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Wang L, Kwiatek G, Renard F, Guérin-Marthe S, Rybacki E, Bohnhoff M, Naumann M, Dresen G. Fault roughness controls injection-induced seismicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2310039121. [PMID: 38215182 PMCID: PMC10801853 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310039121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Surface roughness ubiquitously prevails in natural faults across various length scales. Despite extensive studies highlighting the important role of fault geometry in the dynamics of tectonic earthquakes, whether and how fault roughness affects fluid-induced seismicity remains elusive. Here, we investigate the effects of fault geometry and stress heterogeneity on fluid-induced fault slip and associated seismicity characteristics using laboratory experiments and numerical modeling. We perform fluid injection experiments on quartz-rich sandstone samples containing either a smooth or a rough fault. We find that geometrical roughness slows down injection-induced fault slip and reduces macroscopic slip velocities and fault slip-weakening rates. Stress heterogeneity and roughness control hypocenter distribution, frequency-magnitude characteristics, and source mechanisms of injection-induced acoustic emissions (AEs) (analogous to natural seismicity). In contrast to smooth faults where injection-induced AEs are uniformly distributed, slip on rough faults produces spatially localized AEs with pronounced non-double-couple source mechanisms. We demonstrate that these clustered AEs occur around highly stressed asperities where induced local slip rates are higher, accompanied by lower Gutenberg-Richter b-values. Our findings suggest that real-time monitoring of induced microseismicity during fluid injection may allow identifying progressive localization of seismic activity and improve forecasting of runaway events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wang
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
| | - Grzegorz Kwiatek
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
| | - François Renard
- The Njord Centre, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway
- The Njord Centre, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway
- ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble INP, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, Université Gustave Eiffel, Grenoble 38000, France
| | - Simon Guérin-Marthe
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
- Laboratory of Experimental Rock Mechanics, Civil Engineering Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Erik Rybacki
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
| | - Marco Bohnhoff
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, Free University Berlin, Berlin 12249, Germany
| | - Michael Naumann
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
| | - Georg Dresen
- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, Potsdam 14473, Germany
- Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam 14469, Germany
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Goebel THW, Brodsky EE. The spatial footprint of injection wells in a global compilation of induced earthquake sequences. Science 2018; 361:899-904. [PMID: 30166486 DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Fluid injection can cause extensive earthquake activity, sometimes at unexpectedly large distances. Appropriately mitigating associated seismic hazards requires a better understanding of the zone of influence of injection. We analyze spatial seismicity decay in a global dataset of 18 induced cases with clear association between isolated wells and earthquakes. We distinguish two populations. The first is characterized by near-well seismicity density plateaus and abrupt decay, dominated by square-root space-time migration and pressure diffusion. Injection at these sites occurs within the crystalline basement. The second population exhibits larger spatial footprints and magnitudes, as well as a power law-like, steady spatial decay over more than 10 kilometers, potentially caused by poroelastic effects. Far-reaching spatial effects during injection may increase event magnitudes and seismic hazard beyond expectations based on purely pressure-driven seismicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas H W Goebel
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
| | - Emily E Brodsky
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Fosdick JC, Blisniuk K. Sedimentary signals of recent faulting along an old strand of the San Andreas Fault, USA. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12132. [PMID: 30108237 PMCID: PMC6092442 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30622-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Continental transform fault systems are fundamental features in plate tectonics. These complex systems often constitute multiple fault strands with variable spatio-temporal histories. Here, we re-evaluate the complex history of the San Andreas Fault along a restraining bend in southern California (USA). The Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas Fault is a major geologic structure with ~90 km of strike-slip displacement but is currently mapped as inactive. Quaternary deposits record sediment dispersal across the fault from upland catchments and yield key markers of the fault's displacement history. Our sediment provenance analysis from the Deformed Gravels of Whitewater and the Cabezon Fanglomerate provide detrital geochronologic and lithologic signatures of potential sources within the San Bernardino Mountains and Little San Bernardino Mountains. Statistical analysis shows that the Cabezon Fanglomerate is most compatible with the Mission Creek and Morongo Valley Canyon sources, rather than the Whitewater Canyon as previously suggested. We propose that displacement since deposition ~500-100 ka across the Mission Creek strand has separated these deposits from their original sources. These findings challenge the current paradigm that the Mission Creek strand is inactive and suggest that the fault continues to be a primary structure in accommodating deformation along the Pacific-North American plate boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie C Fosdick
- Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA. .,Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
| | - Kimberly Blisniuk
- Department of Geology, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, 95192, USA
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Goebel THW, Becker TW, Schorlemmer D, Stanchits S, Sammis C, Rybacki E, Dresen G. Identifying fault heterogeneity through mapping spatial anomalies in acoustic emission statistics. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011jb008763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Ouillon G, Sornette D. Segmentation of fault networks determined from spatial clustering of earthquakes. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2010jb007752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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