AVALIAÇÃO DO POTENCIAL GEOTÉRMICO DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO JEQUITINHONHA.

Results of this study admitted geothermal analyses of the Jequitinhonha River Watershed, present in the State of Minas Gerais and Bahia. Available data from 182 well profiles, allowed to evaluate, through the application of geothermal methods, the geothermal potential on site. Reassessments of previous studies and acquisition of complementary data allowed advances in the regional thermal study of the region, whose limits are in the area of domain of the Orógeno Araçuaí, and a strip to the south, and another narrow strip to the northeast of the area, under the influence of the San Francisco Cráton. Variations of 8 to 40 ℃/km of regional thermal gradient and geothermal flow values ranging between 25 and 115 mW/m² were observed. High anomalies were observed in the North-Central and Northwest regions of the watershed, with geothermal flows ranging between 70-115 mW/m², values higher than the global average. These regions are the most conducive to conducting more in-depth studies in order to generate geothermal energy for the locality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]