Approach Paragraph
The number of earthquakes induced by rapid industrialization seems to be rising. Therefore, my objective was to research statistical data about this disaster to understand if my argument about humanity’s impact on the rise in seismic activity is valid. My approach was to find recent studies about the effect of human activity on the growing number of earthquakes. The time range for the scholarly articles was selected within the last five years. I found papers demonstrating the association between the facilitation of mining and an increase in earthquakes. The pieces that support the opposing view claim that the data about their number may be distorted due to the lack of difference in the development mechanism of natural and artificial earthquakes. Still, the authors of those manuscripts cannot deny that the termination of human activity resulted in a reduction in earthquakes. I would change my research strategy to more specific keywords, but the overall approach remains the same. Eventually, I plan to prove that the number of artificial earthquakes increases due to human activity every year, following humanity’s destructive impact.
Annotated Bibliography
Doglioni, C. (2018). A classification of induced seismicity. Geoscience Frontiers, 9(6), 1903-1909.
This paper aimed to classify anthropogenically caused tectonic destruction into four groups: fluid injection, fluid removal, high-pressure injection, and crustal loading and unloading. The author’s main argument is that there is no sufficient data about the correlation between human activity and increased earthquakes. Still, they accept that the mechanism of damage from mining equipment is undeniable. This article’s data appears reliable because it was published within the last five years in a peer-reviewed journal rated as the eighth-best journal in this field. The classification and detailed description of mechanisms support the argument that changes in the natural “tectonic settings” can trigger seismic activity (p. 1908). Indeed, this paper is closely related to the study by Kang et al. (2019) explaining manufactured damage to the lithosphere. The authors conclude their article with the suggestion of implementing mathematical modeling to prevent earthquakes from industrial activity.
Foulger, G. R., Wilson, M. P., Gluyas, J. G., Julian, B. R., & Davies, R. J. (2018). Global review of human-induced earthquakes. Earth-Science Reviews, 178, 438-514.
Despite accepting that anthropogenic activity can induce seismic activity, the authors of this paper claim that the number of artificial earthquakes is overestimated on the HiQuake database. This manuscript was an invited review in a peer-reviewed journal with a high impact factor. Although the authors question the validity of information on this database, they admit that even if the magnitude of these events was primarily low, they were caused by human activity. Therefore, this article proves that the number of earthquakes increased due to the rapid development of mining. Still, it states that their magnitude is often low, causing no harm to the population.
Kang, J. Q., Zhu, J. B., & Zhao, J. (2019). A review of mechanisms of induced earthquakes: From a view of rock mechanics. Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources, 5(2), 171-196.
This article discusses three leading human activity-related causes of artificial earthquakes: increased pore pressure during water injection, stress change due to temperature change and fluid extraction, and altered coefficient of friction. This paper is credible because it was published recently in a peer-reviewed journal. The authors give examples of large earthquakes triggered by industrial activity in Germany in 1989 and the USA in 2011 (p. 172). Moreover, the authors claim that minor induced earthquakes occur frequently, but it is difficult to track them; thus, the data may be misleading. Still, this paper supports my argument by describing how the equipment used in industry results in shear and tensile damage to rocks. Furthermore, this article helps show how mining methods of fluid injection and extraction exert thermal stress and corrosion, causing crack progression, which increases the likelihood of seismic events.
Van der Baan, M., & Calixto, F. J. (2017). Human‐induced seismicity and large‐scale hydrocarbon production in the USA and Canada. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 18(7), 2467-2485.
This source compares seismic activity in six U.S. states and three Canadian provinces, showing that increased oil mining activity using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing caused increased earthquakes. This paper analyzes induced earthquakes from 1965 to 2014, providing a relatively objective assessment of fifty-year data from credible databases of the two countries (p. 2469). The article was published within the last five years in a peer-reviewed journal about planetary processes by the members of the American Geophysical Union. Overall, it helps support my argument about the continuous increase of artificial earthquakes because of the destructive effect of human activity.
Vlek, C. (2019). Rise and reduction of induced earthquakes in the Groningen gas field, 1991–2018: Statistical trends, social impacts, and policy change. Environmental Earth Sciences, 78(3), 1-14.
This manuscript explores artificial earthquakes related to oil and gas mining in the Netherlands from 1991 to 2018, showing a steady increase in the magnitude of induced seismic activity. This work was published in a peer-reviewed journal recently; thus, it can be considered reliable. According to this paper, the main reason for the growing seismic magnitude is “increasing reservoir compaction” (p. 2). Overall, the article contains valuable statistical data about the increasing number and strength of earthquakes in this region.
Wang, R., Gu, Y. J., Schultz, R., & Chen, Y. (2018). Faults and non‐double‐couple components for induced earthquakes. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(17), 8966-8975.
This manuscript states that the statistical information about the number of induced earthquakes is inaccurate because the mechanism of appearance between natural and artificial seismic activity was found to be identical. It can be considered a credible paper because it was published in a high-impact peer-review journal within the last five years. Although the authors’ point seems valid, it still cannot disprove my argument because, as the article states, various theoretical reports and experimental studies explained the direct correlation between hydraulic fracturing and increased seismicity.
References
Doglioni, C. (2018). A classification of induced seismicity.Geoscience Frontiers, 9(6), 1903-1909.
Foulger, G. R., Wilson, M. P., Gluyas, J. G., Julian, B. R., & Davies, R. J. (2018). Global review of human-induced earthquakes.Earth-Science Reviews, 178, 438-514.
Kang, J. Q., Zhu, J. B., & Zhao, J. (2019). A review of mechanisms of induced earthquakes: From a view of rock mechanics.Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources, 5(2), 171-196.
Van der Baan, M., & Calixto, F. J. (2017). Human‐induced seismicity and large‐scale hydrocarbon production in the USA and Canada. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 18(7), 2467-2485.
Vlek, C. (2019). Rise and reduction of induced earthquakes in the Groningen gas field, 1991–2018: Statistical trends, social impacts, and policy change. Environmental Earth Sciences, 78(3), 1-14.
Wang, R., Gu, Y. J., Schultz, R., & Chen, Y. (2018). Faults and non‐double‐couple components for induced earthquakes.Geophysical Research Letters, 45(17), 8966-8975.