Lahars in and around the Taipei basin: Implications for the activity of the Shanchiao fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Sheng-Rong; Chen, Tsu-Mo; Tsao, Shuhjong; Chen, Huei-Fen; Liu, Huan-Chi

2007-11-01

In the last decade, more than 21 deep geological cores have been drilled in the Taipei basin to obtain a firmer grasp of its basic geology and engineering properties prior to the construction of new infrastructure. Thirteen of those cores contain lahar deposits, with the number of layers varying from one to three and the thickness of each layer varying from several to over 100 m. Based on their occurrence, petrology and geochemistry, it has been determined that the deposits originated from the southern slope of the Tatun Volcano Group (TVG). K-Ar age dating has shown that the lower layer of lahars was deposited less than 0.4 Ma, and this is clearly correlated to outcrops in the Kauntu, Chengtzeliao and Shihtzutao areas. These findings may well suggest that the Taipei basin has been formed in last 0.4 Ma and that the Shanchiao normal fault commenced its activity within this period. The surface trace and the activity of the Shanchiao normal fault have also been inferred and subsequently defined from stratigraphic data derived from these cores.

Physical and chemical properties of the creeping fault ruptured in the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake from the WFSD-3P cores, eastern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, X.; Li, H.; Wang, H.; Zhang, L., Jr.; Chevalier, M. L.

2016-12-01

The Anxian-Guanxian Fault (AGF) is a frontal fault of the Longmen Shan thrust belt, which ruptured during the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This study focuses on the 551.54 m-depth cores from the shallow hole of the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Project WFSD-3P which drilled across the AGF. Detailed core petrological study, geophysical downhole logs, rock magnetism and XRF analyses were conducted to explore the physical and chemical properties of the AGF, which is helpful to reveal the faulting mechanism and provides a reference to determine behaviors of other faults. The AGF zone in the WFSD-3p mainly consists of fault gouge and fault breccia from 442.41-510.14 m depth cores ( 48 m thick), with a dip angle of 45°. Fine-grained fault gouge and pressolution structures are commonly observed under optical microscope, which indicate the AGF is in creeping. The average magnetic susceptibility value of the fault gouge is slightly less than that of the country rock and the main magnetic carriers are pyrrhotite on the basis of low-temperature magnetic measurement. This phenomenon is different from the characteristics of other seismic faults with high magnetic susceptibility value due to heating by rapid slip friction. In terms of chemical properties, the fault gouge is characterized by relatively low concentration of iron, manganese and calcium, as well as high concentration of copper, vanadium and sulfur according to XRF analyses. In addition, the fluid samples are reductive, with a PH value of 10 and a negative value for redox potential. Combined with the grey-green sandstone along the rupture zone, they indicate that the AGF creeping is in a reducing environment. There are partly locked areas with clasts by rapid slip during the earthquake in the AGF zone. This observation was present at the boundary of the Triassic and Jurassic units ( 507 m depth), near the bottom of the fault zone. It represents the location of the Principle Slip Zone (PSZ) of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and shows earthquakes might occur along a creeping fault in certain cases.

Frictional and hydraulic behaviour of carbonate fault gouge during fault reactivation - An experimental study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delle Piane, Claudio; Giwelli, Ausama; Clennell, M. Ben; Esteban, Lionel; Nogueira Kiewiet, Melissa Cristina D.; Kiewiet, Leigh; Kager, Shane; Raimon, John

2016-10-01

We present a novel experimental approach devised to test the hydro-mechanical behaviour of different structural elements of carbonate fault rocks during experimental re-activation. Experimentally faulted core plugs were subject to triaxial tests under water saturated conditions simulating depletion processes in reservoirs. Different fault zone structural elements were created by shearing initially intact travertine blocks (nominal size: 240 × 110 × 150 mm) to a maximum displacement of 20 and 120 mm under different normal stresses. Meso-and microstructural features of these sample and the thickness to displacement ratio characteristics of their deformation zones allowed to classify them as experimentally created damage zones (displacement of 20 mm) and fault cores (displacement of 120 mm). Following direct shear testing, cylindrical plugs with diameter of 38 mm were drilled across the slip surface to be re-activated in a conventional triaxial configuration monitoring the permeability and frictional behaviour of the samples as a function of applied stress. All re-activation experiments on faulted plugs showed consistent frictional response consisting of an initial fast hardening followed by apparent yield up to a friction coefficient of approximately 0.6 attained at around 2 mm of displacement. Permeability in the re-activation experiments shows exponential decay with increasing mean effective stress. The rate of permeability decline with mean effective stress is higher in the fault core plugs than in the simulated damage zone ones. It can be concluded that the presence of gouge in un-cemented carbonate faults results in their sealing character and that leakage cannot be achieved by renewed movement on the fault plane alone, at least not within the range of slip measureable with our apparatus (i.e. approximately 7 mm of cumulative displacement). Additionally, it is shown that under sub seismic slip rates re-activated carbonate faults remain strong and no frictional weakening was observed during re-activation.

Faulting within the Mount St. Helens conduit and implications for volcanic earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pallister, John S.; Cashman, Katharine V.; Hagstrum, Jonathan T.; Beeler, Nicholas M.; Moran, Seth C.; Denlinger, Roger P.

2013-01-01

The 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens produced seven dacite spines mantled by cataclastic fault rocks, comprising an outer fault core and an inner damage zone. These fault rocks provide remarkable insights into the mechanical processes that accompany extrusion of degassed magma, insights that are useful in forecasting dome-forming eruptions. The outermost part of the fault core consists of finely comminuted fault gouge that is host to 1- to 3-mm-thick layers of extremely fine-grained slickenside-bearing ultracataclasite. Interior to the fault core, there is an ∼2-m-thick damage zone composed of cataclastic breccia and sheared dacite, and interior to the damage zone, there is massive to flow-banded dacite lava of the spine interior. Structures and microtextures indicate entirely brittle deformation, including rock breakage, tensional dilation, shearing, grain flow, and microfaulting, as well as gas and fluid migration through intergranular pores and fractures in the damage zone. Slickenside lineations and consistent orientations of Riedel shears indicate upward shear of the extruding spines against adjacent conduit wall rocks.Paleomagnetic directions, demagnetization paths, oxide mineralogy, and petrology indicate that cataclasis took place within dacite in a solidified steeply dipping volcanic conduit at temperatures above 500 °C. Low water content of matrix glass is consistent with brittle behavior at these relatively high temperatures, and the presence of tridymite indicates solidification depths of <1 km. Cataclasis was coincident with the eruption’s seismogenic zone at <1.5 km.More than a million small and low-frequency “drumbeat” earthquakes with coda magnitudes (Md) <2.0 and frequencies <5 Hz occurred during the 2004–2008 eruption. Our field data provide a means with which to estimate slip-patch dimensions for shear planes and to compare these with estimates of slip patches based on seismic moments and shear moduli for dacite rock and granular fault gouge. Based on these comparisons, we find that aseismic creep is achieved by micron-scale displacements on Riedel shears and by granular flow, whereas the drumbeat earthquakes require millimeter to centimeter displacements on relatively large (e.g., ∼1000 m2) slip patches, possibly along observed extensive principal shear zones within the fault core but probably not along the smaller Riedel shears. Although our field and structural data are compatible with stick-slip models, they do not rule out seismic and infrasound models that call on resonance of steam-filled fractures to generate the drumbeat earthquakes. We suggest that stick-slip and gas release processes may be coupled, and that regardless of the source mechanism, the distinctive drumbeat earthquakes are proving to be an effective precursor for dome-forming eruptions.Our data document a continuous cycle of deformation along the conduit margins beginning with episodes of fracture in the damage zone and followed by transfer of motion to the fault core. We illustrate the cycle of deformation using a hypothetical cross section of the Mount St. Helens conduit, extending from the surface to the depth of magmatic solidification.

Enhanced Mantle Upwelling/Melting Caused Segment Propagation, Oceanic Core Complex Die Off, and the Death of a Transform Fault: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 21.5°N

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dannowski, A.; Morgan, J. P.; Grevemeyer, I.; Ranero, C. R.

2018-02-01

Crustal structure provides the key to understand the interplay of magmatism and tectonism, while oceanic crust is constructed at Mid-Ocean Ridges (MORs). At slow spreading rates, magmatic processes dominate central areas of MOR segments, whereas segment ends are highly tectonized. The TAMMAR segment at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between 21°25'N and 22°N is a magmatically active segment. At 4.5 Ma this segment started to propagate south, causing the termination of the transform fault at 21°40'N. This stopped long-lived detachment faulting and caused the migration of the ridge offset to the south. Here a segment center with a high magmatic budget has replaced a transform fault region with limited magma supply. We present results from seismic refraction profiles that mapped the crustal structure across the ridge crest of the TAMMAR segment. Seismic data yield crustal structure changes at the segment center as a function of melt supply. Seismic Layer 3 underwent profound changes in thickness and became rapidly thicker 5 Ma. This correlates with the observed "Bull's Eye" gravimetric anomaly in that region. Our observations support a temporal change from thick lithosphere with oceanic core complex formation and transform faulting to thin lithosphere with focused mantle upwelling and segment growth. Temporal changes in crustal construction are connected to variations in the underlying mantle. We propose that there is a link between the neighboring segments at a larger scale within the asthenosphere, to form a long, highly magmatically active macrosegment, here called the TAMMAR-Kane Macrosegment.

Anatomy of an Active Seismic Source: the Interplay between Present-Day Seismic Activity and Inherited Fault Zone Architecture (Central Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fondriest, M.; Demurtas, M.; Bistacchi, A.; Fabrizio, B.; Storti, F.; Valoroso, L.; Di Toro, G.

2017-12-01

The mechanics and seismogenic behaviour of fault zones are strongly influenced by their internal structure, in terms of both fault geometry and fault rock constitutive properties. In recent years high-resolution seismological techniques yielded new constraints on the geometry and velocity structure of seismogenic faults down to 10s meters length scales. This reduced the gap between geophysical imaging of active seismic sources and field observations of exhumed fault zones. Nevertheless fundamental questions such as the origin of geometrical and kinematic complexities associated to seismic faulting remain open. We addressed these topics by characterizing the internal structure of the Vado di Corno Fault Zone, an active seismogenic normal fault cutting carbonates in the Central Apennines of Italy and comparing it with the present-day seismicity of the area. The fault footwall block, which was exhumed from < 2 km depth, was mapped with high detail (< 1 m spatial resolution) for 2 km of exposure along strike, combining field structural data and photogrammetric surveys in a three dimensional structural model. Three main structural units separated by principal fault strands were recognized: (i) cataclastic unit (20-100 m thick), (ii) damage zone (≤ 300 m thick), (iii) breccia unit ( 20 thick). The cataclastic unit lines the master fault and represents the core of the normal fault zone. In-situ shattering together with evidence of extreme (possibly coseismic) shear strain localization (e.g., mirror-like faults with truncated clasts, ultrafine-grained sheared veins) was recognized. The breccia unit is an inherited thrust zone affected by pervasive veining and secondary dolomitization. It strikes subparallel to the active normal fault and is characterized by a non-cylindrical geometry with 10-100 m long frontal and lateral ramps. The cataclastic unit cuts through thrust flats within the breccia unit, whereas normal to oblique inversion occur on frontal and lateral ramps. A comparable structural setting was imaged South-West of the study area, during the 2009 L'Aquila seismic sequence. Here at 2 km depth, the master normal fault cross-cuts a 10 km long flat structure and clear lateral ramps are illuminated, suggesting the superposition of normal seismic faulting on inherited compressional structures.

A microstructural study of fault rocks from the SAFOD: Implications for the deformation mechanisms and strength of the creeping segment of the San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadizadeh, Jafar; Mittempergher, Silvia; Gratier, Jean-Pierre; Renard, Francois; Di Toro, Giulio; Richard, Julie; Babaie, Hassan A.

2012-09-01

The San Andreas Fault zone in central California accommodates tectonic strain by stable slip and microseismic activity. We study microstructural controls of strength and deformation in the fault using core samples provided by the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) including gouge corresponding to presently active shearing intervals in the main borehole. The methods of study include high-resolution optical and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping, X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, white light interferometry, and image processing. The fault zone at the SAFOD site consists of a strongly deformed and foliated core zone that includes 2-3 m thick active shear zones, surrounded by less deformed rocks. Results suggest deformation and foliation of the core zone outside the active shear zones by alternating cataclasis and pressure solution mechanisms. The active shear zones, considered zones of large-scale shear localization, appear to be associated with an abundance of weak phases including smectite clays, serpentinite alteration products, and amorphous material. We suggest that deformation along the active shear zones is by a granular-type flow mechanism that involves frictional sliding of microlithons along phyllosilicate-rich Riedel shear surfaces as well as stress-driven diffusive mass transfer. The microstructural data may be interpreted to suggest that deformation in the active shear zones is strongly displacement-weakening. The fault creeps because the velocity strengthening weak gouge in the active shear zones is being sheared without strong restrengthening mechanisms such as cementation or fracture sealing. Possible mechanisms for the observed microseismicity in the creeping segment of the SAF include local high fluid pressure build-ups, hard asperity development by fracture-and-seal cycles, and stress build-up due to slip zone undulations.

Upper-crustal structure beneath the strait of Georgia, Southwest British Columbia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dash, R.K.; Spence, G.D.; Riedel, M.; Hyndman, R.D.; Brocher, T.M.

2007-01-01

We present a new three-dimensional (3-D) P-wave velocity model for the upper-crustal structure beneath the Strait of Georgia, southwestern British Columbia based on non-linear tomographic inversion of wide-angle seismic refraction data. Our study, part of the Georgia Basin Geohazards Initiative (GBGI) is primarily aimed at mapping the depth of the Cenozoic sedimentary basin and delineating the near-surface crustal faults associated with recent seismic activities (e.g. M = 4.6 in 1997 and M = 5.0 in 1975) in the region. Joint inversion of first-arrival traveltimes from the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS) and the 2002 Georgia Basin experiment provides a high-resolution velocity model of the subsurface to a depth of ???7 km. In the southcentral Georgia Basin, sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Nanaimo Group and early Tertiary rocks have seismic velocities between 3.0 and 5.5 km s-1. The basin thickness increases from north to south with a maximum thickness of 7 (??1) km (depth to velocities of 5.5 km s-1) at the southeast end of the strait. The underlying basement rocks, probably representing the Wrangellia terrane, have velocities of 5.5-6.5 km-1 with considerable lateral variation. Our tomographic model reveals that the Strait of Georgia is underlain by a fault-bounded block within the central Georgia Basin. It also shows a correlation between microearthquakes and areas of rapid change in basin thickness. The 1997/1975 earthquakes are located near a northeast-trending hinge line where the thicknesses of sedimentary rocks increase rapidly to the southeast. Given its association with instrumentally recorded, moderate sized earthquakes, we infer that the hinge region is cored by an active fault that we informally name the Gabriola Island fault. A northwest-trending, southwest dipping velocity discontinuity along the eastern side of Vancouver Island correlates spatially with the surface expression of the Outer Island fault. The Outer Island fault as mapped in our seismic tomography model is a thrust fault that projects directly into the Lummi Island fault, suggesting that they are related structures forming a fault system that is continuous for nearly 90 km. Together, these inferred thrust faults may account for at least a portion of the basement uplift at the San Juan Islands. ?? 2007 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2007 RAS.

Influence of mineralogy and microstructures on strain localization and fault zone architecture of the Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichiba, T.; Kaneki, S.; Hirono, T.; Oohashi, K.; Schuck, B.; Janssen, C.; Schleicher, A.; Toy, V.; Dresen, G.

2017-12-01

The Alpine Fault on New Zealand's South Island is an oblique, dextral strike-slip fault that accommodated the majority of displacement between the Pacific and the Australian Plates and presents the biggest seismic hazard in the region. Along its central segment, the hanging wall comprises greenschist and amphibolite facies Alpine Schists. Exhumation from 35 km depth, along a SE-dipping detachment, lead to mylonitization which was subsequently overprinted by brittle deformation and finally resulted in the fault's 1 km wide damage zone. The geomechanical behavior of a fault is affected by the internal structure of its fault zone. Consequently, studying processes controlling fault zone architecture allows assessing the seismic hazard of a fault. Here we present the results of a combined microstructural (SEM and TEM), mineralogical (XRD) and geochemical (XRF) investigation of outcrop samples originating from several locations along the Alpine Fault, the aim of which is to evaluate the influence of mineralogical composition, alteration and pre-existing fabric on strain localization and to identify the controls on the fault zone architecture, particularly the locus of brittle deformation in P, T and t space. Field observations reveal that the fault's principal slip zone (PSZ) is either a thin (< 1 cm to < 7 cm) layered structure or a relatively thick (10s cm) package lacking a detectable macroscopic fabric. Lithological and related rheological contrasts are widely assumed to govern strain localization. However, our preliminary results suggest that qualitative mineralogical composition has only minor impact on fault zone architecture. Quantities of individual mineral phases differ markedly between fault damage zone and fault core at specific sites, but the quantitative composition of identical structural units such as the fault core, is similar in all samples. This indicates that the degree of strain localization at the Alpine Fault might be controlled by small initial heterogeneities in texture and fabric or a combination of these, rather than in mineralogy. Further microstructural investigations are needed to test this hypothesis.

Origin and tectonic significance of a Mesozoic multi-layer over-thrust system within the Yangtze Block (South China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Dan-Ping; Zhou, Mei-Fu; Song, Hong-Lin; Wang, Xin-Wen; Malpas, John

2003-01-01

In the Yangtze Block (South China), a well-developed Mesozoic thrust system extends through the Xuefeng and Wuling mountains in the southeast to the Sichuan basin in the northwest. The system comprises both thin- and thick-skinned thrust units separated by a boundary detachment fault, the Dayin fault. To the northwest, the thin-skinned belt is characterized by either chevron anticlines and box synclines to the northwest or chevron synclines to the southeast. The former structural style displays narrow exposures for the cores of anticlines and wider exposures for the cores of synclines. Thrust detachments occur along Silurian (Fs) and Lower Cambrian (Fc) strata and are dominantly associated with the anticlines. To the southeast, this style of deformation passes gradually into one characterized by chevron synclines with associated principal detachment faults along Silurian (Fs), Cambrian (Fc) and Lower Sinian (Fz) strata. There are, however, numerous secondary back thrusts. Therefore, the thin-skinned belt is like the Valley and Ridge Province of the North American Applachian Mountains. The thick-skinned belt structurally overlies the thin-skinned belt and is characterized by a number of klippen including the Xuefeng and Wuling nappes. It is thus comparable to the Blue Ridge Province of Appalachia. The structural pattern of this thrust system in South China can be explained by a model involving detachment faulting along various stratigraphic layers at different stages of its evolution. The system was developed through a northwest stepwise progression of deformation with the earliest delamination along Lower Sinian strata (Fz). Analyses of balanced geological cross-sections yield about 18.1-21% (total 88 km) shortening for the thin-skinned unit and at least this amount of shortening for the thick-skinned unit. The compressional deformation from southeast to northwest during Late Jurassic to Cretaceous time occurred after the westward progressive collision of the Yangtze Block with the North China Block and suggests that the orogenic event was intracontinental in nature.

Direct observation of fault zone structure at the brittle-ductile transition along the Salzach-Ennstal-Mariazell-Puchberg fault system, Austrian Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frost, Erik; Dolan, James; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Hacker, Bradley; Seward, Gareth

2011-02-01

Structural analysis of two key exposures reveals the architecture of the brittle-ductile transition (BDT) of the subvertical, strike-slip Salzachtal fault. At Lichtensteinklamm, the fault zone is dominantly brittle, with a ˜70 m wide, high-strain fault core highlighted by a 50 m thick, highly foliated gouge zone. In contrast, at Kitzlochklamm, deformation is dominantly ductile, albeit with relatively low strain indicated by weak lattice-preferred orientations (LPOs). The marked contrast in structural style indicates that these sites span the BDT. The close proximity of the outcrops, coupled with Raman spectroscopy indicating similar maximum temperatures of ˜400°C, suggests that the difference in exhumation depth is small, with a commensurately small difference in total downdip width of the BDT. The small strains indicated by weak LPOs at Kitzlochklamm, coupled with evidence for brittle slip at the main fault contact and along the sides of a 5 m wide fault-bounded sliver of Klammkalk exposed 30 m into the Grauwacken zone rocks, suggest the possibility that this exposure may record hybrid behavior at different times during the earthquake cycle, with ductile deformation occurring during slow interseismic slip and brittle deformation occurring during earthquakes, as dynamic coseismic stresses induced a strain rate-dependent shift to brittle fault behavior within the nominally ductile regime in the lower part of the BDT. A key aspect of both outcrops is evidence of a high degree of strain localization through the BDT, with high-strain fault cores no wider than a few tens of meters.

Structure and composition of the plate-boundary slip zone for the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake.

PubMed

Chester, Frederick M; Rowe, Christie; Ujiie, Kohtaro; Kirkpatrick, James; Regalla, Christine; Remitti, Francesca; Moore, J Casey; Toy, Virginia; Wolfson-Schwehr, Monica; Bose, Santanu; Kameda, Jun; Mori, James J; Brodsky, Emily E; Eguchi, Nobuhisa; Toczko, Sean

2013-12-06

The mechanics of great subduction earthquakes are influenced by the frictional properties, structure, and composition of the plate-boundary fault. We present observations of the structure and composition of the shallow source fault of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami from boreholes drilled by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343 and 343T. Logging-while-drilling and core-sample observations show a single major plate-boundary fault accommodated the large slip of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake rupture, as well as nearly all the cumulative interplate motion at the drill site. The localization of deformation onto a limited thickness (less than 5 meters) of pelagic clay is the defining characteristic of the shallow earthquake fault, suggesting that the pelagic clay may be a regionally important control on tsunamigenic earthquakes.

Structural Characterization of the Foliated-Layered Gabbro Transition in Wadi Tayin of the Samail Ophiolite, Oman; Oman Drilling Project Holes GT1A and GT2A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deans, J. R.; Crispini, L.; Cheadle, M. J.; Harris, M.; Kelemen, P. B.; Teagle, D. A. H.; Matter, J. M.; Takazawa, E.; Coggon, J. A.

2017-12-01

Oman Drilling Project Holes GT1A and GT2A were drilled into the Wadi Tayin massif, Samail ophiolite and both recovered ca. 400 m of continuous core through a section of the layered gabbros and the foliated-layered gabbro transition. Hole GT1A is cut by a discrete fault system including localized thin ultracataclastic fault zones. Hole GT2A is cut by a wider zone of brittle deformation and incipient brecciation. Here we report the structural history of the gabbros reflecting formation at the ridge to later obduction. Magmatic and high temperature history- 1) Both cores exhibit a pervasive, commonly well-defined magmatic foliation delineated by plagioclase, olivine and in places clinopyroxene. Minor magmatic deformation is present. 2) The dip of the magmatic foliation varies cyclically, gradually changing dip by 30o from gentle to moderate over a 50 m wavelength. 3) Layering is present throughout both cores, is defined by changes in mode and grain size ranging in thickness from 2 cm to 3 m and is commonly sub-parallel to the foliation. 4) There are no high temperature crystal-plastic shear zones in the core. Key observations include: no simple, systematic shallowing of dip with depth across the foliated-layered gabbro transition and layering is continuous across this transition. Cyclic variation of magmatic foliation dip most likely reflects the process of plate separation at the ridge axis. Near-axis faulting- i) On or near-axis structures consist of epidote-amphibole bearing hydraulic breccias and some zones of intense cataclasis with intensely deformed epidote and seams of clay and chlorite accompanied by syntectonic alteration of the wall rock. Early veins are filled with amphibole, chlorite, epidote, and anhydrite. ii) The deformation ranges from brittle-ductile, causing local deflection of the magmatic foliation, to brittle offset of the foliation and core and mantle structures in anhydrite veins. iii) The prevalent sense of shear is normal and slickenfibers indicate oblique offset. Obduction related faulting- i) Low temperature brittle faults and veins with laumontite, clay, and gypsum crosscut all structures. ii) Faults show a reverse sense of shear and crosscut, possibly reactivate, normal faults. Our observations suggest formation of reverse faults and late veins during obduction of the ophiolite.

Size matters: The effects of displacement magnitude on the fluid flow properties of faults in poorly lithified sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loveless, S. E.; Bense, V.; Turner, J.

2011-12-01

Many aquifers worldwide occur in poorly lithified sediments, often in regions that experience active tectonic deformation. Faulting of these sediments introduces heterogeneities that may affect aquifer porosity and permeability, and consequently subsurface fluid flow and groundwater storage. The specific hydrogeological effects of faults depend upon the fault architecture and deformation mechanisms. These are controlled by factors such as rheology, stratigraphy and burial depth. Here, we analyse fault permeability in poorly lithified sediments as a function of fault displacement. We have carried out detailed outcrop studies of minor normal faults at five study sites within the rapidly extending Corinth rift, Central Greece. Gravel conglomerates of giant Gilbert delta facies form productive but localised shallow aquifers within the region. Exposures reveal dense (average 20 faults per 100 m) networks of minor (0.1 to 50 m displacement) normal faults within the uplifted sequences, proximal to many of the crustal-scale normal faults. Analysis of 42 faults shows that fault zones are primarily composed of smeared beds that can either retain their definition or mix with surrounding sediment. Lenses or blocks of sediment are common in fault zones that cut beds with contrasting rheology, and a few faults have a clay core and/or damage zone. Fault thickness increases at a rate of about 0.4 m per 10 m increase in displacement. Comparison of sediment micro-structures from the field, hand samples and thin sections show grain-scale sediment mixing, fracturing of clasts, and in some cases cementation, within fault zones. In faults with displacements >12 m we also find a number of roughly parallel, highly indurated shear planes, up to 20 mm in thickness, composed of highly fragmented clasts and a fine grained matrix. Image analysis of thin sections from hand samples collected in the field was used to quantify the porosity of fault zones and adjacent undeformed sediment. These data show a reduction in average porosity from 21% (± 4) in undisturbed sediments to 14% (± 8) within fault zones. We find that fault zone porosity decreases by approximately 5% per 1 m displacement (up to 2 m displacement), as sediments undergo greater micro-scale deformation. Porosity within the shear planes of larger displacement faults (> 12 m) is significantly less than 5%. In summary, with an increase in fault displacement there is an increase in fault thickness and decrease in fault zone porosity, in addition to the occurrence of extremely low porosity shear planes. Consequently, the impact of faults in poorly lithified sediment on fluid flow is, to a large degree, dependent upon the magnitude of fault displacement.

Cockade-textured cataclasite and silica gel from damage zone in carbonated ultramafics: markers of cycles of seismic activity?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scarsi, Marco; Crispini, Laura; Garofalo, Paolo; Capponi, Giovanni

2016-04-01

Shallow crustal processes occurring during seismic slips and generating fracture networks are of great interest due to their complex interplay with a spectrum of other geological processes . Our study focuses on faults with peculiar core textures, similar to those of "cockade breccia" (Genna et al., 1996) and "clast cortex grains" (Rempe et al., 2014), and on their relation with syntectonic hydrothermal alteration linked with Au bearing-quartz and chalcedony veins. Our work aims to study the enviromental conditions for the formation of such peculiar texture, their relation with the hydrothermal vein system and their potential as shallow seismic indicators. We present field, microstructural and petrochemical data of a peculiar damage zone of fault rocks located in carbonated peridotites and serpentinites of the Ligurian Alps (Voltri Massif, Italy). These are mainly reverse faults, which are coeval with syntectonic Au-bearing quartz veins and chalcedony veins (Giorza et al., 2010), in which lherzolites occupy the hangingwall of the faults and serpentinites the footwall. The fault rocks show evidence for carbonation, as olivine and serpentine are clearly transformed into an assemblage made of magnesite, dolomite and minor ankerite. The damage zones of the faults are serpentinite-rich and about 10 m in thickness, while the cataclasite cores are carbonate-rich and ca. 1 m thick. The top of the fault core shows the occurrence of a chalcedony shear veins with chatter marks and slikenlines on the surface. The "cockade breccia" is made of spherical aggregates of Fe-Mg carbonates and are 1 mm to 3 cm in size. These aggregates show cores of microcrystalline Fe-Mg carbonates, and concentric outer layers of relatively coarser Fe-Mg carbonates with radial or laminated texture. In some cases, these aggregates show evidence for rotation along secondary slip zones. We interpret all these features as the products of chemical interaction between the olivine and serpentine initially present within the fault rocks and the hydrothermal fluid that flowed within these faults. These interactions were probably similar to those occurring within the coeval Au- and chalcedony veins. Field evidence and theoretical considerations indicate that the reverse faults could have experienced stages of fault-valve behaviour (Sibson et al., 1998), which consisted in cycles of fluid pressure build-ups, fault opening, fluid flushing, and mineral precipitation during the seismic failure of the faults. These cycles varied transiently fault permeabilities. During the fluid pressure build up stage the radial coarse grains developed, while during the fluid flushing stage the clast cortex grains developed their laminated texture. The Au-quartz and chalcedony veins could have formed during the stages of fluid pressure drops following fault slip (Sibson et al., 1998, 2004). References Capponi G. & Crispini L., 1997, Progressive shear deformation in the metasediments of the Voltri Group (Ligurian Alps, Italy): occurence of structure recording extension parallel to the regional foliation, Boll. Soc. Geol. It., 116, 267-277. Genna A., Jébrack M., Marcoux E., Milési J.P., 1996, Genesis of cockade breccias in the tectonic evolution of the Cirotan epithermal gold system, West Java, Can. Journ. of Earth Sci., 33, 93-102. Giorza A., 2010, Late to post-metamorphic hydrotermalism in the Voltri Unit (Lavagnina Lakes Area, NW Alps). Structural-Petrological-Geochemical approach, PhD Thesis, University of Turin. Rempe M., Smith S. A. F., Ferri F., Mitchell T. M., 2014, Clast-cortex aggregates in experimental and natural calcite-bearing fault zones, Journ. Of Struct. Geol., 68, 142-157. Sibson R. H., 2004, Controls of maximum fluid overpressure defining conditions for mesozonal mineralization, Journ. of Struct. Geol., 26, 6-7, 1127-1136. Sibson R. H., Robert F., Poulsen H., 1998, High-angle reverse faults, fluid-pressure cycling, and mesothermal gold-quartz deposits, Geology, 16, 551-555. Spagnolo C., 2006, Late orogenic tectonics in the eastern sector of the Ligurian Alps, PhD Thesis, Univesity of Genoa.

Microstructural and petrophysical characterization of a "structurally oversimplified" fault zone in poorly lithified sands: evidence for a coseismic rupture?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsamo, Fabrizio; Storti, Fabrizio

2010-05-01

We studied an extensional fault zone developed in poorly lithified, quartz-rich high porosity sandy sediments of the seismically active Crotone basin (southern Italy). The fault zone cuts across interlayered fine- to coarse-grained sands and consists of a cm-thick, discrete fault core embedded in virtually undeformed wall sediments. Consequently, it can be described as "structurally oversimplified" due to the lack of footwall and hanging wall damage zones. We acquired microstructural, grain size, grain shape, porosity, mineralogical and permeability data to investigate the influence of initial sedimentological characteristics of sands on the final faulted granular products and related hydrologic properties. Faulting evolves by a general grain size and porosity reduction with a combination of intragranular fracturing, spalling, and flaking of grain edges, irrespective of grain mineralogy. The dominance of cataclasis, also confirmed by fractal dimensions >2.6, is generally not expected at a deformation depth <1 km. Coarse-grained sand shows a much higher comminution intensity, grain shape variations and permeability drop than fine-grained sands. This is because coarser aggregates have (i) fewer grain-to-grain contacts for a given area, which results in higher stress concentration at contact points, and (ii) a higher probability of pre-existing intragranular microstructural defects that result in a lower grain strength. The peculiar structural architecture, the dominance of cataclasis over non-destructive particulate flow, and the compositional variations of clay minerals in the fault core, strongly suggest that the studied fault zone developed by a coseismic rupture.

Late Paleogene rifting along the Malay Peninsula thickened crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sautter, Benjamin; Pubellier, Manuel; Jousselin, Pierre; Dattilo, Paolo; Kerdraon, Yannick; Choong, Chee Meng; Menier, David

2017-07-01

Sedimentary basins often develop above internal zones of former orogenic belts. We hereafter consider the Malay Peninsula (Western Sunda) as a crustal high separating two regions of stretched continental crust; the Andaman/Malacca basins in the western side and the Thai/Malay basins in the east. Several stages of rifting have been documented thanks to extensive geophysical exploration. However, little is known on the correlation between offshore rifted basins and the onshore continental core. In this paper, we explore through mapping and seismic data, how these structures reactivate pre-existing Mesozoic basement heterogeneities. The continental core appears to be relatively undeformed after the Triassic Indosinian orogeny. The thick crustal mega-horst is bounded by complex shear zones (Ranong, Klong Marui and Main Range Batholith Fault Zones) initiated during the Late Cretaceous/Early Paleogene during a thick-skin transpressional deformation and later reactivated in the Late Paleogene. The extension is localized on the sides of this crustal backbone along a strip where earlier Late Cretaceous deformation is well expressed. To the west, the continental shelf is underlain by three major crustal steps which correspond to wide crustal-scale tilted blocks bounded by deep rooted counter regional normal faults (Mergui Basin). To the east, some pronounced rift systems are also present, with large tilted blocks (Western Thai, Songkhla and Chumphon basins) which may reflect large crustal boudins. In the central domain, the extension is limited to isolated narrow N-S half grabens developed on a thick continental crust, controlled by shallow rooted normal faults, which develop often at the contact between granitoids and the host-rocks. The outer limits of the areas affected by the crustal boudinage mark the boundary towards the large and deeper Andaman basin in the west and the Malay and Pattani basins in the east. At a regional scale, the rifted basins resemble N-S en-echelon structures along large NW-SE shear bands. The rifting is accommodated by large low angle normal faults (LANF) running along crustal morphostructures such as broad folds and Mesozoic batholiths. The deep Andaman, Malay and Pattani basins seem to sit on weaker crust inherited from Gondwana-derived continental blocks (Burma, Sibumasu, and Indochina). The set of narrow elongated basins in the core of the Region (Khien Sa, Krabi, and Malacca basins) suffered from a relatively lesser extension.

Relationship Between Faults Oriented Parallel and Oblique to Bedding in Neogene Massive Siliceous Mudstones at The Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayano, Akira; Ishii, Eiichi

2016-10-01

This study investigates the mechanical relationship between bedding-parallel and bedding-oblique faults in a Neogene massive siliceous mudstone at the site of the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in Hokkaido, Japan, on the basis of observations of drill-core recovered from pilot boreholes and fracture mapping on shaft and gallery walls. Four bedding-parallel faults with visible fault gouge, named respectively the MM Fault, the Last MM Fault, the S1 Fault, and the S2 Fault (stratigraphically, from the highest to the lowest), were observed in two pilot boreholes (PB-V01 and SAB-1). The distribution of the bedding-parallel faults at 350 m depth in the Horonobe URL indicates that these faults are spread over at least several tens of meters in parallel along a bedding plane. The observation that the bedding-oblique fault displaces the Last MM fault is consistent with the previous interpretation that the bedding- oblique faults formed after the bedding-parallel faults. In addition, the bedding-parallel faults terminate near the MM and S1 faults, indicating that the bedding-parallel faults with visible fault gouge act to terminate the propagation of younger bedding-oblique faults. In particular, the MM and S1 faults, which have a relatively thick fault gouge, appear to have had a stronger control on the propagation of bedding-oblique faults than did the Last MM fault, which has a relatively thin fault gouge.

Lithospheric "corner flow" via extensional faulting and tectonic rotation at non-volcanic, slow-spreading ridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, T.; Cheadle, M. J.; Dick, H. J.; Faul, U.

2005-12-01

Large degrees (up to 90°) of tectonic rotation may be the norm at slow-spreading, non-volcanic ridges. Vertically upwelling mantle beneath all mid-ocean ridges must undergo corner flow to move horizontally with the spreading plate. Because little or no volcanic crust is produced at some slow-spreading ridges, the uppermost lithospheric mantle must undergo this rotation in the regime of localized, rather than distributed deformation. Anomalous paleomagnetic inclinations in peridotite and gabbro cores drilled near the 15-20 Fracture Zone (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, ODP Leg 209) support such large rotations, with sub-Curie-temperature rotations up to 90° (Garces et al., 2004). Here, we present two end-member tectonic mechanisms, with supporting data from Leg 209 cores and bathymetry, to show how rotation is accomplished via extensional faults and shear zones: 1) long-lived detachment faults, and 2) multiple generations of high-angle normal faults. Detachment faults accommodate rotation by having a moderate to steep dip at depth, and rotating to horizontal through a rolling hinge as the footwall is tectonically denuded. Multiple generations of high-angle normal faults accommodate large rotations in a domino fashion; early faults become inactive when rotated to inopportune slip angles, and are cut by younger high-angle faults. Thus, each generation of high-angle faults accommodates part of the total rotation. There is likely a gradation between the domino and detachment mechanisms; transition from domino to detachment faulting occurs when a single domino fault remains active at inopportune slip angles and evolves into a detachment that accommodates all corner flow for that region. In both cases, the original attitude of layering within mantle-emplaced gabbro bodies must be significantly different than present day observed attitudes; sub-horizontal bodies may have been formed sub-vertically and vice-versa. Leg 209 cores record an average major brittle fault spacing of approximately 100 m, suggesting that the width of individual rotating fault blocks may be on the order of 100-200 m. Numerous fault bounded domino slices could therefore be formed within a 10km wide axial valley, with large rotations (and commensurate extension) leading to the exposure of 1km wide shallow-dipping fault surfaces, as are seen in the 15-20 FZ region bathymetry. The region's bathymetry is dominated by irregular, low-relief ridges that were likely formed by domino faulting of lithosphere with a small elastic thickness. The region contains relatively few corrugated detachment fault domes, suggesting that domino faulting may be the normal mode of lithospheric corner flow at non-volcanic ridges.

Complex permeability structure of a fault zone crosscutting a sequence of sandstones and shales and its influence on hydraulic head distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cilona, A.; Aydin, A.; Hazelton, G.

2013-12-01

Characterization of the structural architecture of a 5 km-long, N40°E-striking fault zone provides new insights for the interpretation of hydraulic heads measured across and along the fault. Of interest is the contaminant transport across a portion of the Upper Cretaceous Chatsworth Formation, a 1400 m-thick turbidite sequence of sandstones and shales exposed in the Simi Hills, south California. Local bedding consistently dips about 20° to 30° to NW. Participating hydrogeologists monitor the local groundwater system by means of numerous boreholes used to define the 3D distribution of the groundwater table around the fault. Sixty hydraulic head measurements consistently show differences of 10s of meters, except for a small area. In this presentation, we propose a link between this distribution and the fault zone architecture. Despite an apparent linear morphological trend, the fault is made up of at least three distinct segments named here as northern, central and southern segments. Key aspects of the fault zone architecture have been delineated at two sites. The first is an outcrop of the central segment and the second is a borehole intersecting the northern segment at depth. The first site shows the fault zone juxtaposing sandstones against shales. Here the fault zone consists of a 13 meter-wide fault rock including a highly deformed sliver of sandstone on the northwestern side. In the sandstone, shear offset was resolved along N42°E striking and SE dipping fracture surfaces localized within a 40 cm thick strand. Here the central core of the fault zone is 8 m-wide and contains mostly shale characterized by highly diffuse deformation. It shows a complex texture overprinted by N30°E-striking carbonate veins. At the southeastern edge of the fault zone exposure, a shale unit dipping 50° NW towards the fault zone provides the key information that the shale unit was incorporated into the fault zone in a manner consistent with shale smearing. At the second site, a borehole more than 194 meter-long intersects the fault zone at its bottom. Based on an optical televiewer image supplemented by limited recovered rock cores, a juxtaposition plane (dipping 75° SE) between a fractured sandstone and a highly-deformed shale fault rock has been interpreted as the southeastern boundary of the fault zone. The shale fault rock estimated to be thicker than 4 meters is highly folded and brecciated with locally complex cataclastic texture. The observations and interpretations of the fault architecture presented above suggest that the drop of hydraulic head detected across the fault segments is due primarily to the low-permeability shaly fault rock incorporated into the fault zone by a shale smearing mechanism. Interestingly, at around the step between the northern and the central fault segments, where the fault offset is expected to diminish (no hard link and no significant shaly fault rock), the groundwater levels measured on either sides of the fault zone are more-or-less equal.

Geology and geochemistry of samples from Los Alamos National Laboratory HDR Well EE-2, Fenton Hill, New Mexico

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Laney, R.; Laughlin, A.W.; Aldrich, M.J. Jr.

1981-07-01

Petrologic, geochemical, and structural analyses of cores and cuttings obtained from 3000 to 4389-m true vertical depth in drill hole EE-2 indicate that this deeper part of the Precambrian section at Fenton Hill, New Mexico is composed primarily of a very heterogeneous and structurally anisotropic metamorphic complex, locally intruded by dikes and sills of granodioritic and monzogranitic composition. In this borehole none of these igneous bodies approach in size the 335-m-thick biotite-granodiorite body encountered at 2591-m depth beneath Fenton Hill in the other two drill holes. Contacts between the igneous and metamorphic rocks range from sharp and discordant to gradational.more » Analysis of cuttings indicates that clay-rich alteration zones are relatively common in the openhole portion of EE-2. These zones average about 20 m in thickness. Fracture sets in the Precambrian basement rock intersected by the EE-2 well bore mostly trend northeast and are steeply dipping to vertical; however, one of the sets dips gently to the northwest. Slickensided fault planes are present in a core (No.5) taken from a true vertical depth of 4195 m. Available core orientation data and geologic inference suggest that the faults dip steeply and trend between N.42/sup 0/ and 59/sup 0/E.« less

Character of High Temperature Mylonitic Shear Zones Associated with Oceanic Detachment Faults at the Ultra-Slow Mid-Cayman Rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marr, C.; John, B. E.; Cheadle, M. J.; German, C. R.

2014-12-01

Two well-preserved core complexes at the Mid-Cayman Rise (MCR), Mt Dent and Mt Hudson, provide an opportunity to examine the deformation history and rheology of detachment faults at an ultra-slow spreading ridge. Samples from the CAYTROUGH (1976-77) project and the Nautilus NA034 cruise (2013) were selected for detailed petrographic and microstructural study. Surface samples from Mt. Dent (near the center of the MCR) provide insight into lateral variation in footwall rock type and deformation history across a core complex in both the across and down dip directions. In contrast, sampling of Mt. Hudson (SE corner of the MCR) focuses on a high-angle, crosscutting normal fault scarp, which provides a cross section of the detachment fault system. Sampling across Mt Dent reveals that the footwall is composed of heterogeneously-distributed gabbro (47%) and peridotite (20%) with basaltic cover (33%) dominating the top of the core complex. Sampling of Mt Hudson is restricted to the normal fault scarp cutting the core complex and suggests the interior is dominated by gabbro (85% gabbro, 11% peridotite, 4% basalt). At Mt. Dent, peridotite is exposed within ~4km of the breakaway indicating that the Mt. Dent detachment does not cut Penrose-style oceanic crust. The sample set provides evidence of a full down-temperature sequence of detachment related-fault rocks, from possible granulite and clear amphibolite mylonitizatization to prehnite-pumpellyite brittle deformation. Both detachments show low-temperature brittle deformation overprinting higher temperature plastic fabrics. Fe-Ti oxide gabbro mylonites dominate the sample set, and plastic deformation of plagioclase is recorded in samples collected as near as ~4km from the inferred breakaway along the southern flank of Mt. Dent, suggesting the brittle-plastic transition was initially at ~3km depth. Recovered samples suggest strain associated with both detachment systems is localized into discrete mylonitic shear zones (~1-10cm thick), implying that the plastic portion of the fault consists of a broad zone of thin, anastomosing shear zones. Concentrations of Ti-rich magmatic hornblende and interstitial Fe-Ti oxides in the high strain horizons are consistent with the lowermost part of the fault(s) localizing in the margins of the mush zone of a shallow magma chamber.

