| Title | Induced seismicity associated with shale gas development |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Kao, H |
| Source | Public presentations, Environmental Geoscience Program (EGP), current status of research projects; by Jacob, N; Craven, J A; White, D; Savard, M M; Rivard, C; Kao, H; Parsons, M B; Galloway, J M; Geological Survey of Canada, Scientific Presentation 49, 2017 p. 63-77, https://doi.org/10.4095/299734  Open Access |
| Year | 2017 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Public presentations,
Environmental Geoscience Program (EGP), current status of research projects |
| Related | This publication is related to Induced Seismicity Research
Project: a brief summary of 2019-20 accomplishments |
| File format | pptx; pdf |
| Province | Canada; British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut;
Canada |
| NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -50.0000 90.0000 41.7500 |
| Subjects | environmental geology; geophysics; fossil fuels; environmental studies; environmental impacts; pollutants; hydraulic fracturing; bedrock geology; lithology; sedimentary rocks; shales; petroleum
resources; hydrocarbons; gas; seismicity; earthquakes; seismology; seismic risk; seismographs; August 17, 2015, Mw 4.6, northern Montney earthquake |
| Illustrations | location maps; time series; screen captures; plots; seismograms; pie charts |
| Program | Environmental Geoscience |
| Program | ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative |
| Program | Program of Energy Research and Development (PERD) |
| Released | 2017 02 15 |
| Abstract | The development of unconventional oil and gas in North America has caused a significant increase of seismicity in areas of intense injection operations, including both hydraulic fracturing and
wastewater disposal. These induced earthquakes have attracted considerable media attention due to their potential seismic hazards. In 2012, NRCan initiated the Induced Seismicity Research (ISR) Activity as part of the Shale Gas Research Project,
under the Environmental Geoscience Program, to investigate the possible relationship between hydraulic fracturing (HF) of shale gas and the changing pattern of local seismicity. In 2015, the activity was expanded to a Project to include studies of
all injection-related seismic events. NRCan's ISR Project has three major tasks. The first is to improve real-time earthquake-monitoring capability in major shale gas basins where the station coverage of regional seismograph network is sparse. The
second is to establish the baseline of regional seismic pattern (i.e., the pre-development reference line) for places where the development potential of unconventional oil and gas is deemed high in the foreseeable future. The third is to conduct
targeted studies on significant induced events to understand the relationship between their seismogenesis and man-made operations. In collaborations with many partners, new real-time broadband seismograph stations have been installed in BC, AB, NB,
QC, NT, and YT. Studies of local seismicity before, during, and after HF operations have been completed for the Horn River Basin (northeast BC), the Moncton and Sussex areas (southern NB), and the Norman Wells area of the central Mackenzie Valley
(NT). An increase of local seismicity in BC and AB is spatially and temporarily correlated with the peak period of injection operations associated with shale gas development. Injection volume appears to play a more important role than injection
pressure in causing induced events. No abnormal seismicity can be observed when the injection volume is small. The initial effect of increasing injected volume is an increase in earthquake frequency but not magnitude. Relatively large induced events
occurred only when the monthly injected volume becomes very large. However, large injection volume seems to be a necessary condition for the occurrence of relatively large induced event, but not a sufficient one. Research results of the largest
hydraulic fracturing-induced earthquake to date (the August 17, 2015, Mw 4.6, northern Montney earthquake) indicate that the peak ground acceleration can be as high as 17% g at an epicentral distance of 5 km, suggesting that seismic hazards due to
induced seismicity is not negligible. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The environmental geoscience program is a federal research program that aims to provide Canadians with advanced scientific information to differentiate
the effects of the development of natural resources on the environment of those of natural processes. Following this mandate, the development of new geoscientific approaches is used to support the developement and responsible use of Canada's natural
resources by making informed decisions while protecting Canadians and their environment. Advancing scientific understanding about natural resources development will inform policy makers and have direct implications on future decisions. To increase
the program visibility, a public session was offered in May 2016 to the Earth Science Sector and other key partners from Natural Resources Canada. All the information presented during the public session is included in this Open File. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 299734 |
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