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Crustal thermal structure of the Farafra oasis, Egypt, based on airborne

potential field data

Article  in  Geothermics · June 2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.geothermics.2018.05.006

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 Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Geothermics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geothermics

Crustal thermal structure of the Farafra oasis, Egypt, based on airborne T

potential field data
⁎
M. Abdel Zaher , S. Elbarbary, S.A. Sultan, G. El-Qady, A. Ismail, E.M. Takla
National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo 11421, Egypt

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Farafra oasis is one of the most interesting and promising areas for geothermal energy development in
Geothermal potential Egypt. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the geothermal potential in the Farafra oasis and its
Aeromagnetic suitability for geothermal development in the Western Desert using different tools such as remote sensing,
Aerogravity seismic events, and aeromagnetic and aerogravity data. Remote sensing (Landsat 8 ETM+) was utilized to
Landsat 8 ETM+
estimate the land surface temperature (LST) in the Farafra oasis. The resultant map of LSTs indicates that the
Curie point depth
Earthquake events
surface temperature of the Farafra area ranges from 10 °C to 30 °C and that the mean surface temperature of the
whole area is approximately 26 °C. Most earthquake events are located to the east and northeast of the Farafra
oasis (toward the Bahariya Oasis). However, the highest magnitude event (4.62) is located near the eastern
border of the Farafra oasis. One event with a magnitude of 3.08 is located to the south and within the Farafra
outline. The distributions of low-magnitude earthquake events can provide information about the locations of
active faults, which indicate possible fracture permeability. The interpretation of aeromagnetic data indicates
that the Curie point depth (CPD) ranges from 16 km to 26 km with an average of 22 km. The CPDs increase
toward the center and north of the Farafra oasis and decrease westward. The interpretation of aerogravity data
shows maximum anomalies above four main localities: Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta, northeast of Bir-Sitta and at the
southern margin of the Farafra oasis, which indicates the existence of vertical or near-vertical contacts (faults) in
these areas and provides a good correlation with structural lines on the geological map. Linear features striking
NE-SW are pronounced on the tilt gradient map.

1. Introduction 2016); however, few studies have been conducted in the Western Desert
of Egypt. Mohamed et al. (2015) created a temperature gradient map of
Since 2014, Egypt has tried to create and utilize more sustainable the northern Western Desert of Egypt by connecting bottom-hole tem-
power sources to address growing energy challenges with the objective perature (BHT) logs of deep oil wells with gravity data using the Arti-
of delivering 20 percent of Egypt’s energy demand from renewable ficial Neural Network (ANN) system. The output map illustrates that the
resources (Aman, 2015). In January 2015, Egypt announced its goal of temperature gradient ranges from 20 to 40 °C/km with an average of
creating approximately 4300 megawatts of power from solar and wind approximately 30 °C/km. Abdel Zaher et al. (2018) utilized airborne
energy within three years (Reuters, 2015). Thus, it is essential and gravity data in Siwa oasis to outline the surface of the Precambrian
necessary to utilize geothermal resources for generating power and rocks and their connection with the thermal characteristics obtained
supplying Egypt’s energy demands in a clean and effective way. Ordi- from processing aeromagnetic data by applying a power spectrum
narily, geothermal activity in Egypt is recognized in different areas in technique. Generally, the western part of Egypt (Western Desert) is
terms of small hot springs exposed at the surface or thermal deep wells. distinguished by low regional temperature gradients and heat flow
Harvesting the undiscovered geothermal resources could address local (Swenberg et al., 1983; Lashin, 2013; Mohamed et al., 2015); however,
needs for energy and empower Egypt to export electricity. there are numerous hot springs and thermal wells with profound arte-
Many geothermal studies have been carried out in the eastern parts sian aquifers, which indicate low-temperature geothermal resources.
of Egypt, especially the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea regions (e.g., Morgan Farafra oasis has been mentioned as an interesting and promising
and Swanberg, 1979; Morgan et al., 1983; Boulos, 1990; El-Qady, 2006, geothermal resource for geothermal development in a protocol between
Abdelzaher et al., 2011; Abdel Zaher et al., 2011, 2012; Atef et al., the New and Renewable Energy Authority (Nrea) and the Ganoub El

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Abdel Zaher).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2018.05.006
Received 1 March 2018; Received in revised form 15 May 2018; Accepted 30 May 2018
0375-6505/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 1. (a) Location and topographic map (DEM from a satellite dataset) of the Farafra Oasis. The map shows the outlines of the Farafra Oasis, with a surface area
greater than 800 km2, and the locations of Ain Dalla and Bir Sitta. (b) Locations of thermal wells and their temperatures in °C, measured in December 2017.

