A Systematic Analysis of Seismic Moment Tensor at The Geysers Geothermal Field, California

Abstract

The Geysers geothermal field is one of the most seismically active regions in northern California. Most of the events occur at shallow depths and are related to stress and hydrological perturbations due to energy production operations. To better understand the relationships between seismicity and operations, better source mechanism information is needed. Seismic moment tensors offer insight into the nature of equivalent forces causing the seismicity. Fifty-three M>3 events located at The Geysers geothermal field were selected from the University of California Berkeley Moment Tensor Catalog for analysis of seismic moment tensor solutions and associated uncertainties. Deviatoric and full moment tensor solutions were computed, and statistical tests were employed to assess solution stability, resolution, and significance. In this study, we examine several source models including double-couple (DC), pure isotropic (ISO; volumetric change), and volume-compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) sources, as well as compound sources such as DC+CLVD, DC+ISO, and shear–tensile sources. In general, we find from a systematic approach toward characterizing uncertainties in moment tensor solutions that The Geysers earthquakes, as a population, deviate significantly from northern California seismicity in terms of apparent volumetric source terms and complexity.