Scientific Basis for a Coupled Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical-Chemical-Biological Experimental Facility at DUSEL Homestake

Most natural and engineered earth system processes involve strong coupling of thermal, mechanical, chemical, and sometimes biological processes in rocks that are heterogeneous at a wide range of spatial scales. One of the most pervasive processes in the Earth’s crust is that of fluids (primarily water, but also CO2, hydrocarbons, volcanic gases, etc.) flowing through fractured heated rock under stress. A preliminary design is being formulated for a large-scale subsurface experimental facility to investigate coupled Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical-Chemical-Biological (THMCB) processes in fractured rock at depth. The experiment would be part of the proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) in the Homestake Mine, South Dakota. Fundamental geochemical, isotopic, microbiological, laboratory THMC experiments, and numerical modeling will be used to guide the experimental design and evaluation of the time and spatial scales of the coupled THMCB processes. Although we sometimes analyze rocks and fluids for physical and chemical properties, it is difficult to create quantitative numerical models based on fundamental physics and chemistry that can capture the dynamic changes that have occurred or may yet take place. Initial conditions and history are only known roughly at best, and the boundary conditions have likely varied over time as well. Processes such as multicomponent chemical and thermal diffusion, multiphase flow, advection, and thermal expansion/contraction, are taking place simultaneously in rocks that are structurally and chemically complex—heterogeneous assemblages of mineral grains, pores, and fractures—and visually opaque. The only way to fully understand such processes is to carry out well-controlled experiments at a range of scales (grain/pore-scale to decimeter-scale) that can be interrogated and modeled. The THMCB experimental facility is also intended to be a unique laboratory for testing hypotheses regarding effects of heat and chemical reactions on microbial communities. Will microbial communities and gene assemblages evolve rapidly in response to changes in heat-flow and stimulate changes in subsurface geochemistry? Does hydrothermal circulation alter the availability of nutrients, trace metals, and hydrogen and control observed microbial responses? In this presentation we will discuss some of the scientific questions that may be addressed in such an experiment, potential experimental designs, and fundamental scientific studies being performed to aid in the experimental design.