Composition, Alteration, and Texture of Fault-Related Rocks from Safod Core and Surface Outcrop Analogs: Evidence for Deformation Processes and Fluid-Rock Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradbury, Kelly K.; Davis, Colter R.; Shervais, John W.; Janecke, Susanne U.; Evans, James P.

2015-05-01

We examine the fine-scale variations in mineralogical composition, geochemical alteration, and texture of the fault-related rocks from the Phase 3 whole-rock core sampled between 3,187.4 and 3,301.4 m measured depth within the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) borehole near Parkfield, California. This work provides insight into the physical and chemical properties, structural architecture, and fluid-rock interactions associated with the actively deforming traces of the San Andreas Fault zone at depth. Exhumed outcrops within the SAF system comprised of serpentinite-bearing protolith are examined for comparison at San Simeon, Goat Rock State Park, and Nelson Creek, California. In the Phase 3 SAFOD drillcore samples, the fault-related rocks consist of multiple juxtaposed lenses of sheared, foliated siltstone and shale with block-in-matrix fabric, black cataclasite to ultracataclasite, and sheared serpentinite-bearing, finely foliated fault gouge. Meters-wide zones of sheared rock and fault gouge correlate to the sites of active borehole casing deformation and are characterized by scaly clay fabric with multiple discrete slip surfaces or anastomosing shear zones that surround conglobulated or rounded clasts of compacted clay and/or serpentinite. The fine gouge matrix is composed of Mg-rich clays and serpentine minerals (saponite ± palygorskite, and lizardite ± chrysotile). Whole-rock geochemistry data show increases in Fe-, Mg-, Ni-, and Cr-oxides and hydroxides, Fe-sulfides, and C-rich material, with a total organic content of >1 % locally in the fault-related rocks. The faults sampled in the field are composed of meters-thick zones of cohesive to non-cohesive, serpentinite-bearing foliated clay gouge and black fine-grained fault rock derived from sheared Franciscan Formation or serpentinized Coast Range Ophiolite. X-ray diffraction of outcrop samples shows that the foliated clay gouge is composed primarily of saponite and serpentinite, with localized increases in Ni- and Cr-oxides and C-rich material over several meters. Mesoscopic and microscopic textures and deformation mechanisms interpreted from the outcrop sites are remarkably similar to those observed in the SAFOD core. Micro-scale to meso-scale fabrics observed in the SAFOD core exhibit textural characteristics that are common in deformed serpentinites and are often attributed to aseismic deformation with episodic seismic slip. The mineralogy and whole-rock geochemistry results indicate that the fault zone experienced transient fluid-rock interactions with fluids of varying chemical composition, including evidence for highly reducing, hydrocarbon-bearing fluids.

Micro-scale damage characterized within part of a dismembered positive flower structure, San Jacinto fault, southern California, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peppard, Daniel W.; Webb, Heather N.; Dennis, Kristen; Vierra, Emma; Girty, Gary H.; Rockwell, Thomas K.; Blanton, Chelsea M.; Brown, Jack F.; Goldstein, Ariella I.; Kastama, Keith W.; Korte-Nahabedian, Mark A.; Puckett, Dan; Richter, Addison K.

2018-07-01

To better understand the processes that control sub-grain fracturing in fault damage zones, we studied micro-scale damage in sandstones adjacent to the San Jacinto fault (SJF) where it is exhumed from a total depth of ∼220 m beneath a northeast-verging thrust that comprises part of a relic and dismembered flower structure. The thrust places high grade gneiss of the pre-middle Cretaceous Burnt Valley complex over sedimentary rocks of the Pleistocene Bautista Formation. An ∼10-12 cm thick zone of cataclasite is present along the northeast side of the fault adjacent to a narrow black ultracataclasite core. Non-pervasive microscopic damage, characterized by pulverized sand grains, extends outward from the zone of cataclasites tens of meters. Such textures are better developed in sandstones that contain <18% matrix. Hence, a difference in rheology, rather than proximity to the fault core appears to control deformation patterns in sandstones of the Bautista Formation. At the time of formation, confining pressure is estimated to have been ∼6 MPa; hence, loading produced by over thrusting is not likely the cause of intragranular fragmentation in the footwall. Alternatively, strong oscillating stresses produced during dynamic rupture of large earthquakes on the San Jacinto fault likely caused very high point stresses at grain contacts that allowed for fracturing. Such high point stresses along grain contacts is the primary factor in the development of the observed pulverized grains.

Depositional history and neotectonics in Great Salt Lake, Utah, from high-resolution seismic stratigraphy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colman, Steven M.; Kelts, K.R.; Dinter, D.A.

2002-01-01

High-resolution seismic-reflection data from Great Salt Lake show that the basinal sediment sequence is cut by numerous faults with N-S and NE-SW orientations. This faulting shows evidence of varied timing and relative offsets, but includes at least three events totaling about 12 m following the Bonneville phase of the lake (since about 13.5 ka). Several faults displace the uppermost sediments and the lake floor. Bioherm structures are present above some faults, which suggests that the faults served as conduits for sublacustrine discharge of fresh water. A shallow, fault-controlled ridge between Carrington Island and Promontory Point, underlain by a well-cemented pavement, separates the main lake into two basins. The pavement appears to be early Holocene in age and younger sediments lap onto it. Onlap-offlap relationships, reflection truncations, and morphology of the lake floor indicate a low lake, well below the present level, during the early Holocene, during which most of the basin was probably a playa. This low stand is represented by irregular reflections in seismic profiles from the deepest part of the basin. Other prominent reflectors in the profiles are correlated with lithologic changes in sediment cores related to the end of the Bonneville stage of the lake, a thick mirabilite layer in the northern basin, and the Mazama tephra. Reflections below those penetrated by sediment cores document earlier lacustrine cycles. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Space-time evolution of cataclasis in carbonate fault zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraro, Francesco; Grieco, Donato Stefano; Agosta, Fabrizio; Prosser, Giacomo

2018-05-01

The present contribution focuses on the micro-mechanisms associated to cataclasis of both calcite- and dolomite-rich fault rocks. This work combines field and laboratory data of carbonate fault cores currently exposed in central and southern Italy. By first deciphering the main fault rock textures, their spatial distribution, crosscutting relationships and multi-scale dimensional properties, the relative timing of Intragranular Extensional Fracturing (IEF), chipping, and localized shear is inferred. IEF was predominant within already fractured carbonates, forming coarse and angular rock fragments, and likely lasted for a longer period within the dolomitic fault rocks. Chipping occurred in both lithologies, and was activated by grain rolling forming minute, sub-rounded survivor grains embedded in a powder-like carbonate matrix. The largest fault zones, which crosscut either limestones or dolostones, were subjected to localized shear and, eventually, to flash temperature increase which caused thermal decomposition of calcite within narrow (cm-thick) slip zones. Results are organized in a synoptic panel including the main dimensional properties of survivor grains. Finally, a conceptual model of the time-dependent evolution of cataclastic deformation in carbonate rocks is proposed.

Physical Properties of Gabbroic Rock Exposed in Oceanic Core Complexes- New Borehole Data From IODP Hole U1473A in the Indian Ocean and Prior Mid-Atlantic Ridge Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackman, D. K.; Ildefonse, B.; Abe, N.; Harding, A. J.; Guerin, G.

2016-12-01

IODP Expedition 360 to Atlantis Bank on the Southwest Indian Ridge obtained physical property measurements of the 800 m section drilled into the footwall of the oceanic core complex. Compressional velocity (Vp) of core samples range from 5.9-7.2 km/s throughout the hole, with no simple relation to either basic rock type or alteration. Some intervals show a local trend, for example a general increase from 6.7-7.1 km/s over the interval 280-400 mbsf, above a major fault zone at 411-462 mbsf. Below the fault zone, core sample Vp is lower on average (6.6 km/s) than it is in the upper part of the hole (6.8 km/s). Some of this decrease is due to locally greater alteration, but higher oxide content also contributes. Borehole logs show lower Vp shallower than 400 m (6.3-6.4 km/s) and close match to olivine gabbro values below the fault zone, due to higher alteration levels and greater shallow fracturing. Local trends of decreasing Vp, over 10's of m correspond to increasing sample porosity within veined or fractured intervals. Porosities of core in Hole U1473A are low overall (<4.5%) and more variable above 570 mbsf than below. Electrical resistivity of the wallrock tracks logged velocity pattern, dropping below 100 ohm-m in altered or fractured intervals 20-50 m thick and rising over 1000 ohm-m where fresher rock was recovered. The range of velocity, density, and resistivity at Hole U1473A are similar to those in the other deep boreholes from Atlantis Bank (ODP Hole 735B, 1105A) and slightly higher than Vp in the gabbroic core of Atlantis Massif in the Atlantic, Hole U1309D. This may reflect erosion of the detachment zone when the bank was exposed at sealevel. Atlantis Massif displays an increase in Vp from the seafloor to a fault zone at 750 mbsf ( 4.0-6.2 km/s), followed by fairly constant values ( 6.7 km/s) at greater depths, interrupted by a highly altered olivine-rich troctolite interval 1080-1200 mbsf where velocity is up to 1 km/s slower. New analysis of seismic anisotropy based on sonic logs does not show any systematic signature for either core complex, but there are a few intervals up to 10 m thick where anisotropy due to local deformation or dominant fracture direction may be indicated. The new and prior borehole data will be presented in the context of available geophysical, lithologic and alteration results.

Fault geometry and mechanics of marly carbonate multilayers: An integrated field and laboratory study from the Northern Apennines, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giorgetti, C.; Collettini, C.; Scuderi, M. M.; Barchi, M. R.; Tesei, T.

2016-12-01

Sealing layers are often represented by sedimentary sequences characterized by alternating strong and weak lithologies. When involved in faulting processes, these mechanically heterogeneous multilayers develop complex fault geometries. Here we investigate fault initiation and evolution within a mechanical multilayer by integrating field observations and rock deformation experiments. Faults initiate with a staircase trajectory that partially reflects the mechanical properties of the involved lithologies, as suggested by our deformation experiments. However, some faults initiating at low angles in calcite-rich layers (θi = 5°-20°) and at high angles in clay-rich layers (θi = 45°-86°) indicate the important role of structural inheritance at the onset of faulting. With increasing displacement, faults develop well-organized fault cores characterized by a marly, foliated matrix embedding fragments of limestone. The angles of fault reactivation, which concentrate between 30° and 60°, are consistent with the low friction coefficient measured during our experiments on marls (μs = 0.39), indicating that clay minerals exert a main control on fault mechanics. Moreover, our integrated analysis suggests that fracturing and faulting are the main mechanisms allowing fluid circulation within the low-permeability multilayer, and that its sealing integrity can be compromised only by the activity of larger faults cutting across its entire thickness.

Holocene sedimentary processes in the Gemlik Gulf: a transtensional basin on the middle Strand of the North Anatolian Fault, Sea of Marmara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özmaral, A.; Çagatay, M. N.; Imren, C.; Gasperini, L.; Henry, P.

2012-04-01

Gemlik Gulf is an oval-shaped transtensional basin with a maximum depth of 113 m, located on the middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the eastern part of the Sea of Marmara (SOM). During the last glacial period until the Holocene marine transgression about 12 ka BP, the sea level was below the Çanakkale (Dardanelles) Strait's bedrock sill depth of -85 m, and the Gemlik Basin became a lake isolated lake from the rest of the Sea of Marmara "Lake" and the global ocean. The high resolution seismic profiles and the multi- beam bathymetric map of the basin show that the basin is characterized by NW-SE trending transtensional oblique faults, delta lobes of the Büyükdere (Kocadere) to the east and an erosional surface below an up to 15 m-thick Holocene mud drape. The Holocene mud drape was studied in up to 9.5 m-long gravity-piston and 0.84 m-long sediment/water interface cores located at -105 to -113 m in the basin's depocentre. The Holocene mud consists mainly of plastic gray green marine clayey mud that includes thick-red brown clay layers and a laminated organic-rich, dark olive green sapropel in the lower part, which was previously dated at 11.6-6.4 14Ckyr (uncalib) BP. Multi-proxy analyses of the Holocene mud drape in the sediment cores were carried out using Multisensor Core Logger, XRF Core Scanner equipped with digital X-Ray radiography, and laser particle size analyzer. Seismic-core correlation was made using seismic data of the chirp profiles at the core locations and the synthetic seismograms generated using the MSCL P-wave velocity and gamma density measurements. The long piston-gravity cores include five 20 to 100 mm-thick "red brown mud layers" in the top 2.5 m of the core. These layers have a sharp basal boundary and gradational upper boundary. The red brown layers consist of 55-75% clay-size material with an average grain size of 3-4 µm, and have relatively a high magnetic susceptibility. They are enriched in K, Fe, Ti and Zr that are the proxy of detrital mineral input, and depleted in Ca, Br, Fe and Mn. Manganese shows a sharp enrichment immediately below the base of the red brown layers. All these features strongly suggest that the red layers represent the distal edges mass flow deposits, possibly sourced from the delta to the east. The distinct Mn enrichments below the base of the red brown layers represent the diagenetic enrichment at the oxic/anoxic boundary near the seafloor, which was later covered by the mass flow deposit. C-14 and radionuclide datings of the mass flow layers and investigation of their possible relation to the past earthquakes are under progress.

Self-induced seismicity due to fluid circulation along faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aochi, Hideo; Poisson, Blanche; Toussaint, Renaud; Rachez, Xavier; Schmittbuhl, Jean

2014-03-01

In this paper, we develop a system of equations describing fluid migration, fault rheology, fault thickness evolution and shear rupture during a seismic cycle, triggered either by tectonic loading or by fluid injection. Assuming that the phenomena predominantly take place on a single fault described as a finite permeable zone of variable width, we are able to project the equations within the volumetric fault core onto the 2-D fault interface. From the basis of this `fault lubrication approximation', we simulate the evolution of seismicity when fluid is injected at one point along the fault to model-induced seismicity during an injection test in a borehole that intercepts the fault. We perform several parametric studies to understand the basic behaviour of the system. Fluid transmissivity and fault rheology are key elements. The simulated seismicity generally tends to rapidly evolve after triggering, independently of the injection history and end when the stationary path of fluid flow is established at the outer boundary of the model. This self-induced seismicity takes place in the case where shear rupturing on a planar fault becomes dominant over the fluid migration process. On the contrary, if healing processes take place, so that the fluid mass is trapped along the fault, rupturing occurs continuously during the injection period. Seismicity and fluid migration are strongly influenced by the injection rate and the heterogeneity.

Permeability and of the San Andreas Fault core and damage zone from SAFOD drill core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rathbun, A. P.; Fry, M.; Kitajima, H.; Song, I.; Carpenter, B. M.; Marone, C.; Saffer, D. M.

2012-12-01

Quantifying fault-rock permeability is important toward understanding both the regional hydrologic behavior of fault zones, and poro-elastic processes that may affect faulting and earthquake mechanics by mediating effective stress. These include persistent fluid overpressures hypothesized to reduce fault strength, as well as dynamic processes that may occur during earthquake slip, including thermal pressurization and dilatancy hardening. To date, studies of permeability on fault rocks and gouge from plate-boundary strike-slip faults have mainly focused on samples from surface outcrops. We report on permeability tests conducted on the host rock, damage zone, and a major actively creeping fault strand (Central Deformation Zone, CDZ) of the San Andreas Fault (SAF), obtained from coring across the active SAF at ~2.7 km depth as part of SAFOD Phase III. We quantify permeability on subsamples oriented both perpendicular and parallel to the coring axis, which is nearly perpendicular to the SAF plane, to evaluate permeability anisotropy. The fault strand samples were obtained from the CDZ, which accommodates significant creep, and hosts ~90% of the observed casing deformation measured between drilling phases. The CDZ is 2.6 m thick with a matrix grain size < 10 μm and ~5% vol. clasts, and contains ~80% clay, of which ~90% is smectite. We also tested damage zone samples taken from adjacent core sections within a few m on either side of the CDZ. Permeability experiments were conducted in a triaxial vessel, on samples 25.4 mm in diameter and ~20-35 mm in length. We conducted measurements under isotropic stress conditions, at effective stress (Pc') of ~5-70 MPa. We measure permeability using a constant head flow-through technique. At the highest Pc', low permeability of the CDZ and damage zone necessitates using a step loading transient method and is in good agreement with permeabilities obtained from flow-through experiments. We quantify compression behavior by monitoring the volumetric and axial strain in response to changes in effective stress. Permeability of the CDZ is systematically lower than that of the damage zone or wall rock, and decreases from 2x10 -19m 2 at 5 MPa effective stress to 5x10-21 m 2 at 65 MPa. Some damage zone samples exhibit permeabilities as low as the CDZ, but most values are ~10-30 times higher. For both the damage zone and CDZ, permeability anisotropy is negligible. Volumetric compressibility (mv) decreases from ~1x10-9 Pa-1 to ~1x10-10 Pa-1 and hydraulic diffusivity decreases from ~2x10-7 m2/s to 1.7x10-8 m2/s over a range of effective stresses from 10 to 65 MPa. Our results are consistent with published geochemical data from SAFOD mud gas monitoring, and from inferred pore pressures during drilling [Zoback et al., 2010], which together suggest that the fault has a low permeability and is a barrier to regional fluid flow along. Our results also demonstrate that the diffusivity of the fault core of CDZ is sufficiently low to result in effectively undrained behavior over timescales of minutes to hours, thus facilitating dynamic hydrologic processes that may impact fault slip, including thermal pressurization and dilatancy hardening.

Extensional faulting in the southern Klamath Mountains, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schweickert, R.A.; Irwin, W.P.

1989-01-01

Large northeast striking normal faults in the southern Klamath Mountains may indicate that substantial crustal extension occurred during Tertiary time. Some of these faults form grabens in the Jurassic and older bedrock of the province. The grabens contain continental Oligocene or Miocene deposits (Weaverville Formation), and in two of them the Oligocene or Miocene is underlain by Lower Cretaceous marine formations (Great Valley sequence). At the La Grange gold placer mine the Oligocene or Miocene strata dip northwest into the gently southeast dipping mylonitic footwall surface of the La Grange fault. The large normal displacement required by the relations at the La Grange mine is also suggested by omission of several kilometers of structural thickness of bedrock units across the northeast continuation of the La Grange fault, as well as by significant changes in bedrock across some northeast striking faults elsewhere in the Central Metamorphic and Eastern Klamath belts. The Trinity ultramafic sheet crops out in the Eastern Klamath terrane as part of a broad northeast trending arch that may be structurally analogous to the domed lower plate of metamorphic core complexes found in eastern parts of the Cordillera. The northeast continuation of the La Grange fault bounds the southeastern side of the Trinity arch in the Eastern Klamath terrane and locally cuts out substantial lower parts of adjacent Paleozoic strata of the Redding section. Faults bounding the northwestem side of the Trinity arch generally trend northeast and juxtapose stacked thrust sheets of lower Paleozoic strata of the Yreka terrane against the Trinity ultramafic sheet. Geometric relations suggest that the Tertiary extension of the southern Klamath Mountains was in NW-SE directions and that the Redding section and the southern part of the Central Metamorphic terrane may be a large Tertiary allochthon detached from the Trinity ultramafic sheet. Paleomagnetic data indicate a lack of rotation about a vertical axis during the extension. We propose that the Trinity ultramafic sheet is structurally analogous to a metamorphic core complex; if so, it is the first core complex to be described that involves ultramafic rocks. We infer that Mesozoic terrane accretion produced a large gravitational instability in the crust that spread laterally during Tertiary extension

The Fluid Flow Evolution During the Seismic Cycle Within Overpressured Fault Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Paola, Nicola; Vanhunen, Jeroen; Collettini, Cristiano; Faulkner, Dan

2010-05-01

The integration of seismic reflection profiles with well-located earthquakes shows that the mainshocks of the 1997 Umbria-Marche seismic sequence (Mw < 6) nucleated at about 6 km depth, within the Triassic Evaporites, a 2 km thick sequence made of interbedded anhydrites and dolostones. Two boreholes, drilled northwest of the epicentral area, encountered CO2 fluid overpressures at about 0.8 of the lithostatic load, at about 4 km depth. It has been proposed that the time-space evolution of the 1997 aftershock sequence, was driven by the coseismic release of trapped high-pressure fluids (lv = 0.8), within the Triassic Evaporites. In order to understand whether CO2 fluid overpressure can be maintained up to the coseismic period, and trigger earthquake nucleation, we modelled fluid flow through a mature fault zone within the Triassic Evaporites. We assume that fluid flow within the fault zone occurs in accord with the Darcy's Law. Under this condition, a near lithostatic pore pressure gradient can develop, within the fault zone, when the upward transport of fluid along the fault zone exceeds the fluid loss in a horizontal direction. Our model's parameters are: a) Fault zone structure: model inputs have been obtained from large fault zone analogues derived from field observation. The architecture of large fault zones within the TE is given by a distinct fault core, up to few meters thick, of very fine-grained fault rocks (cataclasites and fault gouge), where most of the shear strain has been accommodated, surrounded by a geometrically complex and heterogeneous damage zone (up to few tens of meters wide). The damage zone is characterized by adjacent zones of heavily fractured rocks (dolostones) and foliated rocks displaying little fracturing (anhydrites). b) Fault zone permeability: field data suggests that the permeability of the fault core is relatively low due to the presence of fine grained fault rocks (k < 10E-18 m2). The permeability of the dolostones, within the damage zone, is likely to be high and controlled by mesoscale fracture patterns (k > 10E-17 m2). For the anhydrites, the permeability and porosity development was continuously measured prior and throughout triaxial loading tests, performed on borehole samples. The permeability of the anhydrites within the damage zone, due to the absence of mesoscale fracture patterns within Ca-sulphates layers, has been assumed to be as low as the values measured during our lab experiments (k = 10E-17 - 10E-20 m2). Our model results show that, during the seismic cycle, the lateral fluid flux, across the fault zone, is always lower than the vertical parallel fluid flux. Under these conditions fluid overpressure within the fault zone can be sustained up to the coseismic period when earthquake nucleation occurs. Our modelling shows that during extensional loading, overpressured fault zones within the Triassic Evaporites may develop and act as asperities, i.e. they are mechanically weaker than faults within the overlain carbonates at hydrostatic (lv = 0.4) pore fluid pressure conditions.

Postmylonitic deformation in the Raft River metamorphic core complex, northwestern Utah: Evidence of a rolling hinge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, Andrew H.; Bartley, John M.

1994-06-01

Much of the recent debate over low-angle normal faults exposed in metamorphic core complexes has centered on the rolling hinge model. The model predicts tilting of seismogenic high-angle normal faults to lower dips by footwall deformation in response to isostatic forces caused by footwall exhumation. This shallow brittle deformation should visibly overprint the mylonitic fabric in the footwall of a metamorphic core complex. The predicted style and magnitude of rolling hinge strain depends upon the macroscopic mechanism by which the footwall deforms. Two end-members have been proposed: subvertical simple shear and flexural failure. Each mechanism should generate a distinctive pattern of structures that strike perpendicular to the regional extension direction. Subvertical simple shear (SVSS) should generate subvertical faults and kink bands with a shear sense antithetic to the detachment. For an SVSS hinge, the hinge-related strain magnitude should depend only on initial fault dip; rolling hinge structures should shorten the mylonitic foliation by >13% for an initial fault dip of >30°. In flexural failure the footwall behaves as a flexed elastic beam that partially fails in response to bending stresses. Resulting structures include conjugate faults and kink bands that both extend and contract the mylonitic foliation. Extensional sets could predominate as a result of superposition of far-field and flexural stresses. Strain magnitudes do not depend on fault dip but depend on the thickness and radius of curvature of the flexed footwall beam and vary with location within that beam. Postmylonitic structures were examined in the footwall of the Raft River metamorphic core complex in northwestern Utah to test these predictions. Observed structures strike perpendicular to the regional extension direction and include joints, normal faults, tension-gash arrays, and both extensional and contractional kink bands. Aside from the subvertical joints, the extensional structures dip moderately to steeply and are mainly either synthetic to the detachment or form conjugate sets. Range-wide, the extensional structures accomplish about 4% elongation of the mylonitic foliation. Contractional structures dip steeply, mainly record shear antithetic to the detachment, and accomplish <1% contraction of the foliation. These observations are consistent with the presence of a rolling hinge in the Raft River Mountains, but a rolling hinge that reoriented a high-angle normal fault by SVSS is excluded. The pattern and magnitudes of strain favor hinge-related deformation mainly by flexural failure with a subordinate component of SVSS.

Overview of the influence of syn-sedimentary tectonics and palaeo-fluvial systems on coal seam and sand body characteristics in the Westphalian C strata, Campine Basin, Belgium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dreesen, Roland; Bossiroy, Dominique; Dusar, Michiel; Flores, R.M.; Verkaeren, Paul; Whateley, M. K. G.; Spears, D.A.

1995-01-01

The Westphalian C strata found in the northeastern part of the former Belgian coal district (Campine Basin), which is part of an extensive northwest European paralic coal basin, are considered. The thickness and lateral continuity of the Westphalian C coal seams vary considerably stratigraphically and areally. Sedimentological facies analysis of borehole cores indicates that the deposition of Westphalian C coal-bearing strata was controlled by fluvial depositional systems whose architectures were ruled by local subsidence rates. The local subsidence rates may be related to major faults, which were intermittently reactivated during deposition. Lateral changes in coal seam groups are also reflected by marked variations of their seismic signatures. Westphalian C fluvial depositional systems include moderate to low sinuosity braided and anastomosed river systems. Stable tectonic conditions on upthrown, fault-bounded platforms favoured deposition by braided rivers and the associated development of relatively thick, laterally continuous coal seams in raised mires. In contrast, rapidly subsiding downthrown fault blocks favoured aggradation, probably by anastomosed rivers and the development of relatively thin, highly discontinuous coal seams in topogenous mires.

Slip-localization within confined gouge powder sheared at moderate to high slip-velocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reches, Zeev; Chen, Xiaofeng; Morgan, Chance; Madden, Andrew

2015-04-01

Slip along faults in the upper crust is always associated with comminution and formation of non-cohesive gouge powder that can be lithified to cataclasite. Typically, the fine-grained powders (grain-size < 1 micron) build a 1-10 cm thick inner-core of a fault-zone. The ubiquitous occurrence of gouge powder implies that gouge properties may control the dynamic weakening of faults. Testing these properties is the present objective. We built a Confined ROtary Cell, CROC, with a ring-shape, ~3 mm thick gouge chamber, with 62.5 and 81.2 mm of inner and outer diameters. The sheared powder is sealed by two sets of seals pressurized by nitrogen. In CROC, we can control the pore-pressure and to inject fluids, and to monitor CO2 and H2O concentration; in addition, we monitor the standard mechanical parameters (slip velocity, stresses, dilation, and temperature). We tested six types of granular materials (starting grain-size in microns): Talc (<250), Kasota dolomite (125-250), ooides grains (125-250), San Andreas fault zone powder (< 840), montmorillonite powder (1-2), kaolinite powder and gypsum. The experimental slip-velocity ranged 0.001-1 m/s, slip distances from a few tens of cm to tens of m, effective normal stress up to 6.1 MPa. The central ultra-microscopic (SEM) observation is that almost invariably the slip was localized along principal-slip-zone (PSZ) within the granular layer. Even though the starting material was loose, coarse granular material, the developed PSZ was cohesive, hard, smooth and shining. The PSZ is about 1 micron thick, and built of agglomerated, ultra-fine grains (20-50 nm) that were pulverized from the original granular material. We noted that PSZs of the different tested compositions display similar characteristics in terms of structure, grain size, and roughness. Further, we found striking similarities between PSZ in the granular samples and the PZS that developed along experimental faults made of solid rock that were sheared at similar conditions. The ultra-fine grains and extreme slip localization in these experiments are generally similar to ultra-cataclasites found in exhumed faults-zones, and the intensely pulverized gouge found in drilling across active faults.

Growth of Fault-Cored Anticlines by Flexural Slip Folding: Analysis by Boundary Element Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kaj M.

2018-03-01

Fault-related folds develop due to a combination of slip on the associated fault and distributed deformation off the fault. Under conditions that are sufficient for sedimentary layering to act as a stack of mechanical layers with contact slip, buckling can dramatically amplify the folding process. We develop boundary element models of fault-related folding of viscoelastic layers embedded with a reverse fault to examine the influence of such layering on fold growth. The strength of bedding contacts, the thickness and stiffness of layering, and fault geometry all contribute significantly to the resulting fold form. Frictional contact strength between layers controls the degree of localization of slip within fold limbs; high contact friction in relatively thin bedding tends to localize bedding slip within narrow kink bands on fold limbs, and low contact friction tends to produce widespread bedding slip and concentric fold form. Straight ramp faults tend to produce symmetric folds, whereas listric faults tend to produce asymmetric folds with short forelimbs and longer backlimbs. Fault-related buckle folds grow exponentially with time under steady loading rates. At early stages of folding, fold growth is largely attributed to slip on the fault, but as the fold increases amplitude, a larger portion of the fold growth is attributed to distributed slip across bedding contacts on the limbs of the fold. An important implication for geologic and earthquake studies is that not all surface deformation associated with blind reverse faults may be attributed to slip on the fault during earthquakes.

Extrapolating surface structures to depth in transpressional systems: the role of rheology and convergence angle deduced from analogue experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, S. Y.; Neubauer, F.; Willingshofer, E.; Sokoutis, D.

2014-12-01

The internal structure of major strike-slip faults is still poorly understood, particularly how the deep structure could be inferred from its surface expression (Molnar and Dayem, 2011). Previous analogue experiments suggest that the convergence angle is the most influential factor (Leever et al., 2011). Further analogue modeling may allow a better understanding how to extrapolate surface structures to the subsurface geometry of strike-slip faults. Various scenarios of analogue experiments were designed to represent strike-slip faults in nature from different geological settings. As such key parameters, which are investigated in this study include: (a) the angle of convergence, (b) the thickness of brittle layer, (c) the influence of a rheological weak layer within the crust, and (d) influence of a thick and rheologically weak layer at the base of the crust. The latter aimed to simulate the effect of a hot metamorphic core complex or an alignment of uprising plutons bordered by a transtensional/transpressional strike-slip fault. The preliminary results show that convergence angle significantly influences the overall geometry of the transpressive system with greater convergence angles resulting in wider fault zones and higher elevation. Different positions, densities and viscosities of weak rheological layers have not only different surface expressions but also affect the fault geometry in the subsurface. For instance, rheological weak material in the bottom layer results in stretching when experiment reaches a certain displacement and a buildup of a less segmented, wide positive flower structure. At the surface, a wide fault valley in the middle of the fault zone is the reflection of stretching along the velocity discontinuity at depth. In models with a thin and rheologically weaker layer in the middle of the brittle layer, deformation is distributed over more faults and the geometry of the fault zone below and above the weak zone shows significant differences. This latter experiment has significantly similar phenomena in reality, such as few pressure ridges along Altyn fault. The experimental results underline the need to understand the role of the convergence angle and the influence of rheology on fault evolution, in order to connect between surface deformation and subsurface geometry.

Vibroseis Monitoring of San Andreas Fault in California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Korneev, Valeri; Nadeau, Robert

2004-06-11

A unique data set of seismograms for 720 source-receiver paths has been collected as part of a controlled source Vibroseis experiment San Andreas Fault (SAF) at Parkfield. In the experiment, seismic waves repeatedly illuminated the epicentral region of the expected M6 event at Parkfield from June 1987 until November 1996. For this effort, a large shear-wave vibrator was interfaced with the 3-component (3-C) borehole High-Resolution Seismic Network (HRSN), providing precisely timed collection of data for detailed studies of changes in wave propagation associated with stress and strain accumulation in the fault zone (FZ). Data collected by the borehole network weremore » examined for evidence of changes associated with the nucleation process of the anticipated M6 earthquake at Parkfield. These investigations reported significant traveltime changes in the S coda for paths crossing the fault zone southeast of the epicenter and above the rupture zone of the 1966 M6 earthquake. Analysis and modeling of these data and comparison with observed changes in creep, water level, microseismicity, slip-at-depth and propagation from characteristic repeating microearthquakes showed temporal variations in a variety of wave propagation attributes that were synchronous with changes in deformation and local seismicity patterns. Numerical modeling suggests 200 meters as an effective thickness of SAF. The observed variations can be explained by velocity 6 percent velocity variation within SAF core. Numerical modeling studies and a growing number of observations have argued for the propagation of fault-zone guided waves (FZGW) within a SAF zone that is 100 to 200 m wide at seismogenic depths and with 20 to 40 percent lower shear-wave velocity than the adjacent unfaulted rock. Guided wave amplitude tomographic inversion for SAF using microearthquakes, shows clearly that FZGW are significantly less attenuated in a well-defined region of the FZ. This region plunges to the northwest along the northwest boundary of the region of highest moment release and separates locked and slipping sections of the SAF at depth, as determined independently from geodesy, seismicity and the recurrence rates of characteristically repeating microearthquakes. The mechanism for low FZGW attenuation in the zone is possibly due to dewatering by fracture closure and/or fault-normal compression, or changes in fracture orientation due to a complex stress or strain field at the boundary between creeping and locked zones of the San Andreas Fault. Temporal changes of FZGW correlates with changes in overall seismicity. Active monitoring of changes in FZGW has a potential for imaging and detecting of changes in stress within FZ cores. Since FZGW primarily propagate in the low-velocity core region of fault zones, they sample the most active zone of fault deformation and provide greater structural detail of the inner fault core than body waves which propagate primarily outside of the central core region. FZGW also can be used for FZ continuity studies.« less

Fault zone structure and fluid-rock interaction of a high angle normal fault in Carrara marble (NW Tuscany, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molli, G.; Cortecci, G.; Vaselli, L.; Ottria, G.; Cortopassi, A.; Dinelli, E.; Mussi, M.; Barbieri, M.

2010-09-01

We studied the geometry, intensity of deformation and fluid-rock interaction of a high angle normal fault within Carrara marble in the Alpi Apuane NW Tuscany, Italy. The fault is comprised of a core bounded by two major, non-parallel slip surfaces. The fault core, marked by crush breccia and cataclasites, asymmetrically grades to the host protolith through a damage zone, which is well developed only in the footwall block. On the contrary, the transition from the fault core to the hangingwall protolith is sharply defined by the upper main slip surface. Faulting was associated with fluid-rock interaction, as evidenced by kinematically related veins observable in the damage zone and fluid channelling within the fault core, where an orange-brownish cataclasite matrix can be observed. A chemical and isotopic study of veins and different structural elements of the fault zone (protolith, damage zone and fault core), including a mathematical model, was performed to document type, role, and activity of fluid-rock interactions during deformation. The results of our studies suggested that deformation pattern was mainly controlled by processes associated with a linking-damage zone at a fault tip, development of a fault core, localization and channelling of fluids within the fault zone. Syn-kinematic microstructural modification of calcite microfabric possibly played a role in confining fluid percolation.

Kinematics of Faulting and Structural Evolution of Neogene Supra-detachment Basins on the Menderes Metamorphic Core Complex, Western Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dilek, Y.; Oner, Z.; Davis, E. A.

2007-12-01

The Menderes metamorphic massif (MM) in western Anatolia is a classic core complex with exhumed high-grade crustal rocks intruded by granodioritic plutons and overlain by syn-extensional sedimentary rocks. Timing and the mechanism(s) of the initial exhumation of the MM are controversial, and different hypotheses exist in the literature. Major structural grabens (i.e. Alasehir, Buyuk Menderes) within the MM that are bounded by high-angle and seismically active faults are late-stage brittle structures, which characterize the block-faulting phase in the extensional history of the core complex and are filled with Quaternary sediments. On the southern shoulder of the Alasehir graben high-grade metamorphic rocks of the MM are overlain by the Miocene and younger sedimentary rocks above a N-dipping detachment surface. The nearly 100-m-thick cataclastic shear zone beneath this surface contain S-C fabrics, microfaults, Riedel shears, mica-fish structures and shear bands, all consistently indicating top-to-the North shearing. Granodioritic plutons crosscutting the MM and the detachment surface are exposed within this cataclastic zone, displaying extensional ductile and brittle structures. The oldest sedimentary rocks onlapping the cataclastic shear zone of the MM here are the Middle Miocene lacustrine shale and limestone units, unconformably overlain by the Upper Miocene fluvial and alluvial fan deposits. Extensive development of these alluvial fan deposits by the Late Miocene indicates the onset of range-front faulting in the MM by this time, causing a surge of coarse clastic deposition along the northern edge of the core complex. The continued exhumation and uplift of the MM provided the necessary relief and detrital material for the Plio-Pleistocene fluvial systems in the Alasehir supradetachment basin (ASDB). A combination of rotational normal faulting and scissor faulting in the extending ASDB affected the depositional patterns and drainage systems, and produced local unconformities within the basinal stratigraphy. High-angle, oblique-slip scissor faults crosscutting the MM rocks, the detachment surface and the basinal strata offset them for more than few 100 meters and the fault blocks locally show different structural architecture and metamorphic grades, suggesting differential uplift along these scissor faults. This fault kinematics and the distribution of range-parallel and range-perpendicular faults strongly controlled the shape and depth of the accommodation space within the ASDB. At a more regional scale scissor faulting across the MM seems to have controlled the foci of Plio-Pleistocene point-source volcanism in the Aegean extensional province (e.g. Kula area). There are no major interruptions in the syn-extensional depositional history of the ASDB, ruling out the pulsed-extension models suggesting a period of contractional deformation in the late Cenozoic evolution of the MM. The onset of exhumation and extensional tectonics in the MM and western Anatolia was a result of thermal weakening of the orogenic crust, following a widespread episode of post-collisional magmatism in the broader Aegean region during the Eocene through Miocene.

Correlation of Miocene strata on the submarine St. Croix Ridge and onland St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Salis, Katharina; Speed, Robert

1995-03-01

The nannofossils of an hydraulic piston core from the steep scarp between the St. Croix Ridge and Virgin Islands Basin were restudied. Formerly thought to represent a Pliocene debris flow, we interpret it as an early Miocene (NN1/2) hemipelagic deposit. We correlate the seismic unit sampled by piston core with the Kingshill-Jealousy Formation present on St. Croix. These sediments likely belong to an extensive, thick, deep marine cover of the St. Croix Ridge, deposited on a metamorphic—igneous basement between early Eocene and early Miocene time. Faulting did not evidently affect this sediment cover until the late Neogene.

Fracture zones constrained by neutral surfaces in a fault-related fold: Insights from the Kelasu tectonic zone, Kuqa Depression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shuai; Hou, Guiting; Zheng, Chunfang

2017-11-01

Stress variation associated with folding is one of the controlling factors in the development of tectonic fractures, however, little attention has been paid to the influence of neutral surfaces during folding on fracture distribution in a fault-related fold. In this study, we take the Cretaceous Bashijiqike Formation in the Kuqa Depression as an example and analyze the distribution of tectonic fractures in fault-related folds by core observation and logging data analysis. Three fracture zones are identified in a fault-related fold: a tensile zone, a transition zone and a compressive zone, which may be constrained by two neutral surfaces of fold. Well correlation reveals that the tensile zone and the transition zone reach the maximum thickness at the fold hinge and get thinner in the fold limbs. A 2D viscoelastic stress field model of a fault-related fold was constructed to further investigate the mechanism of fracturing. Statistical and numerical analysis reveal that the tensile zone and the transition zone become thicker with decreasing interlimb angle. Stress variation associated with folding is the first level of control over the general pattern of fracture distribution while faulting is a secondary control over the development of local fractures in a fault-related fold.

The Architecture and Frictional Properties of Faults in Shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Paola, N.; Imber, J.; Murray, R.; Holdsworth, R.

2015-12-01

The geometry of brittle fault zones in shale rocks, as well as their frictional properties at reservoir conditions, are still poorly understood. Nevertheless, these factors may control the very low recovery factors (25% for gas and 5% for oil) obtained during fracking operations. Extensional brittle fault zones (maximum displacement < 3 m) cut exhumed oil mature black shales in the Cleveland Basin (UK). Fault cores up to 50 cm wide accommodated most of the displacement, and are defined by a stair-step geometry. Their internal architecture is characterised by four distinct fault rock domains: foliated gouges; breccias; hydraulic breccias; and a slip zone up to 20 mm thick, composed of a fine-grained black gouge. Hydraulic breccias are located within dilational jogs with aperture of up to 20 cm. Brittle fracturing and cataclastic flow are the dominant deformation mechanisms in the fault core of shale faults. Velocity-step and slide-hold-slide experiments at sub-seismic slip rates (microns/s) were performed in a rotary shear apparatus under dry, water and brine-saturated conditions, for displacements of up to 46 cm. Both the protolith shale and the slip zone black gouge display shear localization, velocity strengthening behaviour and negative healing rates, suggesting that slow, stable sliding faulting should occur within the protolith rocks and slip zone gouges. Experiments at seismic speed (1.3 m/s), performed on the same materials under dry conditions, show that after initial friction values of 0.5-0.55, friction decreases to steady-state values of 0.1-0.15 within the first 10 mm of slip. Contrastingly, water/brine saturated gouge mixtures, exhibit almost instantaneous attainment of very low steady-state sliding friction (0.1), suggesting that seismic ruptures may efficiently propagate in the slip zone of fluid-saturated shale faults. Stable sliding in faults in shale can cause slow fault/fracture propagation, affecting the rate at which new fracture areas are created and, hence, limiting oil and gas production during reservoir stimulation. However, fluid saturated conditions can favour seismic slip propagation, with fast and efficient creation of new fracture areas. These processes are very effective at dilational jogs, where fluid circulation may be enhanced, facilitating oil and gas production.

Identification of deep subaqueous co-seismic scarps through specific coeval sedimentation in Lesser Antilles: implication for seismic hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, C.; Reyss, J.-L.; Leclerc, F.; Moreno, E.; Feuillet, N.; Barrier, L.; Beauducel, F.; Boudon, G.; Clément, V.; Deplus, C.; Gallou, N.; Lebrun, J.-F.; Le Friant, A.; Nercessian, A.; Paterne, M.; Pichot, T.; Vidal, C.

2012-05-01

During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February-March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent "ponding" of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean "homogenites". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7 m long) was dedicated to a sedimentological analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclastics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies fine-grained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. 210Pb and 137Cs activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported 210Pb decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a 137Cs peak corresponding to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (Mw = 6.3 and Mw = 7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogenites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cumulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from 210Pb decrease curve (0.5 mm yr-1) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five >M6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.

Fault zone architecture within Miocene-Pliocene syn-rift sediments, Northwestern Red Sea, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaky, Khairy S.

