Abstract
Groundwater that flows through the outer shell of the Earth as part of the hydrologic cycle influences the distribution of heat and, thereby, the temperature field in the Earth’s crust1. Downward groundwater flow in recharge areas lowers crustal temperatures, whereas upward flow in discharge areas tends to raise temperatures relative to a purely conductive geothermal regime2,3. Here I present numerical simulations of generalized topography-driven groundwater flow. The simulations suggest that groundwater-driven convective cooling exceeds groundwater-driven warming of the Earth’s crust, and hence that groundwater flow systems cause net temperature reductions of groundwater basins. Moreover, the simulations demonstrate that this cooling extends into the underlying crust and lithosphere. I find that horizontal components of groundwater flow play a central role in this net subsurface cooling by conveying relatively cold water to zones of upward groundwater flow. The model calculations suggest that the crust and lithosphere beneath groundwater basins can cool by several tens of degrees Celsius where groundwater flows over large distances in basins that consist of crustal rock. In contrast, groundwater-induced cooling is small in unconsolidated sedimentary settings, such as deltas.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ingebritsen, S. E., Sanford, W. & Neuzil, C. Groundwater in Geologic Processes 2nd edn (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).
Domenico, P. A. & Palciauskas, V. V. Theoretical analysis of forced convective heat transfer in regional ground-water flow. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 3803–3814 (1973).
Smith, L. & Chapman, D. S. On the thermal effects of groundwater flow 1: regional scale systems. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 593–608 (1983).
Turcotte, D. L. & Schubert, G. Geodynamics 2nd edn (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002).
Bredehoeft, J. & Papadopulos, I. S. Rates of vertical groundwater movement estimated from the Earth’s thermal profile. Wat. Resour. Res. 1, 325–328 (1965).
Ingebritsen, S. E., Sherrod, D. R. & Mariner, R. H. Rates and patterns of groundwater flow in the Cascade Range Volcanic Arc, and the effect on subsurface temperatures. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 4599–4627 (1992).
Willet, S. D. & Chapman, D. S. in Hydrogeological Regimes and Their Subsurface Thermal Effects Vol. 47 (eds Beck, A. E., Garven, G. & Stegena, L.) 29–33 (American Geophysical Union, 1989).
Clauser, C. Conductive and convective heat flow components in the Rheingraben and implications for the deep permeability distribution. in Hydrogeological Regimes and Their Subsurface Thermal Effects (eds Beck, A. E., Garven, G. & Stegena, L.) Vol. 47, 59–64 (American Geophysical Union, 1989).
Lampe, C. & Person, M. Advective cooling within sedimentary rift basins—application to the Upper Rhinegraben (Germany). Mar. Petrol. Geol. 19, 361–375 (2002).
Pearson, S. C. P., Alcaraz, S. A. & Barber, J. Numerical simulations to assess the thermal potential at Tauranga low-temperature geothermal system, New Zealand. Hydrogeol. J. 22, 163–174 (2014).
Woodbury, A. D. & Smith, L. On the thermal effects of three-dimensional groundwater flow. J. Geophys. Res. 90, 759–767 (1985).
Forster, C. & Smith, L. The influence of groundwater flow on thermal regimes in mountainous terrain: a model study. J. Geophys. Res. 94, 9439–9451 (1989).
Deming, D. Regional permeability estimates from investigations of coupled heat and groundwater flow, North Slope of Alaska. J. Geophys. Res. 98, 16271–16286 (1993).
Anderson, M. P. Heat as a ground water tracer. Ground Wat. 43, 951–968 (2005).
Saar, M. O. Review: geothermal heat as a tracer of large-scale groundwater flow and a means to determine permeability fields. Hydrogeol. J. 19, 31–52 (2011).
Tóth, J. A theoretical analysis of groundwater flow in small drainage basins. J. Geophys. Res. 68, 4795–4812 (1963).
Marklund, L. & Wörman, A. The use of spectral-based analysis solutions to characterize topography-driven groundwater flow. Hydrogeol. J. 19, 1531–1543 (2011).
Forster, C. & Smith, L. Groundwater flow systems in mountainous terrain 1: numerical modeling technique. Wat. Resour. Res. 24, 999–1010 (1988).
Michael, H. A. & Voss, C. I. Estimation of regional-scale groundwater properties in the Bengal Basin of India and Bangladesh. Hydrogeol. J. 17, 1329–1346 (2009).
Brumm, M., Wang, C. Y. & Manga, M. Spring temperatures in the Sagehen Basin, Sierra Nevada, CA: implications for heat flow and groundwater circulation. Geofluids 9, 195–207 (2009).
Burton, D. & Wood, L. J. Geologically-based permeability anisotropy estimates for tidally-influenced reservoirs using quantitative shale data. Petrol. Geosci. 19, 3–20 (2013).
Taniguchi, M. Evaluation of vertical groundwater fluxes and thermal properties of aquifers based on temperature-depth profiles. Wat. Resour. Res. 29, 2021–2026 (1993).
Forster, C. & Smith, L. Groundwater flow systems in mountainous terrain 2: controlling factors. Wat. Resour. Res. 24, 1011–1023 (1988).
Michael, H. A. & Voss, C. I. Controls on groundwater flow in the Bengal Basin of India and Bangladesh: regional modeling analysis. Hydrogeol. J. 17, 1561–1577 (2009).
Monyrath, V., Sakura, Y., Miyakoshi, A. & Hayashi, T. Subsurface thermal environment and groundwater flow around Tokyo Bay, Japan. Environ. Earth Sci. 60, 923–932 (2010).
Treiman, A. H. Ancient groundwater flow in the Valles Marineres on Mars inferred from fault trace ridges. Nature Geosci. 1, 181–183 (2008).
Reiners, P. W. & Brandon, M. T. Using thermochronology to understand orogenic erosion. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 34, 419–466 (2006).
Beltrami, H. Earth’s long-term memory. Science 297, 206–207 (2002).
FlexPDE 6 (PDE Solutions, 2015); www.pdesolutions.com
Acknowledgements
I thank W. van Westrenen for sharing his ideas about fluid flow on Mars and other planetary bodies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
H.K. came up with the general idea, conducted the research and wrote the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (PDF 1365 kb)
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (TXT 0 kb)
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (TXT 0 kb)
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (TXT 1 kb)
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (TXT 2 kb)
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (TXT 0 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kooi, H. Groundwater flow as a cooling agent of the continental lithosphere. Nature Geosci 9, 227–230 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2642
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2642
This article is cited by
-
Amagmatic hydrothermal systems on Mars from radiogenic heat
Nature Communications (2021)
-
Thermal and seismic hints for chimney type cross-stratal fluid flow in onshore basins
Scientific Reports (2018)