Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France
Abstract The development of the Rittershoffen deep geothermal field (Alsace, Upper Rhine Graben) between 2012 and 2014 induced unfelt seismicity with a local magnitude of less than 1.6. This seismicity occurred during two types of operations: (1) mud losses in the Muschelkalk formation during the dr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Geothermal Energy |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-020-0155-2 |
| _version_ | 1818326930537054208 |
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| author | Vincent Maurer Emmanuel Gaucher Marc Grunberg Rike Koepke Romain Pestourie Nicolas Cuenot |
| author_facet | Vincent Maurer Emmanuel Gaucher Marc Grunberg Rike Koepke Romain Pestourie Nicolas Cuenot |
| author_sort | Vincent Maurer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The development of the Rittershoffen deep geothermal field (Alsace, Upper Rhine Graben) between 2012 and 2014 induced unfelt seismicity with a local magnitude of less than 1.6. This seismicity occurred during two types of operations: (1) mud losses in the Muschelkalk formation during the drilling of both wells of the doublet and (2) thermal and hydraulic stimulations of the GRT-1 well. Seismicity was also observed 4 days after the main hydraulic stimulation, although no specific operation was performed. During chemical stimulation, however, no induced seismicity was detected. In the context of all field development operations and their injection parameters (flow rates, overpressures, volumes), we detail the occurrence or lack of seismicity, its magnitude distribution and its spatial distribution. The observations suggest the presence of the rock stress memory effect (Kaiser effect) of the geothermal reservoir as well as uncritically stressed zones connected to the GRT-1 well and/or rock cohesion. A reduction of the seismic rate concurrent with an increase of injectivity was noticed as well as the reactivation of a couple of faults, including the Rittershoffen fault, which was targeted by the wells. These results are derived from the homogeneous and consistent catalogue of more than 1300 local earthquakes that is provided. This reference catalogue is based on a standard detection method, whose output was manually verified and improved. The given absolute locations have been computed in a calibrated, geologically realistic 3D velocity model. Our work builds on previous analyses addressing the seismicity induced by the GRT-1 hydraulic stimulation and places the results into a historical context, thus considering the full dynamics of the observed phenomena. This paper also complements existing descriptions of the hydrothermal characteristics of the deep reservoir by providing insights separate from the wells. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:08:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-68d25a736867482faa591a0b6d2ba223 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-9706 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:08:12Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geothermal Energy |
| spelling | doaj.art-68d25a736867482faa591a0b6d2ba2232022-12-21T23:46:54ZengSpringerOpenGeothermal Energy2195-97062020-02-018113110.1186/s40517-020-0155-2Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, FranceVincent Maurer0Emmanuel Gaucher1Marc Grunberg2Rike Koepke3Romain Pestourie4Nicolas Cuenot5ES-GeothermieDivision of Geothermal Research, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyUniversité de Strasbourg, CNRS, EOST UMS 830Division of Geothermal Research, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyUniversité de Strasbourg, CNRS, EOST UMS 830ES-GeothermieAbstract The development of the Rittershoffen deep geothermal field (Alsace, Upper Rhine Graben) between 2012 and 2014 induced unfelt seismicity with a local magnitude of less than 1.6. This seismicity occurred during two types of operations: (1) mud losses in the Muschelkalk formation during the drilling of both wells of the doublet and (2) thermal and hydraulic stimulations of the GRT-1 well. Seismicity was also observed 4 days after the main hydraulic stimulation, although no specific operation was performed. During chemical stimulation, however, no induced seismicity was detected. In the context of all field development operations and their injection parameters (flow rates, overpressures, volumes), we detail the occurrence or lack of seismicity, its magnitude distribution and its spatial distribution. The observations suggest the presence of the rock stress memory effect (Kaiser effect) of the geothermal reservoir as well as uncritically stressed zones connected to the GRT-1 well and/or rock cohesion. A reduction of the seismic rate concurrent with an increase of injectivity was noticed as well as the reactivation of a couple of faults, including the Rittershoffen fault, which was targeted by the wells. These results are derived from the homogeneous and consistent catalogue of more than 1300 local earthquakes that is provided. This reference catalogue is based on a standard detection method, whose output was manually verified and improved. The given absolute locations have been computed in a calibrated, geologically realistic 3D velocity model. Our work builds on previous analyses addressing the seismicity induced by the GRT-1 hydraulic stimulation and places the results into a historical context, thus considering the full dynamics of the observed phenomena. This paper also complements existing descriptions of the hydrothermal characteristics of the deep reservoir by providing insights separate from the wells.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-020-0155-2Seismic monitoringInduced seismicityGeothermal systemStimulationUpper Rhine Graben |
| spellingShingle | Vincent Maurer Emmanuel Gaucher Marc Grunberg Rike Koepke Romain Pestourie Nicolas Cuenot Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France Geothermal Energy Seismic monitoring Induced seismicity Geothermal system Stimulation Upper Rhine Graben |
| title | Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France |
| title_full | Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France |
| title_fullStr | Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France |
| title_short | Seismicity induced during the development of the Rittershoffen geothermal field, France |
| title_sort | seismicity induced during the development of the rittershoffen geothermal field france |
| topic | Seismic monitoring Induced seismicity Geothermal system Stimulation Upper Rhine Graben |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-020-0155-2 |
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