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Rocky Mountain Geology; November 2002; v. 37; no. 2; p. 215-227; DOI: 10.2113/gsrocky.37.2.215
© 2002 University of Wyoming
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Subsurface temperatures in the southern Denver Basin, Colorado

Shari A. Kelley1 and David D. Blackwell2

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801, U.S.A.
2 Department of Geological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, U.S.A.

Equilibrium temperature logs and thermal conductivity values were measured in the Kiowa Cored Well to calculate a heat flow value of 56.4 ± 1.0 mW/m2 for the site. The temperatures in the Kiowa Cored Well are higher than those for a similar interval in the Castle Pines well, a research well located west of the Kiowa Cored Well. This difference in temperature is to be expected because the synorogenic sediments penetrated by the Kiowa Cored Well are finer-grained and more coal-rich than those in the Castle Pines well, resulting in a lower overall thermal conductivity in the Kiowa Cored Well. Temperature logs from groundwater monitoring wells in the Denver Metropolitan area are complicated by intra-borehole downflow and thus are of limited use in assessing regional temperature variations. In contrast, high-quality temperature logs in oil wells along the southeastern margin of the Denver Basin and on the Las Animas Arch yield estimated heat flow values of ~64 to 70 mW/m2, which are similar to values determined in southwestern Kansas. Fluid flow in the Dakota aquifer in southeastern Colorado has little impact on the temperature regime along the southeastern margin of the basin.

Key Words: Denver Basin • heat flow • equilibrium temperatures






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