Wadi Petroleum Company (Ganope). It is located in the heart of the Farafra oasis (Fig. 1) include Ain El-Balad (28 °C) and Ain Dalla (35 °C)
Western Desert of Egypt (Fig. 1), approximately 500 km southwest of (Idris, 2001). However, according to Waring’s definition (Swenberg
Cairo, 300 km west of the River Nile at Asyut and midway between the et al., 1983) of the hot spring as any spring with an average tempera-
Bahariya and Dakhla oases (140 km southwest of the Bahariya Oasis). It ture of +8.3 °C more than the mean ground temperature (26–30 °C),
is part of an arid area that is characterized by the lack of rainfall such reported hot springs cannot strictly be classified as thermal.
throughout the whole year, and groundwater is the main source of Nevertheless, there are numerous thermal water from deep wells in
water for people in this remote area. Springs are the easiest and Farfara oasis, many of which are artesian. The temperature of these
cheapest water supply for drinking and irrigation. The hot springs in the thermal wells was measured and listed in Fig. 1 and ranges 40–50 °C.

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 2. (a) Surface geological map of the Farafra Oasis based on the Geological map of Egypt 1:500,000 NG 35 Farafra Conoco Coral (Egyptian General Petroleum
Company (EGPC), 1987); black lines represent structural lines. (b) Upper Cretaceous to Eocene formations exposed in the Farafra area (after Hermina, 1990). (c) Rose
diagram of the fault trends on the geological map.

In this paper, we describe integrated regional geology, remote (2011). The Upper Mesozoic and Lower Tertiary layers of the Farafra
sensing and geophysical (seismicity, airborne gravity and magnetic area contain a Campanian to Middle Eocene transgressive-regressive
data) studies to investigate the geothermal resources and obtain a full open-marine sequence (Fig. 2). From oldest to youngest, they are the
picture about the geothermal potential of the Farafra oasis. Wadi Hennis, El Hefhuf (Duwi), Dakhla, Khoman, Tarawan, Esna,
Aeromagnetic data was utilized to determine the Curie point depth Farafra and Naqb formations (Hermina, 1990).
(CPD), temperature gradient, and heat flow by analyzing its power Structurally, the Farafra oasis has a dome shape with its axis
spectrum. Where, 3D density inversion of aerogravity data was utilized stretching in the NE-SW direction and represents the southern extension
for delineating basement surface. The outcomes are inspected in con- of the Syrian Arc System (Omara et al., 1970) (Fig. 2c). The develop-
junction with seismicity data to explore the crustal thermal structure of ment of the Bahariya-Farafra platform has been affected significantly by
Farafra oasis. These regional studies help us to detect the locations of eustatic changes and the tectonic activity along the Syrian Arc system
the most promising sites for detailed study to estimate the geothermal since the start of the Late Cretaceous (Aram, 1990; El-Emam et al.,
development and achieve the ideal utilization of geothermal resources 1990; Sehim, 1993; Moustafa et al., 2003). This platform was situated
in Farafra oasis. on a passive continental margin during the Cenomanian, followed by a
period of structural collapse all through the Turonian-Santonian, when
the northern part was structurally uplifted, and the southern part was
2. Geological and structural setting subsiding (El-Emam et al., 1990). Folding occurred later, and the an-
ticline became considerably more pronounced (Sehim, 1993; Moustafa
The Farafra oasis has an irregular triangular shape with a vertex to et al., 2003). In the Maastrichtian, the northern part of the Farafra oasis
the north; its extent increases southward across a region of approxi- and the western and southern parts of the Bahariya oasis were sub-
mately 10,000 km2. It is encompassed by high escarpments, and its merged (El-Emam et al., 1990). Then, during the Paleocene, the Tar-
bottom rises gradually southward to the general level of the sur- awan chalky limestone and the overlying Esna Shale were deposited in
rounding desert (Said, 1962; Issawi et al., 2009). It is bounded by steep the Farafra oasis while the Bahariya oasis was uplifted, and the whole
cliffs on three sides. The east and west cliffs are of great height; the territory was covered by sea in the early Eocene (Issawi et al., 2009). A
north cliff is obvious owing to the dazzling whiteness of its abrupt face. shoreline movement proceeded in the Oligocene, numerous river sys-
Toward the south, the floor of the oasis rises gradually for approxi- tems were produced, and the Radwan Formation, which is composed of
mately 150 m until the Dakhla escarpment is reached (Said, 1990). The a fluvial cross-bedded sandstone and grit sediments, was accumulated
Farafra oasis is covered by sand sheets to the east and bordered to the (Said and Issawi, 1964). Later, comprehensive volcanic eruptions
west by the Great Sand Sea. The geology of the Farafra oasis has been (Mandisha’s basalt) and hydrothermal activity occurred in the study
defined by many researchers, such as Said (1962), Egyptian General area (Meneisy, 1990; El-Aref et al., 1999).
Petroleum Company (EGPC) (1987), Hermina (1990) and Tawadros