2017-04-01

The present study focusses on field description of small normal fault zones in Upper Miocene-Pliocene sedimentary rocks on the northwestern side of the Red Sea, Egypt. The trend of these fault zones is mainly NW-SE. Paleostress analysis of 17 fault planes and slickenlines indicate that the tension direction is NE-SW. The minimum ( σ3) and intermediate ( σ2) paleostress axes are generally sub-horizontal and the maximum paleostress axis ( σ1) is sub-vertical. The fault zones are composed of damage zones and fault core. The damage zone is characterized by subsidiary faults and fractures that are asymmetrically developed on the hanging wall and footwall of the main fault. The width of the damage zone varies for each fault depending on the lithology, amount of displacement and irregularity of the fault trace. The average ratio between the hanging wall and the footwall damage zones width is about 3:1. The fault core consists of fault gouge and breccia. It is generally concentrated in a narrow zone of ˜0.5 to ˜8 cm width. The overall pattern of the fault core indicates that the width increases with increasing displacement. The faults with displacement < 1 m have fault cores ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 cm, while the faults with displacements of > 2 m have fault cores ranging from 4.0 to 8.0 cm. The fault zones are associated with sliver fault blocks, clay smear, segmented faults and fault lenses' structural features. These features are mechanically related to the growth and linkage of the fault arrays. The structural features may represent a neotectonic and indicate that the architecture of the fault zones is developed as several tectonic phases.

Neogene deformation in the West Antarctic Rift in the McMurdo Sound region from studies of the ANDRILL and Cape Roberts drill cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsen, T. S.; Wilson, T. J.; Jarrard, R. D.; Millan, C.; Saddler, D.; Läufer, A.; Pierdominici, S.

2010-12-01

Seismic studies indicate that the West Antarctic rift system records at least two distinct periods of Cenozoic rifting (Paleogene and Neogene) within the western Ross Sea. Natural fracture data from ANDRILL and Cape Roberts drill cores are revealing a picture of the geodynamic patterns associated with these rifting episodes. Kinematic indicators along faults recovered in drill cores document dominant normal faulting, although reverse and strike-slip faults are also present. Ongoing studies of mechanically twinned calcite in veins recovered in the drill cores yield predominantly vertical shortening strains with horizontal extension, consistent with a normal fault regime. In the Cape Roberts Project drill core, faults of inferred Oligocene age document a dominant NNE maximum horizontal stress associated with Paleogene rifting within the Victoria Land Basin. The NNE maximum horizontal stress at Cape Roberts is at an oblique angle to Transantarctic Mountain front, and consistent with previous interpretations invoking Cenozoic dextral transtensional shear along the boundary. In the ANDRILL SMS (AND-2A) drill core, faults and veins presumably associated with Neogene rifting document a dominant NNW to NE faulting of an expanded Lower Miocene section, although subsidiary WNW faulting is also present within the upper sections of oriented core. In the ANDRILL MIS (AND-1B) drill core, natural fractures are consistently present through the core below c. 450 mbsf, the estimated depth of the ‘B-clino’ seismic reflector. This is consistent with the presence of seismically-detectable faults below this horizon, which record the major faulting episode associated with Neogene rifting in the Terror Rift. Sedimentary intrusions and steep veins folded by compaction indicate that deformation occurred prior to complete lithification of the strata, suggesting that deformation was at least in part coeval with deposition. Faults and associated veins intersected in the AND-1B drill core also cut Pliocene and Pleistocene strata, suggesting that deformation has continued to the recent or may perhaps ongoing.

Stratigraphy of the Proterozoic Revett Formation, Coeur d'Alene District, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mauk, Jeffrey L.

2002-01-01

The Proterozoic Revett Formation of the Belt Supergroup contains three informal members that can be identified throughout the Coeur d'Alene mining district of northern Idaho. The lower Revett Formation is dominated by quartzite, but also contains intervals of siltite. The middle Revett consists predominantly of siltite, though quartzite and argillite locally form significant intervals. The upper Revett consists of intervals of quartzite that alternate with intervals of siltite and/or thin-bedded argillite. These units show dramatic changes in thickness and sedimentary facies within the Coeur d'Alene mining district; changes that are more abrupt and extreme than seen elsewhere in the Belt basin. The regionally significant Osburn fault bisects the district, with 20 to 30 km of post-mineralization right-lateral strike-slip offset. South of this fault, the upper Revett is 640 m thick at the Bunker Hill mine in the west, 450 to 500 m thick in the centrally located Silver Belt, and over 550 m thick at the Reindeer Queen deposit to the east. North of the Osburn fault, the upper Revett is approximately 120 m thick in the vicinity of the Lucky Friday mine, but abruptly thins to 45 to 90 m to the north and northeast, in the southern end of the western Montana copper sulfide belt. The middle Revett Formation south of the Osburn fault appears to be 400 to 450 m thick. North of the Osburn Fault, the middle Revett thins to approximately 120 m in the Lucky Friday area, and to approximately 60 m at Military Gulch. The lower Revett Formation is approximately 1650 m thick south of the Osburn fault, but thins to 400 to 450 m thick to the north of the Osburn fault. Observed thickness changes support previous hypotheses that the current Osburn fault coincides with a Proterozoic synsedimentary fault that controlled sedimentation in this region.

Occurrence of oil in the Austin Chalk at Van field, Van Zandt County, Texas: A unique geologic setting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lowe, J.T.; Carrington, D.B.

1990-09-01

The Austin Chalk is buried to a depth of only 2,100-2,500 ft and has retained primary microporosity unlike the typical deep fractured chalk reservoirs. The Van structure is a complexly faulted domal anticline created by salt intrusion and is approximately 2,000 ft higher than surrounding structures in the area. A major northwest-dipping fault acts as the primary trapping mechanism. The field has produced 0.5 billion BO from thick Woodbine sands since its discovery in 1929. Occurrence of oil in the Austin Chalk has been known since the field discovery, but prior completions were low rate oil producers. Recent development ofmore » a large fracture stimulation technique has resulted in increased production rates of up to 300 BOPD. The Austin Chalk reservoir limits were determined by isopaching feet of minimum productive resistivity having porosity above a cutoff value. The resistivity/porosity isopach showed a direct correlation between Austin Chalk productivity and the Austin Chalk structure and faulting pattern. Structural evidence along with oil typing indicate that the oil in the Austin Chalk has migrated upward along fault planes and through fault juxtaposition from the Woodbine sands 200 ft below the Austin Chalk. Thin-section and scanning electron microscopy work performed on conventional cores showed that the Van Austin Chalk formation is a very fine grained limestone composed primarily of coccoliths. Various amounts of detrital illite clay are present in the coccolith matrix. All effective porosity is micro-intergranular and ranges from 15 to 35%. Based on the core analyses, the main porosity reducing agent and therefore control on reservoir quality is the amount of detrital clay present filling the micropores. Permeability is very low with values ranging from 0.01 to 1.5 md. There is no evidence of significant natural fractures in the core. Artificial fractures are therefore required to create the permeability needed to sustain commercial production rates.« less

Three-dimensional geologic model of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, south-central Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faith, Jason R.; Blome, Charles D.; Pantea, Michael P.; Puckette, James O.; Halihan, Todd; Osborn, Noel; Christenson, Scott; Pack, Skip

2010-01-01

The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer of south-central Oklahoma encompasses more than 850 square kilometers and is the principal water resource for south-central Oklahoma. Rock units comprising the aquifer are characterized by limestone, dolomite, and sandstones assigned to two lower Paleozoic units: the Arbuckle and Simpson Groups. Also considered to be part of the aquifer is the underlying Cambrian-age Timbered Hills Group that contains limestone and sandstone. The highly faulted and fractured nature of the Arbuckle-Simpson units and the variable thickness (600 to 2,750 meters) increases the complexity in determining the subsurface geologic framework of this aquifer. A three-dimensional EarthVision (Trademark) geologic framework model was constructed to quantify the geometric relationships of the rock units of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer in the Hunton anticline area. This 3-D EarthVision (Trademark) geologic framework model incorporates 54 faults and four modeled units: basement, Arbuckle-Timbered Hills Group, Simpson Group, and post-Simpson. Primary data used to define the model's 54 faults and four modeled surfaces were obtained from geophysical logs, cores, and cuttings from 126 water and petroleum wells. The 3-D framework model both depicts the volumetric extent of the aquifer and provides the stratigraphic layer thickness and elevation data used to construct a MODFLOW version 2000 regional groundwater-flow model.

Fluid-rock interaction during a large earthquake recorded in fault gouge: A case study of the Nojima fault, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, D.; Lin, A.

2016-12-01

Distinguishing the seismic ruptures during the earthquake from a lot of fractures in borehole core is very important to understand rupture processes and seismic efficiency. In particular, a great earthquake like the 1995 Mw 7.2 Kobe earthquake, but again, evidence has been limited to the grain size analysis and the color of fault gouge. In the past two decades, increasing geological evidence has emerged that seismic faults and shear zones within the middle to upper crust play a crucial role in controlling the architectures of crustal fluid migration. Rock-fluid interactions along seismogenic faults give us a chance to find the seismic ruptures from the same event. Recently, a new project of "Drilling into Fault Damage Zone" has being conducted by Kyoto University on the Nojima Fault again after 20 years of the 1995 Kobe earthquake for an integrated multidisciplinary study on the assessment of activity of active faults involving active tectonics, geochemistry and geochronology of active fault zones. In this work, we report on the signature of slip plane inside the Nojima Fault associated with individual earthquakes on the basis of trace element and isotope analyses. Trace element concentrations and 87Sr/86Sr ratios of fault gouge and host rocks were determined by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Samples were collected from two trenches and an outcrop of Nojima Fault which. Based on the geochemical result, we interpret these geochemical results in terms of fluid-rock interactions recorded in fault friction during earthquake. The trace-element enrichment pattern of the slip plane can be explained by fluid-rock interactions at high temperature. It also can help us find the main coseismic fault slipping plane inside the thick fault gouge zone.

Evidence for tectonic, lithologic, and thermal controls on fracture system geometries in an andesitic high-temperature geothermal field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massiot, Cécile; Nicol, Andrew; McNamara, David D.; Townend, John

2017-08-01

Analysis of fracture orientation, spacing, and thickness from acoustic borehole televiewer (BHTV) logs and cores in the andesite-hosted Rotokawa geothermal reservoir (New Zealand) highlights potential controls on the geometry of the fracture system. Cluster analysis of fracture orientations indicates four fracture sets. Probability distributions of fracture spacing and thickness measured on BHTV logs are estimated for each fracture set, using maximum likelihood estimations applied to truncated size distributions to account for sampling bias. Fracture spacing is dominantly lognormal, though two subordinate fracture sets have a power law spacing. This difference in spacing distributions may reflect the influence of the andesitic sequence stratification (lognormal) and tectonic faults (power law). Fracture thicknesses of 9-30 mm observed in BHTV logs, and 1-3 mm in cores, are interpreted to follow a power law. Fractures in thin sections (˜5 μm thick) do not fit this power law distribution, which, together with their orientation, reflect a change of controls on fracture thickness from uniform (such as thermal) controls at thin section scale to anisotropic (tectonic) at core and BHTV scales of observation. However, the ˜5% volumetric percentage of fractures within the rock at all three scales suggests a self-similar behavior in 3-D. Power law thickness distributions potentially associated with power law fluid flow rates, and increased connectivity where fracture sets intersect, may cause the large permeability variations that occur at hundred meter scales in the reservoir. The described fracture geometries can be incorporated into fracture and flow models to explore the roles of fracture connectivity, stress, and mineral precipitation/dissolution on permeability in such andesite-hosted geothermal systems.

Slab rupture and delamination under the Betics and Rif constrained from receiver functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mancilla, Flor de Lis; Booth-Rea, Guillermo; Stich, Daniel; Pérez-Peña, José Vicente; Morales, José; Azañón, José Miguel; Martin, Rosa; Giaconia, Flavio

2015-11-01

We map the lithospheric structure under the westernmost Mediterranean convergent setting interpreting P-receiver functions obtained from a dense seismic network. No orogenic root occurs under the eastern and great part of the central Betics. However, the subducted South Iberian continental lithosphere is found beneath the western Betics where the Iberian Moho reaches depths of approximately 65 km, dipping gently towards the SE. Meanwhile, at the Rif, strong crustal and lithospheric thickness contrasts occur across the Nekor NW-SE sinistral fault that overlies the region of present slab tearing. East of the Nekor fault there is no orogenic root and the crust has been thinned to approximately 22 km, whilst to the west the crust reaches 55 km thickness and the Maghrebian continental lithosphere is attached to the lithospheric slab imaged by tomography under the Alboran basin. These data suggest that subduction rollback under the Alboran and Algerian basins, together with continental slab tearing or detachment producing edge delamination under the Betics and Rif have been the main tectonic mechanisms driving extension, magmatism and regional uplift in the westernmost Mediterranean since the Late Miocene until present. The surface expression of edge-delamination and slab tearing is marked by regional uplift, denudation of HP rocks in elongated core-complex type domes, late Miocene volcanism in the Eastern Betics and Rif, and by large NE-SW strike-slip transfer faults like the Alpujarras, Crevillente, Torcal or Nekor faults that accommodate strong gradients in crustal displacements. The Iberian slab is still attached to the oceanic slab imaged under the Alboran basin at the western Betics where intermediate depth seismicity, recent dextral strike-slip faulting and folding, could reflect slab tearing. Meanwhile, active faulting and differential GPS-measured displacements would mark slab tearing beneath the Rif coinciding with the trace of the sinistral Nekor fault.

A plate boundary earthquake record from a wetland adjacent to the Alpine fault in New Zealand refines hazard estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochran, U. A.; Clark, K. J.; Howarth, J. D.; Biasi, G. P.; Langridge, R. M.; Villamor, P.; Berryman, K. R.; Vandergoes, M. J.

2017-04-01

Discovery and investigation of millennial-scale geological records of past large earthquakes improve understanding of earthquake frequency, recurrence behaviour, and likelihood of future rupture of major active faults. Here we present a ∼2000 year-long, seven-event earthquake record from John O'Groats wetland adjacent to the Alpine fault in New Zealand, one of the most active strike-slip faults in the world. We linked this record with the 7000 year-long, 22-event earthquake record from Hokuri Creek (20 km along strike to the north) to refine estimates of earthquake frequency and recurrence behaviour for the South Westland section of the plate boundary fault. Eight cores from John O'Groats wetland revealed a sequence that alternated between organic-dominated and clastic-dominated sediment packages. Transitions from a thick organic unit to a thick clastic unit that were sharp, involved a significant change in depositional environment, and were basin-wide, were interpreted as evidence of past surface-rupturing earthquakes. Radiocarbon dates of short-lived organic fractions either side of these transitions were modelled to provide estimates for earthquake ages. Of the seven events recognised at the John O'Groats site, three post-date the most recent event at Hokuri Creek, two match events at Hokuri Creek, and two events at John O'Groats occurred in a long interval during which the Hokuri Creek site may not have been recording earthquakes clearly. The preferred John O'Groats-Hokuri Creek earthquake record consists of 27 events since ∼6000 BC for which we calculate a mean recurrence interval of 291 ± 23 years, shorter than previously estimated for the South Westland section of the fault and shorter than the current interseismic period. The revised 50-year conditional probability of a surface-rupturing earthquake on this fault section is 29%. The coefficient of variation is estimated at 0.41. We suggest the low recurrence variability is likely to be a feature of other strike-slip plate boundary faults similar to the Alpine fault.

78 FR 31592 - T-Mobile Usa, Inc., Core Fault Isolation Team, Engineering Division, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-24

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-82,371] T-Mobile Usa, Inc., Core Fault Isolation Team, Engineering Division, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Notice of Affirmative Determination...., Core Fault Isolation Team, Engineering Division, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (subject firm). The...

Fault and fracture patterns in low porosity chalk and their potential influence on sub-surface fluid flow-A case study from Flamborough Head, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagi, D. A.; De Paola, N.; McCaffrey, K. J. W.; Holdsworth, R. E.

2016-10-01

To better understand fault zone architecture and fluid flow in mesoscale fault zones, we studied normal faults in chalks with displacements up to 20 m, at two representative localities in Flamborough Head (UK). At the first locality, chalk contains cm-thick, interlayered marl horizons, whereas at the second locality marl horizons were largely absent. Cm-scale displacement faults at both localities display ramp-flat geometries. Mesoscale fault patterns in the marl-free chalk, including a larger displacement fault (20 m) containing multiple fault strands, show widespread evidence of hydraulically-brecciated rocks, whereas clays smears along fault planes, and injected into open fractures, and a simpler fault zone architecture is observed where marl horizons are present. Hydraulic brecciation and veins observed in the marl-free chalk units suggest that mesoscale fault patterns acted as localized fault conduit allowing for widespread fluid flow. On the other hand, mesoscale fault patterns developed in highly fractured chalk, which contains interlayered marl horizons can act as localized barriers to fluid flow, due to the sealing effect of clays smears along fault planes and introduced into open fractures in the damage zone. To support our field observations, quantitative analyses carried out on the large faults suggest a simple fault zone in the chalk with marl units with fracture density/connectivity decreasing towards the protolith. Where marls are absent, density is high throughout the fault zone, while connectivity is high only in domains nearest the fault core. We suggest that fluid flow in fractured chalk is especially influenced by the presence of marls. When present, it can smear onto fault planes, forming localised barriers. Fluid flow along relatively large displacement faults is additionally controlled by the complexity of the fault zone, especially the size/geometry of weakly and intensely connected damage zone domains.

A Detailed Study of the Delacroix Island Major Fault and Its Role on Stratigraphic Horizons from the Middle Miocene to Present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levesh, J. L.; McLindon, C.; Kulp, M. A.

2017-12-01

An in-depth field study of the Delacroix Island producing field illustrates the evolution of the main East-West trending Delacroix Island fault over the last thirteen million years. Well log correlation and 3-D seismic interpretation of eighteen bio-stratigraphic horizons across the fault reveal a range of stratigraphic thicknesses. A cross section, created with wells upthrown and downthrown to the fault, visually demonstrates varying degrees of thickening and displacement of the stratigraphic intervals across the fault. One upthrown and one downthrown well, with well log curve data up to 30 meters below the surface, were used to calculate interval thicknesses between the main tops as well as five more Pliocene/Pleistocene biostratigraphic markers. Isopach maps, created with these interval thicknesses, depict two styles of interval thickening both of which indicate differential subsidence across the fault. An interval thickness analysis was plotted in both depth and time as well as plots showing the rate of sediment accumulation and depth versus fault displacement. A lineation on the marsh surface consistent with a projection of the fault plane suggests that the fault movement has been episodically continuous to the present and that recent movement may have played a role in submerging the downthrown side of the surface fault trace.

Rifting and subduction in the papuan peninsula, papua new guinea: The significance of the trobriand tough, the nubara strike-slip fault, and the woodlark rift to the present configuration of papua new guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameron, Milo Louis

The calculated extension (~111 km) across the Woodlark rift is incompatible with the > 130 km needed to exhume the Metamorphic Core Complexes on shallow angle faults (< 30°) using N-S extension in the Woodlark Basin. High resolution bathymetry, seismicity, and seismic reflection data indicate that the Nubara Fault continues west of the Trobriand Trough, intersects the Woodlark spreading center, and forms the northern boundary of the Woodlark plate and the southern boundary of the Trobriand plate. The newly defined Trobriand plate, to the north of this boundary, has moved SW-NE along the right lateral Nubara Fault, creating SW-NE extension in the region bounded by the MCC's of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands and Moresby Seamount. Gravity and bathymetry data extracted along four transect lines were used to model the gravity and flexure across the Nubara Fault boundary. Differences exist in the elastic thickness between the northern and southern parts of the lines at the Metamorphic Core Complexes of Goodenough Island (Te_south = 5.7 x 103 m; Te_north = 6.1 x 103 m) and Fergusson Island (Te_south = 1.2 x 103 m; Te_north = 5.5 x 103 m). Differences in the elastic strength of the lithosphere also exist at Moresby Seamount (Te_south = 4.2 x 103 m; Te_north = 4.7 x 103 m) and Egum Atoll (Te_south =7.5 x 103 m; Te_north = 1.3 x 104 m). The differences between the northern and southern parts of each transect line imply an east-west boundary that is interpreted to be the Nubara Fault. The opening of the Woodlark Basin resulted in the rotation of the Papuan Peninsula and the Woodlark Rise, strike slip motion between the Solomon Sea and the Woodlark Basin at the Nubara Fault, and the formation of the PAC-SOL-WLK; SOL-WLK-TRB triple junctions. The intersection of the Woodlark Spreading Center with the Nubara Fault added the AUS-WLK-TRB triple junction and established the Nubara Fault as the northern boundary of the Woodlark plate.

Oil migration in a major growth fault: Structural analysis of the Pathfinder core, South Eugene Island Block 330, offshore Louisiana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Losh, S.

1998-09-01

The Pathfinder core, collected in the South Eugene Island Block 330 field, offshore Louisiana, provides an outstanding sample of structures associated with a major growth fault that abuts a giant oil field and that is thought to have acted as a conduit for hydrocarbon migration into the producing reservoirs. The fault zone in the core consists of three structural domains, each characterized by a distinct rock type, distribution of fault dips and dip azimuths, and distribution of spacing between adjacent faults and fractures. Although all of the domains contain oil-bearing sands, only faults and fractures in the deepest domain containmore » oil, even though the oil-barren fault domains contain numerous faults and fractures that are parallel to those containing oil in the deepest domain. The deepest domain is also distinguished from the other two domains by a greater degree of structural complexity and by a well-defined power-law distribution of fault and fracture spacings. Even though oil is present in sands throughout the core, its restriction to faults and fractures in the youngest sampled portion of the fault zone implies that oil migrated only through that part of the fault that was active during the time when oil had access to it. The absence of oil in fractures or faults in the other, probably older, fault domains indicates that the oil was never sufficiently pressured to flow up the fault zone on its own, either by hydraulic fracture or by increased permeability as a result of decreased effective stress. Instead, fluid migration along faults and fractures in the Pathfinder core was enhanced by permeability created in response to relatively far-field stresses related to minibasin subsidence.« less

Fault Tolerance Middleware for a Multi-Core System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Some, Raphael R.; Springer, Paul L.; Zima, Hans P.; James, Mark; Wagner, David A.

2012-01-01

Fault Tolerance Middleware (FTM) provides a framework to run on a dedicated core of a multi-core system and handles detection of single-event upsets (SEUs), and the responses to those SEUs, occurring in an application running on multiple cores of the processor. This software was written expressly for a multi-core system and can support different kinds of fault strategies, such as introspection, algorithm-based fault tolerance (ABFT), and triple modular redundancy (TMR). It focuses on providing fault tolerance for the application code, and represents the first step in a plan to eventually include fault tolerance in message passing and the FTM itself. In the multi-core system, the FTM resides on a single, dedicated core, separate from the cores used by the application. This is done in order to isolate the FTM from application faults and to allow it to swap out any application core for a substitute. The structure of the FTM consists of an interface to a fault tolerant strategy module, a responder module, a fault manager module, an error factory, and an error mapper that determines the severity of the error. In the present reference implementation, the only fault tolerant strategy implemented is introspection. The introspection code waits for an application node to send an error notification to it. It then uses the error factory to create an error object, and at this time, a severity level is assigned to the error. The introspection code uses its built-in knowledge base to generate a recommended response to the error. Responses might include ignoring the error, logging it, rolling back the application to a previously saved checkpoint, swapping in a new node to replace a bad one, or restarting the application. The original error and recommended response are passed to the top-level fault manager module, which invokes the response. The responder module also notifies the introspection module of the generated response. This provides additional information to the introspection module that it can use in generating its next response. For example, if the responder triggers an application rollback and errors are still occurring, the introspection module may decide to recommend an application restart.

Geometry of the Nojima fault at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan - I. A simple damage structure inferred from borehole core permeability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockner, David A.; Tanaka, Hidemi; Ito, Hisao; Ikeda, Ryuji; Omura, Kentaro; Naka, Hisanobu

2009-01-01

The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, M = 7.2, ruptured the Nojima fault in southwest Japan. We have studied core samples taken from two scientific drillholes that crossed the fault zone SW of the epicentral region on Awaji Island. The shallower hole, drilled by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ), was started 75 m to the SE of the surface trace of the Nojima fault and crossed the fault at a depth of 624 m. A deeper hole, drilled by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) was started 302 m to the SE of the fault and crossed fault strands below a depth of 1140 m. We have measured strength and matrix permeability of core samples taken from these two drillholes. We find a strong correlation between permeability and proximity to the fault zone shear axes. The half-width of the high permeability zone (approximately 15 to 25 m) is in good agreement with the fault zone width inferred from trapped seismic wave analysis and other evidence. The fault zone core or shear axis contains clays with permeabilities of approximately 0.1 to 1 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (10 to 30 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Within a few meters of the fault zone core, the rock is highly fractured but has sustained little net shear. Matrix permeability of this zone is approximately 30 to 60 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (300 to 1000 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Outside this damage zone, matrix permeability drops below 0.01 microdarcy. The clay-rich core material has the lowest strength with a coefficient of friction of approximately 0.55. Shear strength increases with distance from the shear axis. These permeability and strength observations reveal a simple fault zone structure with a relatively weak fine-grained core surrounded by a damage zone of fractured rock. In this case, the damage zone will act as a high-permeability conduit for vertical and horizontal flow in the plane of the fault. The fine-grained core region, however, will impede fluid flow across the fault.

Nondestructive continuous physical property measurements of core samples recovered from hole B, Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirono, Tetsuro; Yeh, En-Chao; Lin, Weiren; Sone, Hiroki; Mishima, Toshiaki; Soh, Wonn; Hashimoto, Yoshitaka; Matsubayashi, Osamu; Aoike, Kan; Ito, Hisao; Kinoshita, Masataka; Murayama, Masafumi; Song, Sheng-Rong; Ma, Kuo-Fong; Hung, Jih-Hao; Wang, Chien-Ying; Tsai, Yi-Ben; Kondo, Tomomi; Nishimura, Masahiro; Moriya, Soichi; Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Fujiki, Toru; Maeda, Lena; Muraki, Hiroaki; Kuramoto, Toshikatsu; Sugiyama, Kazuhiro; Sugawara, Toshikatsu

2007-07-01

The Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling Project was undertaken in 2002 to investigate the faulting mechanism of the 1999 Mw 7.6 Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake. Hole B penetrated the Chelungpu fault, and core samples were recovered from between 948.42- and 1352.60-m depth. Three major zones, designated FZB1136 (fault zone at 1136-m depth in hole B), FZB1194, and FZB1243, were recognized in the core samples as active fault zones within the Chelungpu fault. Nondestructive continuous physical property measurements, conducted on all core samples, revealed that the three major fault zones were characterized by low gamma ray attenuation (GRA) densities and high magnetic susceptibilities. Extensive fracturing and cracks within the fault zones and/or loss of atoms with high atomic number, but not a measurement artifact, might have caused the low GRA densities, whereas the high magnetic susceptibility values might have resulted from the formation of magnetic minerals from paramagnetic minerals by frictional heating. Minor fault zones were characterized by low GRA densities and no change in magnetic susceptibility, and the latter may indicate that these minor zones experienced relatively low frictional heating. Magnetic susceptibility in a fault zone may be key to the determination that frictional heating occurred during an earthquake on the fault.

Study on vibration characteristics and fault diagnosis method of oil-immersed flat wave reactor in Arctic area converter station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Wenqing; Wang, Yuandong; Li, Wenpeng; Sun, Guang; Qu, Guomin; Cui, Shigang; Li, Mengke; Wang, Yongqiang

2017-10-01

Based on long term vibration monitoring of the No.2 oil-immersed fat wave reactor in the ±500kV converter station in East Mongolia, the vibration signals in normal state and in core loose fault state were saved. Through the time-frequency analysis of the signals, the vibration characteristics of the core loose fault were obtained, and a fault diagnosis method based on the dual tree complex wavelet (DT-CWT) and support vector machine (SVM) was proposed. The vibration signals were analyzed by DT-CWT, and the energy entropy of the vibration signals were taken as the feature vector; the support vector machine was used to train and test the feature vector, and the accurate identification of the core loose fault of the flat wave reactor was realized. Through the identification of many groups of normal and core loose fault state vibration signals, the diagnostic accuracy of the result reached 97.36%. The effectiveness and accuracy of the method in the fault diagnosis of the flat wave reactor core is verified.

Structural and Geophysical Characterization of Oklahoma Basement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, C.; Johnston, C. S.; Carpenter, B. M.; Reches, Z.

2017-12-01

Oklahoma has experienced a large increase in seismicity since 2009 that has been attributed to wastewater injection. Most earthquakes, including four M5+ earthquakes, nucleated at depths > 4 km, well within the pre-Cambrian crystalline basement, even though wastewater injection occurred almost exclusively in the sedimentary sequence above. To better understand the structural characteristics of the rhyolite and granite that makeup the midcontinent basement, we analyzed a 150 m long core recovered from a basement borehole (Shads 4) in Rogers County, NE Oklahoma. The analysis of the fracture network in the rhyolite core included measurements of fracture inclination, aperture, and density, the examination fracture surface features and fill minerology, as well as x-ray diffraction analysis of secondary mineralization. We also analyzed the highly fractured and faulted segments of the core with a portable gamma-ray detector, magnetometer, and rebound hammer. The preliminary analysis of the fractures within the rhyolite core showed: (1) Fracture density increasing with depth by a factor of 10, from 4 fractures/10m in the upper core segment to 40 fracture/10m at 150 m deeper. (2) The fractures are primarily sub-vertical, inclined 10-20° from the axis of the vertical core. (3) The secondary mineralization is dominated by calcite and epidote. (4) Fracture aperture ranges from 0.35 to 2.35mm based on the thickness of secondary filling. (5) About 8% of the examined fractures display slickenside striations. (6) Increases of elasticity (by rebound hammer) and gamma-ray emissions are systematically correlated with a decrease in magnetic susceptibility in core segments of high fracture density and/or faulting; this observation suggests diagenetic fracture re-mineralization.

Cenozoic stratigraphy and structure of the Chesapeake Bay region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Powars, David S.; Edwards, Lucy E.; Kidwell, Susan M.; Schindler, J. Stephen

2015-01-01

The Salisbury embayment is a broad tectonic downwarp that is filled by generally seaward-thickening, wedge-shaped deposits of the central Atlantic Coastal Plain. Our two-day field trip will take us to the western side of this embayment from the Fall Zone in Washington, D.C., to some of the bluffs along Aquia Creek and the Potomac River in Virginia, and then to the Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. We will see fluvial-deltaic Cretaceous deposits of the Potomac Formation. We will then focus on Cenozoic marine deposits. Transgressive and highstand deposits are stacked upon each other with unconformities separating them; rarely are regressive or lowstand deposits preserved. The Paleocene and Eocene shallow shelf deposits consist of glauconitic, silty sands that contain varying amounts of marine shells. The Miocene shallow shelf deposits consist of diatomaceous silts and silty and shelly sands. The lithology, thickness, dip, preservation, and distribution of the succession of coastal plain sediments that were deposited in our field-trip area are, to a great extent, structurally controlled. Surficial and subsurface mapping using numerous continuous cores, auger holes, water-well data, and seismic surveys has documented some folds and numerous high-angle reverse and normal faults that offset Cretaceous and Cenozoic deposits. Many of these structures are rooted in early Mesozoic and/or Paleozoic NE-trending regional tectonic fault systems that underlie the Atlantic Coastal Plain. On Day 1, we will focus on two fault systems (stops 1–2; Stafford fault system and the Skinkers Neck–Brandywine fault system and their constituent fault zones and faults). We will then see (stops 3–5) a few of the remaining exposures of largely unlithified marine Paleocene and Eocene strata along the Virginia side of the Potomac River including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum boundary clay. These exposures are capped by fluvial-estuarine Pleistocene terrace deposits. On Day 2, we will see (stops 6–9) the classic Miocene section along the ~25 miles (~40 km) of Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, including a possible fault and structural warping. Cores from nearby test holes will also be shown to supplement outcrops.

Shallow observatory installations unravel earthquake processes in the Nankai accretionary complex (IODP Expedition 365)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopf, A.; Saffer, D. M.; Toczko, S.

2016-12-01

NanTroSEIZE is a multi-expedition IODP project to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along the Nankai Trough subduction zone through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring. Recent Expedition 365 had three primary objectives at a major splay thrust fault (termed the "megasplay") in the forearc: (1) retrieval of a temporary observatory (termed a GeniusPlug) that has been monitoring temperature and pore pressure within the fault zone at 400 meters below seafloor for since 2010; (2) deployment of a complex long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) across the same fault; and (3) coring of key sections of the hanging wall, deformation zone and footwall of the shallow megasplay. Expedition 365 achieved its primary monitoring objectives, including recovery of the GeniusPlug with a >5-year record of pressure and temperature conditions, geochemical samples, and its in situ microbial colonization experiment; and installation of the LTBMS. The pressure records from the GeniusPlug include high-quality records of formation and seafloor responses to multiple fault slip events, including the 2011 M9 Tohoku and the 1 April Mie-ken Nanto-oki M6 earthquakes. The geochemical sampling coils yielded in situ pore fluids from the fault zone, and microbes were successfully cultivated from the colonization unit. The LTBMS incorporates multi-level pore pressure sensing, a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. This multi-level hole completion was meanwhile connected to the DONET seafloor cabled network for tsunami early warning and earthquake monitoring. Coring the shallow megasplay site in the Nankai forearc recovered ca. 100m of material across the fault zone, which contained indurated silty clay with occasional ash layers and sedimentary breccias in the hangingwall and siltstones in the footwall of the megasplay. The mudstones show different degrees of deformation spanning from occasional fractures to intensely fractured scaly claystones of up to >10 cm thickness. Sparse faulting with low displacement (usually <2cm) is seen with both normal and reverse sense of slip. Post-cruise rock deformation experiments will relate physical properties to the earthquake response monitored by the observatory array.

Fault compaction and overpressured faults: results from a 3-D model of a ductile fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzenz, D. D.; Miller, S. A.

2003-10-01

A model of a ductile fault zone is incorporated into a forward 3-D earthquake model to better constrain fault-zone hydraulics. The conceptual framework of the model fault zone was chosen such that two distinct parts are recognized. The fault core, characterized by a relatively low permeability, is composed of a coseismic fault surface embedded in a visco-elastic volume that can creep and compact. The fault core is surrounded by, and mostly sealed from, a high permeability damaged zone. The model fault properties correspond explicitly to those of the coseismic fault core. Porosity and pore pressure evolve to account for the viscous compaction of the fault core, while stresses evolve in response to the applied tectonic loading and to shear creep of the fault itself. A small diffusive leakage is allowed in and out of the fault zone. Coseismically, porosity is created to account for frictional dilatancy. We show in the case of a 3-D fault model with no in-plane flow and constant fluid compressibility, pore pressures do not drop to hydrostatic levels after a seismic rupture, leading to an overpressured weak fault. Since pore pressure plays a key role in the fault behaviour, we investigate coseismic hydraulic property changes. In the full 3-D model, pore pressures vary instantaneously by the poroelastic effect during the propagation of the rupture. Once the stress state stabilizes, pore pressures are incrementally redistributed in the failed patch. We show that the significant effect of pressure-dependent fluid compressibility in the no in-plane flow case becomes a secondary effect when the other spatial dimensions are considered because in-plane flow with a near-lithostatically pressured neighbourhood equilibrates at a pressure much higher than hydrostatic levels, forming persistent high-pressure fluid compartments. If the observed faults are not all overpressured and weak, other mechanisms, not included in this model, must be at work in nature, which need to be investigated. Significant leakage perpendicular to the fault strike (in the case of a young fault), or cracks hydraulically linking the fault core to the damaged zone (for a mature fault) are probable mechanisms for keeping the faults strong and might play a significant role in modulating fault pore pressures. Therefore, fault-normal hydraulic properties of fault zones should be a future focus of field and numerical experiments.

Layered Fault Rocks Below the West Salton Detachment Fault (WSDF), CA Record Multiple Seismogenic? Slip Events and Transfer of Material to a Fault Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Axen, G. J.; Luther, A. L.; Selverstone, J.; Mozley, P.

2011-12-01

Unique layered cataclasites (LCs) occur locally along footwall splays, S of the ~N-dipping, top-E WSDF. They are well exposed in a NW-plunging antiform that folds the LCs and their upper and lower bounding faults. Layers range from very fine-grained granular shear zones 1-2 mm thick and cm's to m's long, to medium- to coarse-grained isotropic granular cataclasite with floating clasts up to 4-5 cm diameter in layers up to ~30 cm thick and 3 to >10 m long. The top, N-flank contact is ~5 m structurally below the main WSDF. Maximum thickness of the LCs is ~5 m on the S flank of the antiform, where the upper 10-50 cm of LCs are composed of relatively planar layers that are subparallel to the upper fault, which locally displays ultracataclasite. Deeper layers are folded into open to isoclinal folds and are faulted. Most shear-sense indicators show N-side-to-E or -SE slip, and include: (1) aligned biotite flakes and mm-scale shear bands that locally define a weak foliation dipping ~ESE, (2) sharp to granular shears, many of which merge up or down into fine-grained layers and, in the base of the overlying granodiorite, (3) primary reidel shears and (4) folded pegmatite dikes. Biotite is unaltered and feldspars are weakly to strongly altered to clays and zeolites. Zeolites also grew in pores between clasts. XRF analyses suggest minimal chemical alteration. The upper fault is sharp and relatively planar, carries granular to foliated cataclasitic granodiorite that grades up over ~2-4 m into punky, microcracked but plutonic-textured rock with much of the feldspar alteration seen in LC clasts. Some upper-plate reidels bend into parallelism with the top fault and bound newly formed LC layers. The basal fault truncates contorted layers and lacks evidence of layers being added there. We infer that the deeper, contorted layers are older and that the LC package grew upward by transfer of cataclasized slices from the overlying granodiorite while folding was ongoing. Particle-size distributions reflect constrained comminution and shear localization (slopes of ~3-3.5 on log-log plots of grain size vs. no. of grains > grain size). The LCs require episodic slip events that probably record dozens of seismic cycles. Foliation likely records post- or interseismic creep. Geometric complexities among the WSDF footwall splays presumably caused episodic dilation that allowed accumulation and folding of the LCs. Mechanical processes dominated over chemical processes. A key question is why the LCs apparently were stronger than the overlying granodiorite, leading to formation of new LC layers rather than significant reworking of older layers.

Microstructures and composition of brittle faults in claystones: Constraints on the barrier behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kneuker, Tilo; Hammer, Jörg; Jahn, Steffen; Zulauf, Gernold

2017-04-01

Investigations of fault rocks are crucial to evaluate the barrier properties of clay rich formations used for the storage of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide gas or for the storage of heat generating radioactive waste. Claystones are considered as a geological barrier. However, their barrier capability can be reduced if the claystones are cut by brittle faults. Our study is focusing on the microfabrics and element mobility of artificially and naturally fractured claystones using a multi-method approach. Particular attention was paid to small scale lithological heterogeneities occurring in the clayey sequence. The microfabrics were investigated using SEM and optical microscopy. Geochemical and phase analyses were carried out using XRD, XRF and ICP-MS. In addition, organic (TOC) and inorganic carbon (TIC), total sulphur (TS) as well as the cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined. Macroscopic observations of fault zones on outcrops and drill cores indicate closely spaced planar and undulating discontinuities, including slickenside striations. The investigated fault zones are often accompanied by calcite veins and calcite enriched zones. The fault core is formed by a mm to cm thick clayey, fine grained, cohesionless fault gouge including reworked calcite fragments. Duplex-like domains are separated by discrete microshears, along which the rocks disintegrate. Calcareous fossils, common in undeformed claystones, appear in these zones fragmented and rotated. In contrast to calcite, quartz is more resistant to solution-precipitation processes. Rarely intracrystalline fracturing was observed. The calcite mineralization in veins, and solution-precipitation processes of calcite, documented by stylolites, reflect enhanced palaeo-permeability and activity of Ca2+- and CO2-rich fluids inside some of the fault zones, mainly along fault parallel shear planes. Elevated Sr and Ba concentrations are bound to the tectonic, secondary calcite veins within and outside the investigated fault zone. The geochemical data presented in form of isocon diagrams suggest volume gain related to the opening of veins and pores, which are now filled with calcite. Our results do not provide evidence for presently open pores or fractures, which might be related to non-artificial tectonic deformation. However, (micro)fractures as well as mineralized veins represent inherited damage in the rock, and are prone to brittle reactivation during fluid pressure increase or during the excavation of underground galleries. A complex, polyphase deformation history including a possible reactivation of older structures is supported by our observations.

A note on the effect of fault gouge thickness on fault stability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Byerlee, J.; Summers, R.

1976-01-01

At low confining pressure, sliding on saw cuts in granite is stable but at high pressure it is unstable. The pressure at which the transition takes place increases if the thickness of the crushed material between the sliding surfaces is increased. This experimental result suggests that on natural faults the stability of sliding may be affected by the width of the fault zone. ?? 1976.

The Damage and Geochemical Signature of a Crustal Scale Strike-Slip Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomila, R.; Mitchell, T. M.; Arancibia, G.; Jensen Siles, E.; Rempe, M.; Cembrano, J. M.; Faulkner, D. R.

2013-12-01

Fluid-flow migration in the upper crust is strongly controlled by fracture network permeability and connectivity within fault zones, which can lead to fluid-rock chemical interaction represented as mineral precipitation in mesh veins and/or mineralogical changes (alteration) of the host rock. While the dimensions of fault damage zones defined by fracture intensity is beginning to be better understood, how such dimensions compare to the size of alteration zones is less well known. Here, we show quantitative structural and chemical analyses as a function of distance from a crustal-scale strike-slip fault in the Atacama Fault System, Northern Chile, to compare fault damage zone characteristics with its geochemical signature. The Jorgillo Fault (JF) is a ca. 18 km long NNW striking strike-slip fault cutting Mesozoic rocks with sinistral displacement of ca. 4 km. In the study area, the JF cuts through orthogranulitic and gabbroic rocks at the west (JFW) and the east side (JFE), respectively. A 200 m fault perpendicular transect was mapped and sampled for structural and XRF analyses of the core, damage zone and protolith. The core zone consists of a ca. 1 m wide cataclasite zone bounded by two fault gouge zones ca. 40 cm. The damage zone width defined by fracture density is ca. 50 m wide each side of the core. The damage zone in JFW is characterized by NW-striking subvertical 2 cm wide cataclastic rocks and NE-striking milimetric open fractures. In JFE, 1-20 mm wide chlorite, quartz-epidote and quartz-calcite veins, cut the gabbro. Microfracture analysis in JFW reveal mm-wide cataclasitic/ultracataclasitic bands with clasts of protolith and chlorite orientated subparallel to the JF in the matrix, calcite veins in a T-fractures orientation, and minor polidirectional chlorite veins. In JFE, chlorite filled conjugate fractures with syntaxial growth textures and evidence for dilational fracturing processes are seen. Closest to the core, calcite veins crosscut chlorite veins. Whole-rock XRF analyses show Al and Ca content decrease with increasing Si, whereas Na increases towards the core. This can be interpreted as compositional changes of plagioclase to albite-rich ones due to chloritic-propylitic alteration. In the damage zone, LOI increases towards the core but decreases inside of it. This is explained by H2O-rich clays and gypsum in the fault core boundary represented as fault gouge zones whereas in the cataclastic core zone, the decrease in LOI is explained by epidote. Our results show the JF had an evolving permeability structure where a cataclasite-rich core is formed at an early stage, and then a gouge-bounded core is developed which acted as a barrier to fluid from east to west of the fault.

