Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evidence of regional subsidence and associated interior wetland loss induced by hydrocarbon production, Gulf Coast region, USA

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Geology

Abstract

Analysis of remote images, elevation surveys, stratigraphic cross-sections, and hydrocarbon production data demonstrates that extensive areas of wetland loss in the northern Gulf Coast region of the United States were associated with large-volume fluid production from mature petroleum fields. Interior wetland losses at many sites in coastal Louisiana and Texas are attributed largely to accelerated land subsidence and fault reactivation induced by decreased reservoir pressures as a result of rapid or prolonged extraction of gas, oil, and associated brines. Evidence that moderately-deep hydrocarbon production has induced land-surface subsidence and reactivated faults that intersect the surface include: (1) close temporal and spatial correlation of fluid production with surficial changes including rapid subsidence of wetland sediments near producing fields, (2) measurable offsets of shallow strata across the zones of wetland loss, (3) large reductions in subsurface pressures where subsidence rates are high, (4) coincidence of orientation and direction of displacement between surface fault traces and faults that bound the reservoirs, and (5) accelerated subsidence rates near producing fields compared to subsidence rates in surrounding areas or compared to geological rates of subsidence. Based on historical trends, subsidence rates in the Gulf Coast region near producing fields most likely will decrease in the future because most petroleum fields are nearly depleted. Alternatively, continued extraction of conventional energy resources as well as potential production of alternative energy resources (geopressured-geothermal fluids) in the Gulf Coast region could increase subsidence and land losses and also contribute to inundation of areas of higher elevation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bernard HA, LeBlanc RJ, Major CF (1962) Recent and Pleistocene geology of southeast Texas. In: Geology of the Gulf Coast and central Texas and guidebook of excursions. Houston Geol Soc, pp 175–224

  • Boesch DF, Josselyn MN, Mehta AJ, Morris JT, Nuttle WK, Simenstad CA, Swift DJP (1994) Scientific assessment of coastal wetland loss restoration and management in Louisiana. J Coast Res Spec Issue 20

  • Britsch LD, Dunbar JB (1993) Land-loss rates Louisiana coastal plain. J Coast Res 9:324–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Chilingar GV, Endres B (2005) Environmental hazards posed by the Los Angeles Basin urban oilfields: an historical perspective of lessons learned. Environ Geol 47:302–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chilingarian GV, Donaldson EC, Yen TF (1995) Subsidence due to fluid withdrawal. Developments in Petroleum Science 41, Amsterdam Elsevier Science

  • DeLaune RD, Pezeshki SR (1994) The influence of subsidence and saltwater intrusion on coastal marsh stability: Louisiana Gulf coast, USA. J Coast Res Spec Issue 12, pp 77–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Dokka RK (2005) The effects of active normal faulting on the modern-day subsidence of southern Louisiana. Abstracts with Programs Geological Society of America 37, p 12

  • Douglas BC, Kearney MS, Leatherman SP (2001) Sea level rise; history and consequences. International Geophysics Series 75

  • Ewing TE (1985) Subsidence and surface faulting in the Houston–Galveston area, Texas related to deep fluid withdrawal. In: Dorfman MH, Morton RA (eds) Geopressured geothermal energy, Proceedings of the Sixth U.S. Gulf Coast Geopressured Geothermal Energy Conference. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 289–298

  • Finkl CW, Khalil SM (2005) Saving America’s wetlands: strategies for restoration of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and barrier islands. J Coast Res Spec Issue 44

  • Fisk HN, McClelland B (1959) Geology of continental shelf off Louisiana: its influence on offshore foundation design. Bull Geol Soc Am 70:1369–1394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagliano SM, Kemp EB, Wicker K, Wiltenmuth K, Sabate RW (2003) Neo-tectonic framework of southeast Louisiana and applications to coastal restoration. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 53:262–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Galloway D, Jones D, Ingerbritsen SE (1999) Land subsidence in the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1182

  • Geertsma J (1973) Land subsidence above compacting oil and gas reservoirs. J Petrol Tech 25:734–744

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustavson TC, Kreitler CW (1976) Geothermal resources of the Texas Gulf Coast-environmental concerns arising from the production and disposal of geothermal water. University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Geological Circular 76–7

  • Hicks SD (1968) Long-period variations in secular sea level trends. Shore Beach 36:32–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzer TL, Bluntzer RL (1984) Land subsidence near oil and gas fields, Houston, Texas. Ground Water 22:450–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IHS Energy Group (2003) PI/Dwights Plus U.S. Production Data on CD. Available from IHS Energy Group, 15 Iverness Way East, D205, Englewood, CO 80112

  • Kasmarek M, Coplin LS, Santos HX (1997) Water-level altitudes 1997, water-level changes 1977–1997, and 1996–1997, and compaction 1973–1996 in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, Houston–Galveston region, Texas. U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 97–181

  • Kreitler CW, Akhter MS, Donnelly ACA (1990) Hydrogeologic hydrochemical characterization of Texas Frio Formation used for deep-well injection of chemical wastes. Environ Geol Water Sci 16:107–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuecher GJ, Roberts HH, Thompson MD, Matthews I (2001) Evidence for active growth faulting in the Terrebonne delta plain, south Louisiana: implications for wetland loss and the vertical migration of petroleum. Environ Geosci 8:77–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lombard DB (1985) Geopressured geothermal brines—a resource for the future. In: Dorfman MH, Morton RA (eds) Geopressured geothermal energy, Proceedings of the Sixth U.S. Gulf Coast Geopressured Geothermal Energy Conference. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 3–7

