Valles Caldera Geothermal focus of talk Thursday at Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206 (04-016)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 12, 2004 -- The Valles Caldera geothermal system is the subject of a talk at 6:30 p.m., Thursday (March 18) by Los Alamos National Laboratory National technical staff member Fraser Goff in the Bradbury Science Museum.

Goff is a geologist in Los Alamos' Hydrology, Geochemistry and Geology Group where he conducts geothermal exploration and research for both conventional and hot dry rock geothermal energy.

According to Goff, geothermal development has specific environmental impacts and hazards that must be addressed before and during power production. The portion of the caldera having geothermal significance is now part of the recently created Valles Caldera National Preserve. Past development problems in the Valles Caldera, the small reservoir size, an uncertain power market, and its new public status make future development of the Valles geothermal resource uncertain.

Goff's talk is cosponsored by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and is free and open to the public though seating is limited.

Goff received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from San Jose State in 1971 and a doctoral degree in earth science at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1982. Goff has been a technical staff member at Los Alamos since 1978 when he joined the Laboratory to work on research and development on Los Alamos' Hot Dry Rock project.

Goff has worked on 35 geothermal systems in the United States and 15 countries. He investigated the hydrogeochemistry of geothermal oil fields in the Great Basin, Nevada . He has investigated environmental isotopes in ground waters within Los Alamos National Laboratory property and has studied mercury transport from mines in California.

Goff has worked on 15 active volcanoes studying magmatic volatiles and developed a remote sensing project to measure volcanic plume gas compositions and flux. He conducted a nationwide resource assessment of ultramafic rocks as sources of magnesium for carbon dioxide sequestration. He was an advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency on the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, an active geothermal system.   Goff also is an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.

Prior to joining the Laboratory, Goff worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in California and as a senior geologist on the Basalt Waste Isolation Project at the Department of Energy's Hanford site in Washington State.

The Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Los Alamos. Museum hours apart from special events are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday through Monday.

The Bradbury Science Museum is part of Los Alamos' Public Affairs Office.

For more information, contact Pat Berger at 665-0896.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

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