| Summary: | In Nigeria, the basement complex and the sedimentary basins house many thermal springs which are physical manifestations of geothermal energy. However, there are difficulties in accessing the sustainability of these resources due to ethical and security issues as well as limited data in Nigeria. Thus, identifying the precise location, temperature, and energy potential on a large scale has been a major drawback.This paper is the preliminary investigation of geothermal potential in parts of the Middle Benue Trough using satellite imagery, geology, regional gravity, and high-resolution aeromagnetic data. Landsat 8 scene was used to estimate the Land Surface Temperature (LST) in ArcGIS™. Selected sites were classified as very low, low, moderate, and high LST. The intermediate and high classes happen to be possible geothermal zones, and they occupy 49% of the study area (38,077 km2). The Riverline was superimposed on the LST, and the high-temperature sites were located by the identification tool. Streams/river data overlapped on the selected sites were regarded as thermal/warm springs. Remarkably, the LST results show lower temperatures (<36°C) at the famous thermal springs (Awe and Wukari) than some unknown rivers/streams found in Kwande (38°C), Ussa, (38°C), Gwer East (37°C), Yola Cross and Ogoja (36°C). Furthermore, the geophysical datasets, regional gravity, and high-resolution aeromagnetic data were interpolated to delineate the subsurface features associated with geothermal manifestations. The four layers from the LST were further evaluated using the geophysical approach. Gravity and magnetic values revealed variations that could be linked to geothermal alterations. The correlation of the geophysical anomalies and LST with the geology of the study area uncovers essential information on energy potentials. Therefore, further investigation is required to estimate the depth of the causative body, the geothermal gradients, and the reservoir volumes.
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