Seismic Slip-Pulse Experiments Simulate Induced Earthquake Rupture in the Groningen Gas Field

Luuk B. Hunfeld; Jianye Chen; André R. Niemeijer; Shengli Ma; Christopher J. Spiers

doi:10.1029/2021GL092417

Seismic Slip-Pulse Experiments Simulate Induced Earthquake Rupture in the Groningen Gas Field

Luuk B. Hunfeld^*, Jianye Chen, André R. Niemeijer, Shengli Ma, Christopher J. Spiers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Rock materials show dramatic dynamic weakening in large-displacement (m), high-velocity (∼1 m/s) friction experiments, providing a mechanism for the generation of large, natural earthquakes. However, whether such weakening occurs during induced M3-4 earthquakes (dm displacements) is unknown. We performed rotary-shear experiments on simulated fault gouges prepared from the source-, reservoir- and caprock formations present in the seismogenic Groningen gas field (Netherlands). Water-saturated gouges were subjected to a slip pulse reaching a peak circumferential velocity of 1.2–1.7 m/s and total displacements of 13–20 cm, at 2.5–20 MPa normal stress. The results show 22%–81% dynamic weakening within 5–12 cm of slip, depending on normal stress and gouge composition. At 20 MPa normal stress, dynamic weakening from peak friction coefficients of 0.4–0.9 to 0.19–0.27 was observed, probably through thermal pressurization. We infer that similar effects play a key role during induced seismic slip on faults in the Groningen and other reservoir systems.

Original language	English
Article number	e2021GL092417
Number of pages	10
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	48
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092417
Publication status	Published - 16 Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure S4e ) was performed with the help from O. Plümper in the EPOS‐NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS‐NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments.

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure?S4e) was performed with the help from O. Pl?mper in the EPOS-NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS-NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The Authors.

Funding

This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure S4e ) was performed with the help from O. Plümper in the EPOS‐NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS‐NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments. This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure?S4e) was performed with the help from O. Pl?mper in the EPOS-NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS-NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments.

Keywords

dynamic weakening
fault gouge friction
Groningen gas field
high-velocity slip-pulse experiments
induced seismicity
thermal pressurization

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2021GL092417Final published version, 2.18 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{620add06ac98435a9dae3c21ce5e11df,

title = "Seismic Slip-Pulse Experiments Simulate Induced Earthquake Rupture in the Groningen Gas Field",

abstract = "Rock materials show dramatic dynamic weakening in large-displacement (m), high-velocity (∼1 m/s) friction experiments, providing a mechanism for the generation of large, natural earthquakes. However, whether such weakening occurs during induced M3-4 earthquakes (dm displacements) is unknown. We performed rotary-shear experiments on simulated fault gouges prepared from the source-, reservoir- and caprock formations present in the seismogenic Groningen gas field (Netherlands). Water-saturated gouges were subjected to a slip pulse reaching a peak circumferential velocity of 1.2–1.7 m/s and total displacements of 13–20 cm, at 2.5–20 MPa normal stress. The results show 22\%–81\% dynamic weakening within 5–12 cm of slip, depending on normal stress and gouge composition. At 20 MPa normal stress, dynamic weakening from peak friction coefficients of 0.4–0.9 to 0.19–0.27 was observed, probably through thermal pressurization. We infer that similar effects play a key role during induced seismic slip on faults in the Groningen and other reservoir systems.",

keywords = "dynamic weakening, fault gouge friction, Groningen gas field, high-velocity slip-pulse experiments, induced seismicity, thermal pressurization",

author = "Hunfeld, \{Luuk B.\} and Jianye Chen and Niemeijer, \{Andr{\'e} R.\} and Shengli Ma and Spiers, \{Christopher J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure S4e ) was performed with the help from O. Pl{\"u}mper in the EPOS‐NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS‐NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure?S4e) was performed with the help from O. Pl?mper in the EPOS-NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS-NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. The Authors.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1029/2021GL092417",

language = "English",

volume = "48",

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AU - Hunfeld, Luuk B.

AU - Chen, Jianye

AU - Niemeijer, André R.

AU - Ma, Shengli

AU - Spiers, Christopher J.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure S4e ) was performed with the help from O. Plümper in the EPOS‐NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS‐NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), and received support from the State Key Laboratory Research of Earthquake Dynamics (grant LED2014A06). Wenming Yao is thanked for his technical assistance at CEA. J. Chen was in part funded by European Research Council starting grant SEISMIC (335915). A.R. Niemeijer was funded by SEISMIC (335915) and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through VIDI Grant 854.12.011. Microstructural analysis (Figure?S4e) was performed with the help from O. Pl?mper in the EPOS-NL MINT facility at Utrecht University, with funding from EPOS-NL. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2021. The Authors.

PY - 2021/6/16

Y1 - 2021/6/16

N2 - Rock materials show dramatic dynamic weakening in large-displacement (m), high-velocity (∼1 m/s) friction experiments, providing a mechanism for the generation of large, natural earthquakes. However, whether such weakening occurs during induced M3-4 earthquakes (dm displacements) is unknown. We performed rotary-shear experiments on simulated fault gouges prepared from the source-, reservoir- and caprock formations present in the seismogenic Groningen gas field (Netherlands). Water-saturated gouges were subjected to a slip pulse reaching a peak circumferential velocity of 1.2–1.7 m/s and total displacements of 13–20 cm, at 2.5–20 MPa normal stress. The results show 22%–81% dynamic weakening within 5–12 cm of slip, depending on normal stress and gouge composition. At 20 MPa normal stress, dynamic weakening from peak friction coefficients of 0.4–0.9 to 0.19–0.27 was observed, probably through thermal pressurization. We infer that similar effects play a key role during induced seismic slip on faults in the Groningen and other reservoir systems.

AB - Rock materials show dramatic dynamic weakening in large-displacement (m), high-velocity (∼1 m/s) friction experiments, providing a mechanism for the generation of large, natural earthquakes. However, whether such weakening occurs during induced M3-4 earthquakes (dm displacements) is unknown. We performed rotary-shear experiments on simulated fault gouges prepared from the source-, reservoir- and caprock formations present in the seismogenic Groningen gas field (Netherlands). Water-saturated gouges were subjected to a slip pulse reaching a peak circumferential velocity of 1.2–1.7 m/s and total displacements of 13–20 cm, at 2.5–20 MPa normal stress. The results show 22%–81% dynamic weakening within 5–12 cm of slip, depending on normal stress and gouge composition. At 20 MPa normal stress, dynamic weakening from peak friction coefficients of 0.4–0.9 to 0.19–0.27 was observed, probably through thermal pressurization. We infer that similar effects play a key role during induced seismic slip on faults in the Groningen and other reservoir systems.

KW - dynamic weakening

KW - fault gouge friction

KW - Groningen gas field

KW - high-velocity slip-pulse experiments

KW - induced seismicity

KW - thermal pressurization

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85107621216

U2 - 10.1029/2021GL092417

DO - 10.1029/2021GL092417

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85107621216

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 48

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 11

M1 - e2021GL092417

ER -

Seismic Slip-Pulse Experiments Simulate Induced Earthquake Rupture in the Groningen Gas Field

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Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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