Reducing nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River basin: strate-gies to cou

There is disclosed a method for abstracting geothermal heat from depths below ground that are inaccessible by commercially practicable bore hole drilling techniques. More particularly, the invention is of a method for extracting heat from such an inaccessible source which comprises forming a cavern or reservoir at an accessible depth in a salt dome or spire which is in thermal communication with the otherwise inaccessible heat source, and flowing air at comparatively low speeds through the cavern in heat-exchange relation with the wall surfaces thereof to absorb heat therefrom, and then flowing it speedily through a relatively small (compared to the cavern volume) passageway to a point of use above ground, whereby it retains a substantial proportion of the heat energy absorbed in the cavern. Such energy is utilized in any suitable manner, one such preferred use being for the evaporation of brine extracted from the cavern during preparation thereof or obtained from neighboring salt deposits.