Joint 53rd South-Central/53rd North-Central/71st Rocky Mtn Section Meeting - 2019

Paper No. 21-4
Presentation Time: 8:30 AM-5:45 PM

FAULT DETECTION IN SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS USING CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF INDUCED EARTHQUAKES


TSOFLIAS, George1, NOLTE, Keith A.1, MOLINA, Zalma P.1, PROFFITT, Hannah R1, FREKING, Collin J.1, BIDGOLI, Tandis S.2 and WATNEY, W. Lynn3, (1)Department of Geology, The University of Kansas, 1414 Naismith Dr, room 254, Lawrence, KS 66045, (2)Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 101 Geological Sciences Bldg., Columbia, MO 95211, (3)Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66047

Seismicity in the United States midcontinent has increased more than tenfold over the past decade. This massive increase has led to the installation of seismic monitoring networks throughout Oklahoma and Kansas. The Kansas Geological Survey installed a seismic monitoring network in Sumner County, KS, to monitor a CO2 injection site. The seismometer array was installed at the beginning of 2015. During a three year period the array identified 2,849 local earthquakes in Sumner County, south-central Kansas, ranging in magnitude from 0.4 to 3.9, and the majority of depths ranging from 2 to 8 km. Cluster analysis identified earthquakes in 30 distinct groups that are delineating previously unknown faults. This analysis of earthquakes is the first information on faults in the shallow basement in Sumner County. The trend of earthquakes is also evolving, as seismicity is moving further north, presumably driven by the advance of a regional pore pressure field. Here, the earthquakes are used to estimate the orientation of these shallow basement faults, as well as observe the evolving trend of seismicity in southern Kansas.