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 3. (a) False color composite (FCC) image of the Farafra Oasis from the Landsat bands 7, 5, and 3 (R, G, and B, respectively). (b) Land surface temperature (LST) of
the Farafra area derived from the Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) and TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor).

3. Remote sensing and geophysical data regimes that host and control the geothermal reservoirs. Additionally,
these regional studies assist us to determine the locations of the best
Before the assessment of any geothermal resources, prefeasibility sites for detailed geophysical land surveys.
investigations using remote sensing and geophysical methods are re-
quired to gain a better understanding of the surface and subsurface 3.1. Remote sensing data
geological and tectonic configuration of the region. Generally, geo-
physical techniques play an important first role in investigating geo- Remote sensing studies are based mainly on the Landsat 8 Enhanced
thermal resources. The best strategies are to measure parameters such Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), which is comprised ten multispectral
as resistivity and thermal properties that are specifically impacted by bands and one panchromatic band. Two standard scenes of Landsat-8
geothermal activity, and these strategies are generally alluded to as data products are presented by the USGS EROS Center and composed of
direct methods. Different methods investigate the physical parameters quantized and calibrated scaled digital numbers (DN) that represent
of the host rocks and are typically alluded to as indirect or structural multispectral image data gained by both the Operational Land Imager
methods. In the present research, structural methods involving remote (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). These data were down-
sensing, seismicity, aerogravity and aeromagnetics have been used over loaded from EarthExplorer of USGS (2018).
the Farafra area to unravel the tectonic features and associated thermal The false color composite image (Fig. 3a) is generated by assigning

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 4. Distribution of earthquake epicenters in and around the Farafra Oasis with magnitudes ranging from 1 to 4.6 (ENSN 1997–2014). Black lines represent
structural lines from the Geological map of Farafra Conoco Coral at a scale of 1:500,000© Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), 1987.

bands 7, 5 and 3 to red, green and blue colors, respectively. Band 7 was heating influence from solar radiation on the land surface in winter.
selected as it held unique information in the short infrared wavelength, Many researchers have used thermal infrared data to detect geo-
where important absorption features for layered silicates occur (Goetz thermal resources, including Coolbaugh et al. (2007); Fred et al. (2008)
and Rowan, 1983). Band 5 was also chosen and coded green due to its and Qin et al. (2011). However, these data can be influenced by nu-
unique high response to green vegetation (Ferrari, 1992). Band 3 was merous factors other than geothermal resources, for example, solar
included because it gives the maximum color comparability between radiation, landforms and seismic tremors (Qin et al., 2011). The re-
rock units. From the imagery map, we can recognize that the Farafra sultant map of LST indicates that the surface temperature of the Farafra
oasis occupies a depression elongated NW-SE and its southeastern part area ranges from 10 °C to 30 °C and the mean surface temperature of the
is rather an open plain and covered by sand sheets. Southward, the whole area is approximately 26 °C (Fig. 3b). It is also observed that the
surface of the Farafra depression is dotted by a number of isolated hills. LST increases in the western part of the Farafra oasis (around Qasr
The oasis villages (Qasr Farafra and Abu Minqar) and the Reclaimed Farafra and Bir Sitta). Additionally, high LSTs are encountered around
acres appear clearly in green color. Ain Dalla spring. According to Hereher (2016), the surface geology,
In the present study, Landsat 8 ETM+ data were utilized to estimate topography and surface albedo (the fraction of the incident sunlight
the land surface temperature (LST) of the Farafra oasis. The primary that the surface reflects) have significant impacts on the LSTs of the
distinction between the new TIRS of Landsat-8 and past TM/ETM Farafra area. Thus, dark shale and limestone rocks have the maximum
sensors is the existence of two TIR bands (Bands 10 and 11) in the LSTs, but sand sheets, sand dunes and chalks have the minimum LSTs.
atmospheric window between 10 and 12 μm. The spatial resolution of The area of hot springs and thermal wells in Qasr Farafra and Ain Dalla
TIR thermal bands (10.6–12.5 μm) is 100 m × 100 m. The data were has high LSTs because of hot water and because of the presence of dark
obtained in December 2015 and January 2016 considering the lower rocks (Dakhla Formation and Esna Formation) that have low albedo and

