Seismic fault weakening via CO2 pressurization enhanced by mechanical deformation of dolomite fault gouges

Carbon dioxide emissions from dolomite decarbonation play an essential role in the weakening of carbonate faults by lowering the effective normal stress, which is thermally activated at temperatures above 600–700 °C. However, the mechanochemical effect of low-crystalline ultrafine fault gouge on the decarbonation and slip behavior of dolomite-bearing faults remains unclear. In this study, we obtained a series of artificial dolomite fault gouges with systematically varying particle sizes and dolomite crystallinities using a high-energy ball mill. The laboratory-scale pulverization of dolomite yielded MgO at temperatures below 50 °C, indicating that mechanical decarbonation without significant heating occurred due to the collapse of the crystalline structure, as revealed by X-ray diffraction and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance results. Furthermore, the onset temperature of thermal decarbonation decreased to ~400 °C. Numerical modeling reproduced this two-stage decarbonation, where the pore pressure increased due to low-temperature thermal decarbonation, leading to slip weakening on the fault plane even at 400–500 °C; i.e., 200–300 °C lower than previously reported temperatures. Thus, the presence of small amounts of low-crystalline dolomite in a fault plane may lead to a severely reduced shear strength due to thermal decomposition at ~400 °C with a small slip weakening distance.

Supplemental Material: Seismic fault weakening via CO2 pressurization enhanced by mechanical deformation of dolomite fault gouges

Experimental and numerical methods.<br>

Supplemental Material: Seismic fault weakening via CO2 pressurization enhanced by mechanical deformation of dolomite fault gouges

Experimental and numerical methods.<br>

Geochronological evidence for repeated brittle reactivations of a pre-existing plastic shear zone: The Himdalen–Ørje deformation zone, Southern Norway

&lt;p&gt;It is well known that faults, once formed, become permanent weaknesses in the crust, localizing subsequent brittle strain increments. The case of repeated brittle reactivations localized along pre-existing plastic shear zones is less recognized, although this situation is frequently observed in many geologically old terranes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have studied the prolonged deformation history of the Himdalen&amp;#8211;&amp;#216;rje Deformation Zone (H&amp;#216;DZ) in SE Norway by combining K&amp;#8211;Ar and &lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;Ar&amp;#8211;&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;Ar geochronology with structural analysis. The H&amp;#216;DZ consists of a large variation of deformation products from mylonites and cataclasites to pseudotachylites and fault gouge. Several generations of mylonites make up the ductile part of H&amp;#216;DZ, called the &amp;#216;rje shear zone, a km-think SW-dipping shear zone within the late Mesoproterozoic Sveconorwegian orogen. &lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;Ar&amp;#8211;&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;Ar dating of white mica from one of these mylonites give a plateau age of c. 908 Ma, interpreted to constrain the timing of late-Sveconorwegian extensionial reactivation of the &amp;#216;rje shear zone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This mylonitic fabric is extensively reworked in a brittle fashion along the SW-dipping Himdalen fault, a 10&amp;#8211;25 m thick fault zone of cataclasite, breccia, fault gouge and, in places, abundant pseduotachylite veins. &lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;Ar&amp;#8211;&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;Ar dating of pseduotachylite material gives several small plateaus between c. 375 and 300 Ma, whereas K-feldspar clasts from the cataclasitically deformed host rock carry a Caledonian signal (plateau at c. 435 Ma). K&amp;#8211;Ar dating of three fault gouges constrain the timing of gouge development at c. 270 and 200 Ma. Two of the fault gouges also contain protolithic K-bearing mineral phases that overlap in age with the c. 375 Ma pseudotachylite &lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;Ar&amp;#8211;&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;Ar plateau age, consistent with field observations of the former reworking the latter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In sum, the H&amp;#216;DZ records multiple Paleozoic and Mesozoic brittle reactivations of the early Neoproterozoic (and older) mylonitic &amp;#216;rje shear zone. Most of the brittle deformation is interpreted to have accumulated during development of the Permian Oslo rift and its subsequent latest Triassic evolution. The suggested late Devonian (c. 375 Ma) initiation of brittle deformation does not have a clear tectonic association, but we speculate that it relates to strike-slip displacements caused by the Variscan orogen, as also suggested for the sub-parallel Tornquist zone to the south.&lt;/p&gt;

