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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Houston Geological Society Bulletin

Abstract


Houston Geological Society Bulletin, Volume 50, No.6, February 2008. Pages 21-21.

Abstract: Houston-Area Active Faults— What Makes Them Move?

Carl Norman

More than 350 surface faults are scattered about the Houston Metropolitan area. The first to be recognized was the Pelly Fault in Baytown, which moved several inches during development of the Goose Creek oilfield in the early 1920s. Movement on the Pelly Fault and a companion fault beneath the bay waters was attributed to the rapid production of petroleum. In the 1940s it became apparent that a subsidence basin was developing in the Ship Channel area. Extensive re-leveling of bench marks firmly established that the cause was excessive groundwater production with an attendant decline of groundwater piezometric levels.

It was natural to assume that the subsidence and activation of faults were somehow linked, a belief that persists in the minds of many today. However, not all active faults are located in areas where subsurface fluids are being extracted at high rates, and conversely, such areas often lack active faults. The emphasis of this discussion is on facts that do not fit the notion that fault activation is caused by the extraction of subsurface fluids.

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