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 5. (a) Total magnetic intensity (TMI) map of the Farafra Oasis obtained from Getech’s compilation study African Magnetic Mapping Project (AMMP) (Getech,
1992; Green et al., 1992). Green dots represent the locations of the centers of overlapping square subregions (windows) used for the power spectrum analyses. (b)
RTP aeromagnetic map using a magnetic inclination of 37.75° and a declination of 1.7°, (c) low-pass filtered regional magnetic field (cutoff wavenumber = 0.007
cycle/km), (d) high-pass filtered residual magnetic field (cutoff wavenumber = 0.007 cycle/km). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 6. Example of the radial power spectrum from the aeromagnetic anomaly data of subregion no. 15 (see Fig. 4 for the subregion location). The CPD was calculated
from the slope of the longest wavelength part of the spectrum.

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 7. Map of the CPDs of the Farafra Oasis obtained using minimum curvature gridding to the basal depths (Zb).

absorb much solar energy, while the area surrounding the oasis has low the TMI map has no survey data. Reduction to pole transformation
LSTs as it mainly covered by sand sheets, sand dunes and chalks (RTP) was applied to the aeromagnetic anomalies using a magnetic
(Thebes Formation) with higher albedo. inclination of 37.75° and a declination of 1.7° to correlate the magnetic
anomalies with their causative sources. (Fig. 5b). Also, the regional and
3.2. Seismicity data residual maps were obtained from RTP data by applying low-pass and
high-pass filters. The regional map (Fig. 5c) shows that the magnetic
The Egyptian National Seismic Network (ENSN) has continuous field decreases to the north-west and exhibits a wide most extreme
records of seismicity data all across Egypt. Fig. 4 shows the earthquake toward to the south. On the other hand, the residual map (Fig. 5d)
epicentral distribution in the Farafra and surrounding areas from 1998 shows various closed anomalies of different amplitudes, shapes, and
to 2014, which is classified based on the magnitude variation. Gen- trends that can be interpreted as the aftereffect of structures in the local
erally, the Western Desert of Egypt is characterized by low seismic basement rocks. The residual RTP values range from −110 to 120 nT.
activity compared with the Eastern Desert. The magnitudes of earth- The magnetic values decrease southwestward due to the presence of
quakes in the area range from 0.92 to 4.6. Although the area is con- thick sedimentary rocks with low magnetization. The main directions of
sidered seismically stable, the distributions of low-magnitude earth- magnetic anomalies are E-W, NW-SE and NE-SW. Positive magnetic
quake events can provide information about the locations of active anomalies are present in the southeastern and northwestern parts of the
faults, which can indicate the presence of geothermal resources. map and could be related to the existence of shallow subsurface mag-
Almost all earthquakes events are located outside of the outline of netic sources. Additionally, we can recognize a positive anomaly in the
the Farafra oasis, whereas there are no records inside and west of the area of the Ain Dalla hot spring in the northwest part of the TMI map.
oasis. Most events are located to the east and northeast (toward The idea of utilizing magnetic anomalies to compute the geothermal
Bahariya oasis) of the Farafra oasis. However, the largest magnitude gradient is based on calculating the depth to the bottom of the magnetic
event (4.62) was located near the eastern border of the Farafra oasis. sources that cause these magnetic anomalies. This depth is equivalent
One event with magnitude 3.08 was located to the south and within the to the Curie point depth at which the substance loses its magnetic po-
Farafra outline. These localities can be used as clues in our geothermal larization.
investigation in the Farafra oasis.
3.3.1. Curie point depths (CPDs) of the Farafra oasis
3.3. Aeromagnetic data The objective of the magnetic study is to investigate the thermal
structure of the crust below the Farafra Oasis by calculating the CPDs.
The aeromagnetic dataset used in our study is extracted from the The CPD is identified as the depth at which the predominant magnetic
African Magnetic Mapping Project (AMMP) as a unified 1-km grid of mineral in the crust transfers from a ferromagnetic state to a para-
total magnetic intensity (TMI) (Getech, 1992; Green et al., 1992). To magnetic state due to increasing temperature (Nagata, 1961). The es-
help with the analysis and interpretation of aeromagnetic anomalies, timation of the Curie point depth using magnetic data has been applied
which are controlled by the orientation of the magnetic field, the map in many parts of Egypt (e.g., Salem et al., 2000; Aboud et al., 2011;
of total magnetic intensity is gridded by a minimum curvature method Saleh et al., 2013; Saada, 2016a, 2016b; Abdel Zaher et al., 2018).
(with a grid size of 1 km). The total magnetic intensity anomalies range However, this technique has never been applied to the Farafra oasis to
from −90 nT to 150 nT (Fig. 5a). The white area in the northern part of investigate the potential of geothermal resources.