Irregular stick-slip and the role of cohesion in an ice friction experiment

&lt;p&gt;Understanding the evolution of fault strength over multiple interseismic periods is crucial to quantifying seismic hazard. According to Coulomb&amp;#8217;s failure criterion, restrengthening, or healing, may result from an increase in friction and/or in cohesion. Classic sliding experiments on rocks and fault gouges are not able to resolve the contribution of cohesion to the healing of frictional interfaces. Here, we present a zero nominal normal stress friction experiment capable of large displacements that exhibits similar complexity as the deforming lithosphere (intermittent, aperiodic deformation; Gutenberg-Richter-type scaling of event sizes). This Couette-type apparatus is designed to shear millimeter-thick layers of columnar ice, grown in-situ in a meter scale circular water tank. When the system is driven at low sliding velocities, the ice plate fractures and sliding occurs along a complex, non-prescribed frictional interface. Water beneath the ice can percolate through the sliding interface and freeze, increasing its strength. A torque gauge and an array of acoustic emission transducers are used to measure the shear strength of the frictional interface and to monitor acoustic activity. Previous work, using constant values of sliding velocity, showed that deformation occurs via a combination of slow and fast slip events, and that the &amp;#8220;seismic&amp;#8221; part consists of two populations of acoustic emission (AE) events: standalone and correlated, with different Gutenberg-Richter b-values. The asymmetric shape of the shear stress (torque) fluctuations was attributed to cohesion-dominated strength recovery. We are currently using a new, high speed sampling system to investigate the relationship between the stress fluctuations and the concurrent AE activity in constant as well as variable sliding velocity experiments. This work aims to evaluate the effect of time-dependent processes on systems that deform intermittently.&lt;/p&gt;

Dilation and compaction accompanying changes in slip velocity in clay-bearing fault gouges

&lt;p&gt;Many natural fault cores comprise volumes of extremely fine, low permeability, clay-bearing fault rocks. Should these fault rocks undergo transient volume changes in response to changes in fault slip velocity, the subsequent pore pressure transients would produce significant fault weakening or strengthening, strongly affecting earthquake nucleation and possibly leading to episodic slow slip events. Dilatancy at slow slip velocity has previously been measured in quartz-rich gouges but little is known about gouge containing clay. In this work, the mechanical behaviour of synthetic quartz-kaolinite fault gouges and their volume response to velocity step changes were investigated in a suite of triaxial deformation experiments at effective normal stresses of 60MPa, 25MPa and 10MPa. Kaolinite content was varied from 0 to 100wt% and slip velocity was varied between 0.3 and 3 microns/s.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Upon a 10-fold velocity increase or decrease, gouges of all kaolinite-quartz contents displayed measurable volume change transients. The results show the volume change transients are independent of effective normal stress but are sensitive to gouge kaolinite content. Peak dilation values did not occur in the pure quartz gouges, but rather in gouges containing 10wt% to 20wt% kaolinite. Above a kaolinite content of 10wt% to 20wt%, both dilation and compaction decreased with increasing gouge kaolinite content. At 25MPa effective normal stress, the normalised volume changes decreased from 0.1% to 0.06% at 10wt% to 100wt% kaolinite.&amp;#160; The gouge mechanical behaviour shows that increasing the gouge kaolinite content decreases the gouge frictional strength and promotes more stable sliding, rather than earthquake slip. Increasing the effective normal stress slightly decreases the frictional strength, enhances the chance of earthquake nucleation, and has no discernible effect on the magnitude of the pore volume changes during slip velocity changes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Low permeabilities of clay-rich fault gouges, coupled with the observed volume change transients, could produce pore pressure fluctuations up to 10MPa in response to fault slip. This assumes no fluid escape from an isolated fault core. Where the permeability is finite, any pore pressure changes will be mediated by fluid influx into the gouge. Volume change transients could therefore be a significant factor in determining whether fault slip leads to earthquake nucleation or a dampened response, possibly resulting in episodic slow slip in low permeability fault rock volumes.&lt;/p&gt;

Frictional properties of exhumed fault gouges in DFDP-1 cores, Alpine Fault, New Zealand

