Pore-pressure gradients, stresses, and induced earthquakes
- Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Geophysics Dept. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
In the theory of poroelasticity, spatial gradients in pore-pressure enter the equilibrium equations in the same way as distributed body forces. Pore-pressure gradients are thus associated with poroelastic stresses in the same way that temperature gradients associated with thermoelastic stresses. The author has suggested that pore-pressure gradients caused by pumping are responsible for earthquakes near some oil and gas fields. Seismic data from a number of active oil and gas fields in California, Texas, Alberta, and elsewhere clearly show that earthquakes are occurring near fields where pore pressures have declined by several 10's of MPa. These observations can not be explained by changes in effective stress alone, which predicts that decreasing pore-fluid pressures tend to stabilize faults. He believes that poro-elastic stresses resulting from pore-fluid extraction are responsible for earthquakes in these situations. Fluid injection also induces poro-elastic stresses, however it is difficult to separate this effect from the destabilizing effect of increased pore-pressure within fault zones. To test the poroelastic model for induced seismicity, theoretical predictions are compared to data from a deep gas field in the Pyrenean foreland. Hundreds of shallow, small to moderate earthquakes have occurred there since 1969. The earthquakes are tightly clustered near the gas field. Reservoir pressure had declined by 30 MPa at the onset of seismicity. The relationship between average reservoir pressure decline and subsidence is remarkably linear, lending support to the linear poroelastic model. Using laboratory derived material parameters and in situ reservoir pressure measurements, it is possible to predict the surface deformations and the change in stress field without adjustable parameters. The computed vertical displacements are in good agreement with the observed subsidence. The poroelastic stress changes at the onset of seismicity are of the order of a few bars.
- OSTI ID:
- 5828137
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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