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 8. (a) Temperature gradient map of the Farafra Oasis obtained using a Curie temperature of 580 °C and the derived Curie depths from the aeromagnetic data. (b)
Heat flow map of the Farafra Oasis using an average thermal conductivity of λ = 2.9 W/m°C. The solid polygons represent the outline of the Farafra Oasis.

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 9. (a) Bouguer anomaly map of the

Farafra Oasis from AGP (Getech, 1992)
interpolated on a 1000 × 1000 m grid.
(b) Horizontal gradient, (c) Total gra-
dient (analytical signal) and (d) Tilt
gradient of the Bouguer anomaly data
(see description in the text). All maps
(70% transparent) were dropped on a
DEM map from satellite data.

To estimate the CPD, the spectral analysis method has been applied geothermal gradients (Fig. 8a) range between 18.39 °C/km and 36 °C/
to the aeromagnetic data, and the basal depth of a magnetic source km with an average of approximately 26 °C/km, while the heat flow
from aeromagnetic data is considered as the CP Okubo et al. (1985) and values range between 53 and 104 mW/m2 (Fig. 8b). The average heat
Blakely (1995) introduced the power density spectra of the total mag- flow in the study area is approximately 74 mW/m2.
netic field anomaly. Tanaka et al. (1999) assumed that the magnetic
layer continues infinitely in all horizontal directions and that the depth
to the top of the magnetic source is consequently smaller than the 3.4. Aerogravity data
magnetic source’s horizontal scale. Therefore, the depth determination
in such computations is constrained by the width of the aeromagnetic Airborne gravity data were utilized as a part of the present in-
window (L), whereby the most extreme CPD estimation is restricted to vestigation for geothermal exploration at the Farafra oasis. The aero-
L/4п (Shuey et al., 1977). To achieve accuracy in the calculation, we gravity data were obtained from the AGP (African Gravity Project) and
broadened the region of the aeromagnetic map and used data outside of arranged into 5-min grids (cell estimate ∼ 0.08333 in degrees). The
the examination area; this region was separated into covering square free air correction was applied to the gravity data using a value of
subareas (85 windows) with measurements 76 × 81 km2, and a radially 0.3086 mGal/m (0.09406 mGal/ft) as a latitude or elevation, while a
averaged power spectrum was computed for every window. The green reduction density of 2670 kg/m3 was used for the Bouguer correction
squares in Fig. 5 refer to the locations of the centers of the windows. (Getech, 1992). The Bouguer anomaly map of the Farafra Oasis
Also, we tested the results using a window with very large dimension (Fig. 9a) has values in the range of −50 to −10 mGal.
(250 × 250 km2) and we found agreement in average of calculated Visual inspection of the Bouguer map shows that the gravity values
CPDs. diminish southwestward, demonstrating an expansion in the sedimen-
The spectrum was drawn against the wavenumber, k, to estimate tary layer thickness in this direction. On the other hand, gravity values
the depth to the top of the magnetic source, Zt, from the slope of the increase northeastward in the direction of the Bahariya oasis, indicating
longest wavelength part of the spectrum. Then, the spectrum was again the proximity of basement rock to the surface. El-Emam et al., 1990
divided by |k| of each block and was drawn against the wavenumber, k, demonstrated that the Bahariya-Farafra platform was exposed by a
to calculate the depth to the centroid, Z0. Fig. 6 presents an example of phase of tectonic folding, when the northern part was tectonically up-
the power spectrum of aeromagnetic anomaly data. All the slopes are lifted while the southern part was subsiding. Three nearby anomalies
selected from the same wavenumber range for all windows. Finally, are distinguished at Bir-Sitta, east of Bir-Sitta and in the Ain-Dalla area.
from the relation Zb = 2Z0 − Zt, the CPD (Zb) was computed, following These anomalies can provide valuable information about the origin of
the procedure of Okubo et al. (1985). Fig. 7 shows the CPDs for the these hot springs. Filtering techniques in the form of the horizontal
Farafra Oasis, carried out by applying a minimum curvature algorithm gradient, total gradient and tilt gradient were applied to the gravity
to the resultant of CPD (Zb). The map shows the CPDs ranging from data to delineate the geological structures in the Farafra area
18 km to 26 km with an average of 22 km. The CPDs increase toward (Fig. 8b–d). These techniques play an important role in the inter-
the center and north of the Farafra Oasis and decrease westward. pretation and analysis of gravity field data for detecting edges and
Using a Curie point temperature of 580 °C and the derived Curie contacts of lithological units. All the processed maps show maximum
depths, the geothermal gradient (dT/dz) between the Earth’s surface anomalies above four main localities; Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta, northeast of
and the CPD (Zb) of the Farafra oasis was computed by: dT/ Bir-Sitta and the southern margin of the Farafra oasis, which indicates
dz = 580 °C/Zb. Assuming no radioactive source, the geothermal gra- the existence of vertical or near-vertical contacts (faults) in these areas
dient was used to compute the heat flow q by: q = λ dT/dz, where λ is and provides a good correlation with structural lines on the geological
the coefficient of thermal conductivity (2.9 W/mK) that was measured maps. Linear features that strike NE-SW are pronounced in the tilt
by Morgan et al. (1983) for rocks forming the stratigraphic section in gradient map.
the northern part of the Western Desert of Egypt. The calculated

