Towards a multiscale geophysical approach for the evaluation of the geothermal energy potential of the Eastern Po Plain (Italy)

To contribute to a secure and low energy carbon future, the InGEO project (Innovation in GEOthermal resources and reserves potential assessment for the decarbonization of power/thermalsectors) seeks to develop an innovative exploration work flow for combining mutiparameter datasets that will help reduce the risks associated with geothermal energy exploitation. The chosen area for the application is the Northern Apennine buried- structures belonging to the Romagna and Ferrara Folds (RFF), Eastern Po Plain (Italy). There, a mapped thermal anomaly was interpreted to be the effect of deep fluids circulation within the deep-seated Mesozoic carbonate sequences (e.g., Pasquale et al., 2013). As part of the workflow, we first developed a consistent geological/geophysical model of the RFF region. The model integrated data from over 200 seismic surveys from the VIDEPI database (www.videpi.com), 700 deep (>1500 m) boreholes (CNR database, www.geothopica.igg.cnr.it), 160 sonic and lithological logs (Livani et al. 2023), recent seismic tomography models (e.g., Brazus et al. 2025; Kästle et al., 2025), and new density models, obtained from the inversion of the the first pan-Alpine surface-gravity database (Zahorec et al.,2021). The Kingdom Suite was used to interpret the 2D seismic lines and well log data, while clustering algorithms (K-means and Fuzzy c-means) were chosen to classify the seismic tomography and density dataset. The results consist of a 3D architecture of shallow and deep geological features of the study region. Shallow features (up to a depth of ~15 km) included eight horizons, ranging in age from the Quaternary to the Permian. Deep features (between ~15 and 50 km depth) included the basement, the upper crust and the Moho depths. The geological/geophysical model was further validated by utilizing thermo-physical measurements on rocks, also obtained as part of the InGEO project (Sulpski, 2025), high temperature and pressure laboratory data on rocks, complied from the literature (Burke and Fountain, 1990; Christensen and Mooney, 1995), and sonic log data, obtained from oil and gas wells, drilled in the RFF region (Livani et al. 2023). Furthermore, a comparison with the temperature data on wells provided a preliminary evaluation of the resource potential of the RFF region. The workflow will further entail a more rigorous assessment of the geothermal energy potential of the region, by implementing a numerical simulation, which uses as main input the consistent geological/geophysical model. The workflow of InGEO project will be also used as a decision support system for developing future geothermal projects in Italy.