Fluid convection observed from temperature logs in the karst formation of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico: Fid-Bau Portal

Fluid convection observed from temperature logs in the karst formation of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Jan Šafanda / Philipp Heidinger / Helmut Wilhelm / Vladimir Čermák

Temperature–depth profiles, obtained during three campaigns of temperature logging in boreholes of the Yucatán Peninsula in the period 2002–2004, display the effects of thermal fluid convection. These effects are most pronounced in the uppermost part of the 1.5 km deep borehole Yaxcopoil-1 drilled within the Chicxulub impact crater. The convective zone is clearly discernible in all three profiles measured here in March 2002, May 2003 and February 2004. The loggings have revealed a gradual downward propagation of the convective features from the uppermost 145 m of the temperature profile to 230 m between the first and second loggings (with a propagation rate of 6 m/month) and to 265 m between the second and third loggings (4 m/month). A signature of the fluid convection is also evident in all other temperature logs in the area measured during the 2003 campaign, namely in four UNAM boreholes 2, 5, 7 and 8, three hydrogeological boreholes 1A, 1B and 1C, in a borehole at the meteorological observatory Mérida and in the cenote Ucil. The fresh/salt water interface is clearly visible in most of the logs as a zone of increased temperature gradient. The varying intensity of the convective features among the individual logs seems to be correlated with the borehole position relative to the impact structure.