Pseudotachylyte: Reading the Record of Paleoseismicity in Low-Angle Normal Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, D. M.; Goodwin, L. B.; Feinberg, J. M.; Ellis, A. P.

2012-12-01

Whether or not low-angle normal faults (LANFs, dipping <30°) can produce earthquakes is hotly debated. Pseudotachylyte - rapidly quenched frictional melt generated during seismic failure - has been noted in several LANF sites but not extensively studied. We recently documented significant pseudotachylyte exposures in both the South Mountains and Catalina-Rincon metamorphic core complexes of Arizona. In both field areas, pseudotachylyte is located below detachment faults, where it is best exposed in fractured areas beneath chlorite breccia zones. Generation veins dip 7-24°, are locally parallel to host rock foliations, and range from 1 mm to 3 cm thick. Where subvertical exposures are available, generation and injection veins either form networks up to 1 m thick or are stacked, such that multiple veins spaced < 1m apart are exposed in zones 2 to 3 m thick. Outcrops do not permit mapping of pseudotachylytes' full lateral extent, but do allow a minimum length of 50 m oblique to strike to be estimated. The magnitude of pseudotachylyte exposure in these core complexes implies significant seismicity. A key question is whether the generation surfaces were in their present orientations when they failed seismically. To answer this, we are applying a fault paleogeometry test. The cornerstone of this test is a comparison of two paleomagnetic vectors. The first will be determined through standard paleomagnetic analyses of oriented pseudotachylyte samples. The second will represent the vector expected if no LANF rotation has occurred and will be determined through correlation of a sample's 40Ar/39Ar age with its coeval magnetic pole location. Any discrepancy between the vectors will be interpreted to represent rotation of the fault since seismicity. Anderson-Byerlee compatible slip will be supported by discrepancies requiring a seismically active dip >30°. An active dip of <30° suggests that additional factors have reduced effective stress and/or frictional resistance to allow seismicity. A third, similarly extensive zone of pseudotachylyte veins in Central Otago, New Zealand will be included with our Arizona sites in this analysis. Previous work in this location shows more than 100 veins dipping 10-30°, from 1- 3 cm thick, extending up to 200 m along strike (Barker, 2005). The Otago site emphasizes seismicity as a component of LANF development in different tectonic regions, and will allow comparison of LANF pseudotachylytes of disparate host rock and ages (Miocene in U.S. sites, Cretaceous in NZ). Preliminary data demonstrate a range in magnetic characteristics of the samples we have collected. Veins within felsic granodiorite and alaskite in the South Mountains show susceptibilities ranging from 0.48 -1.06 x 10-3 SI. These values are indistinguishable from host rock susceptibilities (0.48 - 1.32 x 10-3 SI). In contrast, Rincon pseudotachylyte has magnetic susceptibilities ranging from 29.3 to >80.0 x 10-3 SI and porphyroclastic gneiss host rock values are a considerably lower 7.44 - 8.64 x 10-3 SI. We therefore anticipate this test will only be successfully applied toward some of our samples. Our presentation will include both descriptions of pseudotachlylyte zones and networks and preliminary paleomagnetic data.

Current limiting behavior in three-phase transformer-type SFCLs using an iron core according to variety of fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Yong-Sun; Jung, Byung-Ik; Ha, Kyoung-Hun; Choi, Soo-Geun; Park, Hyoung-Min; Choi, Hyo-Sang

To apply the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) to the power system, the reliability of the fault-current-limiting operation must be ensured in diverse fault conditions. The SFCL must also be linked to the operation of the high-speed recloser in the power system. In this study, a three-phase transformer-type SFCL, which has a neutral line to improve the simultaneous quench characteristics of superconducting elements, was manufactured to analyze the fault-current-limiting characteristic according to the single, double, and triple line-to-ground faults. The transformer-type SFCL, wherein three-phase windings are connected to one iron core, reduced the burden on the superconducting element as the superconducting element on the sound phase was also quenched in the case of the single line-to-ground fault. In the case of double or triple line-to-ground faults, the flux from the faulted phase winding was interlinked with other faulted or sound phase windings, and the fault-current-limiting rate decreased because the windings of three phases were inductively connected by one iron core.

The 1997 core drilling through Ordovician and Silurian strata at Röstånga, S. Sweden: preliminary stratigraphic assessment and regional comparison

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bergstrom, Stig M.; Huff, W.D.; Koren', T.; Larsson, K.; Ahlberg, P.; Kolata, Dennis R.

1999-01-01

A core drilling at Ro??sta??nga, the first such drilling ever undertaken in this classical Lower Paleozoic outcrop area in W-central Scania, penetrated an approximately 96 m thick succession of Lower Silurian-upper Middle Ordovician marine rocks. The drilling was stopped at a depth of 132.59 m in an interval of crushed rocks, probably a prominent fault zone, that proved impossible to drill through. The core contains a stratigraphical sequence from the basal Upper Llandoverian (Telychian Stage) to the upper Middle Ordovician (Harjuan Stage). The following units are recognized in descending stratigraphic order (approximate thickness in parenthesis): Kallholn Formation (35 m), Lindega??rd Mudstone (27 m), Fja??cka Shale (13 m), Mossen Formation (0.75 m), Skagen Formation (2.5 m), and Sularp Shale (19 m+). Except for the Skagen Formation, the drilled sequence consists of shales and mudstones with occasional thin limestone interbeds and is similar to coeval successions elsewhere in Scania. There are 11 K-bentonite beds in the Kallholn Formation, 2(3?) in the Lindega??rd Mudstone, 1 in the Mossen Formation, 7 in the Skagen Formation, and 33 in the Sularp Shale. The core serves as an excellent Lower Silurian-upper Middle Ordovician reference standard not only for the Ro??sta??nga area but also for southernmost Sweden in general because the cored sequence is the stratigraphically most complete one known anywhere in this region.

Quantitative Characterisation of Fracturing Around the Damage Zone Surrounding New Zealand's Alpine Fault Using X-ray CT Scans of DFDP-1 Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J. N.; Toy, V.; Massiot, C.; Mcnamara, D. D.; Wang, T.

2015-12-01

X-ray computer tomography (CT) scans of core recovered from the first phase of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1) through the Alpine Fault provide an excellent opportunity to analyse brittle deformation around the fault. In particular, assessment can be made of the heavily fractured protolith constituting the damage zone. Damage zone structures are divided into two types that result from two distinct processes: (1) "off fault damage" formed by stress changes induced by the passage of a seismic rupture and (2) "off fault deformation" that represent structures, which accommodate strain around the fault that was not localised on the principal slip zone (PSZ). The distribution of these damage zones structures within CT scans of the recovered core was measured along a scanline parallel to the core axis and assessed using a weighted moving average technique to account for orientation bias. The results of this analysis reveal that within the part of the fault rocks sampled by DFDP-1 there is no increase in density of these structures towards the PSZ. This is in agreement with independent analysis using Borehole Televiewer Data of the DFDP-1B borehole. Instead, we consider the density of these structures to be controlled to the first order by lithology, which modulates the mechanical properties of the fault rocks such as its frictional strength and cohesion. Comparisons of fracture density to p-wave velocities obtained from wireline logs indicate they are independent of each other, therefore, for the cores sampled in this study fractures impart no influence on the elastic properties of the rock. This is consistent with the observation from core that the majority of fractures are cemented. We consider how this might influence future rupture dynamics.

The structures, stratigraphy and evolution of the Gulf of Corinth rift, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Brian; Weiss, Jonathan R.; Goodliffe, Andrew M.; Sachpazi, Maria; Laigle, Mireille; Hirn, Alfred

2011-06-01

A multichannel seismic and bathymetry survey of the central and eastern Gulf of Corinth (GoC), Greece, reveals the offshore fault geometry, seismic stratigraphy and basin evolution of one of Earths most active continental rift systems. Active, right-stepping, en-echelon, north-dipping border faults trend ESE along the southern Gulf margin, significantly overlapping along strike. The basement offsets of three (Akrata-Derveni, Sithas and Xylocastro) are linked. The faults are biplanar to listric: typically intermediate angle (˜35° in the centre and 45-48° in the east) near the surface but decreasing in dip and/or intersecting a low- or shallow-angle (15-20° in the centre and 19-30° in the east) curvi-planar reflector in the basement. Major S-dipping border faults were active along the northern margin of the central Gulf early in the rift history, and remain active in the western Gulf and in the subsidiary Gulf of Lechaio, but unlike the southern border faults, are without major footwall uplift. Much of the eastern rift has a classic half-graben architecture whereas the central rift has a more symmetric w- or u-shape. The narrower and shallower western Gulf that transects the >40-km-thick crust of the Hellenides is associated with a wider distribution of overlapping high-angle normal faults that were formerly active on the Peloponnesus Peninsula. The easternmost sector includes the subsidiary Gulfs of Lechaio and Alkyonides, with major faults and basement structures trending NE, E-W and NW. The basement faults that control the rift architecture formed early in the rift history, with little evidence (other than the Vrachonisida fault along the northern margin) in the marine data for plan view evolution by subsequent fault linkage. Several have maximum offsets near one end. Crestal collapse graben formed where the hanging wall has pulled off the steeper onto the shallower downdip segment of the Derveni Fault. The dominant strikes of the Corinth rift faults gradually rotate from 090-120° in the basement and early rift to 090-100° in the latest rift, reflecting a ˜10° rotation of the opening direction to the 005° presently measured by GPS. The sediments include a (locally >1.5-km-) thick, early-rift section, and a late-rift section (also locally >1.5-km-thick) that we subdivide into three sequences and correlate with seven 100-ka glacio-eustatic cycles. The Gulf depocentre has deepened through time (currently >700 mbsl) as subsidence has outpaced sedimentation. We measure the minimum total horizontal extension across the central and eastern Gulf as varying along strike between 4 and 10 km, and estimate full values of 6-11 km. The rift evolution is strongly influenced by the inherited basement fabric. The regional NNW structural fabric of the Hellenic nappes changes orientation to ESE in the Parnassos terrane, facilitating the focused north-south extension observed offshore there. The basement-penetrating faults lose seismic reflectivity above the 4-14-km-deep seismogenic zone. Multiple generations and dips of normal faults, some cross-cutting, accommodate extension beneath the GoC, including low-angle (15-20°) interfaces in the basement nappes. The thermally cool forearc setting and cross-orogen structures unaccompanied by magmatism make this rift a poor analogue and unlikely precursor for metamorphic core complex formation.

Three-dimensional discrete element method simulation of core disking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Shunchuan; Wu, Haoyan; Kemeny, John

2018-04-01

The phenomenon of core disking is commonly seen in deep drilling of highly stressed regions in the Earth's crust. Given its close relationship with the in situ stress state, the presence and features of core disking can be used to interpret the stresses when traditional in situ stress measuring techniques are not available. The core disking process was simulated in this paper using the three-dimensional discrete element method software PFC3D (particle flow code). In particular, PFC3D is used to examine the evolution of fracture initiation, propagation and coalescence associated with core disking under various stress states. In this paper, four unresolved problems concerning core disking are investigated with a series of numerical simulations. These simulations also provide some verification of existing results by other researchers: (1) Core disking occurs when the maximum principal stress is about 6.5 times the tensile strength. (2) For most stress situations, core disking occurs from the outer surface, except for the thrust faulting stress regime, where the fractures were found to initiate from the inner part. (3) The anisotropy of the two horizontal principal stresses has an effect on the core disking morphology. (4) The thickness of core disk has a positive relationship with radial stress and a negative relationship with axial stresses.

The architecture and frictional properties of faults in shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Paola, Nicola; Murray, Rosanne; Stillings, Mark; Imber, Jonathan; Holdsworth, Robert

2015-04-01

The geometry of brittle fault zones and associated fracture patterns in shale rocks, as well as their frictional properties at reservoir conditions, are still poorly understood. Nevertheless, these factors may control the very low recovery factors (25% for gas and 5% for oil) obtained during fracking operations. Extensional brittle fault zones (maximum displacement ≤ 3 m) cut exhumed oil mature black shales in the Cleveland Basin (UK). Fault cores up to 50 cm wide accommodated most of the displacement, and are defined by a stair-step geometry, controlled by the reactivation of en-echelon, pre-existing joints in the protolith. Cores typically show a poorly developed damage zone, up to 25 cm wide, and sharp contact with the protolith rocks. Their internal architecture is characterised by four distinct fault rock domains: foliated gouges; breccias; hydraulic breccias; and a slip zone up to 20 mm thick, composed of a fine-grained black gouge. Hydraulic breccias are located within dilational jogs with aperture of up to 20 cm, composed of angular clasts of reworked fault and protolith rock, dispersed within a sparry calcite cement. Velocity-step and slide-hold-slide experiments at sub-seismic slip rates (microns/s) were performed in a rotary shear apparatus under dry, water and brine-saturated conditions, for displacements of up to 46 cm. Both the protolith shale and the slip zone black gouge display shear localization, velocity strengthening behaviour and negative healing rates. Experiments at seismic slip rates (1.3 m/s), performed on the same materials under dry conditions, show that after initial friction values of 0.5-0.55, friction decreases to steady-state values of 0.1-0.15 within the first 10 mm of slip. Contrastingly, water/brine saturated gouge mixtures, exhibit almost instantaneous attainment of very low steady-state sliding friction (0.1). Our field observations show that brittle fracturing and cataclastic flow are the dominant deformation mechanisms in the fault core of shale faults, where slip localization may lead to the development of a thin slip zone made of very fine-grained gouges. The velocity-strengthening behaviour and negative healing rates observed during our laboratory experiments, suggest that slow, stable sliding faulting should take place within the protolith rocks and slip zone gouges. This behaviour will cause slow fault/fracture propagation, affecting the rate at which new fracture areas are created and, hence, limiting oil and gas production during reservoir stimulation. During slipping events, fluid circulation may be very effective along the fault zone at dilational jogs - where oil and gas production should be facilitated by the creation of large fracture areas - and rather restricted in the adjacent areas of the protolith, due to the lack of a well-developed damage zone and the low permeability of the matrix and slip zone gouge. Finally, our experiments performed at seismic slip rates show that seismic ruptures may still be able to propagate in a very efficient way within the slip zone of fluid-saturated shale faults, due to the attainment of instantaneous weakening.

Architecture of buried reverse fault zone in the sedimentary basin: A case study from the Hong-Che Fault Zone of the Junggar Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yin; Wu, Kongyou; Wang, Xi; Liu, Bo; Guo, Jianxun; Du, Yannan

2017-12-01

It is widely accepted that the faults can act as the conduits or the barrier for oil and gas migration. Years of studies suggested that the internal architecture of a fault zone is complicated and composed of distinct components with different physical features, which can highly influence the migration of oil and gas along the fault. The field observation is the most useful methods of observing the fault zone architecture, however, in the petroleum exploration, what should be concerned is the buried faults in the sedimentary basin. Meanwhile, most of the studies put more attention on the strike-slip or normal faults, but the architecture of the reverse faults attracts less attention. In order to solve these questions, the Hong-Che Fault Zone in the northwest margin of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Province, is chosen for an example. Combining with the seismic data, well logs and drill core data, we put forward a comprehensive method to recognize the internal architectures of buried faults. High-precision seismic data reflect that the fault zone shows up as a disturbed seismic reflection belt. Four types of well logs, which are sensitive to the fractures, and a comprehensive discriminated parameter, named fault zone index are used in identifying the fault zone architecture. Drill core provides a direct way to identify different components of the fault zone, the fault core is composed of breccia, gouge, and serpentinized or foliated fault rocks and the damage zone develops multiphase of fractures, which are usually cemented. Based on the recognition results, we found that there is an obvious positive relationship between the width of the fault zone and the displacement, and the power-law relationship also exists between the width of the fault core and damage zone. The width of the damage zone in the hanging wall is not apparently larger than that in the footwall in the reverse fault, showing different characteristics with the normal fault. This study provides a comprehensive method in identifying the architecture of buried faults in the sedimentary basin and would be helpful in evaluating the fault sealing behavior.

Atomic configurations at InAs partial dislocation cores associated with Z-shape faulted dipoles.

PubMed

Li, Luying; Gan, Zhaofeng; McCartney, Martha R; Liang, Hanshuang; Yu, Hongbin; Gao, Yihua; Wang, Jianbo; Smith, David J

2013-11-15

The atomic arrangements of two types of InAs dislocation cores associated by a Z-shape faulted dipole are observed directly by aberration-corrected high-angle annular-dark-field imaging. Single unpaired columns of different atoms in a matrix of dumbbells are clearly resolved, with observable variations of bonding lengths due to excess Coulomb force from bare ions at the dislocation core. The corresponding geometric phase analysis provides confirmation that the dislocation cores serve as origins of strain field inversion while stacking faults maintain the existing strain status.

Stress-sensitivity of The Hydraulic Properties of A Fault Gouge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrington, J. F.; Horseman, S. T.; Hama, K.; Metcalfe, R.

Tono Mine is located about 350 km southwest of Tokyo and is the site of the most extensive uranium deposits in Japan. The geological setting comprises Tertiary (Mizu- nami Group) sedimentary rocks overlying Cretaceous granitic basement rocks. In as- cending order, the sedimentary rocks are the Toki Lignite-bearing Formation (con- glomerate, interbedded sandstone and mudstone), the Akeyo Formation (tuffaceous sandstone) and the Oidawara Formation (siltstone and mudstone). The Tsukiyoshi Fault cuts through this sequence and is a reverse fault, dipping to the south at 60- 70 degrees, with a throw of about 30 metres. As part of its hydrogeological studies, JNC is evaluating the impact of the fault on groundwater flow in the Tertiary sedi- ments. A sample was taken from a borehole in the NATM Drift, where the fault zone contains gouge material with two clay-bearing layers around 2 to 3 cm thick, separated by a 10 to 20 cm thick layer of unconsolidated fine sandy material. The sample was obtained using a triple-tube core barrel fitted with a split sample tube and a diamond bit. A specimen was prepared and consolidated at successive effective stress levels of 2, 6 and 12 MPa. The plot of void ratio against the logarithm of effective stress was found to be sensibly linear with a negative slope, kappa, of 0.036 rising to 0.044 at higher stress levels. The evidence suggests that the gouge is overconsolidated. Hy- draulic conductivity and specific storage were also measured at each stress level using the constant flow rate method. Hydraulic conductivity was found to be strongly stress sensitive, falling from 1.84 x 10-12 m.s-1 at 2 MPa to 7.9 x 10-14 m.s-1 at 12 MPa. Specific storage values were analysed using the critical state soil mechanics approach assuming a stress-dependent pore compressibility. Reasonable agreement was found between the theoretical curve with kappa = 0.036 and the measured values.

Geochemical and microstructural evidence for interseismic changes in fault zone permeability and strength, Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulton, Carolyn; Menzies, Catriona D.; Toy, Virginia G.; Townend, John; Sutherland, Rupert

2017-01-01

Oblique dextral motion on the central Alpine Fault in the last circa 5 Ma has exhumed garnet-oligoclase facies mylonitic fault rocks from ˜35 km depth. During exhumation, deformation, accompanied by fluid infiltration, has generated complex lithological variations in fault-related rocks retrieved during Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1) drilling at Gaunt Creek, South Island, New Zealand. Lithological, geochemical, and mineralogical results reveal that the fault comprises a core of highly comminuted cataclasites and fault gouges bounded by a damage zone containing cataclasites, protocataclasites, and fractured mylonites. The fault core-alteration zone extends ˜20-30 m from the principal slip zone (PSZ) and is characterized by alteration of primary phases to phyllosilicate minerals. Alteration associated with distinct mineral phases occurred proximal the brittle-to-plastic transition (T ≤ 300-400°C, 6-10 km depth) and at shallow depths (T = 20-150°C, 0-3 km depth). Within the fault core-alteration zone, fractures have been sealed by precipitation of calcite and phyllosilicates. This sealing has decreased fault normal permeability and increased rock mass competency, potentially promoting interseismic strain buildup.

Effects of structural heterogeneity on frictional heating from biomarker thermal maturity analysis of the Muddy Mountain thrust, Nevada, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coffey, G. L.; Savage, H. M.; Polissar, P. J.; Rowe, C. D.

2017-12-01

Faults are generally heterogeneous along-strike, with changes in thickness and structural complexity that should influence coseismic slip. However, observational limitations (e.g. limited outcrop or borehole samples) can obscure this complexity. Here we investigate the heterogeneity of frictional heating determined from biomarker thermal maturity and microstructural observations along a well-exposed fault to understand whether coseismic stress and frictional heating are related to structural complexity. We focus on the Muddy Mountain thrust, Nevada, a Sevier-age structure that has continuous exposure of its fault core and considerable structural variability for up to 50 m, to explore the distribution of earthquake slip and temperature rise along strike. We present new biomarker thermal maturity results that capture the heating history of fault rocks. Biomarkers are organic molecules produced by living organisms and preserved in the rock record. During heating, their structure is altered systematically with increasing time and temperature. Preliminary results show significant variability in thermal maturity along-strike at the Muddy Mountain thrust, suggesting differences in coseismic temperature rise on the meter- scale. Temperatures upwards of 500°C were generated in the principal slip zone at some locations, while in others, no significant temperature rise occurred. These results demonstrate that stress or slip heterogeneity occurred along the Muddy Mountain thrust at the meter-scale and considerable along-strike complexity existed, highlighting the importance of careful interpretation of whole-fault behavior from observations at a single point on a fault.

Low strength of deep San Andreas fault gouge from SAFOD core

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockner, David A.; Morrow, Carolyn A.; Moore, Diane E.; Hickman, Stephen H.

2011-01-01

The San Andreas fault accommodates 28–34 mm yr−1 of right lateral motion of the Pacific crustal plate northwestward past the North American plate. In California, the fault is composed of two distinct locked segments that have produced great earthquakes in historical times, separated by a 150-km-long creeping zone. The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is a scientific borehole located northwest of Parkfield, California, near the southern end of the creeping zone. Core was recovered from across the actively deforming San Andreas fault at a vertical depth of 2.7 km (ref. 1). Here we report laboratory strength measurements of these fault core materials at in situ conditions, demonstrating that at this locality and this depth the San Andreas fault is profoundly weak (coefficient of friction, 0.15) owing to the presence of the smectite clay mineral saponite, which is one of the weakest phyllosilicates known. This Mg-rich clay is the low-temperature product of metasomatic reactions between the quartzofeldspathic wall rocks and serpentinite blocks in the fault2, 3. These findings provide strong evidence that deformation of the mechanically unusual creeping portions of the San Andreas fault system is controlled by the presence of weak minerals rather than by high fluid pressure or other proposed mechanisms1. The combination of these measurements of fault core strength with borehole observations1, 4, 5 yields a self-consistent picture of the stress state of the San Andreas fault at the SAFOD site, in which the fault is intrinsically weak in an otherwise strong crust.

Low strength of deep San Andreas fault gouge from SAFOD core

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockner, D.A.; Morrow, C.; Moore, D.; Hickman, S.

2011-01-01

The San Andreas fault accommodates 28-"34-???mm-???yr ????'1 of right lateral motion of the Pacific crustal plate northwestward past the North American plate. In California, the fault is composed of two distinct locked segments that have produced great earthquakes in historical times, separated by a 150-km-long creeping zone. The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is a scientific borehole located northwest of Parkfield, California, near the southern end of the creeping zone. Core was recovered from across the actively deforming San Andreas fault at a vertical depth of 2.7-???km (ref. 1). Here we report laboratory strength measurements of these fault core materials at in situ conditions, demonstrating that at this locality and this depth the San Andreas fault is profoundly weak (coefficient of friction, 0.15) owing to the presence of the smectite clay mineral saponite, which is one of the weakest phyllosilicates known. This Mg-rich clay is the low-temperature product of metasomatic reactions between the quartzofeldspathic wall rocks and serpentinite blocks in the fault. These findings provide strong evidence that deformation of the mechanically unusual creeping portions of the San Andreas fault system is controlled by the presence of weak minerals rather than by high fluid pressure or other proposed mechanisms. The combination of these measurements of fault core strength with borehole observations yields a self-consistent picture of the stress state of the San Andreas fault at the SAFOD site, in which the fault is intrinsically weak in an otherwise strong crust. ?? 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Fault propagation and climatic control of sedimentation on the Ghoubbet Rift Floor: insights from the Tadjouraden cruise in the western Gulf of Aden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Audin, L.; Manighetti, I.; Tapponnier, P.; Métivier, F.; Jacques, E.; Huchon, P.

2001-02-01

A detailed geophysical survey of the Ghoubbet Al Kharab (Djibouti) clarifies the small-scale morphology of the last submerged rift segment of the propagating Aden ridge before it enters the Afar depression. The bathymetry reveals a system of antithetic normal faults striking N130°E, roughly aligned with those active along the Asal rift. The 3.5kHz sub-bottom profiler shows how the faults cut distinct layers within the recent, up to 60m thick, sediment cover on the floor of the basin. A large volcanic structure, in the centre of the basin, the `Ghoubbet' volcano, separates two sedimentary flats. The organization of volcanism and the planform of faulting, with en echelon subrifts along the entire Asal-Ghoubbet rift, appear to confirm the westward propagation of this segment of the plate boundary. Faults throughout the rift have been active continuously for the last 8400yr, but certain sediment layers show different offsets. The varying offsets of these layers, dated from cores previously retrieved in the southern basin, imply Holocene vertical slip rates of 0.3-1.4mmyr-1 and indicate a major decrease in sedimentation rate after about 6000yr BP, and a redistribution of sediments in the deepest troughs during the period that preceded that change.

Structure and lithology of the Japan Trench subduction plate boundary fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkpatrick, James D.; Rowe, Christie D.; Ujiie, Kohtaro; Moore, J. Casey; Regalla, Christine; Remitti, Francesca; Toy, Virginia; Wolfson-Schwehr, Monica; Kameda, Jun; Bose, Santanu; Chester, Frederick M.

2015-01-01

The 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake ruptured to the trench with maximum coseismic slip located on the shallow portion of the plate boundary fault. To investigate the conditions and physical processes that promoted slip to the trench, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343/343T sailed 1 year after the earthquake and drilled into the plate boundary ˜7 km landward of the trench, in the region of maximum slip. Core analyses show that the plate boundary décollement is localized onto an interval of smectite-rich, pelagic clay. Subsidiary structures are present in both the upper and lower plates, which define a fault zone ˜5-15m thick. Fault rocks recovered from within the clay-rich interval contain a pervasive scaly fabric defined by anastomosing, polished, and lineated surfaces with two predominant orientations. The scaly fabric is crosscut in several places by discrete contacts across which the scaly fabric is truncated and rotated, or different rocks are juxtaposed. These contacts are inferred to be faults. The plate boundary décollement therefore contains structures resulting from both distributed and localized deformation. We infer that the formation of both of these types of structures is controlled by the frictional properties of the clay: the distributed scaly fabric formed at low strain rates associated with velocity-strengthening frictional behavior, and the localized faults formed at high strain rates characterized by velocity-weakening behavior. The presence of multiple discrete faults resulting from seismic slip within the décollement suggests that rupture to the trench may be characteristic of this margin.

Permeability of the San Andreas Fault Zone at Depth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rathbun, A. P.; Song, I.; Saffer, D.

2010-12-01

Quantifying fault rock permeability is important toward understanding both the regional hydrologic behavior of fault zones, and poro-elastic processes that affect fault mechanics by mediating effective stress. These include long-term fault strength as well as dynamic processes that may occur during earthquake slip, including thermal pressurization and dilatancy hardening. Despite its importance, measurements of fault zone permeability for relevant natural materials are scarce, owing to the difficulty of coring through active fault zones seismogenic depths. Most existing measurements of fault zone permeability are from altered surface samples or from thinner, lower displacement faults than the SAF. Here, we report on permeability measurements conducted on gouge from the actively creeping Central Deformation Zone (CDZ) of the San Andreas Fault, sampled in the SAFOD borehole at a depth of ~2.7 km (Hole G, Run 4, sections 4,5). The matrix of the gouge in this interval is predominantly composed of particles <10 µm, with ~5 vol% clasts of serpentinite, very fine-grained sandstone, and siltstone. The 2.6 m-thick CDZ represents the main fault trace and hosts ~90% of the active slip on the SAF at this location, as documented by repeated casing deformation surveys. We measured permeability in two different configurations: (1) in a uniaxial pressure cell, in which a sample is placed into a rigid steel ring which imposes a zero lateral strain condition and subjected to axial load, and (2) in a standard triaxial system under isostatic stress conditions. In the uniaxial configuration, we obtained permeabilities at axial effective stresses up to 90 MPa, and in the triaxial system up to 10 MPa. All experiments were conducted on cylindrical subsamples of the SAFOD core 25 mm in diameter, with lengths ranging from 18mm to 40mm, oriented for flow approximately perpendicular to the fault. In uniaxial tests, permeability is determined by running constant rate of strain (CRS) tests up to 90 MPa axial stress. In these tests, axial stress is increased via a constant rate of displacement, and the excess pore pressure build up at the base of the sample is measured. Stress, pore pressure and strain are monitored to calculate coefficient of consolidation and volumetric compressibility in addition to permeability. In triaxial experiments, permeability is measured from by flow through tests under constant head boundary conditions. Permeability of the CDZ rapidly decreases to ~10-19 m2 by 20 MPa axial stress in our CRS tests. Over axial stresses from 20-85 MPa, permeability decreases log-linearly with effective stress from 8x10-20 m2 to 1x10-20 m2. Flow-through tests in the triaxial system under isostatic conditions yield permeabilities of 2.2x10-19 m2 and 1x10-20 m2 at 5 and 10 MPa, respectively. Our results are consistent with published geochemical data from SAFOD mud gas samples and inferred pore pressures during drilling [Zoback et al., 2010], which together suggest that the fault is a barrier to regional fluid flow. Our results indicate that the permeability of the fault core is sufficiently low to result in effectively undrained behavior during slip, thus allowing dynamic processes including thermal pressurization and dilatancy hardening to affect slip behavior.

Widespread active detachment faulting and core complex formation near 13 degrees N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

PubMed

Smith, Deborah K; Cann, Johnson R; Escartín, Javier

2006-07-27

Oceanic core complexes are massifs in which lower-crustal and upper-mantle rocks are exposed at the sea floor. They form at mid-ocean ridges through slip on detachment faults rooted below the spreading axis. To date, most studies of core complexes have been based on isolated inactive massifs that have spread away from ridge axes. Here we present a survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 13 degrees N containing a segment in which a number of linked detachment faults extend for 75 km along one flank of the spreading axis. The detachment faults are apparently all currently active and at various stages of development. A field of extinct core complexes extends away from the axis for at least 100 km. Our observations reveal the topographic characteristics of actively forming core complexes and their evolution from initiation within the axial valley floor to maturity and eventual inactivity. Within the surrounding region there is a strong correlation between detachment fault morphology at the ridge axis and high rates of hydroacoustically recorded earthquake seismicity. Preliminary examination of seismicity and seafloor morphology farther north along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge suggests that active detachment faulting is occurring in many segments and that detachment faulting is more important in the generation of ocean crust at this slow-spreading ridge than previously suspected.

Extrapolating surface structures to depth in transpressional systems: the role of rheology and convergence angle deduced from analogue experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, Shang Yu; Neubauer, Franz; Cloetingh, Sierd; Willingshofer, Ernst; Sokoutis, Dimitrios

2014-05-01

The internal structure of major strike-slip faults is still poorly understood, particularly how the deep structure could be inferred from its surface expression (Molnar and Dayem, 2011 and references therein). Previous analogue experiments suggest that the convergence angle is the most influential factor (Leever et al., 2011). Further analogue modeling may allow a better understanding how to extrapolate surface structures to the subsurface geometry of strike-slip faults. Various scenarios of analogue experiments were designed to represent strike-slip faults in nature from different geological settings. As such key parameters, which are investigated in this study include: (a) the angle of convergence, (b) the thickness of brittle layer, (c) the influence of a rheological weak layer within the crust, and (d) influence of a thick and rheologically weak layer at the base of the crust. The latter aimed to simulate the effect of a hot metamorphic core complex or an alignment of uprising plutons bordered by a transtensional/transpressional strike-slip fault. The experiments are aimed to explain first order structures along major transcurrent strike-slip faults such as the Altyn, Kunlun, San Andrea and Greendale (Darfield earthquake 2010) faults. The preliminary results show that convergence angle significantly influences the overall geometry of the transpressive system with greater convergence angles resulting in wider fault zones and higher elevation. Different positions, densities and viscosities of weak rheological layers have not only different surface expressions but also affect the fault geometry in the subsurface. For instance, rheological weak material in the bottom layer results in stretching when experiment reaches a certain displacement and a buildup of a less segmented, wide positive flower structure. At the surface, a wide fault valley in the middle of the fault zone is the reflection of stretching along the velocity discontinuity at depth. In models with a thin and rheologically weaker layer in the middle of the brittle layer, deformation is distributed over more faults and the geometry of the fault zone below and above the weak zone shows significant differences, suggesting that the correlation of structures across a weak layer has to be supported by geophysical data, which help constraining the geometry of the deep part. This latter experiment has significantly similar phenomena in reality, such as few pressure ridges along Altyn fault. The experimental results underline the need to understand the role of the convergence angle and the influence of rheology on fault evolution, in order to connect between surface deformation and subsurface geometry. References Leever, K. A., Gabrielsen, R. H., Sokoutis, D., Willingshofer, E., 2011. The effect of convergence angle on the kinematic evolution of strain partitioning in transpressional brittle wedges: Insight from analog modeling and high-resolution digital image analysis. Tectonics, 30(2), TC2013. Molnar, P., Dayem, K.E., 2010. Major intracontinental strike-slip faults and contrasts in lithospheric strength. Geosphere, 6, 444-467.

Coseismic fold scarp associated with historic earthquakes upon the Yoro active blind thrust, the Nobi-Ise fault zone, central Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishiyama, T.; Mueller, K.; Togo, M.

2004-12-01

We present structural models constrained by tectonic geomorphology, surface geologic mapping, shallow borehole transects and a high-resolution S-wave seismic reflection profile to define the kinematic evolution of a coseismic fold scarp along the Nobi-Ise fault zone (NIFZ). The NIFZ is an active intraplate fault system in central Japan, and consists of a 110-km-long array of active, east-verging reverse faults. Fold scarps along the Yoro fault are interpreted as produced during a large historic blind-thrust earthquake. The Yoro Mountains form the stripped core of the largest structure in the NIFZ and expose Triassic-Jurassic basement that are thrust eastward over a 2-km-thick sequence of Pliocene-Pleistocene strata deposited in the Nobi basin. This basement-cored fold is underlain by an active blind thrust that is expressed as late Holocene fold scarps along its eastern flank. Drilling investigations across the fold scarp at a site near Shizu identified at least three episodes of active folding associated with large earthquakes on the Yoro fault. Radiocarbon ages constrain the latest event as having occurred in a period that contains historical evidence for a large earthquake in A.D. 1586. A high resolution, S-wave seismic reflection profile at the same site shows that the topographic fold scarp coincides with the projected surface trace of the synclinal axis, across which the buried, early Holocene to historic sedimentary units are folded. This is interpreted to indicate that the structure accommodated coseismic fault-propagation folding during the A.D. 1586 blind thrust earthquake. Flexural-slip folding associated with secondary bedding-parallel thrusts may also deform late Holocene strata and act to consume slip on the primary blind thrust across the synclinal axial surfaces. The best-fitting trishear model for folded ca. 13 ka gravels deposited across the forelimb requires a 28\\deg east-dipping thrust fault. This solution suggests that a 4.2 mm/yr of slip rate has been accommodated on the Yoro fault during the late Holocene, with an average vertical rate of 1.9 mm/yr. This is consistent with longer-term slip rates calculated by a structural relief across a ca. 7.3 ka volcanic ash horizon (1.6 mm/yr), and ca. 110 ka innerbay clays (1.3 mm/yr) deposited across the forelimb. Our trishear model is thus able to account for the bulk of the folding history accommodated at shorter millennial timescales, suggesting that this technique may be used to adequately define slip rates on blind thrust faults.

Episodic Rifting Events Within the Tjörnes Fracture Zone, an Onshore-Offshore Ridge-Transform in N-Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandsdottir, B.; Magnusdottir, S.; Karson, J. A.; Detrick, R. S.; Driscoll, N. W.

2015-12-01

The multi-branched plate boundary across Iceland is made up of divergent and oblique rifts, and transform zones, characterized by entwined extensional and transform tectonics. The Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ), located on the coast and offshore Northern Iceland, is a complex transform linking the northern rift zone (NVZ) on land with the Kolbeinsey Ridge offshore. Extension across TFZ is partitioned across three N-S trending rift basins; Eyjafjarðaráll, Skjálfandadjúp (SB) and Öxarfjörður and three WNW-NW oriented seismic lineaments; the Grímsey Oblique Rift, Húsavík-Flatey Faults (HFFs) and Dalvík Lineament. We compile the tectonic framework of the TFZ ridge-transform from aerial photos, satellite images, multibeam bathymetry and high-resolution seismic reflection data (Chirp). The rift basins are made up of normal faults with vertical displacements of up to 50-60 m, and post-glacial sediments of variable thickness. The SB comprises N5°W obliquely trending, eastward dipping normal faults as well as N10°E striking, westward dipping faults oriented roughly perpendicular to the N104°E spreading direction, indicative of early stages of rifting. Correlation of Chirp reflection data and tephrachronology from a sediment core within SB reveal major rifting episodes between 10-12.1 kyrs BP activating the whole basin, followed by smaller-scale fault movements throughout Holocene. Onshore faults have the same orientations as those mapped offshore and provide a basis for the interpretation of the kinematics of the faults throughout the region. These include transform parallel right-lateral, strike-slip faults separating domains dominated by spreading parallel left-lateral bookshelf faults. Shearing is most prominent along the HFFs, a system of right-lateral strike-slip faults with vertical displacement up to 15 m. Vertical fault movements reflect increased tectonic activity during early postglacial time coinciding with isostatic rebound enhancing volcanism within Iceland.

Geologic map of the Topock 7.5’ quadrangle, Arizona and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howard, Keith A.; John, Barbara E.; Nielson, Jane E.; Miller, Julia M.G.; Wooden, Joseph L.

2013-01-01

The Topock quadrangle exposes a structurally complex part of the Colorado River extensional corridor and also exposes deposits that record landscape evolution during the history of the Colorado River. Paleoproterozoic gneisses and Mesoproterozoic granitoids and intrusive sheets are exposed through tilted cross-sectional thicknesses of many kilometers. Intruding them are a series of Mesozoic to Tertiary igneous rocks including dismembered parts of the Late Cretaceous Chemehuevi Mountains Plutonic Suite. Plutons of this suite in Arizona, if structurally restored for Miocene extension, formed cupolas capping the Chemehuevi Mountains batholith in California. Thick (1–3 km) Miocene sections of volcanic rocks, sedimentary breccias, conglomerate, and sandstone rest nonconformably on the Proterozoic rocks and record the structural and depositional evolution of the Colorado River extensional corridor. Four major Miocene low-angle normal faults and a steep block-bounding fault that developed during this episode divide the deformed rocks of the quadrangle into major structural plates and tilted blocks in and east of the Chemehuevi Mountains core complex. The low-angle faults attenuate crustal section, superposing supracrustal and upper crustal rocks against gneisses and granitoids originally from deeper crustal levels. The transverse block-bounding Gold Dome Fault Zone juxtaposes two large hanging-wall blocks, each tilted 90°, and the fault zone splays at its tip into folds in layered Miocene rocks. A synfaulting intrusion occupies the triangular zone where the folded strata detached from an inside corner along this fault between the tilt blocks. Post-extensional upper Miocene to Quaternary strata, locally deformed, record post-extensional landscape evolution, including several Pliocene and younger aggradational episodes in the Colorado River valley and intervening degradation episodes. The aggradational sequences include (1) the Bouse Formation, (2) fluvial deposits correlated with the alluvium of Bullhead City, (3) the younger fluvial boulder conglomerate of Bat Cave Wash, (4) the fluvial Chemehuevi Formation and related valley-margin deposits, and (5) fluvial Holocene deposits under the river and the valley floor. These fluvial records of Colorado River deposition are interspersed with piedmont alluvial fan deposits of several ages.

Fault Mitigation Schemes for Future Spaceflight Multicore Processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, James W.; Clement, Bradley J.; Gostelow, Kim P.; Lai, John Y.

2012-01-01

Future planetary exploration missions demand significant advances in on-board computing capabilities over current avionics architectures based on a single-core processing element. The state-of-the-art multi-core processor provides much promise in meeting such challenges while introducing new fault tolerance problems when applied to space missions. Software-based schemes are being presented in this paper that can achieve system-level fault mitigation beyond that provided by radiation-hard-by-design (RHBD). For mission and time critical applications such as the Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) for planetary or small body navigation, and landing, a range of fault tolerance methods can be adapted by the application. The software methods being investigated include Error Correction Code (ECC) for data packet routing between cores, virtual network routing, Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR), and Algorithm-Based Fault Tolerance (ABFT). A robust fault tolerance framework that provides fail-operational behavior under hard real-time constraints and graceful degradation will be demonstrated using TRN executing on a commercial Tilera(R) processor with simulated fault injections.

In-situ stress measurements using core-based methods in the vicinity of Nojima fault.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yano, S.; Sugimoto, T.; Lin, W.; Lin, A.

2017-12-01

In the cycle of repeatable occurrence of earthquakes, stress accumulates at the source fault and its surroundings in an interseismic period until the next earthquake, and releases abruptly when the earthquake occurs. However, it is almost unknown that the quantitative relationship between stress change and earthquake occurrence. Hence, in order to improve our understanding on the mechanisms of the outbreak of earthquakes, it is important to grasp the stress states in the vicinity of the source fault and to evaluate its change over time. In this study, we carried out in-situ stress measurements by using core samples obtained from a scientific drilling penetrated through the Nojima fault which ruptured and caused the Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake, Japan in 1995. Our stress measurements were conducted from 2016 to 2017 when is 22 years after the earthquake. For this purpose, we applied the Anelastic Strain Recovery (ASR) method and Diametrical Core Deformation Analysis (DCDA). First, we measure the ASR change with time of the cores from stress releasing soon and calculate three-dimensional principal in-situ stress orientations and magnitudes from the ASR data. In this study, to ensure the enough amount of ASR, we conducted the measurements using the cores collected within a short time (e.g. 2.5 - 3.5 hours) after stress releasing by drilling at an on-site laboratory in the drilling site in Awaji island, Japan. The site locates at the south-west part of the Nojima fault. In DCDA, we measure the core diameters in all (360°) azimuths, and determine difference of the two horizontal principal stresses and their orientation by using the other cores as those used for ASR. DCDA experiments were conducted indoor and after a long time passed from core collecting. Lithology of all the core samples we used for ASR and DCDA are granite, and 19 and 7 cores were used for ASR and DCDA, respectively. As a result, it was found that the stress state in the depth range of 500 - 560 m and around 822 m were of normal faulting stress regime and that in 711 - 730 m was strike slip faulting type. As mentioned above, we have obtained a data set of the current state of stress around Nojima fault using the two core-based stress measurement methods. In future, we will determine the core orientations and restore the directions of the principal stress axes to the geologic coodinates.

