Plumbing accretionary prisms: effects of permeability variations

1991 ◽  
Vol 335 (1638) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Accretionary Prism ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Laboratory Measurements ◽  
High Permeability ◽  
Fracture Permeability ◽  
Deformation Regime ◽  
Accretionary Prisms

Fault zones focus fluid expulsion in the muddy northern Barbados Ridge accretionary prism with fault-parallel permeabilities about 1000 times greater than intergranular permeabilities in the adjacent sediment. In the Oregon prism the low bedding-perpendicular permeability (due to mudstones) inhibits intergranular dewatering; however, intergranular flow is concentrated where submarine erosion breaches high permeability sandy layers. Even so, faults can capture fluid flow from these exposed sandy layers suggesting the faults have a still higher permeability. Such observations coupled with laboratory measurements permeabilities suggest that faults off Oregon may have fault-parallel permeabilities at least 10-10000 times greater than the adjacent sediments. Results from Barbados and Oregon suggest fluid flow is concentrated along the most active faults. At the toe of prisms the fault zones are being progressively loaded by the thickening wedge and are undergoing compaction. Preliminary experiments show that permeability decreases relative to the surrounding wall rocks along faults within this compactive deformation regime; we believe that these faults must undergo dilation, perhaps linked to transient increases in pore pressure if they are to be preferential fluid conduits. Farther upslope erosion exposes rocks that are more consolidated, commonly more cemented, and generally of lower intergranular permeability than rocks of equivalent burial further seaward. Because of their lithification and overconsolidation these rocks dilate during faulting, locally enhancing fracture permeability. In such dilative regimes, faults become evermore focused zones of fluid expulsion relative to occluded intergranular pathways.

CRUSTAL DEFORMATION STUDIES IN JAVA (INDONESIA) USING GPS

2009 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
HASANUDDIN Z. ABIDIN ◽  
HERI ANDREAS ◽  
TERUYUKI KATO ◽  
TAKEO ITO ◽  
IRWAN MEILANO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Faults ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
First Year ◽  
Horizontal Deformation ◽  
West Java ◽  
Plate Movement ◽  
Tsunami Earthquake ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Seismic Deformation ◽  
Large Earthquakes

Along the Java trench the Australian–Oceanic plate is moving and pushing onto and subducting beneath the Java continental crust at a relative motion of about 70 mm/yr in NNE direction. This subduction-zone process imposed tectonic stresses on the fore-arc region offshore and on the land of Java, thus causing the formation of earthquake fault zones to accommodate the plate movement. Historically, several large earthquakes happened in Java, including West Java. This research use GPS surveys method to study the inter-seismic deformation of three active faults in West Java region (i.e. Cimandiri, Lembang and Baribis faults), and the co-seismic and post-seismic deformation related to the May 2006 Yogyakarta and the July 2006 South Java earthquakes. Based on GPS surveys results it was found that the area around Cimandiri, Lembang and Baribis fault zones have the horizontal displacements of about 1 to 2 cm/yr or less. Further research is however still needed to extract the real inter-seismic deformation of the faults from those GPS-derived displacements. GPS surveys have also estimated that the May 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake was caused by the sinistral movement of the (Opak) fault with horizontal co-seismic deformation that generally was less than 10 cm. The post-seismic horizontal deformation of the July 2006 South Java tsunami earthquake has also been estimated using GPS surveys data. In the first year after the earthquake (2006 to 2007), the post-seismic deformation is generally less than 5 cm; and it becomes generally less than 3 cm in the second year (2007 to 2008).

The 2019 Ms 4.2 and 5.2 Beiliu Earthquake Sequence in South China: Complex Conjugate Strike-Slip Faulting Revealed by Rupture Directivity Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui He ◽  
Hao Liang ◽  
Peizhen Zhang ◽  
Yue Wang
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Source Parameters ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Complex Conjugate ◽  
South China Block ◽  
Rupture Directivity ◽  
Time Duration

