Long-term Fluid Injection Can Expedite Fault Reactivation and
Development: Riedel Shear Structures Illuminated by Induced Earthquakes
in Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Riedel shear structures (RSS) are often observed in the embryonic stage
of strike-slip fault development, which can be depicted in the field
through outcrops and co-seismic surface ruptures. It is a critical
concept linking the geomechanical behavior of individual earthquakes to
structural geology at both local and regional scales. However, the
influence of long-term fluid injections on the developing process of
RSS, as manifested by the common occurrences of injection-induced
earthquakes, has been rarely addressed. Here we document for the first
time subsurface RSS expedited by long-term wastewater disposal
injections in western Canada. We study an earthquake sequence consisting
of 187 events (ML ranging 1.3–3.9) between 2018/01/01
and 2021/07/15 in an area without any previous seismic history.
According to 31 well-constrained focal mechanism solutions, the
injection-related earthquake sequence exhibits various faulting types
with the vast majority (87%) being compatible with the background
stress regime. The orientation of derived nodal planes collectively
indicates a model of RSS that consists of four primary strike-slip
structures striking 19º (R’), 79º (R), 94º (PDZ) and 109º (P),
respectively. Moreover, six fault segments delineated from the relocated
local seismicity are parallel to the sub-structures of RSS. Mohr-Coulomb
failure analysis further suggests a cumulative stress perturbation of up
to 10.0 MPa. Our observations suggest that long-term fluid injection can
expedite the development of local fault systems. Therefore, it is
probably important to consider the dimension of local/regional RSS in
the assessment of the overall seismic hazard due to fluid injections.