Continuous Permeability Measurements Record Healing Inside the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 340 (6140) ◽  
pp. 1555-1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian Xue ◽  
Hai-Bing Li ◽  
Emily E. Brodsky ◽  
Zhi-Qing Xu ◽  
Yasuyuki Kano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Damage Zone ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Deep Borehole ◽  
Earthquake Fault ◽  
Hydraulic Diffusivity ◽  
The Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Observation Period

Permeability controls fluid flow in fault zones and is a proxy for rock damage after an earthquake. We used the tidal response of water level in a deep borehole to track permeability for 18 months in the damage zone of the causative fault of the 2008 moment magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The unusually high measured hydraulic diffusivity of 2.4 × 10−2square meters per second implies a major role for water circulation in the fault zone. For most of the observation period, the permeability decreased rapidly as the fault healed. The trend was interrupted by abrupt permeability increases attributable to shaking from remote earthquakes. These direct measurements of the fault zone reveal a process of punctuated recovery as healing and damage interact in the aftermath of a major earthquake.

Primary rock magnetism for the Wenchuan earthquake fault zone at Jiulong outcrop, Sichuan Province, China

2014 ◽  
Vol 619-620 ◽  
pp. 58-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongliang Liu ◽  
Haibing Li ◽  
Teh-Quei Lee ◽  
Yu-Min Chou ◽  
Sheng-Rong Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Rock Magnetism ◽  
Sichuan Province ◽  
Earthquake Fault ◽  
The Wenchuan Earthquake

Internal structure of the Wenchuan earthquake fault zone, revealed by surface outcrop and WFSD-1 drilling core investigation

2014 ◽  
Vol 619-620 ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Wang ◽  
Haibing Li ◽  
Jialiang Si ◽  
Zhiming Sun ◽  
Yao Huang
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Earthquake Fault ◽  
The Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Drilling Core

scholarly journals Carbonaceous Materials in the Fault Zone of the Longmenshan Fault Belt: 1. Signatures within the Deep Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone and Their Implications

Minerals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Wei Kuo ◽  
Jyh-Rou Huang ◽  
Jiann-Neng Fang ◽  
Jialiang Si ◽  
Haibing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Active Fault ◽  
Carbonaceous Materials ◽  
Coseismic Slip ◽  
Earthquake Fault ◽  
Active Fault Zone ◽  
2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Seismic Slip ◽  
Longmenshan Fault

Graphitization of carbonaceous materials (CM) has been experimentally demonstrated as potential evidence of seismic slip within a fault gouge. The southern segment of the Longmenshan fault, a CM-rich-gouge fault, accommodated coseismic slip during the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake and potentially preserves a record of processes that occurred on the fault during the slip event. Here, we present a multi-technique characterization of CM within the active fault zone of the Longmenshan fault from the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling-1. By contrast with field observations, graphite is pervasively and only distributed in the gouge zone, while heterogeneously crystallized CM are present in the surrounding breccia. The composite dataset that is presented, which includes the localized graphite layer along the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake principal slip zone, demonstrates that graphite is widely distributed within the active fault zone. The widespread occurrence of graphite, a seismic slip indicator, reveals that surface rupturing events commonly occur along the Longmenshan fault and are characteristic of this tectonically active region.

Partitioned Permeability Diagram: an innovative way to estimate Fault Zones hydraulics.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irène Aubert ◽  
Juliette Lamarche ◽  
Philippe Leonide
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Damage Zone ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Matrix Permeability ◽  
Vertical Fault ◽  
Core Permeability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Evolution With Time ◽  
Fluid Pathway

<p>Understanding the impact of fault zones on reservoir trap properties is a major challenge for a variety of geological ressources applications. Fault zones in cohesive rocks are complex structures, composed of 3 components: rock matrix, damage zone fractures and fault core rock. Despite the diversity of existing methods to estimate fault zone permeability/drain properties, up to date none of them integrate simultaneously the 3 components of fracture, fault core and matrix permeability, neither their evolution with time. We present a ternary plot that characterizes the fault zones permeability as well as their drainage properties. The ternary plot aims at (i) characterizing the fault zone permeability between the three vertices of matrix, fractures and fault core permeability ; and at (ii) defining the drain properties among 4 possible hydraulic system: (I) good horizontal and vertical, fault-perpendicular and -parallel; (II) moderate parallel fluid pathway; (III) good parallel fault-core and (IV) good parallel fractures. The ternary plot method is valid for 3 and 2 components fault zones. The application to the Castellas Fault case study show the simplicity and efficiency of the plot for studying underground and/or fossil, simple or polyphase faults in reservoirs with complete or limited permeability data.</p>

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