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Aseismic Motions Drive a Sparse Seismicity During Fluid Injections Into a Fractured Zone in a Carbonate Reservoir

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014535· OSTI ID:1479333
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [4]
  1. Univ. Cote d'Azur, Sophia Antipolis (France)
  2. Univ. Cote d'Azur, Sophia Antipolis (France); Institut Univ. de France, Paris (France)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. Aix-Marseille, Aix-en-Provence (France)
+ Show Author Affiliations
An increase in fluid pressure in faults can trigger seismicity and large aseismic motions. Understanding how fluid and faults interact is an essential goal for seismic hazard and reservoir monitoring, but this key relation remains unclear. We developed an in situ experiment of fluid injections at a 10 meter scale. Water was injected at high pressure in different geological structures inside a fault damaged zone, in limestone at 280 m depth in the Low Noise Underground Laboratory (France). Induced seismicity, as well as strains, pressure, and flow rate, was continuously monitored during the injections. Although nonreversible deformations related to fracture reactivations were observed for all injections, only a few tests generated seismicity. Events are characterized by a 0.5-to-4 kHz content and a small magnitude (approximately -3.5). They are located within 1.5 m accuracy between 1 and 12 m from the injections. Comparing strain measurements and seismicity shows that more than 96% of the deformation is aseismic. The seismic moment is also small compared to the one expected from the injected volume. Moreover, a dual seismic behavior is observed as (1) the spatiotemporal distribution of some cluster of events is clearly independent from the fluid diffusion (2) while a diffusion-type pattern can be observed for some others clusters. Furthermore, the seismicity might therefore appear as an indirect effect to the fluid pressure, driven by aseismic motion and related stress perturbation transferred through failure.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1479333
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 122; ISSN 2169-9313
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (13)

Hydromechanical reactivation of natural discontinuities: mesoscale experimental observations and DEM modeling journal March 2019
Subsurface Fluid Pressure and Rock Deformation Monitoring Using Seismic Velocity Observations journal October 2018
On the Relationship Between Fault Permeability Increases, Induced Stress Perturbation, and the Growth of Aseismic Slip During Fluid Injection journal October 2018
Illuminating the Rupturing of Microseismic Sources in an Injection‐Induced Earthquake Experiment journal August 2019
Seismic and Microseismic Signatures of Fluids in Rocks: Bridging the Scale Gap journal June 2019
Induced seismicity provides insight into why earthquake ruptures stop journal December 2017
Stabilization of fault slip by fluid injection in the laboratory and in situ journal March 2019
The spatial footprint of injection wells in a global compilation of induced earthquake sequences journal August 2018
Influence of reservoir geology on seismic response during decameter-scale hydraulic stimulations in crystalline rock text January 2020
Subsurface fluid pressure and rock deformation monitoring using seismic velocity observations text January 2018
Influence of reservoir geology on seismic response during decameter-scale hydraulic stimulations in crystalline rock text January 2020
Induced seismicity in geologic carbon storage journal January 2019
Influence of reservoir geology on seismic response during decameter-scale hydraulic stimulations in crystalline rock journal January 2020

Figures / Tables (9)

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
aseismic motions
fluid injections
fractured zone
hydromechanics
induced seismicity
meter‐scale in situ experiments