Mapping the present-day 2-D crustal stress field and seismic moment release for the Greater Permian Basin of Texas as constrained by earthquake source mechanisms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v5i1.1920Abstract
The greater Permian Basin is composed of three major subprovinces – the Delaware Basin, the Central Basin Platform, and the Midland Basin. Seismicity induced by fluid-injection in the basin has generated considerable seismic moment release. Notably seven M≥5 earthquakes have been documented since 2017. To address the tectonic significance, in this study we collected previously published and newly determined focal mechanisms to invert for the regional stress model of the Permian Basin. We parameterized the model by 0.15° (longitude) x 0.1° (latitude) grid-spacing to group focal mechanisms for performing 2-D stress inversion, and used a trade-off curve to determine the optimal damper for regulating the model variation. We aimed to pursue a smooth gradient of the stress model and reveal the stress characteristics at the same time. Although the inversion results suggest that the Permian Basin contains an extensional stress field in general, the orientations of the principal stress axes are diverse within the basin. This heterogeneity further indicates that the two subprovinces of the Delaware and Midland Basins as well as the basement-rooted fault systems may not be subject to the same stress regime. We used seismic moment release as a proxy to evaluate the seismic deformation that resulted from induced seismicity. The fault systems located within the areas having higher seismic-moment release may have been previously stressed throughout an extended period of time, constituting a pre-existing elastic strain reservoir that accumulated considerable tectonic strains. Those strains are released by the present-day fault reactivation and induced seismicity.
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