Radar Images Show Large Swath of Texas Oil Patch is Heaving and Sinking at Alarming Rates

A new study by an SMU geophysical team found alarming rates of ground movement at various locations across a 4000-square-mile area of four Texas counties. (Zhong Lu and Jin-Woo Kim, SMU) Credit: Zhong Lu and Jin-Woo Kim, SMU

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Association between localized geohazards in West Texas and human activities, recognized by Sentinel-1A/B satellite radar imagery

phys.org - Southern Methodist University - March 21, 2018

Two giant sinkholes near Wink, Texas, may just be the tip of the iceberg, according to a new study by a Southern Methodist University, Dallas geophysical team that found alarming rates of new ground movement extending far beyond the infamous sinkholes . . .

 . . . Now the team has discovered that various locations in large portions of four Texas counties are also sinking and uplifting.

 . . . ”These hazards represent a danger to residents, roads, railroads, levees, dams, and oil and gas pipelines, as well as potential pollution of ground water," Lu said. "Proactive, continuous detailed monitoring from space is critical to secure the safety of people and property" . . .

 . . . The imagery, coupled with oil-well production data from the Texas Railroad Commission, suggests the area's unstable ground is associated with decades of oil activity and its effect on rocks below the surface of the earth . . .

 . . . ”This region of Texas has been punctured like a pin cushion with oil wells and injection wells since the 1940s and our findings associate that activity with ground movement."

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ALSO SEE ARTICLE HERE - SMU - Radar images show large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and sinking at alarming rates