- Email: [email protected]
Jean Goguel
0375--6505/87 $3.00 + 0.00 PergamonJournalsLtd. (~)1987CNR.
Geothermics,Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 103-104, 1987. Printed in Great Britain.
OBITUARY JEAN GOGUEL
Dr Jean Goguel, member of the Editorial Board of Geothermics, died in Paris on 5 January 1987. Dr Goguel was Chairman of the French Technical Committee for Geothermal Energy and was known to earth scientists throughout the world for his contribution, over a long and very active scientific career, to geophysics, structural geology, hydrology and geothermics. Born in 1908, Jean Goguel became Ingenieur des Mines in 1931 and obtained his Doctorate in Science in 1937. During the year that followed, his time was dedicated to the compilation, with admirable expertise, of the Geological Map of France, but he also published two books of international renown, Introduction gzl'Etude Mecanique des Deformations de l'Ecorce Terrestre (1948) and Trait~ de Tectonique (1952). His interest in science spanned a multitude of disciplines, as evidenced by the 250 publications in his name, so it was perhaps inevitable that Jean Goguel would succumb to the fascination of the geothermal phenomenon, which he tried to define, and explain by means of rational models. Larderello had in fact been generating electricity through extraction of steam from the beginning of this century, but the origin of this steam and its superheating were still a matter of debate. In an article published in 1953, "Le regime thermique de l'eau souterraine" (Annales des Mines, Vol. X), Goguel defined the thermodynamic principles by which underground water transfers heat through convective cells from deeper zones to the shallower parts of a geothermal reservoir. As a logical consequence of this work, the origin of steam, which had hitherto been attributed to magmatic cooling processes, was now traced back to meteoric water which, penetrating to depth, was stored in deep underground natural reservoirs. In his paper Goguel 103
104
Obituary
used a thermodynamic approach to tackle the problem of steam superheating at karderello, ~l process which had until then been considered as proof of its magmatic origin. According to Goguel, however, this superheating was due to the heat accumulated by the rocks that were previously immersed in water. During the progressive lowering of the water-table, the temperature of the rock in contact with the steam that expands after flashing is higher than that of the steam during expansion, thus providing the source of superheating. Goguel's paper can certainly be considered to have laid the foundations of present-day geothermal thought. Later Goguel re-elaborated his theories in greater detail in his interesting book La G~otherrnie (1975), which was translated into English and Russian. In 1982, with the creation of the Agence Franfaise pour la Maftrise de rEnergie, Goguel was appointed Chairman of the Geothermal Technical Committee and of the Scientific Council of the Institut Mixte de Recherches G6othermiques. In this capacity, he played a crucial role in the exploitation of the low temperature geothermal resources of France, gaining for his country the role of pioneer and forerunner in this sector on an international scale. Jean Goguel was a member of the Editorial Boards of several scientific journals, and of Geothermics in particular. This journal is privileged to count Jean Goguel among its founders and to have had him on the Editorial Board from its beginning in 1972. We are all indebted to Jean Goguel for the clarity, foresightedness and force of his ideas, which have contributed so much to our understanding of the geothermal phenomenon.
The Editor
Geothermics,Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 103-104, 1987. Printed in Great Britain.
OBITUARY JEAN GOGUEL
Dr Jean Goguel, member of the Editorial Board of Geothermics, died in Paris on 5 January 1987. Dr Goguel was Chairman of the French Technical Committee for Geothermal Energy and was known to earth scientists throughout the world for his contribution, over a long and very active scientific career, to geophysics, structural geology, hydrology and geothermics. Born in 1908, Jean Goguel became Ingenieur des Mines in 1931 and obtained his Doctorate in Science in 1937. During the year that followed, his time was dedicated to the compilation, with admirable expertise, of the Geological Map of France, but he also published two books of international renown, Introduction gzl'Etude Mecanique des Deformations de l'Ecorce Terrestre (1948) and Trait~ de Tectonique (1952). His interest in science spanned a multitude of disciplines, as evidenced by the 250 publications in his name, so it was perhaps inevitable that Jean Goguel would succumb to the fascination of the geothermal phenomenon, which he tried to define, and explain by means of rational models. Larderello had in fact been generating electricity through extraction of steam from the beginning of this century, but the origin of this steam and its superheating were still a matter of debate. In an article published in 1953, "Le regime thermique de l'eau souterraine" (Annales des Mines, Vol. X), Goguel defined the thermodynamic principles by which underground water transfers heat through convective cells from deeper zones to the shallower parts of a geothermal reservoir. As a logical consequence of this work, the origin of steam, which had hitherto been attributed to magmatic cooling processes, was now traced back to meteoric water which, penetrating to depth, was stored in deep underground natural reservoirs. In his paper Goguel 103
104
Obituary
used a thermodynamic approach to tackle the problem of steam superheating at karderello, ~l process which had until then been considered as proof of its magmatic origin. According to Goguel, however, this superheating was due to the heat accumulated by the rocks that were previously immersed in water. During the progressive lowering of the water-table, the temperature of the rock in contact with the steam that expands after flashing is higher than that of the steam during expansion, thus providing the source of superheating. Goguel's paper can certainly be considered to have laid the foundations of present-day geothermal thought. Later Goguel re-elaborated his theories in greater detail in his interesting book La G~otherrnie (1975), which was translated into English and Russian. In 1982, with the creation of the Agence Franfaise pour la Maftrise de rEnergie, Goguel was appointed Chairman of the Geothermal Technical Committee and of the Scientific Council of the Institut Mixte de Recherches G6othermiques. In this capacity, he played a crucial role in the exploitation of the low temperature geothermal resources of France, gaining for his country the role of pioneer and forerunner in this sector on an international scale. Jean Goguel was a member of the Editorial Boards of several scientific journals, and of Geothermics in particular. This journal is privileged to count Jean Goguel among its founders and to have had him on the Editorial Board from its beginning in 1972. We are all indebted to Jean Goguel for the clarity, foresightedness and force of his ideas, which have contributed so much to our understanding of the geothermal phenomenon.
The Editor