This briny water body is about 56 x 10 km. The Sea resides on the floor of the Salton Trough, chiefly in Imperial County, California. The Salton Buttes reside near the SE end of the Salton Sea. The lake is receding but its 2014 surface elevation is close to -69 m. For scale, the N-S distance from the S end of the Salton Sea to the USA-Mexico border is ~100 km. Sketch map showing location of Salton Sea and the Salton Buttes volcanic area study area. There are no previous Bulletin reports on the Salton Buttes.įigure 2. Consequently, the SSGF's unique geology creates the perfect setting for hot geothermal fluids to seep to the surface, and has been slated as a site for geothermal electricity-generating plants. As shown in figure 2, the SSGF lies at the head of the Gulf of California, on the boundary of the Pacific and North American plates (Elders and Sass, 1988). This high geothermal gradient results from the shallow magma body of the spreading center between the San Andreas and Imperial faults. The SSGF rests within a topographic low, and has a geothermal gradient that averages ~0.3☌/m, reaching a maximum of 4.3☌/m (Lynch and others, 2013). Red Island is part of the Salton Buttes, a collection of five late Quaternary rhyolitic volcanic necks in the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF) (figure 1).

We also include some remarks from related literature and note geothermal power plants in the region.īackground. Lynch and Adams sent us a report, which follows. Adams of Red Island, previously known as Red Hill, in Southern California, USA, has resulted in the discovery of five steaming hot vents on the SW flank of the northern Salton Buttes volcanic field. Instrument-aided IR detection of 5 steaming vents at Red Island in 2013Ī recent partial survey conducted by David K.

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