41 Recent Advances in the Gulf of California Oblique Rift: Offshore and Onshore Studies // Avances Recientes en el Rift Oblicuo del Golfo de California: Estudios Marinos y Terrestres (Part III)
This session highlights recent research on the Gulf of California–Salton Trough plate boundary from ~12 Ma to today. We welcome terrestrial and marine studies involving tectonics, basin analysis, volcanology, sedimentology, and more. English or Spanish.
Friday, 24 April 2026
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
LMH, Fiesta Terrace Salon
Thermal fluids associated with fault systems near Ensenada city (Baja California, México): helium origin and geothermal exploration
Paper number: 41-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:35 PM – 3:55 PM
Authors
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Claudio Inguaggiato Presenting AuthorDepartamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), Ensenada, Baja California
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Loic PeifferDepartamento de Geología, Unidad La Paz, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), La Paz, Baja California Sur
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Daniel CarbajalGeological Survey of Finland, Espoo
Abstract
The Baja California Peninsula lies within a complex tectonic framework, initially shaped by the subduction of the Farallon plate beneath the North American plate and, since ~12 Ma, by active rifting in the Gulf of California. Near Ensenada (Baja California), thermal fluids, waters and bubbling gases, are associated with the dextral strike-slip faults of Agua Blanca, Trés Hermanos and San Miguel-Vallecitos, despite the lack of recent magma activity. More than 15 thermal springs and wells have been reported around Ensenada, with temperatures ranging from 32 to 102 °C. The latter is a submarine thermal fluid located close to Punta Banda, associated to Agua Blanca fault. Moreover, at La Jolla beach (Ensenada) a thermal anomaly associated to Agua Blanca fault was identified. The surface temperature of the beach reach 52 °C, while at 20 cm depth the temperature increases up to 93 °C.
The results of helium isotope ratio (3He/4He) coupled with 4He/20Ne ratios in thermal fluids associated to Agua Blanca, Trés Hermanos and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults, indicate that helium is predominantly radiogenic, with a mantle contribution up to 11 %. Temperatures calculated using classical solute geothermometers are characteristic of low to medium temperature geothermal systems, reaching approximately 120 °C estimated by Na-K geothermometer and around 100 °C based on quartz geothermometer. The magma aging model was applied to the fluids of San Miguel – Vallecitos fault, leading the authors to conclude that the mantle derived-helium identified in the area migrates from the mantle to the surface through the fault systems.
Similar fault-controlled thermal springs and coastal geothermal systems also occur in some areas along the Gulf of California margin and in Baja California Sur (e.g. Buenavista and Sargento). This suggests that tectonically driven geothermal fluid circulation is a regional feature associated with the Gulf of California rift.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 3
doi: 10.1130/abs/2026CD-410808
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