ORCID
https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-6845-2578
Subject Area
Earth, Atmospheric and Marine Sciences
Abstract
The Permian Basin is one of the most productive hydrocarbon provinces in the United States, where petroleum extraction, wastewater disposal, and extensive legacy well network have substantially altered subsurface pressure and stress conditions. These activities have been linked to land deformation, fault reactivation, induced seismicity, and well-integrity failures, posing risks to critical infrastructure and the environment. This dissertation investigates the roles of subsurface fluid migration, geologic heterogeneity, and fault systems in controlling geomechanical responses to hydrocarbon operations across the Permian Basin.
Surface displacement was quantified at the basin scale using Sentinel-1 A/B Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) observations acquired between 2016 and 2024 and processed using advanced time-series analysis techniques. The results reveal widespread anthropogenic deformation throughout the basin associated with hydrocarbon production, wastewater injection, and local geologic conditions. The Delaware Basin exhibits the most extensive regional deformation, the Midland Basin contains numerous localized deformation features, and the Central Basin Platform hosts several high-intensity geohazards despite relatively limited regional deformation.
In the northern Delaware Basin, time-series analysis and analytical source modeling demonstrate that regional subsidence is primarily driven by hydrocarbon extraction. In the southern Delaware Basin, short-wavelength deformation lineaments spatially correlated with relocated seismicity indicate seismic and aseismic slip along shallow normal faults, suggesting that fault-controlled pressure diffusion contributes significantly to observed ground deformation.
The analysis was extended to the historically stable Central Basin Platform, where nearly a decade of observations identified multiple classes of fluid-driven geohazards, including sustained pressurization, deformation precursors to well blowouts, evaporite-related subsidence, and chronic wastewater leakage. Infrastructure exposure analysis showed that active deformation intersects numerous wells, pipelines, and transportation corridors. Geodetic modeling of the Tubbs Corner blowout constrained the geometry and pressure conditions of a shallow over-pressurized aquifer and demonstrated that surface uplift can provide quantitative information about subsurface fluid accumulation prior to well failure.
Finally, a fully coupled three-dimensional poroelastic finite-element model was developed for the northern Delaware Basin by integrating a three-dimensional stratigraphic framework, spatially variable hydromechanical properties, and time-dependent operational data from thousands of wells. Calibration against InSAR displacement observations demonstrated that the model successfully reproduces the spatial and temporal evolution of basin-scale deformation. Analysis of model residuals further constrained subsurface hydraulic properties and identified localized discrepancies associated with operational data uncertainties.
By integrating satellite geodesy with analytical and physics-based geomechanical modeling, this research advances understanding of fluid-induced deformation processes in the Permian Basin. The results demonstrate how geodetic observations can be used to investigate subsurface fluid migration, quantify geomechanical responses to hydrocarbon operations, and assess infrastructure vulnerability, providing a framework for monitoring and managing fluid-driven geohazards in energy-producing regions worldwide.
Degree Date
Summer 2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Roy M Huffington Department of Earth Sciences
Advisor
Zhong Lu
Number of Pages
178
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Karanam, Vamshi, "Decadal-Scale InSAR Monitoring and Poroelastic Modeling of Fluid-Driven Geohazards in the Permian Basin" (2026). Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 43.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_earthsciences_etds/43
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Environmental Monitoring Commons, Geology Commons, Hydrology Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Tectonics and Structure Commons
