Poroelasticity: Efficient modeling of strongly coupled, slow deformation processes in multilayered half-space

Abstract We present a fast, powerful numerical scheme to compute poroelastic solutions for excess pore pressure and displacements in a multilayered half-space. The solutions are based on the mirror-image technique and use an extension of Haskell's propagator method. They can be applied to assess in-situ formation parameters from the surface deformation field when fluids are injected into or extracted from a subsurface reservoir, or they can be used to simulate changes in pore-fluid pressure resulting from matrix displacements induced by an earthquake. The performance of the numerical scheme is tested through comparison with observations of the surface deformation as recorded by tiltmeters in the vicinity of an iteratively pumped well. Modeling of near-surface tilt data around a productive well is useful in constraining hydraulic diffusivity in the layered subsurface.