Short Course VII on Surface Exploration for Geothermal Resources in El Salvador
The annual short course in El Salvador held in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals is currently under way. This time the short course is devoted to surface exploration for geothermal resources and is primarily targeted towards practicing geoscientists in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The first day of the course, Sunday March 15, was devoted to an overview of geothermal geoscientific exploration with short presentations given about the status of exploration in the home countries of participants. The participants were then split into three groups focusing on different aspects of geothermal exploration: Geology, Chemistry of thermal fluids, and Geophysics. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were devoted to theoretical lectures and field work near Ahuachapán, while Thursday and Friday were reserved for the processing and interpretation of data from a single geothermal field within the three groups. On the final day of the course, Saturday March 21, the participants will share their interpretations of the data and strive to reach consensus on a conceptual model for the geothermal field under study.
The short course is attended by 41 participants from 13 countries all over the Americas with instructors from Iceland and El Salvador.