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M. Abdel Zaher et al. Geothermics 75 (2018) 220–234

Fig. 10. (a) Plane view of the grid blocks for the overall 3D gravity model of the Farafra Oasis. (b) The E-W slice shows the subsurface layers using only the two-layer
case, i.e., the sedimentary layer and the basement layer. Coordinates (UTM 35N) are in meters.

3.4.1. 3D density modeling of the gravity data coordinate system. The volume of the model portrays spatial scattering
The objective of 3D inversion is to use a density model to create of a density parameter. The model of the study area covers 56,000 km2
such a geological setting to clear up the observed data. In this method, and is oriented in the north-south direction, extending 280 km in the
extraordinary care must be taken in assessing the geographical validity east-west direction and 200 km in the north-south direction (Fig. 10).
of the geophysical interpretation model. Gravity inversion and/or The spatial discretization divides the study area into 70 grid blocks in
modeling are normally basic steps in gravity interpretation and include the east-west direction (“i” index) and 50 blocks in the north-south
endeavoring to resolve the depth, density, and geometry of subsurface direction (“j” index). Three additional blocks are included at the mar-
bodies. The gravity inversion for the Farafra area was accomplished gins of the model to broaden the edge effect of layers far from the
using the GRABLOX-1.7 program, which processes the synthetic gravity computational zone, which is alluded to as the buffering effect. Thus,
anomalies of a 3D block model; however, the BLOXER program was the new edges reach out to 80 km beyond the Bouguer zone at all
used for model editing and visualization (Pirttijärvi, 2004). bearings to precisely model the study area. Hence, the block model
The 3D block model includes a substantial super-block divide into consists of 8512 minor blocks, the new discretization (xyz) is
minor blocks. Each minor block is designated with at least one char- (76 × 56 × 2), and the default block size is 4000 × 4000 × 2500 m3.
acteristic parameter value. The model is adjusted with a rectangular xyz The block height is steady along the depth. The model depends on two

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Fig. 11. Result maps from the 3D density modeling. (a) Observed gravity anomaly, (b) Calculated base field, (c) Computed gravity anomaly, and d) Errors from the
difference between the observed and computed gravity data.

