43 Advances in Geospatial Applications for Environmental and Engineering Geology

Recent advancements in geospatial technologies have enhanced our ability to analyze, model, and predict geological and environmental processes with high precision. This session will explore the latest innovations in remote sensing, GIS, and data analytics applied to environmental engineering geosciences.

Sunday, 19 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 214B

Development of Complex Patterns of Anthropogenic Uplift and Subsidence in the Delaware Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico, USA

Paper number: 43-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:20 PM – 2:35 PM

Authors

  • Peter Hennings Presenting Author
    The University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX
  • Katie Smye
    University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX
  • Jingyi Chen
    The University of Texas at Austin, ASE/EM, Austin, TX
  • Scott Staniewicz
    Nasa Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA
  • Molly Zebker
    The University of Texas at Austin, ASE/EM, Austin, TX
  • Zijian Qin
    The University of Texas at Austin, ASE/EM, Austin, TX
  • Elizabeth Horne
    University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX
  • Jun Ge
    The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX
  • Jean-Philippe Nicot
    Univ Texas - Austin, Bureau Economic Geology, Austin, TX

Abstract

The Delaware Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico is currently Earth’s most productive oil producing basin, averaging 3 million barrels per day in 2024. The shale-dominated strata targeted for oil production can co-produce 4–5 times more water than oil, necessitating disposal by injection of 10 million barrels of water per day basin-wide in 2024. Through a comprehensive assimilation of regional Sentinel-1 satellite radar data and analysis of production and injection, we show how petroleum operations caused the development of complex and accelerating patterns of surface deformation from 2015 through 2024. We observe uplift of up to 14 cm from reservoir inflation, subsidence of up to 45 cm from reservoir contraction, and the development of linear features that are indicative of deeper active faulting. Subsidence is predominantly caused by production of oil and co-produced water, and the magnitude of subsidence is linearly proportional to total fluid production. Uplift is caused by pressurization from wastewater injection of shallow permeable strata. The patterns of uplift are complex and extend laterally well-beyond areas where injection occurs. Some areas of uplift are otherwise within areas of subsidence indicating that the true magnitude of vertical reservoir inflation must be considerably greater than the sum of observed subsidence and uplift. Linear surface deformation features are observed throughout the Delaware Basin, and they are lengthening and densifying as uplift and subsidence accelerate. Many of the lineations can be linked to known strata-bounded faults and shallow seismicity in the southern Delaware Basin where they serve as permeable and anisotropic conduits for pore pressure migration. In the Northern Delaware Basin, co-seismic rupture is hosted along basement-rooted faults that may link to the linear surface features. Understanding these dynamic changes in the Delaware Basin is a pressing concern for management of subsurface reservoirs and safeguarding the surface environment. Concerns include ongoing induced seismicity, hazard of drilling through over-pressured strata, maintenance of integrity for newer wellbores, mitigation of flows of brine and petroleum fluids at the surface of old wellbores, and management of the pore space resource for wastewater injection.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-413564

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