Fracture zone drilling through Atotsugawa fault in central Japan - geological and geophysical structure -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omura, K.; Yamashita, F.; Yamada, R.; Matsuda, T.; Fukuyama, E.; Kubo, A.; Takai, K.; Ikeda, R.; Mizuochi, Y.

2004-12-01

Drilling is an effective method to investigate the structure and physical state in and around the active fault zone, such as, stress and strength distribution, geological structure and materials properties. In particular, the structure in the fault zone is important to understand where and how the stress accumulates during the earthquake cycle. In previous studies, we did integrate investigation on active faults in central Japan by drilling and geophysical prospecting. Those faults are estimated to be at different stage in the earthquake cycle, i.e., Nojima fault which appeared on the surface by the 1995 Great Kobe earthquake (M=7.2), the Neodani fault which appeared by the 1891 Nobi earth-quake (M=8.0), the Atera fault, of which some parts have seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9), and Gofukuji Fault that is considered to have activated about 1200 years ago. Each faults showed characteristic features of fracture zone structure according to their geological and geophysical situations. In a present study, we did core recovery and down hole measurements at the Atotsugawa fault, central Japan, that is considered to have activated at 1858 Hida earthquake (M=7.0). The Atotsugawa fault is characterized by active seismicity along the fault. But, at the same time, the shallow region in the central segment of the fault seems to have low seismicity. The high seismicity segment and low seismicity segments may have different mechanical, physical and material properties. A 350m depth borehole was drilled vertically beside the surface trace of the fault in the low seismicity segment. Recovered cores were overall heavily fractured and altered rocks. In the cores, we observed many shear planes holding fault gouge. Logging data showed that the apparent resistance was about 100 - 600 ohm-m, density was about 2.0 - 2.5g/cm3, P wave velocity was approximately 3.0 - 4.0 km/sec, neutron porosity was 20 - 40 %. Results of physical logging show features of fault fracture zone that were the same as the fault fracture zones of other active faults that we have drilled previously. By the BHTV logging, we detected many fractures of which the strikes are not only parallel to the fault trace bur also oblique to the fault trace. The observations of cores and logging data indicate that the borehole passed in the fracture zone down to the bottom, and that the fracture zone has complicate internal structure including foliation not parallel to the fault trace. The core samples are significant for further investigation on material properties in the fracture zone. And we need data of geophysical prospecting to infer the deeper structure of the fracture zone.

Infrastructure and mechanical properties of a fault zone in sandstone as an outcrop analogue of a potential geothermal reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, J. F.; Meier, S.; Philipp, S. L.

2013-12-01

Due to high drilling costs of geothermal projects, it is economically sensible to assess the potential suitability of a reservoir prior to drilling. Fault zones are of particular importance, because they may enhance fluid flow, or be flow barriers, respectively, depending on their particular infrastructure. Outcrop analogue studies are useful to analyze the fault zone infrastructure and thereby increase the predictability of fluid flow behavior across fault zones in the corresponding deep reservoir. The main aims of the present study are to 1) analyze the infrastructure and the differences of fracture system parameters in fault zones and 2) determine the mechanical properties of the faulted rocks. We measure fracture frequencies as well as orientations, lengths and apertures and take representative rock samples for each facies to obtain Young's modulus, compressive and tensile strengths in the laboratory. Since fractures reduce the stiffnesses of in situ rock masses we use an inverse correlation of the number of discontinuities to calculate effective (in situ) Young's moduli to investigate the variation of mechanical properties in fault zones. In addition we determine the rebound hardness, which correlates with the compressive strength measured in the laboratory, with a 'Schmidt-Hammer' in the field because this allows detailed maps of mechanical property variations within fault zones. Here we present the first results for a fault zone in the Triassic Lower Bunter of the Upper Rhine Graben in France. The outcrop at Cleebourg exposes the damage zone of the footwall and a clear developed fault core of a NNW-SSE-striking normal fault. The approximately 15 m wide fault core consists of fault gouge, slip zones, deformation bands and host rock lenses. Intensive deformation close to the core led to the formation of a distal fault core, a 5 m wide zone with disturbed layering and high fracture frequency. The damage zone also contains more fractures than the host rock. Fracture frequency and connectivity clearly increase near the fault core where the reservoir permeability may thus be higher, the effective Young's modulus lower. Similarly the Schmidt-Hammer measurements show that the rebound hardness, or the compressive strength, respectively, decreases near the fault core. This Project is part of the Research- and Development Project 'AuGE' (Outcrop Analogue Studies in Geothermal Exploration). Project partners are the companies Geothermal Engeneering GmbH as well as the Universities of Heidelberg and Erlangen. We thank the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safty (BMU) for funding the project in the framework of the 5th Energy Research Program (FKZ: 0325302). Also thanks to the owner of the quarry for the permission to perform our field studies.

Hydrothermal minerals and microstructures in the Silangkitang geothermal field along the Great Sumatran fault zone, Sumatra, Indonesia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Diane E.; Hickman, S.; Lockner, D.A.; Dobson, P.F.

2001-01-01

Detailed study of core samples of silicic tuff recovered from three geothermal wells along the strike-slip Great Sumatran fault zone near Silangkitang, North Sumatra, supports a model for enhanced hydrothermal circulation adjacent to this major plate-boundary fault. Two wells (A and C) were drilled nearly vertically ??1 km southwest of the eastern (i.e., the principal) fault trace, and the third, directional well (B) was drilled eastward from the site of well A to within ??100 m of the principal fault trace. The examined core samples come from depths of 1650-2120 m at measured well temperatures of 180-320 ??C. The samples collected near the principal fault trace have the highest temperatures, the largest amount of secondary pore space that correlates with high secondary permeability, and the most extensive hydrothermal mineral development. Secondary permeability and the degree of hydrothermal alteration decrease toward the southwestern margin of the fault zone. These features indicate episodic, localized flow of hot, possibly CO2-rich fluids within the fault zone. The microstructure populations identified in the core samples correlate to the subsidiary fault patterns typical of strike-slip faults. The geothermal reservoir appears to be centered on the fault zone, with the principal fault strands and adjoining, highly fractured and hydrothermally altered rock serving as the main conduits for vertical fluid flow and advective heat transport from deeper magmatic sources.

Combined geophysical surveys and coring data to investigate the pattern of the Watukosek fault system around the Lusi eruption site, Indonesia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husein, Alwi; Mazzini, Adriano; Lupi, Matteo; Mauri, Guillaume; Kemna, Andreas; Hadi, Soffian; Santosa, Bagus

2016-04-01

The Lusi mud eruption is located in the Sidoarjo area, Indonesia and is continuously erupting hot mud since its birth in May 2006. The Watukosek fault system originates from the neighboring Arjuno-Welirang volcanic complex extending towards the NE of Java. After the 27-06-2006 M 6.3 earthquake this fault system was reactivated and hosted numerous hot mud eruptions in the Sidoarjo area. Until now, no targeted investigations have been conducted to understand the geometry of the faults system crossing the Lusi eruption site. A comprehensive combined electrical resistivity and self-potential (SP) survey was performed in the 7 km2 area inside the Lusi embankment that had been built to contain the erupted mud and to prevent flooding of the surrounding roads and settlements. The goal of the geophysical survey is to map the near-surface occurrence of the Watukosek fault system upon which Lusi resides, delineate its spatial pattern, and monitor its development. We completed six lines of resistivity measurements using Wenner configuration and SP measurements using roll-along technique. Three subparallel lines were located to the north and to the south of the main crater. Each line was approximately W-E oriented extending for ~1.26 km. The surveyed regions consist of mud breccia (containing clayey-silty-sandy mixture with clast up to ~10 cm in size). The geophysical data have been complemented with a N-S oriented profile consisting of 6 cores (~30m long) drilled in the dry area inside the Lusi embankment. The resistivity data were inverted into 2-D resistivity images with a maximum penetration depth of almost 200 m. These images consistently reveal a region of about 300 m in width (between 30-90 m depth) characterized by anomalous resistivities, which are lower than the values observed in the surrounding area. The results of the SP data correspond well with the resistivity profiles in the anomalous parts, which suggests that their origin is related to fluid flow paths in the subsurface. The coring results reveal varying thickness of the dry walkable mud overlying water saturated mud. The retrieved material also helped to constrain the subsidence depth of the original ground level that continuously collapses since the initiation of the eruption. These results have been used to complement the resistivity profiles and to provide a better model for the Watukosek fault system and the regional subsidence.

The Canyonlands Grabens Revisited, with a New Interpretation of Graben Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, R. A.; Moore, J. M.

1996-03-01

The relative scale between faults and faulted-layer thickness is critical to the mechanical behavior of faults and fault populations on any planetary body. Due to their fresh, relatively uneroded morphology and simple structural setting, the terrestrial Canyonlands grabens provide a unique opportunity to critically investigate the geometry, growth, interaction, and scaling relationships of normal faults. Symmetrical models have traditionally been used to describe these grabens, but field observations of stratigraphic offsets require asymmetric graben cross-sectional geometry. Topographic profiles reveal differential stratigraphic offsets, graben floor-tilts, and possible roll-over anticlines as well as footwall uplifts. Relationships between the asymmetric graben geometry and brittle-layer thickness are currently being investigated.

Seismic and Gravity Data Help Constrain the Stratigraphic and Tectonic History of Offshore New Harbor, Ross Sea, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speece, M. A.; Pekar, S. F.; Wilson, G. S.; Sunwall, D. A.; Tinto, K. J.

2010-12-01

The ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) Program’s Offshore New Harbor (ONH) Project successfully conducted multi-channel seismic and gravity surveys in 2008 to investigate the stratigraphic and tectonic history of westernmost Southern McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, during the Greenhouse World (Eocene) into the start of the Icehouse World (Oligocene). Approximately 48 km of multi-channel seismic reflection data were collected on a sea-ice platform east of New Harbor. The seismic survey used and improved upon methods employed successfully by ANDRILL’s surveys in Southern McMurdo Sound (2005) and in Mackay Sea Valley (2007). These methods include using an air gun and snow streamer of gimbaled geophones. Upgrades in the ONH project’s field equipment substantially increased the rate at which seismic data could be acquired in a sea-ice environment compared to all previous surveys. In addition to the seismic survey, gravity data were collected from the sea ice in New Harbor with the aim of defining basin structural controls. Both the seismic and gravity data indicate thick sediment accumulation above the hanging wall of a major range front fault. This clearly identified fault could be the postulated master fault of the Transantarctic Mountains. An approximately 5 km thick sequence of sediments is present east of the CIROS-1 drill hole. CIROS-1 was drilled adjacent to the range front fault and recovered 702 m of sediments that cross the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. The new geophysical data indicate that substantial sediment core below the Eocene/Oligocene boundary could be recovered to the east of CIROS-1 during future drilling. Inshore of the range front fault, the data show fault bounded half grabens with sediment fill thickening eastward against localized normal faults. Modeling of the gravity data, that extends farther inland than the seismic profiles, suggests that over 1 km of sediments could be present locally offshore Taylor Valley. Future drilling of offshore Taylor Valley could help to constrain the East Antarctic Ice Sheet’s contributions to glacial-interglacial cyclicity in southern McMurdo Sound as far back as the middle Miocene. Unfortunately, the 2008 ONH seismic profiles do not extend far enough up Taylor Valley or Ferrar Fjord to fully define drilling targets. As a result, valley parallel seismic profiles are proposed to extend our seismic interpretations inland and substantiate the gravity models.

Three-dimensional Gravity Modeling of Ocean Core Complexes at the Central Indian Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, S. S.; Chandler, M. T.; Pak, S. J.; Son, S. K.

2017-12-01

The spatial distribution of ocean core complexes (OCCs) on mid-ocean ridge flanks can indicate the variation of magmatism and tectonic extension at a given spreading center. A recent study revealed 11 prominent OCCs developed along the middle portion of the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) based on the high-resolution shipboard bathymetry. The CIR is located between the Carlsberg Ridge and the Indian Ocean triple junction. The detailed morphotectonic interpretations from the recent study suggested that the middle ridge segments of the CIR were mainly developed through tectonic extension with little magmatism. Furthermore, the OCCs exposed by detachment faults appear to the main host for active off-axis hydrothermal circulations. Here we form a three-dimensional gravity model to investigate the crustal structures of OCCs developed between 12oS and 14oS at the CIR. These OCCs exhibit domal topographic highs with corrugated surface. The rock samples from these areas include deep-seated rocks such as serpentinized harzburgite and gabbro. A typical gravity study on mid-ocean ridges assumes a constant density contrast along the water-crust interface and constant crustal thickness and removes its gravitational contributions and thermal effects of lithospheric cooling from the free-air gravity anomaly. This approach is effective to distinguish anomalous regions that deviate from the applied crustal and thermal models. The oceanic crust around the OCCs, however, tends to be thinned due to detachment faulting and tectonic extension. In this study, we include multi-layers with different density contrast and variable thickness to approximate gravity anomalies resulting from the OCCs. In addition, we aim to differentiate the geophysical characteristics of the OCCs from the nearby ridge segments and infer tectonic relationship between the OCCs and ridges.

Evolution of oceanic core complex domes and corrugations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cann, J.; Escartin, J.; Smith, D.; Schouten, H.

2007-12-01

In regions of the oceans where detachment faulting is developed widely, individual core complex domes (elevated massifs capped by corrugated detachment surfaces) show a consistent morphology. At their outward sides, most core complex domes are attached to a planar slope, interpreted (Smith et al., 2006) as an originally steep inward-facing normal fault that has been rotated to shallower angles. We suggest that the break in slope where the originally steep normal fault meets the domal corrugated surface marks the trace of the brittle-ductile transition at the base of the original normal fault. The steep faults originate within a short distance of the spreading axis. This means that the arcuate shape of the intersection of the steep fault with the dome must indicate the shape of the brittle-ductile transition very close to the spreading axis. The transition must be very shallow close to the summit of the dome and deeper on each flank. Evidence from drilling of some core complexes (McCaig et al, 2007) shows that while the domal detachment faults are active they may channel hydrothermal flow at black smoker temperatures and may be simultaneously injected by magma from below. This indicates a close link between igneous activity, hydrothermal flow and deformation while a core complex is forming. Once the shape of the core complex dome is established, it persists as the ductile footwall mantle rising from below is shaped by the overlying brittle hanging wall that has been cooled by the hydrothermal circulation. The corrugations in the footwall must be moulded into it by irregularities in the brittle hanging wall, as suggested by Spencer (1999). The along-axis arched shape of the hanging wall helps to stabilise the domal shape of the footwall as it rises and cools.

A Thick, Deformed Sedimentary Wedge in an Erosional Subduction Zone, Southern Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silver, E. A.; Kluesner, J. W.; Edwards, J. H.; Vannucchi, P.

2014-12-01

A paradigm of erosional subduction zones is that the lower part of the wedge is composed of strong, crystalline basement (Clift and Vannucchi, Rev. Geophys., 42, RG2001, 2004). The CRISP 3D seismic reflection study of the southern part of the Costa Rica subduction zone shows quite the opposite. Here the slope is underlain by a series of fault-cored anticlines, with faults dipping both landward and seaward that root into the plate boundary. Deformation intensity increases with depth, and young, near-surface deformation follows that of the deeper structures but with basin inversions indicating a dynamic evolution (Edwards et al., this meeting). Fold wavelength increases landward, consistent with the folding of a landward-thickening wedge. Offscraping in accretion is minimal because incoming sediments on the lower plate are very thin. Within the wedge, thrust faulting dominates at depth in the wedge, whereas normal faulting dominates close to the surface, possibly reflecting uplift of the deforming anticlines. Normal faults form a mesh of NNW and ENE-trending structures, whereas thrust faults are oriented approximately parallel to the dominant fold orientation, which in turn follows the direction of roughness on the subducting plate. Rapid subduction erosion just prior to 2 Ma is inferred from IODP Expedition 334 (Vannucchi et al., 2013, Geology, 49:995-998). Crystalline basement may have been largely removed from the slope region during this rapid erosional event, and the modern wedge may consist of rapidly redeposited material (Expedition 344 Scientists, 2013) that has been undergoing deformation since its inception, producing a structure quite different from that expected of an eroding subduction zone.

Magnetic properties of cores from the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Hole-2 (WFSD-2), China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, L., Jr.; Sun, Z.; Li, H.; Cao, Y.; Ye, X.; Wang, L.; Zhao, Y.; Han, S.

2015-12-01

During an earthquake, seismic slip and frictional heating may cause the physical and chemical alterations of magnetic minerals within the fault zone. Rock magnetism provides a method for understanding earthquake dynamics. The Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Project (WFSD) started right after 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, to investigate the earthquake faulting mechanism. Hole 2 (WFSD-2) is located in the Pengguan Complex in the Bajiaomiao village (Dujiangyan, Sichuan), and reached the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF). We measured the surface magnetic susceptibility of the cores in WFSD-2 from 500 m to 1530 m with an interval of 1 cm. Rocks at 500-599.31 m-depth and 1211.49-1530 m-depth are from the Neoproterozoic Pengguang Complex while the section from 599.31 m to 1211.49 m is composed of Late Triassic sediments. The magnetic susceptibility values of the first part of the Pengguan Complex range from 1 to 25 × 10-6 SI, while the second part ranges from 10 to 200 × 10-6 SI, which indicate that the two parts are not from the same rock units. The Late Triassic sedimentary rocks have a low magnetic susceptibility values, ranging from -5 to 20 × 10-6 SI. Most fault zones coincide with the high value of magnetic susceptibility in the WFSD-2 cores. Fault rocks, mainly fault breccia, cataclasite, gouge and pseudotachylite within the WFSD-2 cores, and mostly display a significantly higher magnetic susceptibility than host rocks (5:1 to 20:1). In particular, in the YBF zone of the WFSD-2 cores (from 600 to 960 m), dozens of stages with high values of magnetic susceptibility have been observed. The multi-layered fault rocks with high magnetic susceptibility values might indicate that the YBF is a long-term active fault. The magnetic susceptibility values change with different types of fault rocks. The gouge and pseudotachylite have higher values of magnetic susceptibility than other fault rocks. Other primary rock magnetism analyses were then performed to investigate the mechanisms. We consider that the principal mechanism for the high magnetic susceptibility of these fault rocks is most likely the production of new magnetite from iron-bearing paramagnetic minerals (such as silicates or clays). These new magnetites might originate from frictional heating on a seismic fault slip plane or seismic fluid during an earthquake.

Structure of Hole 1256D: The role of mechanical deformation in superfast-spread crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tartarotti, P.; Hayman, N. W.; Anma, R.; Crispini, L.; Veloso Espinosa, E. A.; Galli, L.

2006-12-01

One view of seafloor spreading is that mechanical deformation is not significant at high spreading rates. With recovery of up to 37%, and the vertical axis known for many pieces, shipboard visual core descriptions from Hole 1256D provide an opportunity to evaluate the significance of deformational structures in EPR-, superfast- (~220 mm-yr) spread crust. From top to bottom, the structural characteristics of crustal units are: (1) A relatively flat-lying, ~100-m thick "lava pond" that is largely free of deformational structures; (2) ~184 m of shallowly dipping lava flows remarkable for hyaloclastites and a cooling-related fracture system; (3) ~466 m of massive and sheet flows with flow-related fractures, hydrothermal veins, and (fault-related) cataclastic domains; (3) A ~61 m thick transition zone that contains a well-developed (fault-related) cataclastic domain; (4) A ~346 m thick sheeted dike complex, with abundant hydrothermal veins, local breccias, and magmatic flow features. Recovered chilled dike margins have a mean dip of 70° and range from 41-88°; (5) A ~100 m thick plutonic suite contains gabbroic rocks that intrude the sheeted dikes. Gabbros contain some local brittle structures and minor (largely static) recrystallized domains, but are more noteworthy for their magmatic features: dike/gabbro contacts and flow foliations are modestly dipping (e.g., ~45°) with leucocratic melt patches concentrated toward the top of the section. Brittle structures were subordinate to magmatic processes in accommodating large extensional strain. Brittle deformation was important, however, in accommodating magmatism and hydrothermal fluid flow, thereby affecting the variation of crustal physical properties and the distribution of oceanic alteration.

Fault current limiter with shield and adjacent cores

DOEpatents

Darmann, Francis Anthony; Moriconi, Franco; Hodge, Eoin Patrick

2013-10-22

In a fault current limiter (FCL) of a saturated core type having at least one coil wound around a high permeability material, a method of suppressing the time derivative of the fault current at the zero current point includes the following step: utilizing an electromagnetic screen or shield around the AC coil to suppress the time derivative current levels during zero current conditions.

Strain-Driven Stacking Faults in CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Nanorods.

PubMed

Demortière, Arnaud; Leonard, Donovan N; Petkov, Valeri; Chapman, Karena; Chattopadhyay, Soma; She, Chunxing; Cullen, David A; Shibata, Tomohiro; Pelton, Matthew; Shevchenko, Elena V

2018-04-19

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are commonly grown with a shell of a second semiconductor material to obtain desired physical properties, such as increased photoluminescence quantum yield. However, the growth of a lattice-mismatched shell results in strain within the nanocrystal, and this strain has the potential to produce crystalline defects. Here, we study CdSe/CdS core/shell nanorods as a model system to investigate the influence of core size and shape on the formation of stacking faults in the nanocrystal. Using a combination of high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and pair-distribution-function analysis of synchrotron X-ray scattering, we show that growth of the CdS shell on smaller, spherical CdSe cores results in relatively small strain and few stacking faults. By contrast, growth of the shell on larger, prolate spheroidal cores leads to significant strain in the CdS lattice, resulting in a high density of stacking faults.

The stress shadow effect: a mechanical analysis of the evenly-spaced parallel strike-slip faults in the San Andreas fault system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuza, A. V.; Yin, A.; Lin, J. C.

2015-12-01

Parallel evenly-spaced strike-slip faults are prominent in the southern San Andreas fault system, as well as other settings along plate boundaries (e.g., the Alpine fault) and within continental interiors (e.g., the North Anatolian, central Asian, and northern Tibetan faults). In southern California, the parallel San Jacinto, Elsinore, Rose Canyon, and San Clemente faults to the west of the San Andreas are regularly spaced at ~40 km. In the Eastern California Shear Zone, east of the San Andreas, faults are spaced at ~15 km. These characteristic spacings provide unique mechanical constraints on how the faults interact. Despite the common occurrence of parallel strike-slip faults, the fundamental questions of how and why these fault systems form remain unanswered. We address this issue by using the stress shadow concept of Lachenbruch (1961)—developed to explain extensional joints by using the stress-free condition on the crack surface—to present a mechanical analysis of the formation of parallel strike-slip faults that relates fault spacing and brittle-crust thickness to fault strength, crustal strength, and the crustal stress state. We discuss three independent models: (1) a fracture mechanics model, (2) an empirical stress-rise function model embedded in a plastic medium, and (3) an elastic-plate model. The assumptions and predictions of these models are quantitatively tested using scaled analogue sandbox experiments that show that strike-slip fault spacing is linearly related to the brittle-crust thickness. We derive constraints on the mechanical properties of the southern San Andreas strike-slip faults and fault-bounded crust (e.g., local fault strength and crustal/regional stress) given the observed fault spacing and brittle-crust thickness, which is obtained by defining the base of the seismogenic zone with high-resolution earthquake data. Our models allow direct comparison of the parallel faults in the southern San Andreas system with other similar strike-slip fault systems, both on Earth and throughout the solar system (e.g., the Tiger Stripe Fractures on Enceladus).

The microstructural character and evolution of fault rocks from the SAFOD core and potential weakening mechanisms along the San Andreas Fault (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holdsworth, R. E.; van Diggelen, E.; Spiers, C.; de Bresser, J. H.; Smith, S. A.

2009-12-01

In the region of the SAFOD borehole, the San Andreas Fault (SAF) separates two very different geological terranes referred to here as the Salinian and Great Valley blocks (SB, GVB). The three sections of core preserve a diverse range of fault rocks and pass through the two currently active, highly localised slipping sections, the so-called ‘10480’ and ‘10830’ fault zones . These coincide with a broader region - perhaps as much as 100m wide - of high strain fault rocks formed at some time in the geological past, but now currently inactive. Both the slipping segments and older high strain zone(s) are developed in the GVB located NE of the terrane boundary. This is likely influenced by the phyllosilicate-rich protolith of the GVB and the large volume of trapped fluid known to exist NE and below the SAF in this region. Microstructurally, lower strain domains (most of Core 1 cutting the SB, significant parts of Core 3 cutting the GVB) preserve clear evidence for classic upper crustal cataclastic brittle faulting processes and associated fluid flow. The GVB in particular shows clear geological evidence for both fluid pressure and differential stress cycling (variable modes of hydrofacture associated with faults) during seismicity. There is also some evidence in all minor faults for the operation of limited amounts of solution-precipitation creep. High strain domains (much of Core 2 cutting the GVB, parts of Core 3 adjacent to the 10830 fault) are characterised by the development of foliated cataclasites and gouge largely due to the new growth of fine-grained phyllosilicate networks (predominantly smectite-bearing mixed layer clays, locally serpentinite, but not talc). The most deformed sections are characterised by the development of shear band fabrics and asymmetric folds. Reworking and reactivation is widespread manifested by: i) the preservation of one or more earlier generations of gouge preserved as clasts; and ii) by the development of later interconnected, polished and striated slip surfaces at low angles or sub-parallel to the foliation. These are coated with thin phyllosilicate films and are closely associated with the development of lozenge, arrow-head and triangular mineral veins (mostly calcite) inferred to be precipitated in dilation sites during slip. The largest displacement gouges also preserve numerous rounded ‘exotic’ clasts. These include serpentinite, crystalline carbonate, anhydrite and quartzofeldspathic units that texturally look very similar to clasts found in the SB. The SAFOD core fault rocks highlight the fundamental role played by fluid-rock interactions in upper crustal fault zones. There is clear evidence for the development of high pore fluid pressures (hydrofracture development), reaction weakening (phyllosilicate growth following cataclasis) and geometric weakening due to the development of weak interconnected layers (foliations, polished striated slip surfaces). There are also very significant similarities between the fault rocks seen here and those preserved along other deeply exhumed weak fault elsewhere in the world.

Early Tertiary Anaconda metamorphic core complex, southwestern Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Neill, J. M.; Lonn, J.D.; Lageson, D.R.; Kunk, Michael J.

2004-01-01

A sinuous zone of gently southeast-dipping low-angle Tertiary normal faults is exposed for 100 km along the eastern margins of the Anaconda and Flint Creek ranges in southwest Montana. Faults in the zone variously place Mesoproterozoic through Paleozoic sedimentary rocks on younger Tertiary granitic rocks or on sedimentary rocks older than the overlying detached rocks. Lower plate rocks are lineated and mylonitic at the main fault and, below the mylonitic front, are cut by mylonitic mesoscopic to microscopic shear zones. The upper plate consists of an imbricate stack of younger-on-older sedimentary rocks that are locally mylonitic at the main, lowermost detachment fault but are characteristically strongly brecciated or broken. Kinematic indicators in the lineated mylonite indicate tectonic transport to the east-southeast. Syntectonic sedimentary breccia and coarse conglomerate derived solely from upper plate rocks were deposited locally on top of hanging-wall rocks in low-lying areas between fault blocks and breccia zones. Muscovite occurs locally as mica fish in mylonitic quartzites at or near the main detachment. The 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum obtained from muscovite in one mylonitic quartzite yielded an age of 47.2 + 0.14 Ma, interpreted to be the age of mylonitization. The fault zone is interpreted as a detachment fault that bounds a metamorphic core complex, here termed the Anaconda metamorphic core complex, similar in age and character to the Bitterroot mylonite that bounds the Bitterroot metamorphic core complex along the Idaho-Montana state line 100 km to the west. The Bitterroot and Anaconda core complexes are likely components of a continuous, tectonically integrated system. Recognition of this core complex expands the region of known early Tertiary brittle-ductile crustal extension eastward into areas of profound Late Cretaceous contractile deformation characterized by complex structural interactions between the overthrust belt and Laramide basement uplifts, overprinted by late Tertiary Basin and Range faulting. ?? 2004 NRC Canada.

Comparative study of two active faults in different stages of the earthquake cycle in central Japan -The Atera fault (with 1586 Tensho earthquake) and the Nojima fault (with 1995 Kobe earthquake)-

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuda, T.; Omura, K.; Ikeda, R.

2003-12-01

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) has been conducting _gFault zone drilling_h. Fault zone drilling is especially important in understanding the structure, composition, and physical properties of an active fault. In the Chubu district of central Japan, large active faults such as the Atotsugawa (with 1858 Hietsu earthquake) and the Atera (with 1586 Tensho earthquake) faults exist. After the occurrence of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, it has been widely recognized that direct measurements in fault zones by drilling. This time, we describe about the Atera fault and the Nojima fault. Because, these two faults are similar in geological situation (mostly composed of granitic rocks), so it is easy to do comparative study of drilling investigation. The features of the Atera fault, which have been dislocated by the 1586 Tensho earthquake, are as follows. Total length is about 70 km. That general trend is NW45 degree with a left-lateral strike slip. Slip rate is estimated as 3-5 m / 1000 years. Seismicity is very low at present and lithologies around the fault are basically granitic rocks and rhyolite. Six boreholes have been drilled from the depth of 400 m to 630 m. Four of these boreholes (Hatajiri, Fukuoka, Ueno and Kawaue) are located on a line crossing in a direction perpendicular to the Atera fault. In the Kawaue well, mostly fractured and alternating granitic rock continued from the surface to the bottom at 630 m. X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) is conducted to estimate the amount of major chemical elements using the glass bead method for core samples. The amounts of H20+ are about from 0.5 to 2.5 weight percent. This fractured zone is also characterized by the logging data such as low resistivity, low P-wave velocity, low density and high neutron porosity. The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake occurred along the NE-SW-trending Rokko-Awaji fault system, and the Nojima fault appeared on the surface on Awaji Island when this rupture occurred. It is more than 10 km long with 1-2 m offset along the Nojima fault. About one year after the earthquake, NIED drilled a borehole (the Hirabayashi NIED borehole) and penetrated the Nojima fault. The Hirabayashi NIED borehole was drilled to a depth of 1838 m and recovered the drill core. The main types of rock intersected by the borehole are granodiorite and cataclastic fault rocks. Three fracture zones were recognized in cores at approximate depth of 1140 m, 1300 m and 1800 m. There is remarkable foliated blue-gray gouge at a depth of 1140 m. We investigate chemical compositions by XRF analysis in the fracture zone. The amounts of H20+ are about from 1.0 to 15.0 weight percent. We investigate mineral assemblage in both drilling cores by X-ray powder diffraction analysis. From the results, we can_ft recognize so difference between the two faults. But the amount of H2O+ is very different. In the Hirabayashi NIED core at a depth of 1140 m, there is about ten times as much as the average of the Kawaue core. This is probably due to the greater degree of wall-rock fracturing in the fracture zone. We suggest that this characteristic is associated with the fault activity at the time of the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the nature of fluid-rock interactions in the fracture zone.

Quaternary displacement rates on the Meeman‐Shelby fault and Joiner ridge horst, eastern Arkansas: Results from coring Mississippi River alluvium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ward, Alex; Counts, Ronald C.; Van Arsdale, Roy; Larsen, Daniel; Mahan, Shannon

2017-01-01

This research used coring and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of displaced, deeply buried Quaternary alluvium to determine vertical displacement rates for the Meeman‐Shelby fault and the Joiner ridge horst, two structures in northeastern Arkansas that have no modern seismicity associated with them. We drilled continuous cores of the entire alluvial section in the hanging wall of each structure, performed detailed core descriptions and analyses, and obtained three OSL ages from each core. The Meeman‐Shelby fault core consists of 36 m of 4.3–5.2‐ka Holocene alluvium overlying 4 m of 14.3‐ka Kennett alluvium that in turn overlies the upper part of Eocene Claiborne Group sediments at a depth of 41 m. Seismic reflection indicates that the basal (Kennett) alluvium at the Meeman‐Shelby fault is displaced ∼28  m across the Meeman‐Shelby fault, which equates to a time‐averaged vertical displacement rate of 2  mm/yr within the last 14.3 ka. The Joiner ridge horst core consists, in descending order, of 11 m of 6.3‐ka Holocene alluvium, 14 m of 11.5‐ka Morehouse alluvium, a paleosol, 6 m of Kennett alluvium, and 4 m of 20.3‐ka Sikeston alluvium that in turn overlies the upper part of Eocene Claiborne Group sediments at a depth of 36 m. Lignite exploration drilling conducted in the 1970s indicates that basal (Sikeston) alluvium is displaced ∼20  m across the eastern bounding fault of the Joiner ridge horst, resulting in a time‐averaged vertical displacement rate of ∼1  mm/yr within the last 20.3 ka. These late Quaternary displacement rates are comparable to time‐averaged displacement rates of faults within the active New Madrid seismic zone.

New type of kinematic indicator in bed-parallel veins, Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Argentina: E-W shortening during Late Cretaceous vein opening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ukar, Estibalitz; Lopez, Ramiro G.; Gale, Julia F. W.; Laubach, Stephen E.; Manceda, Rene

2017-11-01

In the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, previously unrecognized yet abundant structures constituting a new category of kinematic indicator occur within bed-parallel fibrous calcite veins (BPVs) in shale. Domal shapes result from localized shortening and thickening of BPVs and the intercalation of centimeter-thick, host-rock shale inclusions within fibrous calcite beef, forming thrust fault-bounded pop-up structures. Ellipsoidal and rounded structures show consistent orientations, lineaments of interlayered shale and fibrous calcite, and local centimeter-scale offset thrust faults that at least in some cases cut across the median line of the BPV and indicate E-W shortening. Continuity of crystal fibers shows the domal structures are contemporaneous with BPV formation and help establish timing of fibrous vein growth in the Late Cretaceous, when shortening directions were oriented E-W. Differences in the number of opening stages and the deformational style of the different BPVs indicate they may have opened at different times. The new domal kinematic indicators described in this study are small enough to be captured in core. When present in the subsurface, domal structures can be used to either infer paleostress orientation during the formation of BPVs or to orient core in cases where the paleostress is independently known.

Evolution of petrophysical properties of across natural faults: a study on cores from the Tournemire underground research laboratory (France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnelye, Audrey; David, Christian; Schubnel, Alexandre; Wassermann, Jérôme; Lefèvre, Mélody; Henry, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Castilla, Raymi; Dick, Pierre

2017-04-01

Faults in general, and in clay materials in particular, have complex structures that can be linked to both a polyphased tectonic history and the anisotropic nature of the material. Drilling through faults in shaly materials allows one to measure properties such as the structure, the mineralogical composition, the stress orientation or physical properties. These relations can be investigated in the laboratory in order to have a better understanding on in-situ mechanisms. In this study we used shales of Toarcian age from the Tournemire underground research laboratory (France). We decided to couple different petrophysical measurements on core samples retrieved from a borehole drilled perpendicularly to a fault plane, and the fault size is of the order of tens of meters. This 25m long borehole was sampled in order to perform several types of measurements: density, porosity, saturation directly in the field, and velocity of elastic waves and magnetic susceptibility anisotropy in the laboratory. For all these measurements, special protocols were developed in order to preserve as much as possible the saturation state of the samples. All these measurements were carried out in three zones that intersects the borehole: the intact zone , the damaged zone and the fault core zone. From our measurements, we were able to associate specific properties to each zone of the fault. We then calculated Thomsen's parameters in order to quantify the elastic anisotropy across the fault. Our results show strong variations of the elastic anisotropy with the distance to the fault core as well as the occurrence of anisotropy reversal.

HOLOCENE MASS-WASTING EVENTS IN LAGO FAGNANO, TIERRA DEL FUEGO (54°S): IMPLICATIONS FOR PALEOSEISMICITY OF THE MAGALLANES-FAGNANO TRANSFORM FAULT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ariztegui, D.; Waldmann, N.; Austin, J. A.; Anselmetti, F.; Moy, C.; Dunbar, R. B.

2009-12-01

High-resolution seismic imaging and sediment coring in Lago Fagnano, located along the Magallanes-Fagnano plate boundary in Tierra del Fuego, have revealed a chronologic catalog of Holocene mass-wasting events. These event layers are interpreted as resulting from slope instabilities that load the slope-adjacent lake floor during mass flow deposition thus mobilizing basin floor sediments through gravity spreading. A total of 22 mass flow deposits have been identified combining results from an 800 km-long dense grid of seismic profiles with a series of sediment cores. Successions of up to 6 m-thick mass-flow deposits pond the basin floor spreading eastward and westward following the main axis of the eastern sub-basin of Lago Fagnano. An age model on the basis of information from previous studies and from new radiocarbon dating allowed establishing a well-constrained chronologic mass-wasting event catalogue covering the last ~15000 years. Simultaneously-triggered basin-wide lateral slope failure and the formation of multiple debris flow and megaturbidite deposits are interpreted as the fingerprint of paleo-seismic activity along the Magallanes-Fagnano transform fault that runs along the entire lake basin. The slope failures and megaturbidites are interpreted as recording large earthquakes occurring along the transform fault since the early Holocene. The results from this study provide new data about the frequency and possible magnitude of Holocene earthquakes in Tierra del Fuego, which can be applied in the context of seismic hazard assessment in southernmost Patagonia.

Numerical Modeling of the Deformation Behavior of Fault Bounded Lens Shaped Bodies in 2D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Zee, W.; Urai, J. L.

2001-12-01

Fault zones cause dramatic discontinuous changes in mechanical properties. The early stages of evolution of fault zones are important for its long-term behavior. We consider faults which develop from deformation bands or pre-existing joints which are the initially unconnected discontinuities. With further deformation, these coalesce into a connected network, and develop into a 'mature' fault gouge. When segments are not coplanar, soft linkage or bends in the fault plane (releasing and restraining bends, fault bounded lens-shaped bodies etc) necessarily occurs. Further movement causes additional deformation, and the fault zone has a strongly variable thickness. Here, we present the results of detailed fieldwork combined with numerical modeling on the deformation of fault bounded lens-shaped bodies in the fault zone. Detailed study of a number of lenses in the field shows that the lens is invariably more deformed than the surrounding material. This observation can be explained in several ways. In one end member most of the deformation in the future lens occurs before full coalescence of the slip planes and the formation of the lens. The other end member is that the slip planes coalesce before plastic deformation of the lens is occurring. The internal deformation of the lens occurs after the lens is formed, due to the redistributed stresses in the structure. If this is the case, then lens shaped bodies can be always expected to deform preferentially. Finite element models were used to investigate the shear behavior of a planar fault with a lens shaped body or a sinus-shaped asperity. In a sensitivity analysis, we consider different lens shapes and fault friction coefficients. Results show that 1) during slip, the asperity shears off to form a lens shaped body 2) lens interior deforms more than the surroundings, due to the redistribution of stresses 3) important parameters in this system are the length-thickness ratio of the lens and the fault friction coefficient 4) lens structures can evolve in different ways, but in the final stage the result is a lens with deformed interior In the later stages after further displacement, these zones of preferential deformation evolve into sections containing thick gouge, and the initial lens width controls long term fault gouge thickness.

Architectural and microstructural characterization of a seismogenic normal fault in dolostones (Central Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demurtas, Matteo; Fondriest, Michele; Clemenzi, Luca; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Storti, Fabrizio; Di Toro, Giulio

2015-04-01

Fault zones cutting carbonate sequences represent significant seismogenic sources worldwide (e.g. L'Aquila 2009, MW 6.1). Though seismological and geophysical techniques (double differences method, trapped waves, etc.) allow us to investigate down to the decametric scale the structure of active fault zones, further geological field surveys and microstructural studies of exhumed seismogenic fault zones are required to support interpretation of geophysical data, quantify the geometry of fault zones and identify the fault processes active during the seismic cycle. Here we describe the architecture (i.e. fault geometry and fault rock distribution) of the well-exposed footwall-block of the Campo Imperatore Fault Zone (CIFZ) by means of remote sensed analyses, field surveys, mineralogical (XRD, micro-Raman spectroscopy) and microstructural (FE-SEM, optical microscope cathodoluminescence) investigations. The CIFZ dips 58° towards N210 and its strike mimics that of the arcuate Gran Sasso Thrust Belt (Central Apennines). The CIFZ was exhumed from 2-3 km depth and accommodated a normal throw of ~2 km starting from the Early-Pleistocene. In the studied area, the CIFZ puts in contact the Holocene deposits at the hangingwall with dolomitized Jurassic carbonate platform successions (Calcare Massiccio) at the footwall. From remote sensed analyses, structural lineaments both inside and outside the CIFZ have a typical NW-SE Apenninic strike, which is parallel to the local trend of the Gran Sasso Thrust. Based on the density of the fracture/fault network and the type of fault zone rocks, we distinguished four main structural domains within the ~300 m thick CIFZ footwall-block, which include (i) a well-cemented (white in color) cataclastic zone (up to ~40 m thick) at the contact with the Holocene deposits, (ii) a well-cemented (brown to grey in color) breccia zone (up to ~15 m thick), (iii) an high strain damage zone (fracture spacing < 2-3 cm), and (iv) a low strain damage zone (fracture spacing > 10 cm). Other than by the main boundary normal fault, slip was accommodated in the cataclastic zone by minor sub-parallel synthetic and antithetic normal faults and by few tear strike-slip fault; the rest of the footwall shows progressively less pervasive damage down to the background intensity of deformation. High strain domains include (1) pervasively fragmented dolostones with radial fractures (evidence of in-situ shattering), (2) shiny (mirror-like) fault surfaces truncating dolostone clasts, (3) mm-thick ultra-cataclastic layers with lobate and cuspate boundaries, (4) mixed calcite-dolomite "foliated cataclasites". The above microstructures can be associated with seismic faulting. Fluids infiltration during deformation is attested by the occurrence of multiple generations of carbonate-filled veins, often exploited as minor faults with a mylonite-like fabric (e.g. presence of micrometer in size euhedral calcite grains). The attitude of the studied segment of the CIFZ, the thickness of the footwall block and the kinematics of the minor faults compares well with the hypocentral and focal mechanisms distribution typical of the earthquake sequences in the Apennines. In particular, the CIFZ can be considered as an exhumed analogue of the normal fault system that caused the L'Aquila 2009 seismic sequence.

Scaling of the critical slip distance for seismic faulting with shear strain in fault zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marone, Chris; Kilgore, Brian D.

1993-01-01

THEORETICAL and experimentally based laws for seismic faulting contain a critical slip distance1-5, Dc, which is the slip over which strength breaks down during earthquake nucleation. On an earthquake-generating fault, this distance plays a key role in determining the rupture nucleation dimension6, the amount of premonitory and post-seismic slip7-10, and the maximum seismic ground acceleration1,11. In laboratory friction experiments, Dc has been related to the size of surface contact junctions2,5,12; thus, the discrepancy between laboratory measurements of Dc (??? 10-5 m) and values obtained from modelling earthquakes (??? 10-2 m) has been attributed to differences in roughness between laboratory surfaces and natural faults5. This interpretation predicts a dependence of Dc on the particle size of fault gouge 2 (breccia and wear material) but not on shear strain. Here we present experimental results showing that Dc scales with shear strain in simulated fault gouge. Our data suggest a new physical interpretation for the critical slip distance, in which Dc is controlled by the thickness of the zone of localized shear strain. As gouge zones of mature faults are commonly 102-103 m thick13-17, whereas laboratory gouge layers are 1-10 mm thick, our data offer an alternative interpretation of the discrepancy between laboratory and field-based estimates of Dc.

