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Re-evaluation of the 2009-2011 Southern Fort-Worth Basin (TX) Earthquakes: Potential Relationships with Hydraulic Fracturing and Wastewater Injection

Smith, Sarah L R
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0078-3514
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1501284292875227

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science, Miami University, Geology and Environmental Earth Science.
North Texas has seen an increase in seismic activity around the Dallas/Fort Worth area since the early 2000’s, with activity in Johnson County in particular culminating in magnitude 3 and 4 events in 2011 and 2015 respectively. Previous analysis of the Johnson County sequence between 2009 and 2011 concluded that many of the events were induced by wastewater injection (Frohlich, 2012), however the earthquake database was small during this time period, and the differences between inducing and non-inducing injection wells were not clearly identified. This study addresses the causes of recent seismicity in Johnson County through an in depth characterization of the seismicity, industry operations, and regional and local geology in North Texas from 2009 to 2011. Seismic template matching using 3 USArray Transportable Array station recordings of all previously cataloged earthquakes in the study area provide a more complete temporal history of seismicity, identifying 977 additional events. Earthquakes from the largest burst in activity, in June 2011, were relocated using hypoDD and seem to align along NNE-SSW trends consistent with regional stress orientations and pre-existing structures related to the adjacent Ouachita thrust front. Relocated seismicity outlines a fault plane in the Precambrian basement that extends approximately 4 km in vertical extent, and is consistent with the hypothesis that seismicity is occurring on reactivated, pre-existing, critically stressed faults. Monthly injected volumes from 9 wastewater disposal wells suggest a correlation with background levels of seismicity throughout the study timeframe, however they do not correlate with distinct spikes in seismic activity. Temporal patterns of seismicity during the June 2011 sequence resemble patterns seen in previously documented cases of hydraulically fractured induced seismicity in Ohio. While a complete stimulation database is not available from this time frame, the vast number of active hydraulic fracturing wells in the region as identified from production data indicate that the possibility that this sequence is spatially and temporally correlated with hydraulic fracturing wells cannot be dismissed.
Mike Brudzinski (Advisor)
Brian Currie (Committee Member)
Jonathan Levy (Committee Member)
Geology; Geophysics
induced seismicity; hydraulic fracturing; wastewater injection; waveform template matching; Fort-Worth Basin

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, S. L. R. (2017). Re-evaluation of the 2009-2011 Southern Fort-Worth Basin (TX) Earthquakes: Potential Relationships with Hydraulic Fracturing and Wastewater Injection [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1501284292875227

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Sarah. Re-evaluation of the 2009-2011 Southern Fort-Worth Basin (TX) Earthquakes: Potential Relationships with Hydraulic Fracturing and Wastewater Injection. 2017. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1501284292875227.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Sarah. "Re-evaluation of the 2009-2011 Southern Fort-Worth Basin (TX) Earthquakes: Potential Relationships with Hydraulic Fracturing and Wastewater Injection." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1501284292875227

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.