The Perspectives And Roles of Renewable Energy Sources in the Economic Development of Peripheral Areas of Hungary
Abstract The everyday use of renewable energy sources is necessary and indispensable in today’s modern world, partly because of the difficult handling of environmental problems caused by the increasing use of fossil energy sources, and partly because of the still increasing energy demand. Concerning alternative energy sources, Hungary has great potential in geothermal energy, which can mean a breakout especially for the peripheral, disadvantaged micro-regions while developing their future strategies. This was the motivation of our research. In our study, we intended to highlight the economic development perspectives of the Hungarian micro-regions lagging behind regarding the renewable energy potential.
Interpretation of observed fluid potential patterns in a deep sedimentary basin under tectonic compression: Hungarian Great Plain, Pannonian Basin
The ≈ 40 000 km2 Hungarian Great Plain portion of the Pannonian Basin consists of a basin fill of 100 m to more than 7000 m thick semi- to unconsolidated marine, deltaic, lacustrine and fluviatile clastic sediments of Neogene age, resting on a strongly tectonized Pre-Neogene basement of horst-and-graben topography of a relief in excess of 5000 m. The basement is built of a great variety of brittle rocks, including flysch, carbonates and metamorphics. The relatively continuous Endrőd Aquitard, with a permeability of less than 1 md (10−15 m2) and a depth varying between 500 and 5000 m, divides the basin's rock framework into upper and lower sequences of highly permeable rock units, whose permeabilities range from a few tens to several thousands of millidarcy. Subsurface fluid potential and flow fields were inferred from 16 192 water level and pore pressure measurements using three methods of representation: pressure–elevation profiles; hydraulic head maps; and hydraulic cross-sections. 
 
Pressure–elevation profiles were constructed for eight areas. Typically, they start from the surface with a straight-line segment of a hydrostatic gradient (γst = 9.8067 MPa km−1) and extend to depths of 1400–2500 m. At high surface elevations, the gradient is slightly smaller than hydrostatic, while at low elevations it is slightly greater. At greater depths, both the pressures and their vertical gradients are uniformly superhydrostatic. The transition to the overpressured depths may be gradual, with a gradient of γdyn = 10–15 MPa km−1 over a vertical distance of 400–1000 m, or abrupt, with a pressure jump of up to 10 MPa km−1 over less than 100 m and a gradient of γdyn > 20 MPa km−1. 
 
According to the hydraulic head maps for 13 100–500 m thick horizontal slices of the rock framework, the fluid potential in the near-surface domains declines with depth beneath positive topographic features, but it increases beneath depressions. The approximate boundary between these hydraulically contrasting regions is the 100 m elevation contour line in the Duna–Tisza interfluve, and the 100–110 m contours in the Nyirseg uplands. Below depths of ≈ 600 m, islets of superhydrostatic heads develop which grow in number, areal extent and height as the depth increases; hydraulic heads may exceed 3000 m locally. A hydraulic head ‘escarpment’ appears gradually in the elevation range of − 1000 to − 2800 m along an arcuate line which tracks a major regional fault zone striking NE–SW: heads drop stepwise by several hundred metres, at places 2000 m, from its north and west sides to the south and east. The escarpment forms a ‘fluid potential bank’ between a ‘fluid potential highland’ (500–2500 m) to the north and west, and a ‘fluid potential basin’ (100–500 m) to the south and east. A ‘potential island’ rises 1000 m high above this basin further south. 
 
According to four vertical hydraulic sections, groundwater flow is controlled by the topography in the upper 200–1700 m of the basin; the driving force is orientated downwards beneath the highlands and upwards beneath the lowlands. However, it is directed uniformly upwards at greater depths. The transition between the two regimes may be gradual or abrupt, as indicated by wide or dense spacing of the hydraulic head contours, respectively. Pressure ‘plumes’ or ‘ridges’ may protrude to shallow depths along faults originating in the basement. The basement horsts appear to be overpressured relative to the intervening grabens. 
 
