Permeability enhancement in the shallow crust as a cause of earthquake-induced hydrological changes

Rojstaczer, Stuart; Wolf, Stephen C.; Michel, Robert L.

doi:10.1038/373237a0

Cited by 320 publications

(305 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…At distances beyond the near field, static poroelastic strain is so small that it cannot easily account for the large amplitude of the observed hydrologic changes (Rojstaczer et al 1995;Manga & Wang 2007). Furthermore, the model often has difficulty in explaining the sign of the observed groundwater-level changes (Roeloffs 1998;Wang et al 2001;Koizumi et al 2004) and the persistent streamflow increases in response to multiple earthquakes of different mechanisms and orientations .…”

Section: Changes In Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several mechanisms besides undrained consolidation have been proposed to explain hydrologic responses; these include the static poroelastic strain associated with fault displacement (Wakita 1975;Muir-Wood & King 1993;Quilty & Roeloffs 1997) and an enhanced permeability of the shallow crust by the dynamic strains associated with seismic waves (Mogi et al 1989;Rojstaczer et al 1995;Brodsky et al 2003;Wang et al 2004a,b). At distances beyond the near field, static poroelastic strain is so small that it cannot easily account for the large amplitude of the observed hydrologic changes (Rojstaczer et al 1995;Manga & Wang 2007).…”

Section: Changes In Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrologic Responses to Earthquakes and a General Metric

Wang¹,

Manga²

2010

Frontiers in Geofluids

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Hydrologic responses to earthquakes, including liquefaction, changes in stream and spring discharge, changes in the properties of groundwater such as geochemistry, temperature and turbidity, changes in the water level in wells, and the eruption of mud volcanoes, have been documented for thousands of years. Except for some water-level changes in the near field which can be explained by poroelastic responses to static stress changes, most hydrologic responses, both within and beyond the near field, can only be explained by the dynamic responses associated with seismic waves. For these responses, the seismic energy density e may be used as a general metric to relate and compare the various hydrologic responses. We show that liquefaction, eruption of mud volcanoes and increases in streamflow are bounded by e $ 10 )1 J m )3 ; temperature changes in hot springs are bounded by e $ 10 )2 J m )3 ; most sustained groundwater changes are bounded by e $ 10 )3 J m )3 ; geysers and triggered seismicity may respond to seismic energy density as small as 10 )3 and 10 )4 J m )3 , respectively. Comparing the threshold energy densities with published laboratory measurements, we show that undrained consolidation induced by dynamic stresses can explain liquefaction only in the near field, but not beyond the near field. We propose that in the intermediate field and far field, most responses are triggered by changes in permeability that in turn are a response to the cyclic deformation and oscillatory fluid flow. Published laboratory measurements confirm that changes in flow and time-varying stresses can change permeability, inducing both increases and decreases. Field measurements in wells also indicate that permeability can be changed by earthquakes in the intermediate field and far field. Further work, in particular field monitoring and measurements, are needed to assess the generality of permeability changes in explaining far-field hydrologic responses to earthquakes.

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Section: Changes In Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Changes In Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrologic Responses to Earthquakes and a General Metric

Wang¹,

Manga²

2010

Frontiers in Geofluids

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“…The sustained co-seismic drop was 2.47 m. After the earthquake, the water level change took only about 12 h to recover to a steady level, much faster than that at HH3. The confinement of a rock aquifer could be breached by fracturing due to seismic shaking during earthquakes, particularly in the mountainous area (Rojstaczer and Wolf 1992;Rojstaczer et al 1995;Sato et al 2000;King and Igarashi 2002;Wang et al 2004a;Charmoille et al 2005;Elkhoury et al 2006;King et al 2006;Jang et al 2008). Such a phenomenon was evidenced by the groundwater level change at LY2 well before and after the Chi-Chi earthquake.…”

Section: Hydrogeological Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Impacts of hydrogeological characteristics on groundwater-level changes induced by earthquakes

et al. 2017

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Changes in groundwater level during earthquakes have been reported worldwide. In this study, field observations of co-seismic groundwater-level changes in wells under different aquifer conditions and sampling intervals due to near-field earthquake events in Taiwan are presented. Sustained changes, usually observed immediately after earthquakes, are found in the confined aquifer. Oscillatory changes due to the dynamic strain triggered by passing earthquake waves can only be recorded by a high-frequency data logger. While co-seismic changes recover rapidly in an unconfined aquifer, they can sustain for months or longer in a confined aquifer. Three monitoring wells with long-term groundwaterlevel data were examined to understand the association of coseismic changes with local hydrogeological conditions. The finite element software ABAQUS is used to simulate the porepressure changes induced by the displacements due to fault rupture. The calculated co-seismic change in pore pressure is related to the compressibility of the formation. The recovery rate of the change is rapid in the unconfined aquifer due to the hydrostatic condition at the water table, but slow in the confined aquifer due to the less permeable confining layer.Fracturing of the confining layer during earthquakes may enhance the dissipation of pore pressure and induce the discharge of the confined aquifer. The study results indicated that aquifer characteristics play an important role in determining groundwater-level changes during and after earthquakes.

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“…At locations distant from the earthquake source, these dynamic strains are significantly larger than the static strains. Ground-motion-related permeability increases have been inferred from the response of water wells and streamflow to earthquakes tens of kilometers distant [e.g., Waller, 1966;Rojstaczer et al, 1995]. Increases in the permeability of the geyser conduit itself (Figures 7 and 9) or in the permeability of the surrounding rock matrix (Table 2) Here we are assuming, as seems reasonable, that there is little amplification of the static strain signal due to local inhomogeneities.…”

Section: Basic Geyser Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geyser periodicity and the response of geysers to deformation

1997

International Journal of Multiphase Flow

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Abstract. Numerical simulations of multiphase fluid and heat transport through a porous medium define combinations of rock properties and boundary conditions which lead to geyser-like periodic discharge. Within the rather narrow range of conditions that allow geyser-like behavior, eruption frequency and discharge are highly sensitive to the intrinsic permeabilities of the geyser conduit and the surrounding rock matrix, to the relative permeability functions assumed, and to pressure gradients in the matrix. In theory, heat pipes (concomitant upward flow of steam and downward flow of liquid) can exist under similar conditions, but our simulations suggest that the periodic solution is more stable. Simulated time series of geyser discharge are chaotic, but integrated quantities such as eruption frequency and mass discharge per eruption are free of chaos. These results may explain the observed sensitivity of natural geysers to small strains such as those caused by remote earthquakes, if ground motion is sufficient to induce permeability changes. Changes in geyser behavior caused by minor preseismic deformation, periodic surface loading, and Earth tides are more difficult to explain in the context of our current model.

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Permeability enhancement in the shallow crust as a cause of earthquake-induced hydrological changes

Cited by 320 publications

References 4 publications

Hydrologic Responses to Earthquakes and a General Metric

Hydrologic Responses to Earthquakes and a General Metric

Impacts of hydrogeological characteristics on groundwater-level changes induced by earthquakes

Geyser periodicity and the response of geysers to deformation

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