Different behaviours of the seismic velocity field at Soultz-sous-Forets revealed by 4-D seismic tomography: case study of GPK3 and GPK2 injection tests

The geothermal power plant of Soultz-sous-Forets in Northeastern France consists of three boreholes (GPK2, GPK3, GPK4) reaching a depth of about 5 km. All the wells were stimulated through hydraulic injections. In this study, we present the results of a time-dependent (4-D) seismic tomography obtained with the P-wave arrival times of seismic events recorded in 2003 during the stimulation of the GPK3 well. The method combines double-difference tomography with the Weighted Average Model post-processing that corrects for parameter dependence effects. In light of additional processing of the continuous seismic records of 23 surface stations, some 4728 precisely located events were selected and separated into 13 subsets to examine periods defined with respect to the injection scheme. Particular attention is given to changes in injected flow rates, periods of stationary injection conditions, periods of dual stimulation with the GPK2 well and post-injection periods. Results confirm that significant structures crossing the well have controlled the evolution of the seismicity and have played a fundamental role in the distribution and amplitude of the seismic anomalies. Furthermore, the evolution of the seismic velocity field, together with the representation of the relocated seismicity, have been compared with the results of the 4-D tomography of the GPK2 well, which is located at only 600 m from the stimulated well.