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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Houston Geological Society Bulletin
Abstract
Abstract: Houston-Area Active Faults—
What Makes Them Move?
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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