Soil Gas Sampling At Kilauea East Rift Geothermal Area (Cox, 1980)

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

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Exploration Activity: Soil Gas Sampling At Kilauea East Rift Geothermal Area (Cox, 1980)

Exploration Activity Details
Location	Kilauea East Rift Geothermal Area
Exploration Technique	Soil Gas Sampling
Activity Date	1978 - 1978
Usefulness	useful
DOE-funding	Unknown

Exploration Basis

This study was conducted for the purposes of identifying geothermally driven gas convection systems.

Notes

The rates of radon emanating from the ground in the Lower East Rift Zone were measured using alpha particle sensitive cellulose nitrate films. The survey was successful in defining an area of geothermal significance. The study showed that ground gas convection systems are thermally driven within the rift zone. In basaltic island environments this type of survey has been found to be very useful for geothermal exploration and is now used commonly in Hawaii as a geothermal exploration technique. It should also be noted that this technique was both inexpensive and easy to carry out.

References

• Malcolm E. Cox (1980) Ground radon survey of a geothermal area in Hawaii