Linking microearthquakes to fracture permeability change: The role of surface roughness

Despite its importance, the relation between microearthquakes (MEQs) and changes in hydraulic properties during hydraulic stimulation of a fractured reservoir has rarely been explored, and it is still not well understood. To investigate this relation, we first formulate a plausible scale dependence,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2016-07, Vol.43 (14), p.7486-7493
Main Authors: Ishibashi, Takuya, Watanabe, Noriaki, Asanuma, Hiroshi, Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Channeling
channeling flow
Computational fluid dynamics
Derivation
Displacement
Earthquakes
Enhanced geothermal systems
Fault lines
Faults
Field tests
Fluid flow
Fracture mechanics
Fracture permeability
Fractured reservoirs
Fractures
Geological faults
Geophysics
Hydraulic properties
Hydraulics
induced microearthquakes
Joints (timber)
Length
Microearthquakes
Permeability
Properties
rock fracture
Roughness
scale dependency
Shear
shear displacement
Stimulation
Surface roughness
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Summary:Despite its importance, the relation between microearthquakes (MEQs) and changes in hydraulic properties during hydraulic stimulation of a fractured reservoir has rarely been explored, and it is still not well understood. To investigate this relation, we first formulate a plausible scale dependence, where fracture length and shear displacement are variables, for channeling flow through heterogeneous aperture distributions for joints and faults. By combining this formulation with the concept of the seismic moment, we derive quantitative relations between the moment magnitude (Mw) of MEQs and the fracture permeability change in the directions orthogonal to (kfault,⊥/kjoint) and parallel to (kfault,∥/kjoint) the shear displacement, in the form kfault,⊥/kjoint=116.4×100.46Mw and kfault,///kjoint=13.1×100.46Mw. Despite the simplicity of the derivation, these relations have the potential to explain the results of field experiments on hydraulic stimulation, such as the enhanced geothermal systems at Soultz‐sous‐Fôret and Basel. Key Points A plausible scale dependence for channeling flow through joints and faults is formulated A quantitative relation between the moment magnitude of MEQs and the fracture permeability change is obtained Potential of in situ MEQ data that allow inverse mapping of permeability change is suggested
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/2016GL069478