Subsurface seismic structure beneath the Black Hills region
Abstract
Reliable and high-resolution seismic models of the subsurface do not only expand our knowledge but also help us address the ever-growing energy challenges. Researchers are conducting experiments at the Sanford Underground Research Facility located in the Black Hills region to develop and test enhanced geothermal systems that could significantly expand our renewable energy supply. One of the goals of such experiments is to understand the basic relationship between stress, seismicity, and permeability enhancement. Seismic imaging has been used for geothermal reservoir modeling and monitoring, and knowledge of the detailed seismic structure could help us approach this goal. As the experiments and the associated seismic recordings are not yet concluded, we start by constraining the seismic structure around the site. The seismic model for the broader area can provide a starting point for more detailed investigations and improve our understanding of the surrounding region. Starting with a previously constructed 3D seismic model, we will include more observations in the inversion and increase its resolution. Specifically, we simultaneously invert P-wave receiver functions, surface-wave dispersions, Bouguer gravity and travel-time observations for the improved seismic models. As different weights are assigned to different data types and model constraints, we will explore the influence of those weights and quantify the uncertainties due to the choices made. The seismicity will be compared with the updated seismic model to see whether there is a correlation between the seismicity and the subsurface structure variations. The resulting model could be used to study geological variations in the region and estimate stress changes due to subsurface heterogeneity in the future.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.S31D0547C
- Keywords:
-
- 7260 Theory;
- SEISMOLOGYDE: 7270 Tomography;
- SEISMOLOGYDE: 7290 Computational seismology;
- SEISMOLOGY