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Heat Flow Studies in India: An Update

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

The geothermal study in India was initiated in 1962 and in the last six decades it grew in concurrence with the international programmes of geothermal study on several fronts, such as, characterizing heat flow for the major geological units; measuring the thermal conductivity of crustal rocks at ambient and elevated temperatures; arriving at the best mathematical model of thermal conductivity from modal mineralogy; calculating radiogenic heat production for the major rock formations; modeling crustal and sub-crustal thermal structure for the stable regions; calculating mantle temperature constrained with seismic velocities and mantle xenoliths; assessing geothermal energy potential regions and using geothermal observations to estimate past climate changes.

Systematic heat flow, thermal conductivity, heat production, and thermal modelling carried out during this period of time led to the refinement of classical thermal models of the continental crust, i.e., from linear-step-exponential heat production model based on linear relationship, to realistic heat production models based on regional geology and regional crustal structure from geophysical studies. In many cases, such studies have also helped in the exploration of geothermal energy potential regions, geo-engineering works and deciphering past climate changes.

Future research goals include to study (i) crustal and upper mantle thermal structure in the unexplored geological provinces, active tectonic zones, sedimentary basins, and hot spring areas of the Indian sub-continent, (ii) thermal structure in the adjoining oceanic regions, occurrence of potential geothermal energy resources, (iii) thermal properties of rocks at elevated temperature and their implications in refining lithospheric thermal model, (iv) linkage between geothermal and meteorological records for past climate change.

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Acknowledgements

I am indebted to all my seniors who have worked for decades since the born of heat flow studies in CSIR-NGRI in 1962. Their unswerving work has helped to attain achievements in a diverse field of geothermal study and has been recognised globally by the geothermal community and International Heat Flow Commission. I am especially grateful to Dr. R.U.M. Rao and Dr. G. V. Rao for their inspiration, support, scientific discussion/contribution in the demand of the heat flow group, even after superannuation. I also thank to the Geological Survey of India, Atomic Mineral Directorate, Central Ground Water Board, State Ground Water Board, Tata Steel, and many private agencies for helping in different aspects from last few decades, e.g., getting deep boreholes for temperature measurements, providing borehole core samples, sharing borehole lithology, etc. I thank research students of the Thermal Geophysics group (N. Chopra, S. E. Rao, and others) and supporting persons (S. Seshikanth and K. Mahesh) for their support and enthusiasm in the last few years which help me to work in few new dimensions in addition to the earlier research domains. Thanks to Dr. O.P.Pandey and anonymous reviewer for their critical and constructive comments that have helped to improve the paper. My sincere thanks to earlier Directors, Dr. H.K. Gupta, Dr. VP. Dimri, Dr. M. K. Sen, and present Director Dr. V.M. Tiwari, for their continuous support to Heat flow/Thermal Geophysics Group. The reference number of the paper is NGRI/Lib/2021/Pub-38.

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    Labani Ray

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Ray, L. Heat Flow Studies in India: An Update. J Geol Soc India 97, 1214–1225 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1851-7

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