ)
Lars Rüpke (Geomar)

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