oa 3D Focused Seismic Imaging for Geothermal Reservoir Characterization in Crystalline Rock (Schneeberg, Germany)

We present the results of a high resolution 3D seismic survey acquired in the western Erzgebirge near the city of Schneeberg. The project aims at imaging a major fault zone in crystalline rock at a depth of 4-5 km with expected temperatures between 160 and 180°C, which is supposed to be used as a natural geothermal heat exchanger. We applied advanced imaging methods to the data set. 3D Kirchhoff prestack depth migration delivered a clear structural image of the various fault branches at depths of around 2-5 km. Furthermore we applied the focusing coherency migration method, which uses a coherency function of the data recorded at neighboring traces for imaging. This method even sharpened the image such that the 3D seismic result allows for a profound characterization of this potential geothermal reservoir in crystalline rock.