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Abstract

The Alberta Basin as foreland basin of the Rocky Mountains is known for its resources of oil, gas and coal. Due to its characteristic flexure of the foreland lithosphere this basin type deepens significantly towards the orogenic belt. These foreland deeps host potentially sedimentary layers containing hot fluids and structurally or facies controlled high permeability domains. Two Focus regions are studied by well data analysis, 2D seismic sections, stress field analysis and temperature modeling. The study areas are located around the city of Edmonton in central Alberta (basin depth 1.8 – 3.5km) and in northeastern Alberta around the town of Peace River (basin depth 1.7 – 2.4 km). Extension and thickness of potential geothermal target formations is investigated by 3D structural geological modeling, and geostatistical methods are applied to analyze the distribution of porosity, permeability and temperature within these formations. For central Alberta, the medium to coarse grained Cambrian Basal Sandstone Unit is the most promising formation for deep geothermal applications. This potential hydrothermal resource could be used for district heating in the Edmonton metropolitan area, where the Cambrian Sandstone is located at a depth of 2.2 – 2.7km with a temperature of 78 – 93°C. Fluids from overlying Upper Devonian porous carbonates host fluids up to 63°C. In northeastern Alberta, warm fluids (51-75°C)from the siliciclastic Granite Wash Unit could be used for heating of greenhouses. Considering the climatic conditions in Alberta with its long and cold winter season, the temperature range between 60-90°C of hydrothermal resources seems to be efficient in highly populated areas with high heat demand as the metropolitan region of Edmonton, remote areas on northern Canada where fuel for heating needs to be transported by helicopters, or generally in Canada to grow local food in greenhouses.