Currently, the Salton Sea in California contains enough geothermal energy locked in salt-brine to meet the entire electrical needs of the United States 20 times
Salton Sea Geothermal Field, California
The Salton Buttes lie within the Salton Sea geothermal field, where temperatures at 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers reach 360 degrees C, and sediments of the Colorado River delta are begin metamorphosed to greenschist facies. — Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.245, Contribution by: L. J. Patrick Muffler
The Salton Sea geothermal field lies in the Salton Trough, the landward extension of the Gulf of California, an area of active crustal spreading. The Salton Buttes volcanoes lie within the Salton Sea geothermal field where temperatures measured in wells drilled for geothermal brines range up to 360 degrees C at depths of 1,500 to 2,500 meters (Helgeson, 1968). The wells produce a hot brine containing up to 160,000 ppm of dissolved solids, chiefly Cl, Na, K, Ca, and Fe (White, 1968). Under the influence of this hot saline brine, the sediments of the Salton Trough are being transformed into metamorphic rocks of the greenschist facies (Muffler and White, 1969). — Excerpt from: Robinson, Elders, and Muffler, 1976, Quaternary volcanism in the Salton Sea geothermal field, Imperial Valley, California: GSA Bulletin 87, p.347-360, March 1976
