Slip Tendency Analysis of Bedrock Structure in southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia

Slip Tendency Analysis of Bedrock Structure in southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia

Presenter(s)

Graydon Leo Konzen

Description

This study identifies possible fault and joint systems at risk of seismic failure along an uncharacteristically straight segment of the Ohio River bounding Washington County, Ohio that we hypothesize to be structurally controlled. Previous work documents a regional basement structure known as the Rome Trough coinciding with this segment of the Ohio River. Publically available oil and gas well data have been used to generate structure contour and isopach maps of upper Paleozoic strata in order to confirm that these structural trends could also be related to shallow faults. In tandem with subsurface data, field investigation of bedrock evidence reveals widespread jointing and rare faulting that appears to parallel the trend of modern stream systems, including the Ohio River itself. Slip tendency analysis in the context of the regional stress regime shows which of these systems are at risk of induced seismicity under the influence of increased pore fluid pressures associated with deep wastewater injection. These results in conjunction with the recent occurrence of minor seismicity in the vicinity of several deep wastewater injection wells suggest the need for cautious environmental assessment as oil and gas production expands into the study area.

Publication Date

4-5-2017

Project Designation

Capstone Project - Undergraduate

Primary Advisor

Allen J. McGrew, Shuang-Ye Wu

Primary Advisor's Department

Geology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Slip Tendency Analysis of Bedrock Structure in southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia

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