Abstract The South China block has been one of the most seismically quiescent regions in China, and the geometries and activities of the Quaternary faults have remained less studied due to the limited outcrops. Thus, source parameters of small-to-moderate earthquakes are important to help reveal the location, geometry distribution, and mechanical properties of the subsurface faults and thus improve the seismic risk assessment. On 12 October 2019, two earthquakes (the Ms 4.2 foreshock and the Ms 5.2 mainshock) occurred within 2 s and are located in southern South China block, near the junction region of the large-scale northeast-trending fault zones and the less continuous northwest-trending fault zones. We determined the point-source parameters of the two events via P-wave polarity analysis and regional waveform modeling, and the resolved focal mechanisms are significantly different with the minimum 3D rotation angle of 52°. We then resolved the rupture directivity of the two events by analyzing the azimuth variation of the source time duration and found the Ms 4.2 foreshock ruptured toward north-northwest for ∼1.0 km, and the Ms 5.2 mainshock ruptured toward east-southeast (ESE) for ∼1.5 km, implying conjugate strike-slip faulting. The conjugate causative faults have not been mapped on the regional geological map, and we infer that the two faults may be associated with the northwest-trending Bama-Bobai fault zone (the Shiwo section). These active faults are optimally oriented in the present-day stress field (northwest-southeast) and thus may now be potentially accumulating elastic strain to be released in a future large earthquake.

scholarly journals Application of the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale (ESI 2007) and the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) to the Kalamata (SW Peloponnese, Greece) earthquake (Ms=6.2, September 13, 1986) and correlation with neotectonic structures and active faults

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis G. Fountoulis ◽  
Spyridon D. Mavroulis
Keyword(s):  
Structural Damage ◽  
Active Fault ◽  
Main Shock ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Seismic Hazard Assessment ◽  
Seismic Intensity ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Earthquake Sequence ◽  
Ground Subsidence ◽  
Earthquake Scenario

On September 13, 1986, a shallow earthquake (Ms=6.2) struck the city of Kalamata and the surrounding areas (SW Peloponnese, Greece) resulting in 20 fatalities, over 300 injuries, extensive structural damage and many earthquake environmental effects (EEE). The main shock was followed by several aftershocks, the strongest of which occurred two days later (Ms=5.4). The EEE induced by the 1986 Kalamata earthquake sequence include ground subsidence, seismic faults, seismic fractures, rockfalls and hydrological anomalies. The maximum ESI 2007 intensity for the main shock has been evaluated as IX<sub>ESI 2007</sub>, strongly related to the active fault zones and the reactivated faults observed in the area as well as to the intense morphology of the activated Dimiova-Perivolakia graben, which is a 2nd order neotectonic structure located in the SE margin of the Kalamata-Kyparissia mega-graben and bounded by active fault zones. The major structural damage of the main shock was selective and limited to villages founded on the activated Dimiova-Perivolakia graben (IX<sub>EMS-98</sub>) and to the Kalamata city (IX<sub>EMS-98</sub>) and its eastern suburbs (IX<sub>EMS-98</sub>) located at the crossing of the prolongation of two major active fault zones of the affected area. On the contrary, damage of this size was not observed in the surrounding neotectonic structures, which were not activated during this earthquake sequence. It is concluded that both intensity scales fit in with the neotectonic regime of the area. The ESI 2007 scale complemented the EMS-98 seismic intensities and provided a completed picture of the strength and the effects of the September 13, 1986, Kalamata earthquake on the natural and the manmade environment. Moreover, it contributed to a better picture of the earthquake scenario and represents a useful and reliable tool for seismic hazard assessment.

Iron Oxide (U–Th)/He Thermochronology: New Perspectives on Faults, Fluids, and Heat

Elements ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 319-324
Author(s):  
Emily H. G. Cooperdock ◽  
Alexis K. Ault
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Iron Oxide ◽  
Heat Exchange ◽  
Iron Oxides ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Frictional Heating ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Chemical Behavior ◽  
Rock Interaction ◽  
Dynamic Motion

Fault zones record the dynamic motion of Earth’s crust and are sites of heat exchange, fluid–rock interaction, and mineralization. Episodic or long-lived fluid flow, frictional heating, and/or deformation can induce open-system chemical behavior and make dating fault zone processes challenging. Iron oxides are common in a variety of geologic settings, including faults and fractures, and can grow at surface-to magmatic temperatures. Recently, iron oxide (U–Th)/He thermochronology, coupled with microtextural and trace element analyses, has enabled new avenues of research into the timing and nature of fluid–rock interactions and deformation. These constraints are important for understanding fault zone evolution in space and time.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional Modeling and Fluid Flow Simulation for the Quantitative Description of Permeability Anisotropy in Tidal Flat Carbonate