How can fluid overpressures be developed and maintained in crustal fault zones ?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LECLÈRE, H.; Cappa, F.; Faulkner, D. R.; Armitage, P. J.; Blake, O. O.; Fabbri, O.

2013-12-01

The presence of fluid overpressure in crustal fault zones is known to play a key role on the stability of faults and it has often been invoked to explain the triggering of earthquakes and the apparent weakness of misoriented faults. However, the mechanisms allowing the development and maintenance of fluid overpressures in fault remain unresolved. We investigate how fluid overpressures can be developed and maintained in complex fault zones with hydraulic and elastic heterogeneities. Here we address this question combining geological observations, laboratory experiments and hydromechanical models of an active crustal fault zone in the Ubaye-Argentera area (southeastern France). The fault zone studied is located in the Argentera external crystalline massif and is connected to regional NW-SE steeply-dipping dextral strike-slip faults with an offset of several kilometers. The fault zone cuts through migmatitic gneisses composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite and muscovite. It exposes several anastomosing core zones surrounded by damage zones with a pluri-decametric total width. The core zones are made up of centimetric to pluridecimetric phyllosilicate-rich gouge layers while the damage zones are composed of pluri-metric phyllonitic rock derived from mylonite. The determination of fault structure in the field and its hydraulic and mechanical properties in the lab are key aspects to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in fault mechanics and earthquake triggering. Here, the permeability and elastic moduli of the host rock, damage zone and fault core were measured from natural plugs with a diameter of 20 mm and lengths between 26 to 51 mm, using a high-pressure hydrostatic fluid-flow apparatus. Measurements were made with confining pressures ranging from 30 to 210 MPa and using argon pore fluid pressure of 20 MPa. Data show a reduction of the permeability values of one order of magnitude between host rock and fault damage zone and a decrease of 50% of the elastic properties between host rock and core zone. Data also show a higher dependence of the permeability on the effective pressure for the host rock compared with the damage zone and core zone. This heterogeneity of properties is related to the development of different microstructures such as microcracks, S-C structures and microbreccia across the fault zone achieved during the tectonic history of the fault. From these physical property values and the fault zone architecture, we then analyzed the effects of sudden mechanical loading approximating to static normal-stress transfer following an earthquake on a neighbouring fault, on the development of fluid overpressures. A series of 1-D hydromechanical numerical models was used to show that sudden normal stress increase is a viable mechanism for fluid overpressuring in the studied fault-zone. The models also showed that fluid overpressures can be temporarily maintained in the studied fault zone and that the maintenance of fluid overpressures is controlled by the structure and fluid-flow properties of the fault zone.

Co-seismic thermal dissociation of carbonate fault rocks: Naukluft Thrust, central Namibia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowe, C. D.; Miller, J. A.; Sylvester, F.; Backeberg, N.; Faber, C.; Mapani, B.

2009-12-01

Frictional heating has been shown to dissociate carbonate minerals in fault rocks and rock slides at high velocities, producing in-situ fluid pressure spikes and resulting in very low effective friction. We describe the textural and geochemical effects of repeated events of frictional-thermal dissociation and fluidization along a low-angle continental thrust fault. The Naukluft Thrust in central Namibia is a regional décollement along which the Naukluft Nappe Complex was emplaced over the Nama Basin in the southern foreland of the ~ 550Ma Damara Orogen. Fault rocks in the thrust show a coupled geochemical and structural evolution driven by dolomitization reactions during fault activity and facilitated by fluid flow along the fault surface. The earliest developed fault rocks are calcite-rich calcmylonites which were progressively dolomitized along foliation. Above a critical dolomite/calcite ratio, the rocks show only brittle deformation fabrics dominated by breccias, cataclasites, and locally, a thin (1-3cm) microcrystalline, smooth white ultracataclasite. The fault is characterized by the prevalence of an unusual “gritty dolomite” yellow cataclasite containing very well rounded clasts in massive to flow-banded fine dolomitic matrix. This cataclasite, locally known as the “gritty dolomite”, may reach thicknesses of up to ~ 10m without evidence of internal cross-cutting relations with randomly distributed clasts (an “unsorted” texture). The gritty dolomite also forms clastic injections into the hanging wall of the fault, frequently where the fault surface changes orientation. Color-cathodoluminescence images show that individual carbonate grains within the “gritty dolomite” have multiple layers of thin (~10-100 micron) dolomite coatings and that the grains were smoothed and rounded between each episode of coating precipitation. Coated grains are in contact with one another but grain cores are never seen in contact. CL-bright red dolomite which forms the coatings is never observed as pore-fill between grains or other geometries typical of cement precipitates. Smoothness and radial symmetry of the coatings suggest that the grains were coated in suspension by very fine material, potentially analogous to the frictionally-generated CaO developed on the base of some landslides in carbonate rocks (Hewitt, 1988). The very thick layers of cataclasite without internal crosscutting suggest free particle paths associated with fluidization at high fluid pressure and low effective normal stress. We suggest that co-seismic frictional heating along the Naukluft Thrust caused dissociation of dolomite fault rock, producing in-situ spikes in fluid pressure (CO2) and very fine caustic CaO which chemically attacked the carbonate grains in suspension causing the smoothing and rounding. These residues then coated individual grains prior to loss of fluid pressure and settling in the fault zone. Such an event would have been associated with near total strength drop along the Naukluft Thrust. Hewitt, K., 1988 Science, v. 242, no. 4875, p. 64-67.

Finding Faults: Tohoku and other Active Megathrusts/Megasplays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, J. C.; Conin, M.; Cook, B. J.; Kirkpatrick, J. D.; Remitti, F.; Chester, F.; Nakamura, Y.; Lin, W.; Saito, S.; Scientific Team, E.

2012-12-01

Current subduction-fault drilling procedure is to drill a logging hole, identify target faults, then core and instrument them. Seismic data may constrain faults but the additional resolution of borehole logs is necessary for efficient coring and instrumentation under difficult conditions and tight schedules. Thus, refining the methodology of identifying faults in logging data has become important, and thus comparison of log signatures of faults in different locations is worthwhile. At the C0019 (JFAST) drill site, the Tohoku megathrust was principally identified as a decollement where steep cylindrically-folded bedding abruptly flattens below the basal detachment. A similar structural contrast occurs across a megasplay fault in the NanTroSEIZE transect (Site C0004). At the Tohoku decollement, a high gamma-ray value from a pelagic clay layer, predicted as a likely decollement sediment type, strengthens the megathrust interpretation. The original identification of the pelagic clay as a decollement candidate was based on results of previous coring of an oceanic reference site. Negative density anomalies, often seen as low resistivity zones, identified a subsidiary fault in the deformed prism overlying the Tohoku megathrust. Elsewhere, at Barbados, Nankai (Moroto), and Costa Rica, negative density anomalies are associated with the decollement and other faults in hanging walls. Log-based density anomalies in fault zones provide a basis for recognizing in-situ fault zone dilation. At the Tohoku Site C0019, breakouts are present above but not below the megathrust. Changes in breakout orientation and width (stress magnitude) occur across megasplay faults at Sites C0004 and C0010 in the NantroSEIZE transect. Annular pressure anomalies are not apparent at the Tohoku megathrust, but are variably associated with faults and fracture zones drilled along the NanTroSEIZE transect. Overall, images of changes in structural features, negative density anomalies, and changes in breakout occurrence and orientation provide the most common log criteria for recognizing major thrust zones in ocean drilling holes at convergent margins. In the case of JFAST, identification of faults by logging was confirmed during subsequent coring activities, and logging data was critical for successful placement of the observatory down hole.

Impact of pre- and/or syn-tectonic salt layers in the hangingwall geometry of a kinked-planar extensional fault: insights from analogue modelling and comparison with the Parentis basin (bay of Biscay)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrer, O.; Vendeville, B. C.; Roca, E.

2012-04-01

Using sandbox analogue modelling we determine the role played by a pre-kinematic or a syn-kinematic viscous salt layer during rollover folding of the hangingwall of a normal fault with a variable kinked-planar geometry, as well as understand the origin and the mechanisms that control the formation, kinematic evolution and geometry of salt structures developed in the hangingwall of this fault. The experiments we conducted consisted of nine models made of dry quartz-sand (35μm average grain size) simulating brittle rocks and a viscous silicone polymer (SMG 36 from Dow Corning) simulating salt in nature. The models were constructed between two end walls, one of which was fixed, whereas the other was moved by a motor-driven worm screw. The fixed wall was part of the rigid footwall of the model's master border fault. This fault was simulated using three different wood block configurations, which was overlain by a flexible (but not stretchable) sheet that was attached to the mobile endwall of the model. We applied three different infill hangingwall configurations to each fault geometry: (1) without silicone (sand only), (2) sand overlain by a pre-kinematic silicone layer deposited above the entire hanginwall, and (3) sand partly overlain by a syn-kinematic silicone layer that overlain only parts of the hangingwall. All models were subjected to a 14 cm of basement extension in a direction orthogonal to that of the border fault. Results show that the presence of a viscous layer (silicone) clearly controls the deformation pattern of the hangingwall. Thus, regardless of the silicone layer's geometry (either pre- or syn-extensional) or the geometry of the extensional fault, the silicone layer acts as a very efficient detachment level separating two different structural styles in each unit. In particular, the silicone layer acts as an extensional ductile shear zone inhibiting upward propagation of normal faults and/or shears bands from the sub-silicone layers. Whereas the basement is affected by antithetic normal faults that are more or less complex depending on the geometry of the master fault, the lateral flow of the silicone produces salt-cored anticlines, walls and diapirs in the overburden of the hangingwall. The mechanical behavior of the silicone layer as an extensional shear zone, combined with the lateral changes in pressure gradients due to overburden thickness changes, triggered the silicone migration from the half-graben depocenter towards the rollover shoulder. As a result, the accumulation of silicone produces gentle silicone-cored anticlines and local diapirs with minor extensional faults. Upwards fault propagation from the sub-silicone "basement" to the supra-silicone unit only occurs either when the supra- and sub-silicone materials are welded, or when the amount of slip along the master fault is large enough so that the tip of the silicone reaches the junction between the upper and lower panels of the master faults. Comparison between the results of these models with data from the western offshore Parentis Basin (Eastern Bay of Biscay) validates the structural interpretation of this region.

Paleoslumps in coal-bearing strata of the Breathitt Group (Pennsylvanian), Eastern Kentucky Coal Field, U.S.A

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greb, S.F.; Weisenfluh, G.A.

1996-01-01

The benefits of geologic analysis for roof-control studies and hazard prediction in coal mines are well documented. Numerous case studies have illustrated the importance of recognizing geologic features such as paleochannels, coal riders, and kettlebottoms in mine roofs. Relatively understudied features, in terms of mining, are paleoslumps. Paleoslumps represent ancient movement and rotation of semi-consolidated sediment. Because bedding in paleoslumps is deformed or inclined, these features cause instability in mine roofs, haul roads, surface highwalls, and other excavations. Various types of paleoslumps above coals in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field were studied in order to aid in their recognition and prediction in mines. The paleoslumps studied all showed characteristic slump-deformation features, although some differences in magnitude of deformation and overall slump size were noted. Coals beneath slumps often exhibited folding, reverse displacements, truncation, clastic dikes, and locally increased thickness. Slumps are inferred to have been triggered by a wide range of mechanisms, such as loading of water-saturated sediment on rigid substrates, synsedimentary faulting, and over-pressurization of channel margin and bar slopes. Analysis of paleoslumps in underground mines, where paleoslumps are viewed from beneath rather than in profile is difficult, since characteristic bed rotation may not be conspicuous. Sudden increases in bed-dip angle inferred from changes in rock type or bedding contacts in the roof; occurrence of bounding, polished rotation surfaces; or roof irregularity and occurrence of loading features may indicate the presence of paleoslumps. Another key to recognition may be the sudden appearance of over-thickened coal, which can occur because of slump-created paleotopography, synsedimentary faults, and slump-generated overthrusting. In addition, steeply inclined, folded, or transported coal marginal to paleoslumps can create apparent increases in coal thickness in cores. Although thick coals are obviously a target of exploration, anomalously thick coals may actually indicate adjacent paleoslumps accompanied by hazardous roof conditions and loss of seam thickness.

Coulomb Fault Mechanics at Work in the Proterozoic: Strike-Slip Faults and Regional-Scale Veining in the Mt. Isa Inlier, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Begbie, M. J.; Sibson, R. H.; Ghisetti, F. C.

2005-12-01

The Proterozoic Mt Isa inlier, comprising greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic assemblages intruded by granites during the Isan Orogeny (1590-1500 Ma), is disrupted by brittle, late- or post-orogenic strike-slip faults. The faults occur in two mutually cross-cutting sets; a set of NE-SW subvertical dextral strike-slip faults, and a conjugate set of NW-SE sinistral faults. These faults thus define a regional stress field with σ1 oriented approximately E-W and σ3 oriented approximately N-S. Locally, the faults outcrop as linear blade-like ridges of silicified microbreccias-cataclasites and quartz veining that extends for kilometres across the semi-arid terrain. The informally named Spinifex Fault is one of the dextral set of subvertical faults. This fault is a classic example of coulomb fault mechanics at work in the Proterozoic. The Spinifex Fault trends ~065° across an outcropping granitic pluton, the margins of which it offsets dextrally by ~0.75 km. Locally within the pluton, the fault refracts to ~075° across an amphibolite layer. In the surrounding granitic pluton the fault trace is comparatively inconspicuous and unmineralized but where it transects the amphibolite it is defined by an upstanding ridge of silicified microbreccia-cataclasite (~10 m thick). Associated with the Spinifex Fault is a swarm of predominantly extensional subvertical quartz veins (cm to m thick) trending 090-95° and a series of mineralised fault splays trending 070-080°. Extension veins define the σ1-σ2 plane, with the Spinifex fault lying at an angle of ~25-30° to the inferred σ1. These veins are composed of colloform and crustiform banded quartz, brecciated fragments of quartz vein and wallrock that are typically rimmed with cockade overgrowths and bladed quartz after calcite pseudomorphs. Mineralised fault splays are < 50 m or so wide with a composite brittle fabric comprising: (1) bounding subvertical cataclastic `walls' <10 m or so thick made up of silicified microbreccias and cataclasites containing vein fragments; (2) innumerable subvertical quartz veins (cm to m thick) lying subparallel to the bounding shear zones with textures ranging from pure dilation to multiply recemented breccias of wallrock and quartz fragments; (3) irregular non-systematic veins; and (4) occasional minor faults from the complementary set. Mutual cross-cutting relationships between all the structural components indicate penecontemporaneous development within the inferred stress field. Slickenfibers and striations along fault components indicate predominantly strike slip motion on subvertical planes. Homogenisation temperatures from quartz hosted fluid inclusions cluster at ~210°C while vein textures record histories of incremental hydrothermal deposition under low effective stress, probably in the epizonal environment (<1-2 km depth). This regional study demonstrates the existence of a rather uniform stress province, corresponding to an Andersonian regime and initiation of faults in accord with the coulomb failure criterion.

Intimate Views of Cretaceous Plutons, the Colorado River Extensional Corridor, and Colorado River Stratigraphy in and near Topock Gorge, Southwest USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, K. A.; John, B. E.; Nielson, J. E.; Miller, J. M.; Priest, S. S.

2010-12-01

Geologic mapping of the Topock 7.5’ quadrangle, CA-AZ, reveals a structurally complex part of the Colorado River extensional corridor, and a younger stratigraphic record of landscape evolution during the history of the Colorado River. Paleoproterozoic gneisses and Mesoproterozoic granitoids and diabase sheets are exposed through cross-sectional thicknesses of many kilometers. Mesozoic to Tertary igneous rocks intrude the older rocks and include dismembered parts of the Late Cretaceous Chemehuevi Mountains Plutonic Suite. Plutons of this suite exposed in the Arizona part of the quad reconstruct, if Miocene deformation is restored, as cupolas capping the sill-like Chemehuevi Mountains batholith exposed in California. A nonconformity between Proterozoic and Miocene rocks reflects pre-Miocene uplift and erosional stripping of regional Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata. Thick (1-3 km) Miocene sections of volcanic rocks, sedimentary breccias, and conglomerate record the Colorado River extensional corridor’s structural and erosional evolution. Four major Miocene low-angle normal faults and a steep block-bounding Miocene fault divide the deformed rocks into major structural plates and giant tilted blocks on the east side of the Chemehuevi Mountains core complex. The low-angle faults attenuate >10 km of crustal section, superposing supracrustal and upper crustal rocks against originally deeper gneisses and granitoids. The block-bounding Gold Dome fault zone juxtaposes two large hanging-wall blocks, each tilted 90°, and splays at its tip into folds that deform layered Miocene rocks. A 15-16 Ma synfaulting intrusion occupies the triangular zone or gap where the folding strata detached from an inside corner along this fault between the tilt blocks. Post-extensional landscape evolution is recorded by upper Miocene to Quaternary strata, locally deformed. This includes several Pliocene and younger aggradational episodes in the Colorado River valley, and intervening degradation episodes at times when the river re-incised. Post-Miocene aggradational sequences include (1) the Bouse Formation, (2) fluvial deposits correlated with the alluvium of Bullhead City, (3) a younger fluvial boulder conglomerate, (4) the Chemehuevi Formation and related valley-margin deposits, and (5) and Holocene deposits under the valley floor.

Magnetotelluric study to characterize Kachchh Mainland Fault (KMF) and Katrol Hill Fault (KHF) in the western part of Kachchh region of Gujarat, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohan, Kapil; Chaudhary, Peush; Patel, Pruthul; Chaudhary, B. S.; Chopra, Sumer

2018-02-01

The Kachchh Mainland Fault (KMF) is a major E-W trending fault in the Kachchh region of Gujarat extending >150 km from Lakhpat village in the west to the Bhachau town in the east. The Katrol Hill Fault (KHF) is an E-W trending intrabasinal fault located in the central region of Kachchh Basin and the south of KMF. The western parts of both of the faults are characterized, and the sediment thickness has been estimated in the region using a Magnetotelluric (MT) survey at 17 sites along a 55 km long north-south profile with a site spacing of 2-3 km. The analysis reveals that the maximum sediment thickness is 2.3 km (Quaternary, Tertiary, and Mesozoic) in the region, out of which, the Mesozoic sediments feature a maximum thickness of 2 km. The estimated sediment thickness is found consistent with the thickness suggested by a deep borehole (depth approx. 2.5 km) drilled by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Nirona (Northern part of the study area). From 2-D inversion of the MT data, three conductive zones are identified from north to south. The first conductive zone is dipping nearly vertical down to 7-8 km depth. It becomes north-dipping below 8 km depth and is inferred as KMF. The second conductive zone is found steeply dipping into the southern limbs near Manjal village (28 km south of Nirona), which is inferred as the KHF. A vertical-dipping (down to 20 km depth) conductive zone has also been observed near Ulat village, located 16 km north of Manjal village and 12 km south of Nirona village. This conductive zone becomes listric north-dipping beyond 20 km depth. It is reported first time by a Geophysical survey in the region.

Maine Pseudotachylyte Localities and the Role of Host Rock Anisotropy in Fault Zone Development and Frictional Melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanson, M. T.

2004-12-01

Three brittle strike-slip fault localities in coastal Maine have developed pseudotachylyte fault veins, injection veins and other reservoir structures in a variety of host rocks where the pre-existing layering can serve as a controlling fabric for brittle strike-slip reactivation. Host rocks with a poorly-oriented planar anisotropy at high angles to the shear direction will favor the development of R-shears in initial en echelon arrays as seen in the Two Lights and Richmond Island Fault Zones of Cape Elizabeth that cut gently-dipping phyllitic quartzites. These en echelon R-shears grow to through-going faults with the development of P-shear linkages across the dominantly contractional stepovers in the initial arrays. Pseudotachylyte on these faults is very localized, typically up to 1-2 mm in thickness and is restricted to through-going fault segments, P-shear linkages and some sidewall ripouts. Overall melt production is limited by the complex geometry of the multi-fault array. Host rocks with a favorably-oriented planar anisotropy for reactivation in brittle shear, however, preferentially develop a multitude of longer, non-coplanar layer-parallel fault segments. Pseudotachylyte in the newly-discovered Harbor Island Fault Zone in Muscongus Bay is developed within vertical bedding on regional upright folds with over 50 individual layer-parallel single-slip fault veins, some of which can be traced for over 40 meters along strike. Many faults show clear crosscuts of pre-existing quartz veins that indicate a range of coseismic displacements of 0.23-0.53 meters yielding fault vein widths of a few mm and dilatant reservoirs up to 2 cm thick. Both vertical and rare horizontal lateral injection veins can be found in the adjoining wall rock up to 0.7 cm thick and 80 cm in length. The structure of these faults is simple with minor development of splay faults, sidewall ripouts and strike-slip duplexes. The prominent vertical flow layering within the mylonite gneisses of Gerrish Island serves as host to the complex Fort Foster Brittle Zone where it localizes brittle fault slip and contributes to a maximum area of contact between the sliding surfaces which, in turn, yields fault vein thicknesses of 1-2 mm and locally up to 2 cm. The reactivation of this planar anisotropy in brittle shear produces long overlapping geometries that develop linking structures in both extensional and contractional stepovers may reflect the development of sidewall ripouts due to adhesive wear. The prominent development of closely-spaced individual single-slip fault veins suggests frictional welding as an effective strain hardening mechanism for repeated stick-slip.

Crustal structure of central Syria: The intracontinental Palmyride mountain belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Saad, Damen; Sawaf, Tarif; Gebran, Ali; Barazangi, Muawia; Best, John A.; Chaimov, Thomas A.

1992-07-01

Along a 450-km transect across central Syria seismic reflection data, borehole information, potential field data and surface geologic mapping have been combined to examine the crustal structure of the northern Arabian platform beneath Syria. The transect is surrounded by the major plate boundaries of the Middle East, including the Dead Sea transform fault system along the Levantine margin to the west, the Bitlis suture and East Anatolian fault to the north, and the Zagros collisional belt to the northeast and east. Three main tectonic provinces of the northern Arabian platform in Syria are crossed by this transect from south to north: the Rutbah uplift, the Palmyra fold-thrust belt, and the Aleppo plateau. The Rutbah uplift in southern Syria is a broad, domal basement-cored structure with a thick Phanerozoic (mostly Paleozoic) cover of 6-7 km. Isopachs based on well and seismic reflection data indicate that this region was an early Paleozoic depocenter. The Palmyra fold-thrust belt, the northeastern arm of the Syrian Arc, is a northeast-southwest-trending intracontinental mountain belt that acts as a mobile tectonic zone between the relatively stable Rutbah uplift to the south and the less stable Aleppo plateau to the north. Short-wavelength en-echelon folds characterized by relatively steep, faulted southeast flanks dominate in the southwest, most strongly deformed segment of the belt, while a complex system of deeply rooted faults and broad folds characterize the northeastern region, described in this study. The Aleppo plateau lies immediately north of the Palmyride belt, with a combined Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary section that averages 4-5 km in thickness. Although this region appears relatively undeformed on seismic reflection data when compared to Palmyride deformation, a system of near-vertical, probable strike-slip faults crosscut the region in a dominantly northeasterly direction. Gravity and magnetic modeling constrains the deep crustal structure along the transect. The crustal thickness is estimated to be approximately 38 km. Interpretation of the gravity data indicates two different crustal blocks beneath the Rutbah uplift and the Aleppo plateau, and the presence of a crustal-penetrating, high-density body beneath the northeast Palmyrides. The two distinct crustal blocks suggest that they were accreted possibly along a suture zone and/or a major strike-slip fault zone located approximately in the present-day position of the Palmyrides. The age of the accretion is estimated to be Proterozoic or Early Cambrian, based on the observation of a pervasive reflection (interpreted as the Middle Cambrian Burj limestone) in the Rutbah uplift and in the Aleppo plateau and by analogy with the well-mapped Proterozoic sutures of the Arabian shield to the south.

Depositional environment of downdip Yegua (Eocene) sandstones, Jackson County, Texas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitten, C.J.; Berg, R.R.

Yegua sandstones at a depth of 8300-8580 ft (2530-2615 m) were partly cored in the Arco Jansky 1 dry hole. Total thickness of the sandstone section is approximately 240 ft (73 m). The sandstones are enclosed in thick marine shales and are about 20 mi (32 km) downdip from thicker and more abundant sandstones in the Yegua Formation. The section is similar to reservoirs recently discovered in the area at the Toro Grande (1984), Lost Bridge (1984), and El Torito (1985) fields. The sandstones are fine to very fine grained and occur in thin beds that are 0.5-9 ft (0.15-2.7more » m) thick. Sedimentary structures within the beds range from a lower massive division to a laminated or rippled upper division. Grain size within beds fines upward from 0.18 mm at the base to 0.05 mm at the top. The sandstones are interpreted to be turbidites of the AB type that were deposited within channels. The sandstones contain an average of 50% quartz and are classified as volcanic-arenites to feldspathic litharenites. Carbonate cement ranges from 0 to 27%. Average porosity is 29% and permeabilities are in the range of 60-1600 md in the clean sandstones. Much of the porosity is secondary and is the result of the dissolution of cements, volcanic rock fragments, and feldspar grains. Yegua sandstones produce gas and condensate at nearby Toro Grande field on a gentle, faulted anticline. The local trend of reservoir sandstones may be controlled in part by faulting that was contemporaneous with deposition.« less

A novel concept of fault current limiter based on saturable core in high voltage DC transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Jiaxin; Zhou, Hang; Gan, Pengcheng; Zhong, Yongheng; Gao, Yanhui; Muramatsu, Kazuhiro; Du, Zhiye; Chen, Baichao

2018-05-01

To develop mechanical circuit breaker in high voltage direct current (HVDC) system, a fault current limiter is required. Traditional method to limit DC fault current is to use superconducting technology or power electronic devices, which is quite difficult to be brought to practical use under high voltage circumstances. In this paper, a novel concept of high voltage DC transmission system fault current limiter (DCSFCL) based on saturable core was proposed. In the DCSFCL, the permanent magnets (PM) are added on both up and down side of the core to generate reverse magnetic flux that offset the magnetic flux generated by DC current and make the DC winding present a variable inductance to the DC system. In normal state, DCSFCL works as a smoothing reactor and its inductance is within the scope of the design requirements. When a fault occurs, the inductance of DCSFCL rises immediately and limits the steepness of the fault current. Magnetic field simulations were carried out, showing that compared with conventional smoothing reactor, DCSFCL can decrease the high steepness of DC fault current by 17% in less than 10ms, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of this method.

The Effect of Authigenic Phyllosilicate Growth on the Mechanical Behaviour of Upper Crustal Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, S.; Holdsworth, R.; Imber, J.; Marco, S.; Weinberger, R.; De Paola, N.

2014-12-01

Deformation at shallow crustal depths is dominated by brittle processes, but it is increasingly recognised that diffusive mass transfer (DMT) processes and "ductile" folding also play a significant role in fault zone development. We present data from exhumed sections (<5 km depth) of the southern Dead Sea Fault System, Israel, an active continental transform fault that has accumulated 105 km of sinistral displacement since the Miocene. The faults juxtapose various wall rock lithologies (crystalline basement, carbonate and clastic cover), but the studied sections all have phyllosilicate-rich fault cores. Damage zones show a range of deformation mechanisms including pulverisation, pressure-solution and cataclasis. Our results show that fault cores comprise three distinct types of fault gouge (alongside coarser-grained cataclasite): cataclastic gouge that is mineralogically similar to wall rock compositions; authigenic gouge that is dominated by Mg-rich smectite not present in adjacent formations; and mechanically entrained, folded shale gouge that is almost identical in mineralogy to a local shale protolith. Microstructural observations suggest authigenic gouge is the result of DMT processes, following an earlier phase of gouge formation through microfracturing and cataclasis. The low abundance of carbonate within fault cores suggests its dissolution is a contributing factor in authigenic smectite precipitation. Such mineralogical transformations may lead to significant changes in the frictional properties of fault zones, from materials of relatively high frictional strength (quartz, feldspars, dolomite, where μ = 0.6 - 0.85) to those with much lower frictional strengths, such as smectite (where μ can be as low as 0.15). We demonstrate how the physical properties of faults may evolve over time when conditions allow precipitation of weak-phases in addition to brittle deformation, which may facilitate ingress of fluid into fault cores and enhance phyllosilicate development. The presence of both pulverisation textures and microfolds suggests interaction of these deformation styles may lead to changes in overall fault behaviour, from velocity-weakening and seismogenic where brittle processes dominate, to velocity-strengthening and aseismic when sufficient weak material has accumulated.

Model for the Evolution of an Oceanic Core Complex and its Hydrothermal Vent on the Ultraslow-Spreading Mid Cayman Spreading Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harding, J.; Van Avendonk, H. J.; Hayman, N. W.; Grevemeyer, I.; Peirce, C.

2016-12-01

The Mid Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) is an ultraslow-spreading center (15 mm yr-1 full rate) along the Caribbean-North American plate boundary. Despite the paradigm that ultraslow-spreading centers are amagmatic and cold, two hydrothermal vent fields have recently been discovered along the MCSC. The Beebe Vent Field is a black smoker in the northern axial deep, and the Von Damm Vent Field (VDVF) is a moderate-temperature, talc precipitating vent found atop an oceanic core complex (OCC). This OCC, "Mt. Dent", is a large (3 km high) massif that formed beneath a detachment fault, which exhumed lower crustal and upper mantle material. The CaySeis Experiment was conducted in April, 2015 in order to collect wide-angle refraction data of the MCSC crust and upper mantle. We modeled the across-axis crustal structure of Mt. Dent as well as the surrounding lithosphere using 2.5D P-wave tomography. Using this tomographic model, along with geochemistry, we propose a model for the formation and evolution of the OCC Mt. Dent and the VDVF. A detachment fault formed in a magma-poor environment due to a pulse of magmatism, producing a large gabbro body that was then exhumed and rotated into the OCC footwall. Once magmatism waned and the gabbroic body cooled, the OCC was faulted and fractured due to plate flexure and increased tectonic extensional stress in the naturally cold and thick lithosphere. These faults provide a permeable and deep network of hydrothermal pathways that mine deep lithospheric heat and expose gabbro and fresh mantle peridotite. This model is consistent with the basalt geochemistry, hydrothermal fluid geochemistry, and the distribution of brittle vs. ductile structures along the detachment shear zone. The VDVF is therefore a product of a pulse of magmatism in an overall melt-poor environment, conditions that may be found at other ultraslow-spreading ridges.

The Rock Record of Seismic Nucleation: examples from pseudotachylites beneath the Whipple Detachment Fault, eastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega-Arroyo, D.; Behr, W. M.; Gentry, E.

2017-12-01

The mechanisms that lead to nucleation and dynamic weakening in the middle crust are not well understood. Proposed mechanisms include flash heating of asperities, thermal pressurization of pore fluids, dynamic instabilities, and fracture interactions. We investigate this issue in the rock record using exhumed mid-crustal rocks exposed beneath the Whipple Detachment fault (WDF) in eastern CA. Analysis of pseudotachylites (PS) beneath the WDF, representing paleo-earthquakes, reveal two types: Type 1 PS exhibit little to no precursory cataclasis and are concentrated along shear bands at the margins of feldspar-rich lenses embedded in more quartz-rich domains. These appear synkinematic with S-C fabrics in the surrounding mylonites and they exhibit finely dynamically recrystallized grains in quartz at their margins, suggesting coeval ductile deformation. By contrast, Type 2 PS occur along the principal slip surface of a brittle shear zone and show evidence for precursory cataclasis, brecciation, and fracturing. Some cataclasites inject into the host rock, forming eddies along the boundary with the PS. Slip appears to localize progressively into a 2 cm thick fault core, with PS concentrated primarily in the interior- the presence of solidified melt and fluidized cataclasite as clasts within the fault core suggests multiple slip events are preserved. We interpret the two types of pseudotachylites to represent different conditions and mechanisms of earthquake nucleation near the brittle-ductile transition (BDT). Type 1 PS are interpreted to represent nucleation in deeper sections of the BDT by failure along mineralogically-controlled stress concentrations hosted within an otherwise viscously deforming mylonite. Our data suggest that these do not develop into large-magnitude EQ's because seismic slip is dampened into the surrounding quartz-rich viscous matrix; instead they may represent deep microseismicity and/or seismic tremor. By contrast, Type 2 PS are interpreted to nucleate when thermally pressurized pore fluids are able to escape into the permeable damage zone, causing a recovery in the fault's effective friction, and promoting melting. Type 2 PS appear to experience greater weakening, accumulate larger slip, and may represent larger-magnitude seismicity at the base of the seismogenic zone.

Structural evolution and tectonic style of the Tunisian central Atlas; role of inherited faults in compressive tectonics (Ghoualguia anticline)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briki, Haithem; Ahmadi, Riadh; Smida, Rabiaa; Rekhiss, Farhat

2018-04-01

Geological mapping, field cross sections, structural analyses and new subsurface data were used to characterize the geometry and tectonic setting of the Ghoualguia structure, which is an E-W-trending anticline located between the Kalaa Khasba and Rouhia troughs of the central Tunisian Atlas. The results show an important NE-SW extensional phase during the Mesozoic, as demonstrated by synsedimentary normal faults (NW-SE and E-W) and thickness variations. In the Aouled Mdoua area, the absence of Paleocene-Eocene rocks indicates that the eastern and western parts of the Ghoualguia structure were separated by high topography. In addition, the angular unconformity observed between the Upper Cretaceous unit (Abiod Fm.) and the upper Eocene series (Souar Fm.) provide evidence of a tilted-block structure delineated by North-South faults. A major compressional phase during the middle to late Miocene created various detachment levels that originated mainly in the Triassic and Cretaceous deposits. Faults were reactivated as thrust and strike-slip faults, creating fault-related fold structures. In the core of the Ghoualguia fold, an original S-dipping normal fault underwent reverse movement as a back thrust. Fault-slip data indicate that the area records a major NE-SW extensional phase that took place during the late Miocene and Pliocene. A balanced cross section provides insight into the existence of two main detachment levels rooted in the Triassic (depth ± 6 km) and the lower Cretaceous (depth ± 2.5 km). The balanced cross section highlights a shortening of about 2.5 km along cross section and 1.5 km in the central part of the Ghoualguia anticline. This work underlines the predominant role of the inherited Mesozoic structures during the evolution of the Atlassic range and their influence on the geometry of the central Tunisian atlas.

Outer Rise Faulting And Mantle Serpentinization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranero, C. R.; Phipps Morgan, J.; McIntosh, K.; Reichert, C.

Dehydration of serpentinized mantle of the downgoing slab has been proposed to cause both intermediate depth earthquakes (50-300 km) and arc volcanism at sub- duction zones. It has been suggested that most of this serpentinization occurs beneath the outer rise; where normal faulting earthquakes due to bending cut > 20 km deep into the lithosphere, allowing seawater to reach and react with underlying mantle. However, little is known about flexural faulting at convergent margins; about how many normal faults cut across the crust and how deeply they penetrate into the man- tle; about the true potential of faults as conduits for fluid flow and how much water can be added through this process. We present evidence that pervasive flexural faulting may cut deep into the mantle and that the amount of faulting vary dramatically along strike at subduction zones. Flexural faulting increases towards the trench axis indicat- ing that active extension occurs in a broad area. Multibeam bathymetry of the Pacific margin of Costa Rica and Nicaragua shows a remarkable variation in the amount of flexural faulting along the incoming ocean plate. Several parameters seem to control lateral variability. Off south Costa Rica thick crust of the Cocos Ridge flexes little, and little to no faulting develops near the trench. Off central Costa Rica, normal thick- ness crust with magnetic anomalies striking oblique to the trench displays small offset faults (~200 m) striking similar to the original seafloor fabric. Off northern Costa Rica, magnetic anomalies strike perpendicular to the trench axis, and a few ~100m-offset faults develop parallel to the trench. Further north, across the Nicaraguan margin, magnetic anomalies strike parallel to the trench and the most widespread faulting de- velops entering the trench. Multichannel seismic reflection images in this area show a pervasive set of trenchward dipping reflections that cross the ~6 km thick crust and extend into the mantle to depths of at least 20 km. Some reflections project updip to offsets in top basement and seafloor, indicating that they are fault plane reflections. Such a deeply penetrating tectonic fabric could have not developed during crustal cre- ation at the paleo-spreading center where the brittle layer is few km thick. Thus, they must be created during flexure of the plate entering the trench. This data imply that deep and widespread serpentinization of the incoming lithosphere can occur when the lithosphere is strongly faulted; that the extent of lithospheric faulting is closely re- lated to the crustal structure of the incoming plate; and that the amount of lithosphere faulting can change dramatically within a hundred km distance along a trench axis.

San Andreas fault zone drilling project: scientific objectives and technological challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hickman, Stephen; Younker, Leland; Zobeck, Mark; Cooper, George; ,

1994-01-01

We are leading a new international initiative to conduct scientific drilling within the San Andreas fault zone at depths of up to 10 km. This project is motivated by the need to understand the physical and chemical processes operating within the fault zone and to answer fundamental questions about earthquake generation along major plate-boundary faults. Through an integrated program of coring, fluid sampling, in-situ and laboratory experimentation and long-term monitoring, we hope to provide fundamental constraints on the structure, composition, mechanical behavior and physical state of the San Andreas fault system at depths comparable to the nucleation zones of great earthquakes. The drilling, sampling and observational requirements needed to ensure the success of this project are stringent. These include: 1) drilling stable vertical holes to depths of about 9 km in fractured rock at temperatures of up to 300??C; 2) continuous coring of inclined holes branched off these vertical boreholes to intersect the fault at depths of 3, 6 and 9 km; 3) conducting sophisticated borehole geophysical measurements and fluid/rock sampling at high temperatures and pressures; and 4) instrumenting some or all of these inclined core holes for continuous monitoring of seismicity and a broad range of physical and chemical properties over periods of up to several decades. For all of these tasks, because of the overpressured clay-rich formations anticipated within the fault zone at depth, we expect to encounter difficult drilling, coring and hole-completion conditions in the regions of greatest scientific interest.

San Andreas fault zone drilling project: scientific objectives and technological challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hickman, S.H.; Younker, L.W.; Zoback, M.D.

1995-01-01

We are leading a new international initiative to conduct scientific drilling within the San Andreas fault zone at depths of up to 10 km. This project is motivated by the need to understand the physical and chemical processes operating within the fault zone and to answer fundamental questions about earthquake generation along major plate-boundary faults. Through a comprehensive program of coring, fluid sampling, downhole measurements, laboratory experimentation, and long-term monitoring, we hope to obtain critical information on the structure, composition, mechanical behavior and physical state of the San Andreas fault system at depths comparable to the nucleation zones of great earthquakes. The drilling, sampling and observational requirements needed to ensure the success of this project are stringent. These include: 1) drilling stable vertical holes to depths of about 9 km in fractured rock at temperatures of up to 300°C; 2) continuous coring and completion of inclined holes branched off these vertical boreholes to intersect the fault at depths of 3, 6, and 9 km; 3) conducting sophisticated borehole geophysical measurements and fluid/rock sampling at high temperatures and pressures; and 4) instrumenting some or all of these inclined core holes for continuous monitoring of earthquake activity, fluid pressure, deformation and other parameters for periods of up to several decades. For all of these tasks, because of the overpressured clay-rich formations anticipated within the fault zone at depth, we expect to encounter difficult drilling, coring and hole-completion conditions in the region of greatest scientific interest.

The Effect of Core and Veneering Design on the Optical Properties of Polyether Ether Ketone.

PubMed

Zeighami, S; Mirmohammadrezaei, S; Safi, M; Falahchai, S M

2017-12-01

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of core shade and core and veneering thickness on color parameters and translucency of polyether ether ketone (PEEK). Sixty PEEK discs (0.5 and 1 mm in thickness) with white and dentine shades were veneered with A2 shade indirect composite resin with 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mm thickness (n=5). Cores without the veneering material served as controls for translucency evaluation. Color parameters were measured by a spectroradiometer. Color difference (ΔE₀₀) and translucency parameters (TP) were computed. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (for veneering thickness) and independent t-test (for core shade and thickness) via SPSS 20.0 (p⟨0.05). Regarding the veneering thickness, white cores of 0.5 mm thickness showed significant differences in all color parameters. In white cores of 1 mm thickness and dentine cores of 0.5 and 1 mm thickness, there were statistically significant differences only in L∗, a∗ and h∗. The mean TP was significantly higher in all white cores of 1 mm thickness than dentine cores of 1 mm. Considering ΔE₀₀=3.7 as clinically unacceptable, only three groups had higher mean ΔE₀₀ values. Core shade, core thickness, and the veneering thickness affected the color and translucency of PEEK restorations. Copyright© 2017 Dennis Barber Ltd.

High-resolution shallow reflection seismic image and surface evidence of the Upper Tiber Basin active faults (Northern Apennines, Italy)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Donne, D.D.; Plccardi, L.; Odum, J.K.; Stephenson, W.J.; Williams, R.A.

2007-01-01

Shallow seismic reflection prospecting has been carried out in order to investigate the faults that bound to the southwest and northeast the Quaternary Upper Tiber Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy). On the northeastern margin of the basin a ??? 1 km long reflection seismic profile images a fault segment and the associated up to 100 meters thick sediment wedge. Across the southwestern margin a 0.5 km-long seismic profile images a 50-55??-dipping extensional fault, that projects to the scarp at the base of the range-front, and against which a 100 m thick syn-tectonic sediment wedge has formed. The integration of surface and sub-surface data allows to estimate at least 190 meters of vertical displacement along the fault and a slip rate around 0.25 m/kyr. Southwestern fault might also be interpreted as the main splay structure of regional Alto Tiberina extensional fault. At last, the 1917 Monterchi earthquake (Imax=X, Boschi et alii, 2000) is correlable with an activation of the southwestern fault, and thus suggesting the seismogenic character of this latter.

Geometry of the Nojima fault at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan - II. Microstructures and their implications for permeability and strength

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Diane E.; Lockner, D.A.; Ito, H.; Ikeda, R.; Tanaka, H.; Omura, K.

2009-01-01

Samples of damage-zone granodiorite and fault core from two drillholes into the active, strike-slip Nojima fault zone display microstructures and alteration features that explain their measured present-day strengths and permeabilities and provide insight on the evolution of these properties in the fault zone. The least deformed damage-zone rocks contain two sets of nearly perpendicular (60-90?? angles), roughly vertical fractures that are concentrated in quartz-rich areas, with one set typically dominating over the other. With increasing intensity of deformation, which corresponds generally to increasing proximity to the core, zones of heavily fragmented rock, termed microbreccia zones, develop between prominent fractures of both sets. Granodiorite adjoining intersecting microbreccia zones in the active fault strands has been repeatedly fractured and locally brecciated, accompanied by the generation of millimeter-scale voids that are partly filled with secondary minerals. Minor shear bands overprint some of the heavily deformed areas, and small-scale shear zones form from the pairing of closely spaced shear bands. Strength and permeability measurements were made on core collected from the fault within a year after a major (Kobe) earthquake. Measured strengths of the samples decrease regularly with increasing fracturing and fragmentation, such that the gouge of the fault core and completely brecciated samples from the damage zone are the weakest. Permeability increases with increasing disruption, generally reaching a peak in heavily fractured but still more or less cohesive rock at the scale of the laboratory samples. Complete loss of cohesion, as in the gouge or the interiors of large microbreccia zones, is accompanied by a reduction of permeability by 1-2 orders of magnitude below the peak values. The core samples show abundant evidence of hydrothermal alteration and mineral precipitation. Permeability is thus expected to decrease and strength to increase somewhat in active fault strands between earthquakes, as mineral deposits progressively seal fractures and fill pore spaces. ?? Birkh??user Verlag, Basel 2009.

