Widespread deep seismicity in the Delaware Basin, Texas, is mainly driven by shallow wastewater injection.

ABSTRACT: Industrial activity away from plate boundaries can induce earthquakes and has evolved into a global issue. Much of the induced seismicity in the United States' midcontinent is attributed to a direct pressure increase from deep wastewater disposal. This mechanism is not applicable where deep basement faults are hydraulically isolated from shallow injection aquifers, leading to a debate about the mechanisms for induced seismicity. Here, we compile industrial, seismic, geodetic, and geological data within the Delaware Basin, western Texas, and calculate stress and pressure changes at seismogenic depth using a coupled poroelastic model. We show that the widespread deep seismicity is mainly driven by shallow wastewater injection through the transmission of poroelastic stresses assuming that unf

SUBMITTER: Zhai G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8157934 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature