Bore Hole
One of the most excting aspects of INFLUINS is the planned bore hole in the Thuringian Basin. This will provide invaluable subsurface data between 0 and ~2000m depth, for nearly every project within INFLUINS. The borehole will allow underground studies, experiments and measurements of numerous rock and fluid properties, and adds the "depth" dimension to the project as a whole.
As a first step towards drilling, we will carry out site investigations to determine a suitable location for the hole. In all likelihood, the bore hole will be located in the centre of the Thuringian Basin where a near complete sedimentary sequence from the basin extending to the bottom of Zechstein will be encountered. We will use existing 2D seismic data and any other neighbouring bore hole information from the vicinity to predict what geology will be found as we drill. It is nevertheless important to remember that drilling a new bore hole affords us unique scientific opportunities to collect samples, and employ the most advanced geophysical techniques to gather scientific data.
INFLUINS will also try to raise additional funds to be able to drill deeper - possibly down to the basement. A deeper bore hole would give us more information, in particular about the hydraulic and geothermal properties at depth, and would be potentially useful for later industrial use, such as power generation or CHP (combined heat and power) operations.
During drilling, as many uncontaminated fluids as possible will be collected from the subsurface to study their microorganism and chemical content. Core samples will be recovered from all important aquifers. Lithology, facies, diagenesis, fissure systems and mineralisation will also be investigated in order to determine matrix and fissure porosity, and aquifer permeability. Pump- and tracer experiments will be conducted to investigate hydraulic links between different aquifer horizons linked by the bore hole.
As well as measuring ground water levels in and around the bore hole, geophysical monitoring will be carried out. This will give us data time series for important parameters of fluid flow.
Once the bore hole is complete, we hope that monitoring will be continued beyond the end of INFLUINS. The bore hole should also be accessible for further scientific investigations.
photos courtesy of Dr Thomas Voigt (links in the figure above).