Core-Log-Seismic Integrative Study of a Subduction Zone Megasplay Fault -An Example from the Nobeoka Thrust, Shimanto Belt, Southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamahashi, M.; Tsuji, T.; Saito, S.; Tanikawa, W.; Hamada, Y.; Hashimoto, Y.; Kimura, G.

2016-12-01

Investigating the mechanical properties and deformation patterns of megathrusts in subduction zones is important to understand the generation of large earthquakes. The Nobeoka Thrust, a fossilized megasplay fault in Kyushu Shimanto Belt, southwest Japan, exposes foliated fault rocks that were formed under the temperature range of 180-350° (Kondo et al., 2005). During the Nobeoka Thrust Drilling Project (2011), core samples and geophysical logging data were obtained recovering a continuous distribution of multiple fault zones, which provide the opportunity to examine their structure and physical properties in various scales (Hamahashi et al., 2013; 2015). By performing logging data analysis, discrete sample physical property measurements, and synthetic modeling of seismic reflections along the Nobeoka Thrust, we conducted core-log-seismic integrative study to characterize the effects of damage zone architecture and structural anisotropy towards the physical properties of the megasplay. A clear contrast in physical properties across the main fault core and surrounding damage zones were identified, where the fault rocks preserve the porosity of 4.8% in the hanging wall and 7.6% in the footwall, and P-wave velocity of 4.8 km/s and 4.2 km/s, respectively. Multiple sandstone-rich- and shale-rich damage zones were found from the drilled cores, in which velocity decreases significantly in the brecciated zones. The internal structure of these foliated fault rocks consist of heterogeneous lithology and texture, and velocity anisotropy ranges 1-18% (P-wave) and 1.5-80% (S-wave), affected by structural dip angle, foliation density, and sandstone/mudstone ratio. To evaluate the fault properties at the seismogenic depth, we developed velocity/earth models and synthetic modeling of seismic reflection using acoustic logs across the thrust and parameterized lithological and structural elements in the identified multiple damage zones.

Internal structure, fault rocks, and inferences regarding deformation, fluid flow, and mineralization in the seismogenic Stillwater normal fault, Dixie Valley, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caine, Jonathan S.; Bruhn, R.L.; Forster, C.B.

2010-01-01

Outcrop mapping and fault-rock characterization of the Stillwater normal fault zone in Dixie Valley, Nevada are used to document and interpret ancient hydrothermal fluid flow and its possible relationship to seismic deformation. The fault zone is composed of distinct structural and hydrogeological components. Previous work on the fault rocks is extended to the map scale where a distinctive fault core shows a spectrum of different fault-related breccias. These include predominantly clast-supported breccias with angular clasts that are cut by zones containing breccias with rounded clasts that are also clast supported. These are further cut by breccias that are predominantly matrix supported with angular and rounded clasts. The fault-core breccias are surrounded by a heterogeneously fractured damage zone. Breccias are bounded between major, silicified slip surfaces, forming large pod-like structures, systematically oriented with long axes parallel to slip. Matrix-supported breccias have multiply brecciated, angular and rounded clasts revealing episodic deformation and fluid flow. These breccias have a quartz-rich matrix with microcrystalline anhedral, equant, and pervasively conformable mosaic texture. The breccia pods are interpreted to have formed by decompression boiling and rapid precipitation of hydrothermal fluids whose flow was induced by coseismic, hybrid dilatant-shear deformation and hydraulic connection to a geothermal reservoir. The addition of hydrothermal silica cement localized in the core at the map scale causes fault-zone widening, local sealing, and mechanical heterogeneities that impact the evolution of the fault zone throughout the seismic cycle. ?? 2010.

Impact of induced seismic events on seal integrity, Texas Gulf Coast

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nicot, Jean-Philippe; Meckel, Timothy A.; Carr, David A.

Recent publications have suggested that large-scale CO 2 injection could trigger earthquakes and that even small- to moderate-sized earthquakes may threaten the seal integrity of the injection zone, and potentially damage buildings and other surface structures. In this study, we compared seal thickness to estimated fault displacement due to a single hypothetical seismic event in a selected area of the Texas Gulf Coast comprising an offshore strip of state waters along two Texas counties. To evaluate the slip generated by a single seismic event, we compiled well log information on shale/sand sequences and seismic information on fault geometric characteristics ofmore » a section of Lower Miocene age. The section is thousands of feet thick and is overlain and underlain by marine shales (Amph. B and Anahuac, respectively) that are relatively easy to correlate between wells. The Amph. B. shale is the secondary and ultimate seal for all injection intervals in the Lower Miocene. Given its thickness, no realistic seismic event or small series of seismic events will offset it significantly. However, this may not be true of smaller local primary seals. An analysis of geophysical logs of a total of 71 wells yielded a total of 2,871 sand / shale binary intervals. An analysis of the dedicated 3D seismic survey counted 723 fault traces at five roughly horizontal horizons within the Lower Miocene Fault displacement estimated using the product of the fault length times an uncertain multiplier coefficient assumed to follow a triangular distribution with a 10 -3 to 10 -5 range and a mode of 8 × 10 -5. We then compared estimated single-event fault displacements to seal thicknesses by means of a Monte-Carlo analysis. Only 1.8% of thickness/displacement pairs display a displacement greater than 20% of the seal thickness. Only 0.26% of the pairs result in a displacement of half the seal thickness and only 0.05% of thickness/displacement pairs result in a clear seal rupture. The next step was to compare the magnitude of the event generated by such a displacement to documented magnitudes of “large” earthquakes generated by waterflooding and fluid disposal. Based on this analysis, we conclude that seismicity that may arise from CO 2 injection appears not to be a serious complication for CO 2 storage integrity, at least in the Gulf Coast area.« less

Impact of induced seismic events on seal integrity, Texas Gulf Coast

DOE PAGES

Nicot, Jean-Philippe; Meckel, Timothy A.; Carr, David A.; ...

2014-12-31

Recent publications have suggested that large-scale CO 2 injection could trigger earthquakes and that even small- to moderate-sized earthquakes may threaten the seal integrity of the injection zone, and potentially damage buildings and other surface structures. In this study, we compared seal thickness to estimated fault displacement due to a single hypothetical seismic event in a selected area of the Texas Gulf Coast comprising an offshore strip of state waters along two Texas counties. To evaluate the slip generated by a single seismic event, we compiled well log information on shale/sand sequences and seismic information on fault geometric characteristics ofmore » a section of Lower Miocene age. The section is thousands of feet thick and is overlain and underlain by marine shales (Amph. B and Anahuac, respectively) that are relatively easy to correlate between wells. The Amph. B. shale is the secondary and ultimate seal for all injection intervals in the Lower Miocene. Given its thickness, no realistic seismic event or small series of seismic events will offset it significantly. However, this may not be true of smaller local primary seals. An analysis of geophysical logs of a total of 71 wells yielded a total of 2,871 sand / shale binary intervals. An analysis of the dedicated 3D seismic survey counted 723 fault traces at five roughly horizontal horizons within the Lower Miocene Fault displacement estimated using the product of the fault length times an uncertain multiplier coefficient assumed to follow a triangular distribution with a 10 -3 to 10 -5 range and a mode of 8 × 10 -5. We then compared estimated single-event fault displacements to seal thicknesses by means of a Monte-Carlo analysis. Only 1.8% of thickness/displacement pairs display a displacement greater than 20% of the seal thickness. Only 0.26% of the pairs result in a displacement of half the seal thickness and only 0.05% of thickness/displacement pairs result in a clear seal rupture. The next step was to compare the magnitude of the event generated by such a displacement to documented magnitudes of “large” earthquakes generated by waterflooding and fluid disposal. Based on this analysis, we conclude that seismicity that may arise from CO 2 injection appears not to be a serious complication for CO 2 storage integrity, at least in the Gulf Coast area.« less

Modeling of coulpled deformation and permeability evolution during fault reactivation induced by deep underground injection of CO2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cappa, F.; Rutqvist, J.

2010-06-01

The interaction between mechanical deformation and fluid flow in fault zones gives rise to a host of coupled hydromechanical processes fundamental to fault instability, induced seismicity, and associated fluid migration. In this paper, we discuss these coupled processes in general and describe three modeling approaches that have been considered to analyze fluid flow and stress coupling in fault-instability processes. First, fault hydromechanical models were tested to investigate fault behavior using different mechanical modeling approaches, including slip interface and finite-thickness elements with isotropic or anisotropic elasto-plastic constitutive models. The results of this investigation showed that fault hydromechanical behavior can be appropriatelymore » represented with the least complex alternative, using a finite-thickness element and isotropic plasticity. We utilized this pragmatic approach coupled with a strain-permeability model to study hydromechanical effects on fault instability during deep underground injection of CO{sub 2}. We demonstrated how such a modeling approach can be applied to determine the likelihood of fault reactivation and to estimate the associated loss of CO{sub 2} from the injection zone. It is shown that shear-enhanced permeability initiated where the fault intersects the injection zone plays an important role in propagating fault instability and permeability enhancement through the overlying caprock.« less

Summary of results of frictional sliding studies, at confining pressures up to 6.98 kb, in selected rock materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Summers, R.; Byerlee, J.

1977-01-01

This report is a collection of stress-strain charts which were produced by deforming selected simuiated fault gouge materials. Several sets of samples consisted of intact cylinders, 1.000 inch in diameter and 2.500 inches long. The majority of the samples consisted of thin layers of the selected sample material, inserted within a diagonal sawcut in a 1.000-inch by 2.500-inch Westerly Granite cylinder. Two sorts of inserts were used. The first consisted of thin wafers cut from 1.000-inch-diameter cores of the rock being tested. The other consisted of thin layers of crushed material packed onto the sawcut surface. In several groups of tests using various thicknesses (0.010 inch to 0.160 inch) of a given type material there were variations in the stress level and/or stability of sliding as a function of the fault zone width. Because of this we elected to use a standard 0.025-inch width fault zone to compare the frictional properties of many of the different types of rock materials. This 0.025-inch thickness was chosen partially because this thickness of crushed granite behaves approximately the same as a fractured sample of initially intact granite, and also because this is near the lower limit at which we could cut intact wafers for those samples that were prepared from thin slices of rock. One series of tests was done with saw cut granite cylinders without fault gouge inserts. All of these tests were done in a hydraulically operated triaxial testing machine. The confining pressure (δ1, least principal stress) was applied by pumping petroleum ether into a pressure vessel. The differential stress (δ3-δ1) was applied by a hydraulically operated ram that could be advanced into the pressure vessel at any of several strain rates (10-4sec-1, 10-5sec-1, 10-6sec-1, 10-7sec-1, or 10-8sec-1). All samples were jacketed in polyurethane tubing to exclude the confining pressure medium from the samples. The majority of the samples, with the exception of some of the initially intact rocks, also had thin copper jackets. These served to hold the saw cut parts of the granite sample holders in alignment while the samples were handled and pushed into the polyurethane jackets.

3D Model of the Tuscarora Geothermal Area

DOE Data Explorer

Faulds, James E.

2013-12-31

The Tuscarora geothermal system sits within a ~15 km wide left-step in a major west-dipping range-bounding normal fault system. The step over is defined by the Independence Mountains fault zone and the Bull Runs Mountains fault zone which overlap along strike. Strain is transferred between these major fault segments via and array of northerly striking normal faults with offsets of 10s to 100s of meters and strike lengths of less than 5 km. These faults within the step over are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the range-bounding fault zones between which they reside. Faults within the broad step define an anticlinal accommodation zone wherein east-dipping faults mainly occupy western half of the accommodation zone and west-dipping faults lie in the eastern half of the accommodation zone. The 3D model of Tuscarora encompasses 70 small-offset normal faults that define the accommodation zone and a portion of the Independence Mountains fault zone, which dips beneath the geothermal field. The geothermal system resides in the axial part of the accommodation, straddling the two fault dip domains. The Tuscarora 3D geologic model consists of 10 stratigraphic units. Unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium has eroded down into bedrock units, the youngest and stratigraphically highest bedrock units are middle Miocene rhyolite and dacite flows regionally correlated with the Jarbidge Rhyolite and modeled with uniform cumulative thickness of ~350 m. Underlying these lava flows are Eocene volcanic rocks of the Big Cottonwood Canyon caldera. These units are modeled as intracaldera deposits, including domes, flows, and thick ash deposits that change in thickness and locally pinch out. The Paleozoic basement of consists metasedimenary and metavolcanic rocks, dominated by argillite, siltstone, limestone, quartzite, and metabasalt of the Schoonover and Snow Canyon Formations. Paleozoic formations are lumped in a single basement unit in the model. Fault blocks in the eastern portion of the model are tilted 5-30 degrees toward the Independence Mountains fault zone. Fault blocks in the western portion of the model are tilted toward steeply east-dipping normal faults. These opposing fault block dips define a shallow extensional anticline. Geothermal production is from 4 closely-spaced wells, that exploit a west-dipping, NNE-striking fault zone near the axial part of the accommodation zone.

Structural and geochemical characteristics of faulted sediments and inferences on the role of water in deformatiion, Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caine, Jonathan S.; Minor, S.A.

2009-01-01

The San Ysidro fault is a spectacularly exposed normal fault located in the northwestern Albuquerque Basin of the Rio Grande Rift. This intrabasin fault is representative of many faults that formed in poorly lithified sediments throughout the rift. The fault is exposed over nearly 10 km and accommodates nearly 700 m of dip slip in subhorizontal, siliciclastic sediments. The extent of the exposure facilitates study of along-strike variations in deformation mechanisms, archi tecture, geochemistry, and permeability. The fault is composed of structural and hydrogeologic components that include a clay-rich fault core, a calcite-cemented mixed zone, and a poorly developed damage zone primarily consisting of deformation bands. Structural textures suggest that initial deformation in the fault occurred at low temperature and pressure, was within the paleosaturated zone of the evolving Rio Grande Rift, and was dominated by particulate flow. Little geochemical change is apparent across the fault zone other than due to secondary processes. The lack of fault-related geochemical change is interpreted to reflect the fundamental nature of water-saturated, particulate fl ow. Early mechanical entrainment of low-permeability clays into the fault core likely caused damming of groundwater flow on the up-gradient, footwall side of the fault. This may have caused a pressure gradient and flow of calcite-saturated waters in higher-permeability, fault-entrained siliciclastic sediments, ultimately promoting their cementation by sparry calcite. Once developed, the cemented and clay-rich fault has likely been, and continues to be, a partial barrier to cross-fault groundwater flow, as suggested by petrophysical measurements. Aeromagnetic data indicate that there may be many more unmapped faults with similar lengths to the San Ysidro fault buried within Rio Grande basins. If these buried faults formed by the same processes that formed the San Ysidro fault and have persistent low-permeability cores and cemented mixed zones, they could compartmentalize the basin-fill aquifers more than is currently realized, particularly if pumping stresses continue to increase in response to population growth. ?? 2009 Geological Society of America.

IODP Expedition 338: Riser and Riserless Drilling Along the NanTroSEIZE Transect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strasser, M.; Moore, G. F.; Dugan, B.; Kanagawa, K.; Toczko, S.

2013-12-01

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 338 provided new constraints on the Kumano Basin sediments, the accretionary prism inner wedge, the seaward extension of the megasplay fault, the architecture and mechanics of landslides, and the alteration of oceanic basement of the incoming Philippine Sea plate. This was accomplished through riser and riserless drilling, logging while drilling (LWD), and cuttings and core analysis. Cuttings and LWD analyses at Hole C0002F reveal two lithologic units in the prism inner wedge which are separated by a prominent fault zone at ~1640 mbsf. Mud-gases from the inner prism show high concentrations at the top of the wedge that decrease, but become more thermogenic, with depth. These data are from the previously unaccessed deeper part of the Nankai accretionary prism. Riserless coring at Site C0002 provided data across the gas hydrate zone of the Kumano Basin, across the Kumano Basin-accretionary prism unconformity, and in the uppermost accretionary prism. Within the Kumano basin section, gas and porewater geochemistry documents microbial methane gas in hydrates that are disseminated in sandy layers. Multiple penetrations of the Kumano Basin-accretionary prism boundary and 3D seismic data show that the boundary is erosive and complex. LWD (Site C0018) and coring and LWD (Site C0021) augment existing data to better understand submarine landslide dynamics and mass-transport deposit (MTD) emplacement processes. Previous coring at Site C0018 identified six MTDs, but only two MTD intervals were detected in resistivity images that show high angle, randomly oriented bedding. Site C0021, located more proximal to the MTD source, provides constraint on MTD variability. Correlation across the sites reveals a thick MTD with an erosional base characterized by a shear zone in muddy sediments vs. a translational basal surface within coarse volcaniclastic sand in the proximal and distal/lateral areas, respectively. LWD data and cores from Site C0022 characterize the uppermost 400 m of sediment near the tip of the megasplay fault zone where it approaches the seafloor. This fault zone is inferred to be located at the interval of 80-145 mbsf, based on biostratigraphic reversals, bedding dips >20°, porosity anomalies and a change in trend of interstitial water chemistry data. LWD at Site C0012 primarily yielded insights into the nature of the incoming oceanic crust. Two crustal units were identified based on LWD data. The upper unit had gamma ray variations that may indicate changes in the crustal alteration or sediment-basalt interlayering. The deeper unit has little variation in log properties, suggesting the presence of uniform or fresh basalt. Together these data provide new constraints on the overall architecture and mechanics of the Nankai subduction zone.

Fault rock texture and porosity type in Triassic dolostones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agosta, Fabrizio; Grieco, Donato; Bardi, Alessandro; Prosser, Giacomo

2015-04-01

Preliminary results of an ongoing project aimed at deciphering the micromechanics and porosity evolution associated to brittle deformation of Triassic dolostones are presented. Samples collected from high-angle, oblique-slip, 10's to 100's m-throw normal faults crosscutting Mesozoic carbonates of the Neo Tethys (Campanian-Lucanian Platform) are investigated by mean of field geological mapping, optical microscopy, SEM and image analyses. The goal is to characterize in detail composition, texture and porosity of cataclastic rocks in order to assess the structural architecture of dolomitic fault cores. Moreover, the present study addresses the time-space control exerted by several micro-mechanisms such as intragranular extensional fracturing, chipping and shear fracturing, which took place during grain rolling and crushing within the evolving faults, on type, amount, dimensions and distribution of micropores present within the cataclastic fault cores. Study samples are representative of well-exposed dolomitic fault cores of oblique-slip normal faults trending either NW-SE or NE-SW. The high-angle normal faults crosscut the Mesozoic carbonates of the Campanian-Lucanian Platform, which overrode the Lagonegro succession by mean of low-angle thrust faults. Fault throws are measured by considering the displaced thrust faults as key markers after large scale field mapping (1:10,000 scale) of the study areas. In the field, hand samples were selected according to their distance from main slip surfaces and, in some case, along secondary slip surfaces. Microscopy analysis of about 100 oriented fault rock samples shows that, mostly, the study cataclastic rocks are made up of dolomite and sparse, minute survivor silicate grains deriving from the Lagonegro succession. In order to quantitatively assess the main textural classes, a great attention is paid to the grain-matrix ratio, grain sphericity, grain roundness, and grain sorting. By employing an automatic box-counting technique, the fractal dimension of representative samples is also computed. Results of such a work shows that five main textural types are present: 1) fractured and fragmented dolomites; 2) protocataclasites characterized by intense intragranular extensional fracturing; 3) cataclasites due to a chipping-dominated mechanism; 4) cataclasites and ultracataclasites with pronounced shear fracturing; 5) cemented fault rocks, which localize along the main slip surfaces. The first four textural types are therefore indicative to the fault rock maturity within individual cataclastic fault cores. A negative correlation among grain-matrix ratio and grain sphericity, roundness and sorting is computed, which implies that ultracataclasites are made up of more spherical and rounded smaller grains relative to cataclasites and protocataclasites. Each textural type shows distinct D0-values (box-counting dimension). As expected, a good correlation between the D0-value and fault rock maturity is computed. Ongoing analysis of selected images obtained from representative samples of the five textural classes will shed lights on the relative role played by the aforementioned micro-mechanisms on the porosity evolution within the cataclastic fault cores.

Paleomagnetic reorientation of San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) core

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pares, J.M.; Schleicher, A.M.; van der Pluijm, B.A.; Hickman, S.

2008-01-01

We present a protocol for using paleomagnetic analysis to determine the absolute orientation of core recovered from the SAFOD borehole. Our approach is based on determining the direction of the primary remanent magnetization of a spot core recovered from the Great Valley Sequence during SAFOD Phase 2 and comparing its direction to the expected reference field direction for the Late Cretaceous in North America. Both thermal and alternating field demagnetization provide equally resolved magnetization, possibly residing in magnetite, that allow reorientation. Because compositionally similar siltstones and fine-grained sandstones were encountered in the San Andreas Fault Zone during Stage 2 rotary drilling, we expect that paleomagnetic reorientation will yield reliable core orientations for continuous core acquired from directly within and adjacent to the San Andreas Fault during SAFOD Phase 3, which will be key to interpretation of spatial properties of these rocks. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Geology and coal resources of the Hanging Woman Creek Study Area, Big Horn and Powder River Counties, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Culbertson, William Craven; Hatch, Joseph R.; Affolter, Ronald H.

1978-01-01

In an area of 7,200 acres (29 sq km) In the Hanging Woman Creek study area, the Anderson coal bed contains potentially surface minable resources of 378 million short tons (343 million metric tons) of subbituminous C coal that ranges in thickness from 26 to 33 feet (7.9-10.1 m) at depths of less than 200 feet (60 m). Additional potentially surface minable resources of 55 million short tons (50 million metric tons) are contained in the 9-12 foot (2.7-3.7 m) thick Dietz coal bed which lies 50-100 feet (15-30 m) below the Anderson. Analyses of coal from 5 core holes indicates that the Anderson bed contains 0.4 percent sulfur, 5 percent ash, and has a heating value of 8,540 Btu/lb (4,750 Kcal/kg). The trace element content of the coal is generally similar to other coals in the Powder River Basin. The two coal beds are in the Fort Union Formation of Paleocene age which consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, coal beds, and locally impure limestone. A northeast-trending normal fault through the middle of the area, downthrown on the southeast side, has displaced the generally flat lying strata as much as 300 feet (91 m). Most of the minable coal lies northwest of this fault.

Lithospheric thickness variations across the North Anatolian Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, D. A.; Rost, S.; Cornwell, D. G.; Houseman, G.; Turkelli, N.; Teoman, U.; Altuncu Poyraz, S.; Kahraman, M.; Gulen, L.; Utkucu, M.; Williams, J. R.

2017-12-01

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is a major continental strike-slip fault zone, similar in size and scale to the San Andreas system, that extends 1200km across Turkey. These type of faults may broaden significantly with depth or penetrate as narrow features all the way to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), potentially providing pathways for fluids and magma to shallower levels. The Dense Array for North Anatolia (DANA) was a 73 station broadband seismic network arranged in a rectangular grid (7km station spacing) deployed to image the deep structure of the fault zone. We present here new S-receiver function images that map out both the depth to the Moho and to negative velocity gradients commonly ascribed to the LAB, with preliminary results suggesting lithospheric thicknesses on the order of 80-100km for the region.

Geomorphic expression of strike-slip faults: field observations vs. analog experiments: preliminary results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, S. Y.; Neubauer, F.; Genser, J.

2012-04-01

The aim of this project is to study the surface expression of strike-slip faults with main aim to find rules how these structures can be extrapolated to depth. In the first step, several basic properties of the fault architecture are in focus: (1) Is it possible to define the fault architecture by studying surface structures of the damage zone vs. the fault core, particularly the width of the damage zone? (2) Which second order structures define the damage zone of strike-slip faults, and how relate these to such reported in basement fault strike-slip analog experiments? (3) Beside classical fault bend structures, is there a systematic along-strike variation of the damage zone width and to which properties relates the variation of the damage zone width. We study the above mentioned properties on the dextral Altyn fault, which is one of the largest strike-slip on Earth with the advantage to have developed in a fully arid climate. The Altyn fault includes a ca. 250 to 600 m wide fault valley, usually with the trace of actual fault in its center. The fault valley is confined by basement highs, from which alluvial fans develop towards the center of the fault valley. The active fault trace is marked by small scale pressure ridges and offset of alluvial fans. The fault valley confining basement highs are several kilometer long and ca. 0.5 to 1 km wide and confined by rotated dextral anti-Riedel faults and internally structured by a regular fracture pattern. Dextral anti-Riedel faults are often cut by Riedel faults. Consequently, the Altyn fault comprises a several km wide damage zone. The fault core zone is a barrier to fluid flow, and the few springs of the region are located on the margin of the fault valley implying the fractured basement highs as the reservoir. Consequently, the southern Silk Road was using the Altyn fault valley. The preliminary data show that two or more orders of structures exist. Small-scale develop during a single earthquake. These finally accumulate to a several 100 m wide fault core, which is in part exposed at surface to arid climate and a km wide damage zone. The basic structures of analog experiments can be well transferred to nature, although along strike changes are common due to fault bending and fracture failure of country rocks.

New insights into seismic faulting during the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Wang, H.; Si, J.; Sun, Z.; Pei, J.; Lei, Z.; He, X.

2017-12-01

The WFSD project was implemented promptly after the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. A series of research results on the seismogenic structure, fault deformation, sliding mechanism and fault healing have been obtained, which provide new insights into seismic faulting and mechanisms of the Wenchuan earthquake. The WFSD-1 and -2 drilling core profiles reveal that the Longmen Shan thrust belt is composed of multiple thrust sheets. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake took place in such tectonic setting with strong horizontal shortening. The two ruptured faults have different deformation mechanisms. The Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF) is a stick-slip fault characterized by fault gouge with high magnetic susceptibility, Guanxian-Anxian fault (GAF) with creeping features and characterized by fault gouge with low magnetic susceptibility. Two PSZs were found in WFSD-1 and -2 cores in the southern segment of YBF. The upper PSZ1 is a low-angle thrust fault characterized by coseisimc graphitization with an extremely low frictional coefficient. The lower PSZ2 is an oblique dextral-slip thrust fault characterized by frictional melt lubrication. In the northern segment of YBF, the PSZ in WFSD-4S cores shows a high-angle thrust feature with fresh melt as well. Therefore, the oblique dextral-slip thrust faulting with frictional melt lubrication is the main faulting of Wenchuan earthquake. Fresh melt with quenching texture was formed in Wenchuan earthquake implying vigorous fluid circulation occurred during the earthquake, which quenched high-temperature melt, hamper the aftermost fault slip and welding seismic fault. Therefore, fluids in the fault zone not only promotes fault weakening, but also suppress slipping in theWenchuan earthquake. The YBF has an extremely high hydraulic diffusivity (2.4×10-2 m2s-1), implying a vigorous fluid circulation in the Wenchuan fault zone. the permeability of YBF has reduced 70% after the shock, reflecting a rapid healing for the YBF. However, the water level has not changed in the WFSD-3 borehole drilled through GAF, indicating an unchanged permeability. These results are of great significance to understanding the seismogenic mechanisms and earthquake cycle for the Wenchuan earthquake.

Strength of the San Andreas Fault Zone: Insight From SAFOD Cuttings and Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tembe, S.; Lockner, D. A.; Solum, J. G.; Morrow, C. A.; Wong, T.; Moore, D. E.

2005-12-01

Cuttings acquired during drilling of the SAFOD scientific hole near Parkfield, California offer a continuous physical record of the lithology across the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone and provide the only complete set of samples available for laboratory testing. Guided by XRD clay mineral analysis and velocity and gamma logs, we selected washed cuttings from depths spanning the main hole from 1.85 to 3.0 km true vertical depth. Cuttings were chosen to represent primary lithologic units as well as significant shear zones, including candidates for the currently active SAF. To determine frictional properties triaxial sliding tests were conducted on cylindrical granite blocks containing sawcuts inclined at 30° and filled with 1 mm-thick sample gouge layers. Tests were run at constant effective normal stresses of 10 and 40 MPa and constant pore pressure of 1 MPa. Samples were sheared up to 10.4 mm at room temperature and velocities of 1, 0.1 and 0.01 μm/s. Stable sliding behavior and overall strain hardening were observed in all tests. The coefficient of friction typically showed a modest decrease with increasing effective normal stress and mostly velocity strengthening was observed. Preliminary results yield coefficients of friction, μ, which generally fell into two clusters spanning the range of 0.45 to 0.8. The higher values of friction (~0.7 - 0.8) corresponded to quartzofeldspathic samples derived from granodiorites and arkoses encountered in the drill hole. Lower values of friction (0.45 - 0.55) were observed at depth intervals interpreted as shear zones based on enriched clay content, reduced seismic velocities and increased gamma radiation. Arguments for a weak SAF suggest coseismic frictional strength of μ = 0.1 to 0.2 yet the actual fault zone materials studied here appear consistently stronger. At least two important limitations exist for inferring in-situ fault strength from cuttings. (1) Clays and weak minerals are preferentially lost during drilling and therefore undersampled in the cuttings and (2) cuttings are mixed as they travel up the borehole. To test the validity of this approach sliding tests were conducted on core samples obtained from a prominent fault zone at 2.56 km (10062 ft measured depth). Coefficient of friction was measured to be 0.42-0.5, notably weaker than that for cuttings tested at this depth (~0.6) but similar to values obtained for other shear zones. This difference between core and cuttings from the equivalent depth is likely due to mixing, resulting in the averaging of mechanical properties over a 1 to 10 foot interval. Nevertheless, we find good agreement in the strength of materials obtained from shallow shear zones, an indication that some weak mineral phases are preserved in the cuttings. While our findings indicate that meaningful mechanical data can be derived from the cuttings, it should be noted that these observations do not represent an exhaustive study of SAF frictional strength. We continue to explore the effectiveness of the present technique by a variety of methods. For example, estimates of lost clay fractions determined from XRD analysis of unwashed cuttings can be used in the application of approximate mixing laws to correct friction measurements. In addition, comparisons of strength of cuttings and corresponding sidewall cores will help refine our results. While the analysis of cuttings provides the best fault zone strength data to date, unresolved questions show the importance of collecting continuous core in Phase 3 drilling planned for 2007.

Microstructural study of natural fractures in Cape Roberts Project 3 core, Western Ross Sea, Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Millan, C.; Wilson, T.; Paulsen, T.

2007-01-01

Microstructures in natural fractures in core recovered offshore from Cape Roberts, Ross Sea, Antarctica, provide new constraints on the relative timing of faulting and sedimentation in the Victoria Land Basin along the Transantarctic Mountain rift flank. This study characterizes the textures, fabrics and grain-scale structures from thin section analysis of samples of microfaults, veins, and clastic dikes. Microfaults are abundant and display two different types of textures, interpreted to record two different deformation modes: pre-lithification shearing and brittle faulting of cohesive sediment. Both clastic dikes and calcite veins commonly follow fault planes, indicating that injections of liquefied sediment and circulating fluids used pre-existing faults as conduits. The close association of clastic injections, diagenetic mineralization, and faulting indicates that faulting was synchronous with deposition in the rift basin

Deep rock damage in the San Andreas Fault revealed by P- and S-type fault-zone-guided waves

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellsworth, William L.; Malin, Peter E.

2011-01-01

Damage to fault-zone rocks during fault slip results in the formation of a channel of low seismic-wave velocities. Within such channels guided seismic waves, denoted by Fg, can propagate. Here we show with core samples, well logs and Fg-waves that such a channel is crossed by the SAFOD (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) borehole at a depth of 2.7 km near Parkfield, California, USA. This laterally extensive channel extends downwards to at least half way through the seismogenic crust, more than about 7 km. The channel supports not only the previously recognized Love-type- (FL) and Rayleigh-type- (FR) guided waves, but also a new fault-guided wave, which we name FF. As recorded 2.7 km underground, FF is normally dispersed, ends in an Airy phase, and arrives between the P- and S-waves. Modelling shows that FF travels as a leaky mode within the core of the fault zone. Combined with the drill core samples, well logs and the two other types of guided waves, FF at SAFOD reveals a zone of profound, deep, rock damage. Originating from damage accumulated over the recent history of fault movement, we suggest it is maintained either by fracturing near the slip surface of earthquakes, such as the 1857 Fort Tejon M 7.9, or is an unexplained part of the fault-creep process known to be active at this site.

Permeability and seismic velocity anisotropy across a ductile-brittle fault zone in crystalline rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenning, Quinn C.; Madonna, Claudio; de Haller, Antoine; Burg, Jean-Pierre

2018-05-01

This study characterizes the elastic and fluid flow properties systematically across a ductile-brittle fault zone in crystalline rock at the Grimsel Test Site underground research laboratory. Anisotropic seismic velocities and permeability measured every 0.1 m in the 0.7 m across the transition zone from the host Grimsel granodiorite to the mylonitic core show that foliation-parallel P- and S-wave velocities systematically increase from the host rock towards the mylonitic core, while permeability is reduced nearest to the mylonitic core. The results suggest that although brittle deformation has persisted in the recent evolution, antecedent ductile fabric continues to control the matrix elastic and fluid flow properties outside the mylonitic core. The juxtaposition of the ductile strain zone next to the brittle zone, which is bounded inside the two mylonitic cores, causes a significant elastic, mechanical, and fluid flow heterogeneity, which has important implications for crustal deformation and fluid flow and for the exploitation and use of geothermal energy and geologic waste storage. The results illustrate how physical characteristics of faults in crystalline rocks change in fault zones during the ductile to brittle transitions.

Magma Supply of Southwest Indian Ocean: Implication from Crustal Thickness Anomalies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiheng, L.; Jianghai, L.; Huatian, Z.; Qingkai, F.

2017-12-01

The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is one of the world's slowest spreading ridges with a full spreading rate of 14mm a-1, belonging to ultraslow spreading ridge, which are a novel class of spreading centers symbolized by non-uniform magma supply and crustal accretion. Therefore, the crustal thickness of Southwest Indian Ocean is a way to explore the magmatic and tectonic process of SWIR and the hotspots around it. Our paper uses Residual Mantle Bouguer Anomaly processed with the latest global public data to invert the relative crustal thickness and correct it according to seismic achievements. Gravity-derived crustal thickness model reveals a huge range of crustal thickness in Southwest Indian Ocean from 0.04km to 24km, 7.5km of average crustal thickness, and 3.5km of standard deviation. In addition, statistics data of crustal thickness reveal the frequency has a bimodal mixed skewed distribution, which indicates the crustal accretion by ridge and ridge-plume interaction. Base on the crustal thickness model, we divide three types of crustal thickness in Southwest Indian Ocean. About 20.31% of oceanic crust is <4.8km thick designated as thin crust, and 60.99% is 4.8-9.8km thick as normal crust. The remaining 18.70% is >9.8km thick as thick crust. Furthermore, Prominent thin crust anomalies are associated with the trend of most transform faults, but thick crust anomalies presents to northeast of Andrew Bain transform fault. Cold and depleted mantle are also the key factors to form the thin crust. The thick crust anomalies are constrained by hotspots, which provide abundant heat to the mantle beneath mid-ocean ridge or ocean basin. Finally, we roughly delineate the range of ridge-plume interaction and transform fault effect.

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of sediment drift accumulation in the Malta Graben (central Mediterranean Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraro, Serena; Sulli, Attilio; Di Stefano, Enrico; Giaramita, Luigi; Incarbona, Alessandro; Graham Mortyn, P.; Sprovieri, Mario; Sprovieri, Rodolfo; Tonielli, Renato; Vallefuoco, Mattia; Zizzo, Elisabetta; Tranchida, Giorgio

2018-06-01

The Malta Graben is a deep tectonic depression in the Sicily Channel, bounded by NW-SE normal faults and filled by thick Pliocene-Quaternary deposits. A previous analysis of a giant piston core (LC09) from the Malta Graben had revealed a wide range of sedimentary features (carbonate turbidites, bioturbated mud and scours), although the chronostratigraphic constraint of the stacking pattern has remained elusive. After establishing a reliable chronological framework based on seven radiocarbon dates for a shorter core from the Malta Graben (ANSIC03-735), a down-core analysis of planktonic foraminifer and coccolith abundance, stable isotopes and sediment grain size was carried out. Since the last glacial maximum, palaeoenvironmental conditions (surface fertility and deep chlorophyll maximum during the last glacial and the Younger Dryas; warm and oligotrophic water masses, with a deep nutricline and intense winter mixing during the Holocene) as well as selected calcareous plankton taxa trends and peaks seem to be similar to those reported for other central and western Mediterranean sites, possibly in spite of a unique response of these areas to late Quaternary climatic fluctuations. Four distinct layers, each tens of centimetres thick, are barren of foraminifers but not of coccoliths. Morphobathymetric data as well as new high-resolution and high-penetration seismic profiles show that prolonged contouritic activity has persisted on the western side of the Malta Graben. It is thus likely that layers barren of foraminifers are due to the overflow of fine-grained (clayey) material beyond drift channel dikes.

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of sediment drift accumulation in the Malta Graben (central Mediterranean Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraro, Serena; Sulli, Attilio; Di Stefano, Enrico; Giaramita, Luigi; Incarbona, Alessandro; Graham Mortyn, P.; Sprovieri, Mario; Sprovieri, Rodolfo; Tonielli, Renato; Vallefuoco, Mattia; Zizzo, Elisabetta; Tranchida, Giorgio

2018-03-01

The Malta Graben is a deep tectonic depression in the Sicily Channel, bounded by NW-SE normal faults and filled by thick Pliocene-Quaternary deposits. A previous analysis of a giant piston core (LC09) from the Malta Graben had revealed a wide range of sedimentary features (carbonate turbidites, bioturbated mud and scours), although the chronostratigraphic constraint of the stacking pattern has remained elusive. After establishing a reliable chronological framework based on seven radiocarbon dates for a shorter core from the Malta Graben (ANSIC03-735), a down-core analysis of planktonic foraminifer and coccolith abundance, stable isotopes and sediment grain size was carried out. Since the last glacial maximum, palaeoenvironmental conditions (surface fertility and deep chlorophyll maximum during the last glacial and the Younger Dryas; warm and oligotrophic water masses, with a deep nutricline and intense winter mixing during the Holocene) as well as selected calcareous plankton taxa trends and peaks seem to be similar to those reported for other central and western Mediterranean sites, possibly in spite of a unique response of these areas to late Quaternary climatic fluctuations. Four distinct layers, each tens of centimetres thick, are barren of foraminifers but not of coccoliths. Morphobathymetric data as well as new high-resolution and high-penetration seismic profiles show that prolonged contouritic activity has persisted on the western side of the Malta Graben. It is thus likely that layers barren of foraminifers are due to the overflow of fine-grained (clayey) material beyond drift channel dikes.

Numerical modeling of fluid flow in a fault zone: a case of study from Majella Mountain (Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romano, Valentina; Battaglia, Maurizio; Bigi, Sabina; De'Haven Hyman, Jeffrey; Valocchi, Albert J.

2017-04-01

The study of fluid flow in fractured rocks plays a key role in reservoir management, including CO2 sequestration and waste isolation. We present a numerical model of fluid flow in a fault zone, based on field data acquired in Majella Mountain, in the Central Apennines (Italy). This fault zone is considered a good analogue for the massive presence of fluid migration in the form of tar. Faults are mechanical features and cause permeability heterogeneities in the upper crust, so they strongly influence fluid flow. The distribution of the main components (core, damage zone) can lead the fault zone to act as a conduit, a barrier, or a combined conduit-barrier system. We integrated existing information and our own structural surveys of the area to better identify the major fault features (e.g., type of fractures, statistical properties, geometrical and petro-physical characteristics). In our model the damage zones of the fault are described as discretely fractured medium, while the core of the fault as a porous one. Our model utilizes the dfnWorks code, a parallelized computational suite, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), that generates three dimensional Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) of the damage zones of the fault and characterizes its hydraulic parameters. The challenge of the study is the coupling between the discrete domain of the damage zones and the continuum one of the core. The field investigations and the basic computational workflow will be described, along with preliminary results of fluid flow simulation at the scale of the fault.

The Death Throes of Ocean Core Complexes: Examples from the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheadle, M. J.; John, B. E.; German, C. R.; Kusznir, N. J.

2012-12-01

The Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre (MCSC) is an ultraslow (full rate 15-17 mm/yr) mid-ocean ridge that is located within the Cayman Trough, at the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. It is 110km long, and at ~6km below sea level, is the deepest spreading centre in the world. In the Summer of 2011, during NOAA EX 1104, the RV Okeanos Explorer collected high resolution (50m) Simrad EM302 multibeam bathymetry, and high-resolution video using the ROV Little Hercules ,which together provide insight into the evolution (from birth to death) of oceanic core complexes (OCCs). The MCSC exhibits bathymetry typical of slow spreading, magmatically deficient, ridges with thick lithosphere. It has both well-developed OCCs with ~15km of detachment fault offset and smaller offset (6-7km) normal faults forming >40km long linear ridges. Mass wasting is conspicuous. The MCSC is flanked on both sides by three oceanic core complexes: i) the now inactive, Mount Emms to the northeast, ii) the near-recently active Mount Dent in the west centre of the axial valley, and iii) the decapitated Mount Hudson on the south east flank. Together these massifs show different stages of OCC termination. Mount Emms lies approximately 2Ma off axis, is the oldest of the OCCs, and is heavily dissected by faulting and mass wasting. Mount Hudson is terminated by a west dipping high angle normal fault, with 1.6km throw and was initially rifted apart ~0.5Ma. A recently active axial volcanic ridge (AVR) with ROV observed pahoehoe lava forms, and a line of conical volcanic edifices lie within the rifted remains at the toe of the OCC. In contrast, Mount Dent was the most recently active, but is now in the very initial stages of being rifted apart by the presently active AVR that currently intersects the OCC. Incipient high angle normal faults that lie along strike of the AVR cut the dome of Mount Dent, and host the active von Damm hydrothermal system. Mount Dent also shows excess (>1km) uplift beyond that expected by simple flexural uplift, in contrast to the ridges bounded by the smaller offset (6-7km) normal faults, which can be explained by flexural uplift. Together these three OCCs adjacent to the MCSC highlight two interacting processes that lead to OCC termination. Firstly asymmetric spreading associated with OCC development leads to the root of the bounding detachment fault migrating across the axial valley. Secondly, migration of the locus of magmatism can lead to the AVR intersecting the OCC. Both of these processes ultimately lead to rifting and hence termination of the OCC. We suggest that the anomalous uplift of Mount Dent might be an initial response to increased magmatic activity beneath the OCC, and that continued magmatic activity led to thermal weakening of the lithosphere, with development of normal faults and rifting within the dome of the OCC. Interestingly, one key outcome of this new interpretation of the Mt Dent OCC is that the Von Damm hydrothermal field becomes an on-axis vent system.