layers: a sedimentary layer and a basement layer with average densities (faults) and provides a good correlation with structural lines on the
of 2300 kg/m3 and 2760 kg/m3, respectively (Fig. 10b). The density of geological maps. The depth to the interface between the upper and
sedimentary rocks was assumed depending on the arbitrage between lower layers was extracted and contoured from the result of the 3D
the density ranges of different rocks as reported in the literature (e.g., gravity inversion, which represents the depth to the Precambrian
Kearey and Brooks, 2002; Telford et al., 1990; Sharma, 1997) and on basement rock, or in other words, the aggregate thickness of the sedi-
density measurements obtained from formation density compensated mentary rocks (Fig. 13). The depths to basement are generally greater
logs (FDC) of some deep wells in the northwestern desert of Egypt by than 2 km (b.s.l.) in most of the study area. The SW-NE trend of major
(Abu El-Ata and Abd El-Nabi, 1985). basins (depth > 3 km) separates two basement uplifts (depth < 2 km)
The results of the 3D gravity model are shown in Fig. 11. The re- in the northwest and southeast parts of the Farafra oasis. The shallowest
gional field was computed from the Bouguer anomaly map (Fig. 11b) depths to basement rock are encountered around the Bir-Sitta area,
and used to estimate the gravity impacts of masses situated inside the south and east of Ain-Dalla, and south of the Farafra outline (areas of
volume of the model while excluding the impact of masses situated seismic activity). The shallow basement depths below the areas of
around and beneath the examination volume. The comparability be- thermal wells and hot springs in the Farafra oasis (Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta
tween the observed (Fig. 11a) and calculated gravity (Fig. 11c) data is and Ain El-Balad areas) suggest that the basement rock might be the
clear. Most of the error values are located very close to zero mGal source of the heat beneath these sites. Uplifts of basement rock can
(Fig. 11d), whereas the root mean square (RMS) value of the calculated cause deep groundwater circulation in the subsurface reservoir, con-
model is 0.0077051. trolled by fractures and faults on the surface of hot basement rocks.
The optimized density models of three sections crossing the Structural lines (lineaments) on the basement surface were extracted
Ammonite-1 well, Ain-Dalla, and Bir-Sitta, as well as their corre- and superimposed on the basement relief map, which represents the
sponding observed and calculated gravity anomalies, are illustrated in orientation of the discontinuities by straight lines (Fig. 13). The inter-
Fig. 12. Geological information from the Ammonite-1 well was used for pretation of linear features on the basement map by plotting rose dia-
verifying the inversion results. The profiles show very good fits between gram of basement lineaments (the orientation of the discontinuities
the observed and calculated data and exhibit a strong agreement with represented by straight lines) shows that the lineaments mainly strike
the basement depths observed at the Ammonite-1 well. NE-SW and reveals the same change in lineament trends as seen in the
surface geological map (Fig. 13). This trend coincides with the trend of
4. Results and discussion the Syrian Arc System, where the Farafra depression represents its
southern extension (Omara et al., 1970). The Syrian Arc System frames
The temperature gradient and heat flow values derived from aero- an obvious S-shaped fold-thrust belt composed of basic and topographic
magnetic data show a general trend of increase toward the eastern and highs that stretch out from Farafra through Bahariya in the Western
western (at Bir Sitta) margins of the Farafra Oasis outline and the Desert and across Sinai to central Syria, where they disappear near the
higher values associated with shallow CPDs. Additionally, the proces- NW-oriented Euphrates graben (Krenkel, 1925).
sing of the aerogravity data of the Farafra oasis using gradient techni- Fig. 14 summarizes the results of the integration of different geo-
ques shows high anomalies at four main areas; Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta, physical methods used in regional studies. We observed certain corre-
northeast of Bir-Sitta and at the southern margin of the Farafra oasis, lations among the locations of higher heat flow and those of shallow
which indicates the presence of vertical or near-vertical contacts basement depths derived from gravity inversion and shallow CPD

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Fig. 12. E–W density models from the 3D inversion illustrate the results from the fitting of the observed (circles) and calculated (line) gravity data. (a) E-W density
model of slice number 14 crossing the Ammonite-1 well, (b) E–W density model of slice number 14 crossing the Ain-Dalla hot spring, (c) E-W density model of slice
number 14 crossing Bir-Sitta. The stripe above the cross-section shows the surface lithology and structural lines derived from the Geological map of Farafra Conoco
Coral at a scale of 1:500,000© Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), 1987. Coordinates (UTM 35N) are in meters.

