Principal faults in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area

Shah, Sachin D.; Lanning-Rush, Jennifer

doi:10.3133/sim2874

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Although it is difficult to trace the fault scarp in the field continuously, the coherent elevation difference between the hangingwall and footwall sides exhibited in Figure 2 remains to suggest the approximate location of the fault scarp. The surface fault scarp had been evaluated and confirmed as the surface offset of the Long Point Fault by previous studies [5,12]. Reid (1973) [5] traced the Long Point Fault to a depth of approximately 3000 m by use of electric logs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Recently, more urban faults have been identified based on high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) datasets in the Houston metropolitan area [9][10][11]. Figure 1 illustrates the principal faults in the Houston metropolitan area mapped by the US Geological Survey (USGS) using high-resolution airborne LiDAR data collected in October 2001 [12]. These faults have been documented at depths from 1000 to 4000 meters based on extensive investigations using geophysical well logs and deep seismic surveys.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The blue rectangle indicates the Long Point Fault area. The red lines represent active faults in the Houston Metropolitan area mapped by USGS [12]. The orange filled polygons represent salt domes mapped by USGS [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Current Activity of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas Constrained by Continuous GPS Measurements (2013–2018)

et al. 2019

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The Long Point Fault is one of the most active urban faults in Houston, Texas, which belong to a complex system of normal growth faults along the Texas Gulf Coast. To assess the activity of the Long Point Fault, a GPS array with 12 permanent stations was installed along the two sides of the 16-km-long fault scarp in 2013. GPS datasets were processed with the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Double-Difference (DD) methods. The daily PPP solutions with respect to the International Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Reference Frame 2014 (IGS14) were converted to the Stable Houston Reference Frame (Houston16). The six-year continuous GPS observations indicate that the Long Point Fault is currently inactive, with the rates of down-dip-slip and along-strike-slip being below 1 mm/year. The Long Point Fault area is experiencing moderate subsidence varying from 5 to 11 mm/year and a coherent horizontal movement towards the northwest at a rate of approximately 2 to 4 mm/year. The horizontal movement is induced by the subsidence bowl that has been developing since the 1980s in the Jersey Village area. Current surficial damages in the Long Point Fault area are more likely caused by ongoing uneven subsidence and its induced horizontal strains, as well as the significant seasonal ground deformation, rather than deep-seated or tectonic-controlled fault movements. The results from this study suggest a cause-and-effect relationship between groundwater withdrawals and local faulting, which is pertinent to plans for future urban development, use of groundwater resources, and minimization of urban geological hazards.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Current Activity of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas Constrained by Continuous GPS Measurements (2013–2018)

et al. 2019

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“…Fig. 14 depicts GNSS-derived horizontal velocity vectors within the Greater Houston region during the last decade (2011-2020), and shows active faulting traces in the Houston region mapped by the USGS using high-resolution airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) data collected in October 2001 (Shah and Lanning-Rush 2005). These faults were formed millions of years ago during the formation of GOM, and belong to a class of geologic structures known as growth faults cutting the pre-Miocene-age sediments (Holocene-, Pleistocene-, and Pliocene-age sediments) along the GOM coast.…”

Section: Monitoring Fault Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

Wang

Greuter

Petersen³

et al. 2022

J. Surv. Eng.

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Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD), in collaboration with several other agencies, has been operating a dense Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network for subsidence and faulting monitoring within the Greater Houston region since the early 1990s. The GNSS network is designated HoustonNet, comprising approximately 250 permanent GNSS stations as of 2021. This paper documents the methods used to produce position time series, transform coordinates from the global to regional reference frames, identify outliers and steps, analyze seasonal movements, and estimate site velocities and uncertainties. The GNSS positioning methods presented in this paper achieve 2-4-mm RMS accuracy for daily positions in the north-south and east-west directions and 5-8-mm accuracy in the vertical direction within the Greater Houston region. Five-year or longer continuous observations are able to achieve submillimeter-per-year uncertainties (95% confidence interval) for both horizontal and vertical site velocities. Two decades of GNSS observations indicate that Katy in Fort Bend County, Jersey Village in northwestern Harris County, and The Woodlands in southern Montgomery County have been the areas most affected by subsidence (1-2 cm=year) since the 2000s; the overall subsidence rate and the size of subsiding area (>5 mm=year) have been decreasing as a result of the groundwater regulations enforced by HGSD and other local agencies. HoustonNet data and products are released to the public through HGSD. The primary products are the daily East-North-Up (ENU) position time series and site velocities with respect to the International GNSS Service (IGS) Reference Frame 2014 (IGS14), the stable Gulf of Mexico Reference Frame (GOM20), and the stable Houston Reference Frame (Houston20). The ENU position time series with respect to Houston20 are recommended for delineating subsidence and faulting within the Greater Houston region. The ENU time series with respect to GOM20 are recommended for studying subsidence and faulting within the Gulf coastal plain and sea-level changes along the Gulf Coast. The entire HoustonNet data set is reprocessed every a few years with updated positioning software, IGS and regional reference frames, and data analysis tools. We recommend that users use the most recent release of HoustonNet data products and avoid mixing old and new positions.

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“…Hundreds of faults are mapped in the Houston area using field methods [68,69], lidar [70], aerial photos [55,56], geophysical methods [71][72][73][74][75][76][77], and InSAR [14]. Figure 7 shows the updated map.…”

Section: Faulting and Subsidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Deformation Analysis of the Houston Area Using Time Series Interferometry and Emerging Hot Spot Analysis

et al. 2022

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Cities in the northern Gulf of Mexico, such as Houston, have experienced one of the fastest rates of subsidence, with groundwater/hydrocarbon withdrawal being considered the primary cause. This work reports substantial ground subsidence in a few parts of Greater Houston and adjoining areas not reported before. Observation of surface deformation using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data obtained from Sentinel-1A shows total subsidence of up to 9 cm in some areas from 2016 to 2020. Most of the area within the Houston city limits shows no substantial subsidence, but growing suburbs around the city, such as Katy in the west, Spring and The Woodlands in the north and northwest, and Fresno in the south, show subsidence. In this study, we performed emerging hot spot analysis on InSAR displacement products to identify areas undergoing significant subsidence. To investigate the contributions of groundwater to subsidence, we apply optimized hot spot analysis to groundwater level data collected over the past 31 years from over 71,000 water wells and look at the correlation with fault surface deformation patterns. To evaluate the contribution of oil/gas pumping, we applied optimized hot spot analysis to known locations of oil and gas wells. The high rate of water pumping in the suburbs is the main driver of subsidence, but oil/gas withdrawal plays an important role in areas such as Mont Belvieu. Displacement time series shows that the Clodine, Hockley, and Woodgate faults are active, whereas the Long Point Fault shows no motion, although it was once very active.

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Principal faults in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Current Activity of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas Constrained by Continuous GPS Measurements (2013–2018)

Current Activity of the Long Point Fault in Houston, Texas Constrained by Continuous GPS Measurements (2013–2018)

Houston GNSS Network for Subsidence and Faulting Monitoring: Data Analysis Methods and Products

Surface Deformation Analysis of the Houston Area Using Time Series Interferometry and Emerging Hot Spot Analysis

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