Frictional and poromechanical properties of the Delaware Mountain Group:
Insights into induced seismicity in the Delaware Basin
Abstract
The Delaware Basin in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico has
experienced a proliferation in seismic activity since 2016. The seismic
activity is primarily due to subsurface injection of wastewater into
both shallow and deep reservoirs. However, the precise mechanisms
connecting pore-fluids to seismic activity is not well understood. To
shed light on these processes, we measure rate-state friction and
poromechanical properties of rocks sampled from the Delaware Mountain
Group (DMG) at pressures and stresses representative of in-situ
conditions. Experiments were conducted inside a pressure vessel and
loaded in a true-triaxial stress state. The samples exhibit
velocity-strengthening behavior and transition to a velocity-neutral
behavior with increasing slip. We also measure frictional healing and
demonstrate that the healing rates are consistent with those measured
from quartz-feldspathic-rich rocks. Fault acceleration produces a
transient increase in layer thickness (i.e, dilatancy), which in turn,
reduces the local pore-pressure and causes dilatancy strengthening.
Broadly speaking, the frictional and poromechanical data indicate that
shallow faults within the DMG should favor aseismic creep as opposed to
unstable slip. Hence, alternative mechanisms to an increase in
pore-pressure being the direct causative agent to seismicity in the DMG
need to be considered. We propose that seismicity in the DMG could be
caused by a slip-weakening mechanism via a transition to velocity
weakening behavior associated with shear localization at higher shear
strains. Alternatively, seismic activity in the DMG could be a byproduct
of aseismic creep as opposed to being triggered directly by the
advancement of a pore-pressure front.