obtained from magnetic data. Six sites with high geothermal potentials second magnitude of 3.08 located to the south (Fig. 4), have high
are well distinguished in the study area. These sites are located in temperature gradients and heat flow values. This correlation can ex-
southern Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta, eastern Qasr-Farafra, eastern Farafra, plain that the geothermal resources in these sites are structure control.
southern Farafra, and southern Abu Minqar. In contrast, the Ain Dalla Also, we can observe that most of the six geothermal areas are asso-
spring area has low geothermal properties compared with the Ain El- ciated with faults on the basement rocks (derived from 3D gravity in-
Balad spring near Qasr Farafra. version).
Seismicity data can be used as an indicator of possible fracture Finally, we can conclude that the geothermal resources in the
permeability but this does not mean a convecting geothermal resource Farafra oasis can be classified as low-temperature resources. So, it is
is present. However, correlating the locations of seismic activity with important to noted that the contribution of geothermal energy from the
other geophysical data can help in our geothermal investigation in the Farafra oasis would not from adding megawatts to the electricity net-
Farafra oasis. The two sites with evidence of seismic activity, with a work but from reducing consumption by the direct use of geothermal
magnitude of 4.62 near the eastern border of the Farafra oasis and a resources, such as district heating, fish farming, agricultural

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Fig. 13. Basement relief map derived from the 3D density modeling. Depths are in meters. The inverted white triangle represents the Ammonite-1 well, and the
number is the depth to the basement in the well. The lower figure shows a 3D view of the basement surface. Dotted lines indicate lineaments on the basement surface,
and their numbers are illustrated in the rose diagram.

applications and greenhouses. Collected water samples from deep wells The power spectral technique was connected to aeromagnetic data
in the promising sites for geochemical analyses are highly re- for assessing the depths to the Curie isotherm in the study area. Its
commended as well as land measurements using deep investigation depths range from 16 km to 26 km with an average of 22 km. The es-
geophysical methods (e.g., magnetotelluric) to assess their geothermal timated geothermal gradients from the relationship between the CPD
potential and to develop models for Enhanced Geothermal Systems and the Curie temperature (580 °C for magnetite) yield values between
(EGS) that accurately anticipate reservoir achievement. 18.39 °C/km and 36 °C/km and an average of approximately 26 °C/km,
and the deduced heat flow values range between 53 and 104 mW/m2
with an average of approximately 74 mWm−2. Generally, the geo-
5. Conclusion thermal resources in the Farafra oasis can be classified as low-tem-
perature resources. These integrated results show good correlations
Ordinarily, geothermal activity in Egypt is perceived in many areas, among high heat flow, shallow basement depths detected from gravity
in terms of hot springs exposed at the surface or thermal deep wells. inversion and shallow CPD obtained from magnetic data. Six zones of
Exploiting the undiscovered geothermal resources could address local high geothermal probability are recognized in the Farafra oasis. These
needs for energy and empower Egypt to export electricity. An in- zones are southern Ain-Dalla, Bir-Sitta, eastern Qasr-Farafra, eastern
tegrated regional geophysical survey using remote sensing, seismicity, Farafra, southern Farafra, and southern Abu Minqar.
and aeromagnetic and aerogravity data was done to evaluate the geo-
thermal potential in the Farafra area. These provincial investigations
will help in detecting potential geothermal sites and planning future Acknowledgment
land geophysical studies. Two scenes of Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS were
employed to estimate the land surface temperature (LST) of the Farafra This study was primarily financed by the Academy of Scientific
oasis. The resultant LSTs show that the surface temperature of the Research and Technology in Egypt through a project entitled:
Farafra oasis ranges from 10 °C to 30 °C and that the mean surface Assessment of Geothermal Resources in Farafra Oasis (project no.
temperature of the entire area is approximately 26 °C. The highest 1351). Authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Markku Pirttijärvi
magnitude seismic event (4.62) is located near the eastern border of the (University of Oulu, Finland) for using his software GRABLOX-1.7 and
Farafra oasis. Another event with a magnitude of 3.08 is located to the BLOXER-1.5. Additionally, the authors are grateful to Getech Group plc
south and within the Farafra outline. for providing the airborne geophysical data.

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Fig. 14. Locations of the most promising areas for geothermal exploration in the Farafra Oasis as a result of our regional studies. (a) Structural lines derived from the
Geological map of Farafra Conoco Coral at a scale of 1:500,000© Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), 1987 (Fig. 2); red circles indicate the locations of
earthquake epicenters (Fig. 4). (b) CPD map derived from aeromagnetic data (Fig. 7). (c) Depths to the basement surface obtained from gravity data (Fig. 13). (d)
Heat flow map of the Farafra Oasis (Fig. 8b). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this
article.)

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