Maria Gudjonsdottir

The Krafla area in north Iceland hosts a high‐temperature geothermal system within a volcanic caldera. Temperature measurements from boreholes drilled for power generation reveal enigmatic contrasts throughout the drilled area. While wells in the western part of the production field indicate a 0.5–1 km thick near‐isothermal (∼210°C) liquid‐dominated reservoir underlain by a deeper boiling reservoir, wells in the east indicate boiling conditions extending from the surface to the maximum depth of drilled wells (∼2 km). Understanding these systematic temperature contrasts in terms of the subsurface permeability structure has remained challenging. Here, we present a new numerical model of the natural, pre‐exploitation state of the Krafla system, incorporating a new geologic/conceptual model and a version of TOUGH2 extending to supercritical conditions. The model shows how the characteristic temperature distribution results from structural partitioning of the system by a rift‐parallel eruptive fissure and an aquitard at the transition between deeper basement intrusions and high‐permeability extrusive volcanic rocks. As model calibration is performed using a Bayesian framework, the posterior results reveal significant uncertainty in the inferred permeability values for the different rock types, often exceeding two orders of magnitude. While the model shows how zones of single‐phase supercritical vapor develop above the deep intrusive heat source, more data from deep wells is needed to better constrain the extent and temperature of the deep supercritical zones. However, the model suggests the presence of a significant untapped resource at Krafla.

The quantitative connections between subsurface geologic structure and measured geophysical data allow 3D geologic models to be tested against measurements and geophysical anomalies to be interpreted in terms of geologic structure. Using a Bayesian framework, geophysical inversions are constrained by prior information in the form of a reference geologic model and probability density functions (pdfs) describing petrophysical properties of the different lithologic units. However, it is challenging to select the probabilistic weights and the structure of the prior model in such a way that the inversion process retains relevant geologic insights from the prior while also exploring the full range of plausible subsurface models. In this study, we investigate how the uncertainty of the prior (expressed using probabilistic constraints on commonality and shape) controls the inferred lithologic and mass density structure obtained by probabilistic inversion of gravimetric data measured at the Krafla geothermal system. We combine a reference prior geologic model with statistics for rock properties (grain density and porosity) in a Bayesian inference framework implemented in the GeoModeller software package. Posterior probability distributions for the inferred lithologic structure, mass density distribution, and uncertainty quantification metrics depend on the assumed geologic constraints and measurement error. As the uncertainty of the reference prior geologic model increases, the posterior lithologic structure deviates from the reference prior model in areas where it may be most likely to be inconsistent with the observed gravity data and may need to be revised. In Krafla, the strength of the gravity field reflects variations in the thickness of hyaloclastite and the depth to high-density basement intrusions. Moreover, the posterior results suggest that a WNW–ESE-oriented gravity low that transects the caldera may be associated with a zone of low hyaloclastite density. This study underscores the importance of reliable prior constraints on lithologic structure and rock properties during Bayesian geophysical inversion.