Principal slip zone gouges recovered during the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1), Alpine Fault, New Zealand, were deformed in triaxial friction experiments at temperatures, T, of up to 350°C, effective normal stresses, σn′, of up to 156 MPa, and velocities between 0.01 and 3 μm/s. Chlorite/white mica-bearing DFDP-1A blue gouge, 90.62 m sample depth, is frictionally strong (friction coefficient, μ, 0.61-0.76) across all experimental conditions tested (T = 70-350°C, σn′ = 31.2-156 MPa); it undergoes a transition from positive to negative rate dependence as T increases past 210°C. The friction coefficient of smectite-bearing DFDP-1B brown gouge, 128.42 m sample depth, increases from 0.49 to 0.74 with increasing temperature and pressure (T = 70-210°C, σn′ = 31.2-93.6 MPa); the positive to negative rate dependence transition occurs as T increases past 140°C. These measurements indicate that, in the absence of elevated pore fluid pressures, DFDP-1 gouges are frictionally strong under conditions representative of the seismogenic crust.

Large-displacement, hydrothermal frictional properties of DFDP-1 fault rocks, Alpine Fault, New Zealand: Implications for deep rupture propagation

©2016. The Authors. The Alpine Fault, New Zealand, is a major plate-bounding fault that accommodates 65-75% of the total relative motion between the Australian and Pacific plates. Here we present data on the hydrothermal frictional properties of Alpine Fault rocks that surround the principal slip zones (PSZ) of the Alpine Fault and those comprising the PSZ itself. The samples were retrieved from relatively shallow depths during phase 1 of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1) at Gaunt Creek. Simulated fault gouges were sheared at temperatures of 25, 150, 300, 450, and 600°C in order to determine the friction coefficient as well as the velocity dependence of friction. Friction remains more or less constant with changes in temperature, but a transition from velocity-strengthening behavior to velocity-weakening behavior occurs at a temperature of T = 150°C. The transition depends on the absolute value of sliding velocity as well as temperature, with the velocity-weakening region restricted to higher velocity for higher temperatures. Friction was substantially lower for low-velocity shearing (V < 0.3 μm/s) at 600°C, but no transition to normal stress independence was observed. In the framework of rate-and-state friction, earthquake nucleation is most likely at an intermediate temperature of T = 300°C. The velocity-strengthening nature of the Alpine Fault rocks at higher temperatures may pose a barrier for rupture propagation to deeper levels, limiting the possible depth extent of large earthquakes. Our results highlight the importance of strain rate in controlling frictional behavior under conditions spanning the classical brittle-plastic transition for quartzofeldspathic compositions.

Large-displacement, hydrothermal frictional properties of DFDP-1 fault rocks, Alpine Fault, New Zealand: Implications for deep rupture propagation

©2016. The Authors. The Alpine Fault, New Zealand, is a major plate-bounding fault that accommodates 65-75% of the total relative motion between the Australian and Pacific plates. Here we present data on the hydrothermal frictional properties of Alpine Fault rocks that surround the principal slip zones (PSZ) of the Alpine Fault and those comprising the PSZ itself. The samples were retrieved from relatively shallow depths during phase 1 of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1) at Gaunt Creek. Simulated fault gouges were sheared at temperatures of 25, 150, 300, 450, and 600°C in order to determine the friction coefficient as well as the velocity dependence of friction. Friction remains more or less constant with changes in temperature, but a transition from velocity-strengthening behavior to velocity-weakening behavior occurs at a temperature of T = 150°C. The transition depends on the absolute value of sliding velocity as well as temperature, with the velocity-weakening region restricted to higher velocity for higher temperatures. Friction was substantially lower for low-velocity shearing (V < 0.3 μm/s) at 600°C, but no transition to normal stress independence was observed. In the framework of rate-and-state friction, earthquake nucleation is most likely at an intermediate temperature of T = 300°C. The velocity-strengthening nature of the Alpine Fault rocks at higher temperatures may pose a barrier for rupture propagation to deeper levels, limiting the possible depth extent of large earthquakes. Our results highlight the importance of strain rate in controlling frictional behavior under conditions spanning the classical brittle-plastic transition for quartzofeldspathic compositions.