Evaluating geothermal potential in Yukon through temperature gradient drilling
As part of the Canadian government’s commitment to establishing clean energy in the North, the Yukon Geological Survey is collecting subsurface temperature data near communities in the southern part of the territory. The research is a collaborative effort among federal and territorial geoscientists, universities, First Nation governments, and geothermal consultants. A major goal of the project is to determine whether ground temperatures warrant further geothermal exploration in the territory. The study also presents an opportunity for Yukon Geological Survey to educate the public about geothermal energy. This paper summarizes the methods and results of the drilling of two ~500 m geothermal temperature gradient wells. The first was drilled in the fall of 2017 in the Whitehorse area, near Takhini Hot Springs, where a surface water seep measures 46°C. The second well was drilled in winter 2018 in the Tintina fault system, near Ross River. Results to date suggest warm fluids and possible permeable rocks in the Takhini well between 450 and 500 m from surface, and a higher than average geothermal gradient of ~31°C/km in the Tintina Trench near Ross River. The results do not indicate temperatures for power generation at economic depths, however, they are encouraging enough to warrant further geothermal studies in southern Yukon.
Datasets available for download
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Last Updated | October 20, 2025, 02:22 (UTC) |
| Created | October 20, 2025, 02:22 (UTC) |
|
Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
|
|
|
Title
Title for the Dataset.
|
Evaluating geothermal potential in Yukon through temperature gradient drilling |
|
Description
A description of the dataset.
|
As part of the Canadian government’s commitment to establishing clean energy in the North, the Yukon Geological Survey is collecting subsurface temperature data near communities in the southern part of the territory. The research is a collaborative effort among federal and territorial geoscientists, universities, First Nation governments, and geothermal consultants. A major goal of the project is to determine whether ground temperatures warrant further geothermal exploration in the territory. The study also presents an opportunity for Yukon Geological Survey to educate the public about geothermal energy. This paper summarizes the methods and results of the drilling of two ~500 m geothermal temperature gradient wells. The first was drilled in the fall of 2017 in the Whitehorse area, near Takhini Hot Springs, where a surface water seep measures 46°C. The second well was drilled in winter 2018 in the Tintina fault system, near Ross River. Results to date suggest warm fluids and possible permeable rocks in the Takhini well between 450 and 500 m from surface, and a higher than average geothermal gradient of ~31°C/km in the Tintina Trench near Ross River. The results do not indicate temperatures for power generation at economic depths, however, they are encouraging enough to warrant further geothermal studies in southern Yukon. |
|
Tags / Keywords
Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.
|
|
|
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
File format of the dataset.
|
|
|
Dataset Size
Dataset size in megabytes.
|
|
|
Metadata Identifier
Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
|
|
|
Published Date
Published date of the dataset.
|
2019-01-24 |
|
Time Period Data Span (start date)
Start date of the data in the dataset.
|
|
|
Time Period Data Span (end date)
End date of time data in the dataset.
|
|
|
GeoSpatial Area Data Span
A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.
|
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
Access category
Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
|
|
|
License
License used to access the dataset.
|
Open Government Licence - Yukon |
|
Limits on use
Limits on use of data.
|
|
|
Location
Location of the dataset.
|
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/4da46722-29a0-4c15-b43d-c35c506b1b3d |
|
Data Service
Data service for accessing a dataset.
|
|
|
Owner
Owner of the dataset.
|
Government of Yukon | Gouvernement du Yukon |
|
Contact Point
Who to contact regarding access?
|
Yukon Geological Survey |
|
Contact Point Email
The email to contact regarding access?
|
|
|
Publisher
Publisher of the dataset.
|
|
|
Publisher Email
Email of the publisher.
|
[email protected] |
|
Author
Author of the dataset.
|
|
|
Author Email
Email of the author.
|
|
|
Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
|
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
Identifier
Unique identifier for the dataset.
|
|
|
Language
Language(s) of the dataset
|
|
|
Link to dataset description
A URL to an external document describing the dataset.
|
|
|
Persistent Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
|
|
|
Globally Unique Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
|
|
|
Contains data about individuals
Does the data hold data about individuals?
|
|
|
Contains data about identifiable individuals
Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
|
|
|
Contains Indigenous Data
Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
|
|
|
Portal Type
Platform type of the source portal.
|
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
Version
Version of the datatset
|
None |
|
Source
Source of the dataset.
|
None |
|
Version notes
Version notes about the dataset.
|
|
|
Is version of another dataset
Link to dataset that it is a version of.
|
|
|
Other versions
Link to datasets that are versions of it.
|
|
|
Provenance Text
Provenance Text of the data.
|
|
|
Provenance URL
Provenance URL of the data.
|
|
|
Temporal resolution
Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
|
|
|
GeoSpatial resolution in meters
Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
|
|
|
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions)
Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.
|
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
Indigenous Community Permission
Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
|
|
|
Community Permission
Community permission (who gave permission).
|
|
|
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about
Indigenous communities from which data is derived.
|
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
Number of data rows
If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
|
|
|
Number of data columns
If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
|
|
|
Number of data cells
If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
|
|
|
Number of data relations
If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
|
|
|
Number of entities
If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
|
|
|
Number of data properties
If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
|
|
|
Data quality
Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
|
|
|
Metric for data quality
A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.
|
0 Comments