Geotermia rasa em Belém

Abstract

A detailed study of shallow geothermics was carried out at depth intervals of 0.02 to 210.0 m, in the metropolitan área of the city of Belém-Brazil. The temperature measurements were performed by using mercury and thermistor thermometers, while the thermal conductivity measurements were made on core samples obtained from boreholes, by using a needle type apparatus. The incident solar radiation flux was recorded by a Robitzech type actinography. The average geothermal gradient obtained for the metropolitan area of the city of Belém was of 0.0254 ± 0.0007 °C.m-1. The average value of the thermal conductivity of the core samples collected in this region was of 1.66 ± 0.52 W.m-1.°C-1. On the other hand the average geothermal flux observed within the studied region was of about 42.16 ± 1.14 mW.m-2. At 1.0 m depth one observes changes of the temperature values with time which can not be neglected. These changes are directly related to the incident solar radiation flux variations at the surface. The largest increment of this flux observed from one day to the other was about 30 W.m-2, which corresponded to a temperature increment of the order of 0.22 °C at 1.0 m depth. The temperature profiles obtained in this work, presented drifts in alternating directions during the one-year cycle of observations. The shallow geothermal profiles are characterized by a zone of vanishing heat flux, so called “elbow zone”, past which the temperature increases with depth. The depth of the elbow zone is mainly influenced by the heat flux generated by the incident solar radiation on the surface of the area under study. A numerical model of the thermal structure evolution in time, was developed for the 0.02 to 10.0 m depth zone. The results generated from this model of heat transfer by conduction were compared with those obtained from the field work data. One observes good agreement between the two sets of data. However the numerical adjustment representation is closer to the field data in the period of September to February. The model developed can be used for of profile drifts geothermal forecasts, as long as one knows a priori the corresponding values of the monthly averages of the soil temperatures at the surface, the regional geothermal gradient and one given geothermal profile. This work demonstrates that the incident solar radiation flux at the surface is the main source of influence on the shallow geothermal profiles. The maximum depth of such influence depends mainly on the magnitude of such flux, on the degree of protection of the surface from the direct incidence of solar radiation and the lithology of the site under study.