Geology Club Seminar

There is an ever-pressing need to find more helium (He) because 1) it is an essential resource for modern life, 2) reserves are dwindling faster than He accumulations are discovered, and 3) new He projects are delayed. Here we provide updated frameworks on the geologic processes and migration mechanisms of He in Four Corners area, USA, using noble gas geochemistry, structural geology and geophysics. Utilizing bulk gas and isotopes of hydrocarbons, non-hydrocarbons, and noble gases (n=31), we construct mass balance and noble gas fractionation models that provide evidence for advective fault-controlled systems responsible for basement sourced He accumulations. Our prediction of fault-controlled He-systems in the Four Corners area is corroborated with high-resolution geophysical data that shows a strong non-random relationship with He-rich occurrences and structural features (faults/intrusions) and historical He-well data (n=94). Based on the distributions of these relationships, we create a regional probabilistic predictive He map to reduce exploration risk. Additional work utilizing soil gas data (n=1974), was used to construct a higher-resolution localized predictive model calibrated with real-world data that illustrates areas that are higher-likelihood of containing He-rich gas. Additionally, utilizing heat flow data combined with geochemical datasets, we examine the influence of heat on helium release. We show a poor relationship regarding He and heat flow on a regional scale, and we propose that exploration should focus on areas that have not been extensively degassed with localized moderate heat flow to release trapped crustal He.