Geological controls on heat flow distribution in the southeastern Western Siberian Basin: Insights from thermal modeling

While geothermal potential is typically assessed in tectonically active regions, sedimentary basins in stable areas also represent significant geothermal resources. Accurate assessment of geothermal potential in sedimentary basins requires understanding thermal field heterogeneity – the central research problem addressed in this work. We analyze a heat flow map of the southeastern Western Siberia sedimentary basin, derived from 433 well-based calculations.

To determine the heat flow density at the basement-sediment interface, we applied Valery Isaev's methodology via the 1D thermal modelling program Teplodialog. This technique is founded on a numerical solution of the heat conduction equation for a horizontally layered solid body with a mobile upper boundary. The resulting data were interpolated using the Kriging geostatistical method to generate a schematic heat flow map. The constructed map (contour interval 2 mW·m⁻²) demonstrates reliability through a strong correlation of its anomalous zones with data from prior studies.

Our findings reveal that heat flow distribution in sedimentary basins fundamentally correlates with the age of the last tectonomagmatic event – the primary control governing thermal patterns. This relationship explains observed connections between heat flow and both fault density (positive correlation in zones of recent tectonomagmatic activity) and basement rock composition (inherited from tectonic evolution history). Local variations in rock thermal properties account for only minor heat flow differences within coeval tectonic units.