Thermal state of La Palma (Canary Islands) from a data-integrative approach

The Canary Islands stand out as a prime region within Spanish territory with significant potential for harnessing high enthalpy geothermal resources due to their active volcanic activity. La Palma, one of the youngest islands in the archipelago, has witnessed at least seven volcanic eruptions over the past 500 years, with the most recent one occurring in 2021. Despite these compelling signs, the development of high enthalpy geothermal power plants has not been pursued on the island, mainly because of the financial risk involved in such project and the lack of detailed geophysical data that can support the correct characterization of the geothermal potential on the island. Accordingly, a data-integrative approach that aids the characterization of potential geothermal sites will reduce such uncertainties, supporting the drilling planning phase of the project. Since the last eruption in 2021, several new geophysical experiments and projects have been undertaken within La Palma Island, aiming to understand the present-day configuration of the subsurface. In this study, we integrate the newly geophysical data in order to build a 3D thermal model that is consistent with the geological structure of the island. This research is funded by the Spanish Government projects PRX23/00106 and PID2022-139943NB-I00