  • Martin JC, Serdengecti S (1984) Subsidence over oil and gas fields. In: Holzer TL (ed) Reviews in Engineering Geology VI, pp 23–34

  • Mendelssohn IS, McKee KL (1988) Spartina alterniflora die-back in Louisiana: time-course investigation of soil waterlogging effects. J Ecol 76:509–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mes MJ (1990) Ekofisk reservoir pressure drops and seabed subsidence. In: Proceedings of 22nd Offshore Tech Conf, pp 373–387

  • Morton RA, Purcell NA (2001) Wetland subsidence, fault reactivation, and hydrocarbon production in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-091–01

  • Morton RA, Purcell NA, Peterson RL (2001) Field evidence of subsidence and faulting induced by hydrocarbon production in coastal southeast Texas. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 51:239–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton RA, Buster NA, Krohn MD (2002) Subsurface controls on historical subsidence rates and associated wetland loss in southcentral Louisiana. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 52:767–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton RA, Tiling G, Ferina NF (2003) Primary causes of wetland loss at Madison Bay, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 03–60

  • Morton RA, Bernier JC, Barras JA, Ferina, NF (2005) Rapid subsidence and historical wetland loss in the south-central Mississippi delta plain: likely causes and future implications. U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 2005-1216. (http://www.pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1216)

  • Nagel NB (2001) Compaction and subsidence issues within the petroleum industry: from Wilmington to Ekofisk and beyond. Phys Chem Earth 26:3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paine JG (1993) Subsidence of the Texas coast: inferences from historical and late Pleistocene sea levels. Tectonophysics 222:445–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penland S, Ramsey KE, McBride RA, Mestayer JT, Westphal KA (1988) Relative sea-level rise and delta-plain development in the Terrebonne Parish region. Louisiana Geological Survey Coastal Geology Tech Rept 4

  • Poland JF, Davis GH (1972) Land subsidence due to withdrawal of fluids. In: Man and his physical environment, Readings in environmental geology. Burgess Publ. Co., pp 77–90

  • Pratt WE, Johnson DW (1926) Local subsidence of the Goose Creek oil field. J Geol 34:577–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratzlaff KW (1982) Land-surface subsidence in the Texas coastal region. Texas Dept of Water Resources Rept 272

  • Rhett DW (1998) Ekofisk revisited: a new model of Ekofisk reservoir geomechanical behavior. SPE/ISRM Eurock ‘98 1:367–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Bailey A, Kuecher GJ (1994) Subsidence in the Mississippi River delta—important influences of valley filling by cyclic deposition, primary consolidation phenomena, and early diagenesis. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc 44:619–629

    Google Scholar 

  • Scaife WW, Turner RE, Costanza R (1983) Coastal Louisiana recent land loss and canal impacts. Environ Manage 7:433–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp JM Jr, Hill DW (1995) Land subsidence along the northeastern Texas Gulf Coast: effects of deep hydrocarbon production. Environ Geol 25:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinkle KD, Dokka RK (2004) Rates of vertical displacement at benchmarks in the lower Mississippi Valley and the northern Gulf Coast. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tech Rept 50

  • Stevenson DA, McCulloh RP (2001) Earthquakes in Louisiana. Louisiana Geological Survey Public Information Series 7

  • Suhayda JN (1987) Subsidence and sea level. In: Turner RE, Cahoon DR (eds) Causes of Wetland Loss in the Coastal Central Gulf of Mexico, vol II Technical Narrative, Minerals Management Service OCS Study MMS87-0120, pp 187–202

  • Van Hasselt JP (1992) Reservoir compaction and surface subsidence resulting from oil and gas production. Geol Mijnbouw 71:107–118

    Google Scholar 

  • White WA, Morton RA (1997) Wetland losses related to fault movement and hydrocarbon production, southeastern Texas coast. J Coast Res 13:1305–1320

    Google Scholar 

  • White WA, Tremblay TA (1995) Submergence of wetlands as a result of human-induced subsidence and faulting along the upper Texas Gulf coast. J Coast Res 11:788–807

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams SJ, Penland S, Roberts HH (1994) Processes affecting coastal wetland loss in the Louisiana deltaic plain. Am Soc Civil Eng Coast Zone ’93, pp 211–219

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Noreen Buster and Ginger Tiling for assistance in compiling some of the data and Russell Peterson and Betsy Boynton for assistance in preparing the illustrations. We also thank Tip Meckel and Jim Flocks for their critical reviews that improved the content and clarity of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Robert A. Morton

  2. ETI Professionals, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Julie C. Bernier

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center Coastal Restoration Field Station, Baton Rouge, LA, 70894, USA

    John A. Barras

Authors
  1. Robert A. Morton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julie C. Bernier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John A. Barras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert A. Morton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morton, R.A., Bernier, J.C. & Barras, J.A. Evidence of regional subsidence and associated interior wetland loss induced by hydrocarbon production, Gulf Coast region, USA. Environ Geol 50, 261–274 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0207-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0207-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation