Over the last decade, an increase in earthquake occurrence in Oklahoma and Kansas has been linked to oilfield wastewater injection disposal, particularly into the regionally underpressured Arbuckle Group. The Arbuckle is hydraulically connected to Precambrian basement through an extensive fracture system, which transmits pressure perturbations from wastewater injections to seismogenic depths. Previous studies have convincingly attributed induced seismicity to pore pressure diffusion and solid elastic stressing, both resulting from fluid waste injection. Recent work adds to the physical understanding of injection-induced seismicity by demonstrating that the density differential between injection fluids and formation brines may also drive fluid pressure into the seismogenic basement. In this thesis, variable density groundwater flow is modeled in a numerical simulation comprising parts of the Anadarko Basin, the Anadarko Shelf, the Cherokee Platform, and the Nemaha Fault Zone as well as injection data from 2006-2018. Results show buoyancy forces interacting with regional stratigraphic dip to force density-driven pressure transients into the deep Anadarko Basin, aligning with previously unexplained earthquakes in that region. / Master of Science / Increased earthquake activity in Oklahoma and Kansas over the last decade is linked waste disposal related to hydrofracking. Oil and gas produced in the fracking process is often mixed with large amounts of water that is too salty to be used for public or industrial purposes, thus this water is disposed of via injection into deep rock layers in the upper portion of the Earth's interior, or crust. This injection disturbs the crust to trigger earthquakes where none have been historically observed. Previous studies examining this phenomenon assume that the rock layers of the crust lie flat and level; simplify the nature of major faults, or cracks, in the crust; and do not consider differences in water chemistry between injected water and water that already occupies the crust. The study developed in this thesis considers the effect of these three factors with regard to how they influence the extent of the linkage between waste water injection and earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas.

L'étude du système aquifère du Chari Baguirmi vise à améliorer sa connaissance en vue d'une gestion durable etprudente de la ressource en eaux souterraines. Dans la zone d'étude qui couvre 70000 Km2, des campagnes demesures et d'échantillonnages des eaux et de sédiments ont été réalisés. Les eaux échantillonnées ont fait l'objetd'analyses chimiques et isotopiques (O18 et 2H) afin de comprendre le comportement hydrogéochimique dusystème aquifère. La synthèse des données géologiques existantes et la mise en évidence de l'hétérogénéité litho-stratigraphiquepar l'étude granulométrique ont confirmé la complexité hydrogéologique de la zone d'étude. La minéralogie desargiles a montré que le dépôt des différents sédiments se fait de la périphérie vers le centre de la dépression. Cemode de sédimentation permet d'avancer l'hypothèse de l'existence d'une dépression vers laquelle les sédimentsseraient entrainés par l'agent de transport. Cette hypothèse de “ dépression structurale ” réfute l'hypothèseadmise jusqu'à présent d'une origine hydrogéologique (forte évaporation) de cette dépression piézométrique.L'étude basée sur la piézométrie et les données chimiques et isotopiques (O18 et 2H) des eaux a permis decomprendre les processus hydrogéochimiques qui gouvernent la minéralisation des eaux. En plus des isotopes(O18 et 2H), l'utilisation des ratios Br/Cl, Sr/Ca et l'indice d'échanges de bases a permis de mettre en évidenced'une part, l'origine de la salinité des eaux de la dépression piézométrique et d'autre part, les phénomènesd'échanges de bases liés au long temps de séjour des eaux au contact des roches encaissantes et les zones derecharge potentielles de la nappe. / The study of the Chari Baguirmi aquifer system aims to improve the knowledge about this system forsustainable groundwater resource management. In the study area, which covers 70,000 km2, measurementcampaigns and sampling of water and sediments were undertaken. The waters have been sampled for chemicaland isotopic analyzes (18O and 2H) to understand the hydrogeochemical behavior of the aquifer system.The synthesis of existing geological data and highlighting the litho-stratigraphic heterogeneity through thegranulometric study confirmed the hydrogeological complexity of the study area. Clay mineralogy showed thatthe deposition of different sediments occurred from the periphery to the center of the depression. This mode ofsedimentation can hypothesize the existence of a depression into which sediments are trained by the transportagent. This assumption of "structural depression" refutes the hypothesis of a hitherto accepted hydrogeologicalorigin (high evaporation) of the piezometric depression. The study based on the piezometry and chemical and isotopic data (18O and 2H) of water enabled to understand the hydrogeochemical processes that govern the mineralization of the water. In addition to isotopes (2H and 18O), the use of ratios Br/Cl, Sr/Ca and base exchanges index has highlighted on the one hand, the origin of the salinity of waters in the piezometric depression and secondly, the phenomena of base exchanges related to longresidence time of water in contact with rocks and areas of potential groundwater recharge. Numerical modeling of the aquifer was performed in steady state and the results confirm the prevalence of the phenomenon of evaporation in the western p