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Initial Results of the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project (SSSDP): A Research Borehole in an Active Hydrothermal System in Southern California, U.S.A.

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Deep Drilling in Crystalline Bedrock

Part of the book series: Exploration of the Deep Continental Crust ((EXPLORATION))

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Abstract

One of the first major projects of the U.S. Continental Scientific Drilling Program (U.S. Geodynamics Committee, 1979) took place in 1986, in the Salton Sea geothermal field (SSGF), in the lower desert of California. A research borehole reached a depth of 3.22 km, and encountered a temperature of 355°C in rocks demonstrating a transition from unconsolidated sediments to hornfelses of lower amphibolite facies. Because drilling for geothermal steam was yielding disappointingly little scientific results, in October 1982 we proposed research drilling in the SSGF to the U.S. Department of Energy (Elders, 1985). Eventually the project cost grew to U.S. $9.3 million, including $2.65 million for scientific studies, funded by the U.S Department of Energy, the U.S Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation (Aducci, Klick, and Wallace, 1986). In all, some 40 different science and technology development projects were involved (Sass and Elders, 1986).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Riverside, California, 92521, USA

    Wilfred A. Elders

Authors
  1. Wilfred A. Elders
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Vattenfall, 16287, Vällingby, Sweden

    Anders Bodén

  2. Department of Geology, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296, Göteborg, Sweden

    K. Gösta Eriksson

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Elders, W.A. (1988). Initial Results of the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project (SSSDP): A Research Borehole in an Active Hydrothermal System in Southern California, U.S.A.. In: Bodén, A., Gösta Eriksson, K. (eds) Deep Drilling in Crystalline Bedrock. Exploration of the Deep Continental Crust. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73455-7_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73455-7_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-73457-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-73455-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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