Geophysical characteristics of a fault system in the northern Central Range of Taiwan and its applications for geothermal energy exploration

The northern Central Range of Taiwan is a high-potential geothermal region. Since the formations are mainly tight metasandstone and slate, permeable structures associated with faults are commonly considered as conduits of geothermal fluids. This study determines the characteristics and orientations of the permeable fault zones by analyzing the geophysical logs and microresistivity formation image log (FMI) of the JT-4 well in Jentse, an important geothermal area in the northern Central Range. Between 720 and 1480 m measured depth (MD), the effective porosity of the intact host rock is mostly below 3% calculated by the geophysical log. Zones with porosity greater than 5% are only clustered within a few thin intervals. The FMI interpretations show these porous zones are in the interior of the fractured and faulted intervals. These porous fault zones comprise fault damage zones with a high density of open fracture planes and fault cores with porous fault breccias. There is a highly brecciated fault core in 1334–1339 m MD, which would be the most permeable interval of the well. Additionally, some healed fault zones with sealed fractures are observed. The picked drilling-induced tensile fractures signify that the direction of the present-day maximum horizontal principal stress is N40–50°E, and most of the open fractures also strike parallel to the NE–SW direction. The study results show that the open fractures are concentrated in the four fault zones belonging to one major normal fault system. After integrating the orientations and locations of the fault zones, we propose that the permeable normal fault system is about 200 m wide, trends N50–70°E, and dips 70–80° to the NW. The development of the open fractures and the permeable fault system in the northern Central Range may be controlled by the current rifting of the Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. The study exhibits the characteristics of fractured fluid conduits of the regional geothermal system, which will benefit future geothermal exploration in northeastern Taiwan.