North-eastern Morocco: a high geothermal prospect

Abstract

New temperature data obtained in 2007 in a hydrogeological borehole (1100 m deep) near Berkane have revealed an average geothermal gradient of about 126 degrees C/km at depths greater than 300 m. This result confirms the average geothermal gradient estimated in a mining borehole located about 30 km west of the Berkane borehole, in which water with temperatures as high as 96 degrees C was reached at a depth of about 700 m. The new geothermal gradient, exceeding by far the ones already determined for this Moroccan area allows thinking about the possibility of programs for using high temperature waters in north-eastern Morocco.