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5557
Author(s):  
Hassan A. Eltom ◽  
Nabil A. Saraih ◽  
Oliver G. Esteva ◽  
Lundi Kusuma ◽  
Saleh Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Tidal Flat ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
High Permeability ◽  
Stratigraphic Framework ◽  
Permeability Anisotropy ◽  
Lithofacies Association

Three-dimensional (3D) facies and petrophysical models were generated from previously published data of carbonate strata in the Dam Formation (eastern Saudi Arabia) to quantitatively investigate, describe, understand, model, and predict the permeability anisotropy in tidal flat carbonate on the basis of a sequence stratigraphic framework. The resulting 3D models were used to conduct fluid flow simulations to demonstrate how permeability anisotropy influences the production of hydrocarbons and ultimately affects decisions concerning future drilling in the exploration and development of carbonate reservoirs with tidal flat strata. The constructed 3D facies model consists of four lithofacies associations, two of which are grain-dominated associations and two of which are mud-dominated associations. These lithofacies associations vary spatially in four reservoir zones (zones 1 to 4), which represent two fourth-order sequences in the uppermost part of the Dam Formation. Zones 1 and 3 consist of transgressive parasequences, and zones 2 and 4 consist of the regressive parasequences of these sequences. The 3D porosity and permeability models have a coherent match with the distribution of the lithofacies and the stratigraphic framework of the Dam Formation. The results suggest that the permeability anisotropy in zones 1 and 3 is controlled by the occurrence of the grain-dominated lithofacies associated with tidal flat channels. This lithofacies association overlies the sequence boundaries of sequences 1 and 3, forms reservoir bodies with relatively high permeability values, and is elongated perpendicular to the shoreline of the depositional environment. In contrast, permeability anisotropy in zones 2 and 4 is thought to be controlled by the occurrence of the grain-dominated lithofacies associated with the oolitic shoal. This lithofacies association overlies the maximum flooding surface of sequences 2 and 4, forms reservoir bodies with relatively high permeability values, and is elongated parallel to the shoreline of the depositional environments. Fluid flow simulation results suggest that the trend in hydrocarbon production from the constructed 3D models depends on permeability anisotropy in each reservoir zone. Thus, recognizing trends in permeability anisotropy, which can be predicted using sequence stratigraphy, could help to identify potential areas for future drilling.

scholarly journals The influence of fault reactivation on injection-induced dynamic triggering of permeability evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 1481-1496
Author(s):  
Elif Cihan Yildirim ◽  
Kyungjae Im ◽  
Derek Elsworth
Keyword(s):  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Fluid Pressure ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Permeability Evolution ◽  
Fracture Permeability ◽  
Permeability Enhancement ◽  
Pressure Pulses ◽  
Fracture Sealing ◽  
Permeability Increase ◽  
Pressure Driven

SUMMARY Mechanisms controlling fracture permeability enhancement during injection-induced and natural dynamic stressing remain unresolved. We explore pressure-driven permeability (k) evolution by step-increasing fluid pressure (p) on near-critically stressed laboratory fractures in shale and schist as representative of faults in sedimentary reservoirs/seals and basement rocks. Fluid is pulsed through the fracture with successively incremented pressure to first examine sub-reactivation permeability response that then progresses through fracture reactivation. Transient pore pressure pulses result in a permeability increase that persists even after the return of spiked pore pressure to the null background level. We show that fracture sealing is systematically reversible with the perturbing pressure pulses and pressure-driven permeability enhancement is eminently reproducible even absent shear slip and in the very short term (order of minutes). These characteristics of the observed fracture sealing following a pressure perturbation appear similar to those of the response by rate-and-state frictional healing upon stress/velocity perturbations. Dynamic permeability increase scales with the pore pressure magnitude and fracture sealing controls the following per-pulse permeability increase, both in the absence and presence of reactivation. However, initiation of the injection-induced reactivation results in a significant increase in the rate of permeability enhancement (dk/dp). These results demonstrate the role of frictional healing and sealing of fractures at interplay with other probable processes in pore pressure-driven permeability stimulation, such as particle mobilization.

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