The principal thesis of this paper is that the two main driving forces of fluid flow in the basin are gravitation, due to elevation differences of the topographic relief, and tectonic compression. The flow field is unconfined in the gravitational regime, whereas it is confined in the compressional regime. The nature and geometry of the fluid potential field between the two regimes are controlled by the sedimentary and structural features of the rock units in that domain, characterized by highly permeable and localized sedimentary windows, conductive faults and fracture zones. The transition between the two potential fields can be gradual or abrupt in the vertical, and island-like or ridge-like in plan view. The depth of the boundary zone can vary between 400 and 2000 m. Recharge to the gravitational regime is inferred to occur from infiltrating precipitation water, whereas that to the confined regime is from pore volume reduction due to the basement's tectonic compression.
Hydraulic Continuity In Large Sedimentary Basins
ABSTRACT:Regional hydraulic continuity is a phenomenological property of the rock framework. This property is quantified as the ratio of an induced change in pore pressure at a point of observation to an inducing change at a point of origin. A subsurface rock body is considered to be hydraulically continuous on a given time scale if a change in pressure at any of its points can cause a change at any other point, within a time interval measurable on the specified time scale. The hydraulically continuous behaviour of the rock framework may be masked in large sedimentary basins by large distances, relatively short periods of observations, and sharp contrasts in flow-sensitive properties of subsurface fluids, such as temperature and chemical composition. Due probably mainly to these masking effects, the concept of “hermetically” sealed hydraulic compartments in the subsurface is still used as a working hypothesis by some earth scientists, particularly in petroleum geology.
 That the rock framework is hydraulically continuous has been established independently from both local aquifer studies and regional evaluations of water resources. The principal natural consequences are extensive groundwater flow systems, systematic areal distribution of matter and heat, and hydraulic interdependence of different basinal areas. The recognition of regional hydraulic continuity is, therefore, indispensable for the correct interpretation of numerous natural processes and phenomena, and for the correct modelling and prediction of the effects of stresses imposed on the groundwater regime by nature and man.RÉSUMÉ:La continuité hydraulique régionale est une propriété phénoménologique des roches magasins. Cette propriété est quantifiée par le rapport entre un changement provoqué dans la pression porale au point d'observation et celui produit au point d'origine. Un ensemble rocheux souterrain est considéré comme étant hydrauliquement continu à une óchelle de temps donnée si une variation de pression en l'un de ses points peut provoquer une variation de pression en n'importe quel autre point, dans un intervalle de temps mesurable à l'échelle de temps définie. Le comportement hydrauliquement continu de la roche magasin peut être masqué dans les grands bassins sédimentaires par les grandes distances, par les durées d'observation relativement courtes et par de forts contrastes dans les propriétés des fluides souterrains relatives à l'écoulement, telles que la température et la composition chimique. A cause probablement surtout de ces effets de masque, le concept de compartiments hydrauliques souterrains isolés “hermétiquement” a encore cours comme hypothèse de travail en géosciences, en particulier en géologie pétrolière.
 Le fait que la roche magasin soit hydrauliquement continue a étéétabli de manière indépendante à la fois par des études d'aquifères locaux et par des évaluations régionales de ressources en eau. Les conséquences naturelles principales sont l'existence de systèmes d'écoulements souterrains de grande extension, la répartition systématique de la matière et de la chaleur et l'interdépendance des différentes bassins. La mise en évidence de la continuité hydraulique régionale est cependant indispensable à une interprétation correcte des nombreux processus et phénomènes naturels et à une modélisation et à une prédiction convenables des effets des contraintes imposées sur le régime des eaux souterraines par la nature et par l'homme.RESUMEN:La continuidad hidràulica regional es una propiedad fenomenológica de los cuerpos rocosos. Esta propiedad se cuantifica como la relación entre el cambio inducido en la presión intersticial en un punto de observación respecto al producido en el punto de origen. Un cuerpo rocoso se considera continuo hidráulicamente a una cierta escala de tiempo, si un cambio de presión en cualquiera de sus puntos puede producir un cambio en cualquier otro punto, en un intervalo de tiempo medible a una escala de tiempo específica. El comportamiento hidráulico continuo de la roca in grandes cuencas sedimentarias puede estar enmascarado por largas distancias, periodos de observación relativamente cortos y por contrastes bruscos en las propiedades de los fluidos que son sensibles al propio flujo, como son temperatura y composición química. Debido probablemente a estos efectos de enmascaramiento, el concepto de compartimentos hidráulicamente “sellados” en el subsuelo se sigue usando como una hipótesis de trabajo, particularmente en geología petrolífera.
 El hecho que un cuerpo rocoso sea continuo hidráulicamente se ha establecido independientemente a partir tanto de estudios en acuíferos locales, como de evaluaciones regionales de recursos hidrálicos. Las consecuencias naturales principales son sistemas de flujo aguas subterráneas extensivos, distribución sistemática de materia y calor e interdependencia hidráulica de las distintas áreas de cuenca. El reconocimiento de la continuidad hidráulica regional es, por tanto, indispensable para la correcta interpretación de numerosos procesos y fenómenos naturales, así como para la correcta modelación y predicción de los efectos de las tensiones impuestas al régimen de flujo por la naturaleza y el hombre.