3-D Structure and Morphology of the S-reflector Detachment Fault, Offshore Galicia, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuba, C. N.; Sawyer, D. S.; Gray, G. G.; Morgan, J.; Bull, J.; Shillington, D. J.; Jordan, B.; Reston, T. J.

2017-12-01

The crustal architecture of passive continental margins provides valuable clues for understanding rift initiation and evolution. The Galicia margin is an archetypal magma-poor margin displaying exhumed serpentinized mantle, and is an optimal setting in which to examine rift-related processes. A new 3-D seismic reflection volume images this margin in great detail. The S-reflector detachment fault, one of the most prominent structural features associated with the Galicia margin, is imaged as a continuous interface over an area of 600 km2. The top and base of the fault zone can be mapped independently, which enables seismic attribute analysis of this significant structure. RMS amplitude maps extracted from this interface show localized patches of high amplitude stripes that coincide with thickness variations of the fault zone and undulations in the bounding surfaces of the fault. These variations bear similarities to grooves on the fault surface such as slickensides, and appear to have developed as the fault zone evolved. These features thus represent good indicators of the kinematics of the fault system. In general, there is good correlation between S-reflector morphology and the overriding fault intersections; however this relationship does not appear to be present with the fault gouge thickness.

Crustal-scale thrusting and origin of the Montreal River monocline-A 35-km-thick cross section of the midcontinent rift in northern Michigan and Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cannon, W.F.; Peterman, Z.E.; Sims, P.K.

1993-01-01

A structurally simple, 35-km-thick, north facing stratigraphic succession of Late Archean to Middle Proterozoic rocks is exposed near the Montreal River, which forms the border between northern Wisconsin and Michigan. This structure, the Montreal River monocline, is composed of steeply dipping to vertical sedimentary rocks and flood basalts of the Keweenawan Supergroup (Middle Proterozoic) along the south limb of the Midcontinent rift, and disconformably underlying sedimentary rocks of the Marquette Range Supergroup (Early Proterozoic). These rocks lie on an Archean granite-greenstone complex, about 10 km of which is included in the monocline. This remarkable thickness of rocks appears to be essentially structurally intact and lacks evidence of tectonic thickening or repetition.Tilting to form the monocline resulted from southward thrusting on listric faults of crustal dimension. The faults responsible for the monocline are newly recognized components of a well-known regional fault system that partly closed and inverted the Midcontinent rift system. Resetting of biotite ages on the upper plate of the faults indicates that faulting and uplift occurred at about 1060 +/−20 Ma and followed very shortly after extension that formed the Midcontinent rift system.

Multi-phase inversion tectonics related to the Hendijan-Nowrooz-Khafji Fault activity, Zagros Mountains, SW Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazem Shiroodi, Sadjad; Ghafoori, Mohammad; Faghih, Ali; Ghanadian, Mostafa; Lashkaripour, Gholamreza; Hafezi Moghadas, Naser

2015-11-01

Distinctive characteristics of inverted structures make them important criteria for the identification of certain structural styles of folded belts. The interpretation of 3D seismic reflection and well data sheds new light on the structural evolution and age of inverted structures associated to the Hendijan-Nowrooz-Khafji Fault within the Persian Gulf Basin and northeastern margin of Afro-Arabian plate. Analysis of thickness variations of growth strata using "T-Z plot" (thickness versus throw plot) method revealed the kinematics of the fault. Obtained results show that the fault has experienced a multi-phase evolutionary history over six different extension and compression deformation events (i.e. positive and negative inversion) between 252.2 and 11.62 Ma. This cyclic activity of the growth fault was resulted from alteration of sedimentary processes during continuous fault slip. The structural development of the study area both during positive and negative inversion geometry styles was ultimately controlled by the relative motion between the Afro-Arabian and Central-Iranian plates.

Fracture structures of active Nojima fault, Japan, revealed by borehole televiewer imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiwaki, T.; Lin, A.

2017-12-01

Most large intraplate earthquakes occur as slip on mature active faults, any investigation of the seismic faulting process and assessment of seismic hazards require an understanding of the nature of active fault damage zones as seismogenic source. In this study, we focus on the fracture structures of the Nojima Fault (NF) that triggered the 1995 Kobe Mw 7.2 earthquake using ultrasonic borehole televiewer (BHTV) images from a borehole wall. The borehole used in this study was drilled throughout the NF at 1000 m in depth by a science project of Drilling into Fault Damage Zone(DFDZ) in 2016 (Lin, 2016; Miyawaki et al., 2016). In the depth of <230 m of the borehole, the rocks are composed of weak consolidated sandstone and conglomerate of the Plio-Pleistocene Osaka-Group and mudstone and sandstone of the Miocene Kobe Group. The basement rock in the depth of >230 m consist of pre-Neogene granitic rock. Based on the observations of cores and analysis of the BHTV images, the main fault plane was identified at a depth of 529.3 m with a 15 cm thick fault gouge zone and a damage zone of 100 m wide developed in the both sides of the main fault plane. Analysis of the BHTV images shows that the fractures are concentrated in two groups: N45°E (Group-1), parallel to the general trend of the NF, and another strikes N70°E (Group-2), oblique to the fault with an angle of 20°. It is well known that Riedel shear structures are common within strike-slip fault zones. Previous studies show that the NF is a right-lateral strike-slip fault with a minor thrust component, and that the fault damage zone is characterized by Riedel shear structures dominated by Y shears (main faults), R shears and P foliations (Lin, 2001). We interpret that the fractures of Group (1) correspond to Y Riedel fault shears, and those of Group (2) are R shears. Such Riedel shear structures indicate that the NF is a right-lateral strike-slip fault which is activated under a regional stress field oriented to the direction close to east-west, coincident with that inferred from geophysical observations (Tsukahara et al., 2001), seismic inversion results (Katao, 1997) and geological structures (Lin, 2001).Katao et al., 1997. J. Phys. Earth, 45, 105.Lin, 2016. AGU, Fall Meeting.Lin, 2001. J. Struc. Geo., 23, 1167.Miyawaki and Uchida, 2016. AGU, Fall Meeting.Tsukahara et al., 2001. Isl. Arc, 10, 261.

The sedimentary records of Holocene environmental changes from the Central High of the Sea of Marmara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filikci, Betul; Çağatay, Namık; Kadir Eriş, Kürşad; Akyol, Mustafa; Yalamaz, Burak; Uçarkuş, Gülsen; Henry, Pierre

2015-04-01

The Sea of Marmara (SoM) is located between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, to which it is connected via the Istanbul (Bosphorus) and Canakkale (Dardanelles) straits having sill depths of 65 and 35 m, respectively. It has a two-way water mass exchange with a permanent pycnocline located at 20-25 m water depth. With the objective of determining Holocene paleoenvironmental changes, we studied a 8.36 m-long piston core recovered from the Central High of the SoM at a water depth of 835 m, using multiproxy analyses such as total organic and inorganic carbon, high resolution µ-XRF core scanner analysis, grain size, magnetic susceptibility and density. A 2 cm-thick tephra layer with high K and Zr and relatively low magnetic susceptibility occurs at 2.1 meter below sea floor (mbsf), which is correlated with the Avellino (Somma-Vesuvius, Italy) eruption dated at 3.9 ka BP, according to the previous studies. Using this age and assuming a uniform sedimentation rate, the base of the core dates back to ca 8 ka BP. The core includes organic-rich (sapropelic) sediments with 1.5 % to 2.2%) in its top 3.5 m and bottom 1 m. Sapropelic layers are olive green and in part laminated, and contain occasional reddish brown spots and laminae formed by oxidation of iron monosulphides. The core also contains some few mm- to cm-thick sandy-silty mass-flow units below 2.4 mbsf, some of which could have been triggered by the earthquake activity on the Central High segment of the North Anatolian Fault, just a few km away from the core location. Variations in Ca-Ti ratio suggest millennial-scale climatic changes during the Holocene. Keywords: Sea of Marmara, Holocene paleoenvironmental records, tephra, turbidites, TOC analysis, XRF analysis, physical properties.

The Relation Between Plate Spreading Rate, Crustal Thickness and Axial Relief at Mid-Ocean Ridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Buck, W. R.

2017-12-01

Variations in axial valley relief and in faulting at plate spreading centers are clearly related to magma supply and axial lithospheric structure. Previous models that consider the interaction of magmatic dikes with lithospheric stretching do not successfully reproduce both of these trends. We present the first model that reproduces these trends by making simple assumptions about the partitioning of magma between dikes, gabbros and extrusives. A key concept is that dikes open not only in the brittle axial lithosphere but also into the underlying ductile crust, where they cool to form gabbro. The amount of gabbro so intruded depends on magma pressure that is related to axial relief. The deeper the valley the less magma goes into gabbros and the more magma is available for dikes to accommodate plate separation. We define the fraction of plate separation rate accommodated by dikes as M. If M<1 then part of the plate separation occurs as fault offset which deepens the axial valley. This axial deepening decreases the amount of magma go into gabbros and this increases M. If the valley reaches the depth where M =1 then the faulting ceases and the valley stays at that depth. However, even if M<1, the valley depth cannot increase without limit. Through a distributed pattern of tectonic faults, the valley depth reaches a maximum possible depth that depends on the thickness of the axial lithosphere. If M < 1, where the axial depth reaches this tectonic limit, then moderate to large offset faults can develop. If M = 1 before the depth reaches the tectonic limit, normal faults only develop in response to oscillations in magma supply and fault offset is proportional to the amount of extruded lava. We have derived analytic expressions relates axial lithospheric thickness (HL) and crustal thickness (Hc) to axial valley depth. We then used a 2D model numerical model with a fixed axial lithospheric structure to show that the analytic model predictions are reasonable. Finally, we describe themo-mechanical models that allow us to relate plate spreading rate and crustal thickness and to axial valley depth.

Middle Pleistocene infill of Hinkley Valley by Mojave River sediment and associated lake sediment: Depositional architecture and deformation by strike-slip faults

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, David; Haddon, Elizabeth; Langenheim, Victoria; Cyr, Andrew J.; Wan, Elmira; Walkup, Laura; Starratt, Scott W.

2018-01-01

Hinkley Valley in the Mojave Desert, near Barstow about 140 km northeast of Los Angeles and midway between Victorville Valley and the Lake Manix basin, contains a thick sedimentary sequence delivered by the Mojave River. Our study of sediment cores drilled in the valley indicates that Hinkley Valley was probably a closed playa basin with stream inflow from four directions prior to Mojave River inflow. The Mojave River deposited thick and laterally extensive clastic wedges originating from the southern valley that rapidly filled much of Hinkley Valley. Sedimentary facies representing braided stream, wetland, delta, and lacustrine depositional environments all are found in the basin fill; in some places, the sequence is greater than 74 m (245 ft) thick. The sediment is dated in part by the presence of the ~631 ka Lava Creek B ash bed low in the section, and thus represents sediment deposition after Victorville basin was overtopped by sediment and before the Manix basin began to be filled. Evidently, upstream Victorville basin filled with sediment by about 650 ka, causing the ancestral Mojave River to spill to the Harper and Hinkley basins, and later to Manix basin.Initial river sediment overran wetland deposits in many places in southern Hinkley Valley, indicating a rapidly encroaching river system. These sediments were succeeded by a widespread lake (“blue” clay) that includes the Lava Creek B ash bed. Above the lake sediment lies a thick section of interlayered stream sediment, delta and nearshore lake sediment, mudflat and/or playa sediment, and minor lake sediment. This stratigraphic architecture is found throughout the valley, and positions of lake sediment layers indicate a successive northward progression in the closed basin. A thin overlapping sequence at the north end of the valley contains evidence for a younger late Pleistocene lake episode. This late lake episode, and bracketing braided stream deposits of the Mojave River, indicate that the river avulsed through the valley, rather than continuing toward Lake Manix, during the late Pleistocene. Two dextral strike-slip fault zones, the Lockhart and the Mt. General, fold and displace the distinctive stratigraphic units, as well as surficial late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. The sedimentary architecture and the two fault zones provide a framework for evaluating groundwater flow in Hinkley Valley.

The Corinth Rift Laboratory, Greece (CRL) : A Multidisciplinary Near Fault Observatory (NFO) on a Fast Rifting System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernard, P.; Lyon-Caen, H.; Deschamps, A.; Briole, P.; Lambotte, S.; Ford, M.; Scotti, O.; Beck, C.; Hubert-Ferrari, A.; Boiselet, A.; Godano, M.; Matrullo, E.; Meyer, N.; Albini, P.; Elias, P.; Nercessian, A.; Katsonopoulou, D.; Papadimitriou, P.; Voulgaris, N.; Kapetanidis, V.; Sokos, E.; Serpetsidaki, A.; el Arem, S.; Dublanchet, P.; Duverger, C.; Makropoulos, K.; Tselentis, A.

2014-12-01

The western rift of Corinth (Greece) is one of the most active tectonic structures of the euro-mediterranean area. Its NS opening rate is 1.5 cm/yr ( strain rate of 10-6/yr) results into a high microseismicity level and a few destructive, M>6 earthquakes per century, activating a system of mostly north dipping normal faults. Since 2001, monitoring arrays of the European Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL, www.crlab.eu) allowed to better track the mechanical processes at work, with short period and broad band seismometers, cGPS, borehole strainmeters, EM stations, …). The recent (300 kyr) tectonic history has been revealed by onland (uplifted fan deltas and terraces) and offshore geological studies (mapping, shallow seismic, coring), showing a fast evolution of the normal fault system. The microseismicity, dominated by swarms lasting from days to months, mostly clusters in a layer 1 to 3 km thick, between 6 and 9 km in depth, dipping towards north, on which most faults are rooting. The diffusion of the microseismicity suggests its triggering by pore pressure transients, with no or barely detected strain. Despite a large proportion of multiplets, true repeaters seem seldom, suggesting a minor contribution of creep in their triggering, although transient or steady creep is clearly detected on the shallow part of some majors faults. The microseismic layer may thus be an immature, downward growing detachment, and the dominant rifting mechanism might be a mode I, anelastic strain beneath the rift axis , for which a mechanical model is under development. Paleoseismological (trenching, paleoshorelines, turbidites), archeological and historical studies completed the catalogues of instrumental seismicity, motivating attempts of time dependent hazard assessment. The Near Fault Observatory of CRL is thus a multidisciplinary research infrastructure aiming at a better understanding and modeling of multiscale, coupled seismic/aseismic processes on fault systems.

Brittle fracture damage around the Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J. N.; Toy, V.; Smith, S. A. F.; Boulton, C. J.; Massiot, C.; Mcnamara, D. D.

2017-12-01

We use field and drill-core samples to characterize macro- to micro-scale brittle fracture networks within the hanging-wall of New Zealand's Alpine Fault, an active plate-boundary fault that is approaching the end of its seismic cycle. Fracture density in the hanging-wall is roughly constant for distances of up to 500 m from the principal slip zone gouges (PSZs). Fractures >160 m from the PSZs are typically open and parallel to the regional mylonitic foliation or host rock schistosity, and likely formed as unloading joints during rapid exhumation of the hanging-wall at shallow depths. Fractures within c. 160 m of the PSZs are broadly oriented shear-fractures filled with gouge or cataclasite, and are interpreted to constitute the hanging-wall damage zone of the Alpine Fault. This is comparable to the 60-200 m wide "geophysical damage zone" estimated from low seismic wave velocities surrounding the Alpine Fault. Veins are pervasive within the c. 20 m-thick hanging-wall cataclasites and are most commonly filled by calcite, chlorite, muscovite and K-feldspar. Notably, there is a set of intragranular clast-hosted veins, as well as a younger set of veins that cross-cut both clasts and cataclasite matrix. The intragranular veins formed prior to cataclasis or during synchronous cataclasis and calcite-silicate mineralisation. Broad estimates for the depth of vein formation indicate that the cataclasites formed a c. 20 m wide actively deforming zone at depths of c. 4-8 km. Conversely, the cross-cutting veins are interpreted to represent off-fault damage within relatively indurated cataclasites following slip localization onto the <10 cm wide smectite-bearing PSZ gouges at depths of <4 km. Our observations therefore highlight a strong depth-dependence of the width of the actively deforming zone within the brittle seismogenic crust around the Alpine Fault.

Structural development of the onshore Otway passive margin (Australia): the interaction of rotating syn-sedimentary faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanner, David C.; Ziesch, Jennifer; Krawczyk, Charlotte M.

2017-04-01

Within the context of long-term CO2 storage integrity, we interpreted the faults within the 2.2 km thick, syn-rift, Late Cretaceous to Recent sediments below the CO2CRC Otway Project site in Australia using a detailed interpretation of a 3-D reflection seismic cube (32.3 km×14.35 km × 4100 ms TWT). All the faults in the onshore Otway passive margin basin in this area were active to varying degrees during sedimentation, between ca. 120 and 50 Ma, before they died out. From analysis of fault juxtaposition and fault tip-line propagation maps, as well as analysis of individual stratigraphic thickness maps, we determine the direction and incremental amount of syn-sedimentary movement on each fault. Thickening of the hanging-walls of the faults occurred, as is typical for syn-sedimentary faults. However, we also determine that substantial local footwall thinning took place. Although the syn-sedimentary behaviour of the faults was constantly maintained until 50 Ma, there were two main phases of footwall thinning, separated by a quiescent phase. We postulate that these phases of footwall thinning represent rotation of the fault blocks that correlate with prograding sediment pulses within the passive margin. The rotation of the fault blocks occurred simultaneously, i.e., they could only rotate if they interacted.

Structure of a normal seismogenic fault zone in carbonates: The Vado di Corno Fault, Campo Imperatore, Central Apennines (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demurtas, Matteo; Fondriest, Michele; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Clemenzi, Luca; Storti, Fabrizio; Bistacchi, Andrea; Di Toro, Giulio

2016-09-01

The Vado di Corno Fault Zone (VCFZ) is an active extensional fault cutting through carbonates in the Italian Central Apennines. The fault zone was exhumed from ∼2 km depth and accommodated a normal throw of ∼2 km since Early-Pleistocene. In the studied area, the master fault of the VCFZ dips N210/54° and juxtaposes Quaternary colluvial deposits in the hangingwall with cataclastic dolostones in the footwall. Detailed mapping of the fault zone rocks within the ∼300 m thick footwall-block evidenced the presence of five main structural units (Low Strain Damage Zone, High Strain Damage Zone, Breccia Unit, Cataclastic Unit 1 and Cataclastic Unit 2). The Breccia Unit results from the Pleistocene extensional reactivation of a pre-existing Pliocene thrust. The Cataclastic Unit 1 forms a ∼40 m thick band lining the master fault and recording in-situ shattering due to the propagation of multiple seismic ruptures. Seismic faulting is suggested also by the occurrence of mirror-like slip surfaces, highly localized sheared calcite-bearing veins and fluidized cataclasites. The VCFZ architecture compares well with seismological studies of the L'Aquila 2009 seismic sequence (mainshock MW 6.1), which imaged the reactivation of shallow-seated low-angle normal faults (Breccia Unit) cut by major high-angle normal faults (Cataclastic Units).

Possible origin and significance of extension-parallel drainages in Arizona's metamophic core complexes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spencer, J.E.

2000-01-01

The corrugated form of the Harcuvar, South Mountains, and Catalina metamorphic core complexes in Arizona reflects the shape of the middle Tertiary extensional detachment fault that projects over each complex. Corrugation axes are approximately parallel to the fault-displacement direction and to the footwall mylonitic lineation. The core complexes are locally incised by enigmatic, linear drainages that parallel corrugation axes and the inferred extension direction and are especially conspicuous on the crests of antiformal corrugations. These drainages have been attributed to erosional incision on a freshly denuded, planar, inclined fault ramp followed by folding that elevated and preserved some drainages on the crests of rising antiforms. According to this hypothesis, corrugations were produced by folding after subacrial exposure of detachment-fault foot-walls. An alternative hypothesis, proposed here, is as follows. In a setting where preexisting drainages cross an active normal fault, each fault-slip event will cut each drainage into two segments separated by a freshly denuded fault ramp. The upper and lower drainage segments will remain hydraulically linked after each fault-slip event if the drainage in the hanging-wall block is incised, even if the stream is on the flank of an antiformal corrugation and there is a large component of strike-slip fault movement. Maintenance of hydraulic linkage during sequential fault-slip events will guide the lengthening stream down the fault ramp as the ramp is uncovered, and stream incision will form a progressively lengthening, extension-parallel, linear drainage segment. This mechanism for linear drainage genesis is compatible with corrugations as original irregularities of the detachment fault, and does not require folding after early to middle Miocene footwall exhumations. This is desirable because many drainages are incised into nonmylonitic crystalline footwall rocks that were probably not folded under low-temperature, surface conditions. An alternative hypothesis, that drainages were localized by small fault grooves as footwalls were uncovered, is not supported by analysis of a down-plunge fault projection for the southern Rincon Mountains that shows a linear drainage aligned with the crest of a small antiformal groove on the detachment fault, but this process could have been effective elsewhere. Lineation-parallel drainages now plunge gently southwestward on the southwest ends of antiformal corrugations in the South and Buckskin Mountains, but these drainages must have originally plunged northeastward if they formed by either of the two alternative processes proposed here. Footwall exhumation and incision by northeast-flowing streams was apparently followed by core-complex arching and drainage reversal.

Were the world's youngest eclogites (NW D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea) exhumed in rising gneiss domes or by shear on a deep-seated fault?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, T. A.; Hacker, B.; Seward, G.

2008-12-01

The up to ~2.5 km-high gneiss domes of the NW D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea host the world's youngest terrane of HP (eclogite-facies, ~2-4 Ma) to UHP (coesite-bearing) gneissic rocks (~8 Ma). Previous models for their exhumation at >2 cm/yr have called upon: 1) buoyant rise of crustal diapers, or 2) normal-slip on deeply penetrating faults. A recent variant of the latter suggests that a paleo- subduction zone near the southern edge of the Solomon Sea has been inverted as a result of microplate tectonics. We present structural, microstructural, and electron back-scatter diffraction data of lattice preferred orientations (LPO's) from gneisses of Goodenough and Fergusson Islands to further explore mechanisms of exhumation. Relict eclogite-facies assemblages occur in mafic dikes and boudins, but most HP deformational fabrics are overprinted. The enclosing felsic gneisses are pervaded by amphibolite-facies ductile fabrics formed during their exhumation from the lower crust. These migmatitic rocks (metatexites) were partially molten during their deformation at temperatures of 570-730°C and pressures of 7-11 kb, but today are dominated by solid-state fabrics. The gneisses are capped by remnants of an ultramafic sheet that did not experience HP metamorphism. Below the ultramafics is a ~1 km-thick carapace zone. These high-strain gneisses generally have domal fabrics parallel to, and gradational to, those in the underlying core zone, which they locally rework. Active NE-dipping normal faults on the NE flank of the domes cut across the ultramafic contact and are underlain by a m-thick zone of pseudotachylite-bearing S/C fabrics. A sweeping pattern of stretching lineations reveals a 3-D pattern of ductile flow. In both the carapace and upper core zone, lineations are mostly EW: subparallel to the long dimension of the domes and perpendicular to plate motion in the Woodlark Rift. At greater structural depth, within the core zone, they deflect to become more nearly plate-motion parallel. Shear indicators diverge across the dome crests, suggesting of an inward flow of deeper rocks into the dome; or are locally variable, consistent with bulk irrotational deformation. In the gneisses (both core and carapace), conjugate shear-band microstructures and near-orthorhombic quartz LPOs, and back-rotation of mantled porphyroclasts indicate that ductile strain in domes was near plane, but that it was not simple shear (and included significant vertical shortening). The LPO's of the deepest rocks record activity of the high-T prism-[c] and prism- slip systems, whereas the outermost carapace rocks record basal- and rhomb- slip. The data reveal that deformational temperatures increased toward the dome centers, rather than outwardly into the carapace. Quartz LPO's in both dome and carapace are of uniformly modest intensity (~2-3 times random). Feldspar LPO's suggest slip on the (010)[001] or (010)[100] systems, and in some cases a shear sense opposite to quartz. While we cannot resolve how the eclogitic rocks ascended isothermally from the mantle into the lower crust, the simplest model invokes diapiric ascent (with decompression melting), ponding and lateral spreading along the Moho during early Woodlark Basin rifting. Subsequent exhumation of these rocks from the lower crust involved continued upward movement and vertical shortening of the gneisses combined with subhorizontal rift-parallel flow. Finally, normal faulting and minor erosion exhumed these rocks through the ultramafic cover to their present levels.

Origin and structure of major orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Shuyun; Neubauer, Franz

2016-04-01

The formation of major exhumed strike-slip faults represents one of the most important dynamic processes affecting the evolution of the Earth's lithosphere and surface. Detailed models of the potential initiation and properties and architecture of orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip faults and how these relate to exhumation are rare. In this study, we deal with key properties controlling the development of major exhumed strike-slip fault systems, which are equivalent to the deep crustal sections of active across fault zones. We also propose two dominant processes for the initiation of orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip faults: (1) pluton-controlled and (2) metamorphic core complex-controlled strike-slip faults. In these tectonic settings, the initiation of faults occurs by rheological weakening along hot-to-cool contacts and guides the overall displacement and ultimate exhumation. These processes result in a specific thermal and structural architecture of such faults. These types of strike-slip dominated fault zones are often subparallel to mountain ranges and expose a wide variety of mylonitic, cataclastic and non-cohesive fault rocks, which were formed at different structural levels of the crust during various stages of faulting. The high variety of distinctive fault rocks is a potential evidence for recognition of these types of strike-slip faults. Exhumation of mylonitic rocks is, therefore, a common feature of such reverse oblique-slip strike-slip faults, implying major transtensive and/or transpressive processes accompanying pure strike-slip motion during exhumation. Some orogen-scale strike-slip faults nucleate and initiate along rheologically weak zones, e.g. at granite intrusions, zones of low-strength minerals, thermally weakened crust due to ascending fluids, and lateral borders of hot metamorphic core complexes. A further mechanism is the juxtaposition of mechanically strong mantle lithosphere to hot asthenosphere in continental transform faults (e.g., San Andreas Fault, Alpine Fault in New Zealand) and transtensional rift zones such as the East African rift. In many cases, subsequent shortening exhumes such faults from depth to the surface. A major aspect of many exhumed strike-slip faults is its lateral thermal gradient induced by the juxtaposition of hot and cool levels of the crust controlling relevant properties of such fault zones, e.g. the overall fault architecture (e.g., fault core, damage zone, shear lenses, fault rocks) and the thermal structure. These properties and the overall fault architecture include strength of fault rocks, permeability and porosity, the hydrological regime, as well as the nature and origin of circulating hydrothermal fluids.

Experimental verification of the model for formation of double Shockley stacking faults in highly doped regions of PVT-grown 4H–SiC wafers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Yu; Guo, Jianqiu; Goue, Ouloide

Recently, we reported on the formation of overlapping rhombus-shaped stacking faults from scratches left over by the chemical mechanical polishing during high temperature annealing of PVT-grown 4H–SiC wafer. These stacking faults are restricted to regions with high N-doped areas of the wafer. The type of these stacking faults were determined to be Shockley stacking faults by analyzing the behavior of their area contrast using synchrotron white beam X-ray topography studies. A model was proposed to explain the formation mechanism of the rhombus shaped stacking faults based on double Shockley fault nucleation and propagation. In this paper, we have experimentally verifiedmore » this model by characterizing the configuration of the bounding partials of the stacking faults on both surfaces using synchrotron topography in back reflection geometry. As predicted by the model, on both the Si and C faces, the leading partials bounding the rhombus-shaped stacking faults are 30° Si-core and the trailing partials are 30° C-core. Finally, using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, we have verified that the enclosed stacking fault is a double Shockley type.« less

Facies remolding in allochthonous chalk packages, Ekofisk and Albuskjell fields, North Sea

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lutz, S.J.; Ekdale, A.A.

1990-05-01

The Ekofish and Albuskjell fields in the Central Graben of the North Sea produce hydrocarbons from resedimented chalk reservoirs. Although the allochthonous nature of chalk in these fields has been recognized, the correlations of, and association between, allochthonous units has not been described. Core analysis of the Tor Formation (Maastrichtian) and the Ekofish Formation (Danian) reveals that slump deposits have been remolded into debris flows, ooze flows, and turbidites. Packages of allochthonous sediment were deposited in slope and base-of-slope environments. Two kinds of allochthonous packages occur. One package, 1-3-m thick, consists of a basal debris flow overlain by an oozemore » flow. The other package, 10-20-m thick, contains three units: a basal debris flow, an intermediate slump, and an overlying turbidite. Deposition of each type of package probably resulted from a single triggering event. Lateral changes in facies (increased convolution and decreased clastic content) and in type of deposit (slump or debris flow to ooze flow) within the packages resulted from differing degrees of deformation as the packages moved downslope. An increase in occurrence and angularity of chalk intraclasts, and in thickness of slump units from the Albuskjell field eastward to the Ekofisk field, suggest that the graben-bounding Hidra fault zone (about 30 km away) is the source of the allochthonous deposits. Vertical changes in the type of allochthonous package (from debris and ooze flows upward to slumps and turbidites) reflect decreasing topographic relief along the fault escarpment as the graben filled. This model of vertical (basin shallowing) and lateral (downslope) facies changes allows correlation of allochthonous chalk units, which are excellent hydrocarbon reservoirs.« less

Shallow structure and its formation process of an active flexure in the forearc basin of the central Nankai subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashi, J.; Ikehara, K.; Omura, A.; Ojima, T.; Murayama, M.

2013-12-01

ENE-WSW trending active faults, named Enshu fault system, are developed in the forearc basins of the eastern and central Nankai subduction zone. Three parallel faults developed in the Enshu forearc basin of the eastern Nankai have right lateral slip on the basis of dextral displacement of the canyon axis. Moreover, bathymetry data and side-scan sonar imageries indicate relative uplift of the northern region and the multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection profiles show northward dipping fault planes. In the central Nankai subuduction zone, an ENE-WSW trending step is distributed at the northern part of the Kumano forearc basin and is regarded as the western extension of the Enshu fault system. Although MCS records show deformations including an anticlinal fold beneath the bathymetric step, they have less resolution to identify deformation of basin sequence just below the seafloor. In contrast, deformation seems to reach to the seafloor on a profile by SBP mounted on a mother ship. Investigation of shallow deformation structures is significant for understanding of recent tectonic activity. We carried out deep towed SBP survey by ROV NSS (Navigable Sampling System) during Hakuho-maru KH-11-9 cruise. High resolution mapping of shallow structures was successfully conducted by a chirp SBP system of EdgeTech DW-106. ROV NSS also has capability to take a long core with a pinpoint accuracy around complex topographic region. The Kumano forearc basin is topographically divided into the northern part at a water depth of 2038 m and the other major region at a depth of 2042 m by the ENE-WSW linear step. Three deep towed SBP lines intersected this topographical step and revealed the following structures. This step is composed of 100 m wide gentle slope with an inclination of about 8 degrees. An anticlinal axis is located beneath the upper edge of this slope. Sedimentary layers continue at this slope region without any abut/termination and rapidly increase their thickness toward the seaward and the landward of the slope. This suggests that the anticlinal ridge trapped sediments from the landward region, and overflowed sediments thinly covered the slope and filled the basin floor seaward of it. Because the upper 25 m sequence recognized by deep towed SBP shows no fault deformation, the step is interpreted to be caused by flexure deformation. An acoustically transparent layer is observed in this area. The thickness of this layer is 1 m at the slope and 5 m at the other regions. Four core samples indicate that the transparent layer correspond to the sequence younger than 10,000 years ago. The sequence landward of the slope indicates growth strata: thinning toward the anticlinal axis and increase of tilt angle downward. This structure is recognized from the seafloor to the strata below the transparent layer suggesting continuous deformation to the present. It is inferred that the flexure structure observed on the deep towed SBP data was formed by a landward dipping thrust fault estimated on the MCS profiles. Flower structures on the MCS data also suggest strike slip displacement and are consistent to the deformation in the Enshu forearc basin 80 km northeast of the study area.

Development of fluid overpressures in crustal faults and implications for earthquakes mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclère, Henri; Cappa, Frédéric; Faulkner, Daniel; Armitage, Peter; Blake, Oshaine; Fabbri, Olivier

2013-04-01

The development and maintenance of fluid overpressures strongly influence the mechanical behavior of the crust and especially crustal fault zones. The mechanisms allowing fluid pressure build-up are still open questions, and their influence on tectonic and fault weakening processes remain unclear. The determination of the hydraulic and mechanical properties of crustal fault zone elements is a key aspect to improve our understanding of the fluid-tectonic interactions and more particularly the role of fluids in fault mechanics and earthquake triggering. Here we address this question combining geological observations, laboratory experiments and hydromechanical models of an active crustal fault-zone in the Ubaye-Argentera area (southeastern France). Previous studies showed that the fluids located in the fault zone developed overpressures between 7 and 26 MPa, that triggered intense seismic swarms (i.e. 16,000 events in 2003-2004) (Jenatton et al., 2007; Daniel et al., 2011; Leclère et al., 2012). The fault-zone studied here is located in the Argentera external crystalline massif and is connected to regional NW-SE steeply-dipping dextral strike-slip faults with an offset of several kilometers. The fault zone cuts through migmatitic gneisses composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite and minor muscovite. It exposes several anastomosed core zones surrounded by damage zones with a pluri-decametric total width. The core zones are made up of centimetric to pluridecimetric phyllosilicate-rich gouge layers while the damage zones are composed of pluri-metric phyllonitic rock derived from mylonite. The permeability and elastic moduli of the host rock, damage zone and fault core were measured from plugs with a diameter of 20 mm and lengths between 26 to 51 mm, using a high-pressure hydrostatic fluid-flow apparatus. Measurements were made with confining pressures ranging from 30 to 210 MPa and using argon pore fluid pressure of 20 MPa. Data show a variation of the permeability values of one order of magnitude between host rock and fault zone and a decrease of 50% of the elastic properties between host rock and core zone. The heterogeneity of properties is related to the development of different microstructures across the fault-zone during the tectonic history. From these physical property values and the fault zone architecture, we analyze the effects of sudden mechanical loading on the development of fluid overpressures in fault-zone. To do this, we use a series of 1-D hydromechanical numerical models to show that sudden mechanical stress increase is a viable mechanism for fluid overpressuring in fault-zone with spatially-varying elastic and hydraulic properties. Based on these results, we discuss the implications for earthquake triggering.on crustal-scale faults.

Holocene deposition and megathrust splay fault geometries within Prince William Sound, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finn, S.; Liberty, L. M.; Haeussler, P. J.; Pratt, T. L.

2011-12-01

New high resolution sparker seismic reflection data, in conjunction with reprocessed legacy seismic data, provide the basis for a new fault, fold, and Holocene sediment thickness database for Prince William Sound, Alaska. Additionally, legacy airgun seismic data in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska tie features on these new sparker data to deeper portions of megathrust splay faults. We correlate regionally extensive bathymetric lineaments within Prince William Sound to megathrust splay faults, such as the ones that ruptured in the 1964 M9.2 earthquake. Lastly, we estimate Holocene sediment thickness within Prince William Sound to better constrain the Holocene fault history throughout the region. We identify three seismic facies related to Holocene, Quaternary, and Tertiary strata that are crosscut by numerous high angle normal faults in the hanging wall of the megathrust splay faults. The crustal-scale seismic reflection profiles show splay faults emerging from 20 km depth between the Yakutat block and North American crust and surfacing as the Hanning Bay and Patton Bay faults. A change in exhumation rates, slip rates, and fault orientation appears near Hinchinbrook that we attribute to differences in subducted slab geometry. Based on our slip rate analysis, we calculate average Holocene displacements of 20 m and 100 m in eastern and western Prince William Sound, respectively. Landward of two splay faults exposed on Montague Island, we observe subsidence, faulting, and landslides that record deformation associated with the 1964 and older megathrust earthquakes.

The effects of core-reflected waves on finite fault inversion with teleseismic body wave data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Y.; Ni, S.; Wei, S.

2016-12-01

Reliable estimation of rupture processes for a large earthquake is valuable for post-seismic rescue, tsunami alert, seismotectonic studies, as well as earthquake physics. Finite-fault inversion has been widely accepted to reconstruct the spatial-temporal distribution of rupture processes, which can be obtained by individual or jointly inversion of seismic, geodetic and tsunami data sets. Among the above observations, teleseismic (30° 90°) body waves, usually P and SH waves, have been used extensively in such inversions because their propagation are well understood and readily available for large earthquakes with good coverages of slowness and azimuth. However, finite fault inversion methods usually assume turning P and SH waves without inclusion of core-reflected waves when calculating the synthetic waveforms, which may result in systematic error in finite-fault inversions. For the core-reflected SH wave ScS, it is expected to be strong due to total reflection from Core-Mantle-Boundary. Moreover, the time interval between direct S and ScS could be smaller than the duration of large earthquakes for large epicentral distances. In order to improve the accuracy of finite fault inversion with teleseismic body waves, we develop a procedure named multitel3 to compute Greens' functions that contain both turning waves (P, pP, sP, S, sS et al.) and core-reflected phases (PcP and ScS) and apply it to finite fault inversions. This ray-based method can rapidly calculate teleseismic body wave synthetics with flexibility for path calibration of 3D mantle structure. The new Green's function is plugged into finite fault inversion package to replace the original Green's function with only turning P and SH waves. With the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake as example, a series of numerical tests conducted on synthetic data are used to assess the performance of our approach. We also explore this new procedure's stability when there are discrepancies between the parameters of input model and the priori information of inverse model, such as strike, dip of finite fault and so on. With the quantified code, we apply it to study rupture process of the 2016 Mw7.8 Sumatra earthquake.

Geophysical evidence for the evolution of the California Inner Continental Borderland as a metamorphic core complex

USGS Publications Warehouse

ten Brink, Uri S.; Zhang, Jie; Brocher, Thomas M.; Okaya, David A.; Klitgord, Kim D.; Fuis, Gary S.

2000-01-01

We use new seismic and gravity data collected during the 1994 Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment (LARSE) to discuss the origin of the California Inner Continental Borderland (ICB) as an extended terrain possibly in a metamorphic core complex mode. The data provide detailed crustal structure of the Borderland and its transition to mainland southern California. Using tomographic inversion as well as traditional forward ray tracing to model the wide-angle seismic data, we find little or no sediments, low (≤6.6 km/s) P wave velocity extending down to the crust-mantle boundary, and a thin crust (19 to 23 km thick). Coincident multichannel seismic reflection data show a reflective lower crust under Catalina Ridge. Contrary to other parts of coastal California, we do not find evidence for an underplated fossil oceanic layer at the base of the crust. Coincident gravity data suggest an abrupt increase in crustal thickness under the shelf edge, which represents the transition to the western Transverse Ranges. On the shelf the Palos Verdes Fault merges downward into a landward dipping surface which separates "basement" from low-velocity sediments, but interpretation of this surface as a detachment fault is inconclusive. The seismic velocity structure is interpreted to represent Catalina Schist rocks extending from top to bottom of the crust. This interpretation is compatible with a model for the origin of the ICB as an autochthonous formerly hot highly extended region that was filled with the exhumed metamorphic rocks. The basin and ridge topography and the protracted volcanism probably represent continued extension as a wide rift until ∼13 m.y. ago. Subduction of the young and hot Monterey and Arguello microplates under the Continental Borderland, followed by rotation and translation of the western Transverse Ranges, may have provided the necessary thermomechanical conditions for this extension and crustal inflow.

Investigations related to scientific deep drilling to study reservoir-triggered earthquakes at Koyna, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Harsh; Purnachandra Rao, N.; Roy, Sukanta; Arora, Kusumita; Tiwari, V. M.; Patro, Prasanta K.; Satyanarayana, H. V. S.; Shashidhar, D.; Mallika, K.; Akkiraju, Vyasulu V.; Goswami, Deepjyoti; Vyas, Digant; Ravi, G.; Srinivas, K. N. S. S. S.; Srihari, M.; Mishra, S.; Dubey, C. P.; Raju, D. Ch. V.; Borah, Ujjal; Chinna Reddy, K.; Babu, Narendra; Rohilla, Sunil; Dhar, Upasana; Sen, Mrinal; Bhaskar Rao, Y. J.; Bansal, B. K.; Nayak, Shailesh

2015-09-01

Artificial water reservoir-triggered earthquakes have continued at Koyna in the Deccan Traps province, India, since the impoundment of the Shivaji Sagar reservoir in 1962. Existing models, to comprehend the genesis of triggered earthquakes, suffer from lack of observations in the near field. To investigate further, scientific deep drilling and setting up a fault zone observatory at depth of 5-7 km is planned in the Koyna area. Prior to undertaking deep drilling, an exploratory phase of investigations has been launched to constrain subsurface geology, structure and heat flow regime in the area that provide critical inputs for the design of the deep borehole observatory. Two core boreholes drilled to depths of 1,522 and 1,196 m have penetrated the Deccan Traps and sampled the granitic basement in the region for the first time. Studies on cores provide new and direct information regarding the thickness of the Deccan Traps, the absence of infra-Trappean sediments and the nature of the underlying basement rocks. Temperatures estimated at a depth of 6 km in the area, made on the basis of heat flow and thermal properties data sets, do not exceed 150 °C. Low-elevation airborne gravity gradient and magnetic data sets covering 5,012 line km, together with high-quality magnetotelluric data at 100 stations, provide both regional information about the thickness of the Deccan Traps and the occurrence of localized density heterogeneities and anomalous conductive zones in the vicinity of the hypocentral zone. Acquisition of airborne LiDAR data to obtain a high-resolution topographic model of the region has been completed over an area of 1,064 km2 centred on the Koyna seismic zone. Seismometers have been deployed in the granitic basement inside two boreholes and are planned in another set of six boreholes to obtain accurate hypocentral locations and constrain the disposition of fault zones.

The character and evolution of fault rocks from the Phase 3 SAFOD core and potential weakening mechanisms along the San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holdsworth, Robert; van Diggelen, E. W. E.; Spiers, C. J.; de Bresser, H.; Smith, S. A. F.; Bowen, L.

2010-05-01

In the region of the SAFOD borehole, the San Andreas Fault (SAF) separates two very different geological terranes referred to here as the Salinian and Great Valley blocks (SB, SVB). Whilst material was not collected from the SB-GVB terrane boundary, the cores preserve a diverse range of fault rocks. Not all of these necessarily formed at the same depth, although the amount of exhumation is likely fairly limited. The distribution of deformation is asymmetric, with a broad (200m wide) intensely deformed region developed in the GVB located NE of the terrane boundary; this includes two narrow zones of active creep that have deformed the borehole casing. Microstructurally, low strain domains (most of Core 1, significant parts of Core 3) preserve clear protolith structures, with highly localised evidence for classic upper crustal cataclastic brittle faulting processes and associated fluid flow. The GVB in particular shows clear geological evidence for both fluid pressure and differential stress cycling (variable modes of hydrofacture associated with faults) during seismicity. There is also evidence in all minor faults for the operation of solution-precipitation creep. High strain domains (much of Core 2, parts of Core 3) are characterised by the development of foliated cataclasites and gouge, with variable new growth of fine-grained, interconnected phyllosilicate networks (predominantly smectite-bearing mixed layer clays). Many of the gouges are characterised by the development of S-C fabrics and asymmetric folds. Reworking and reactivation is widespread manifested by: i) the preservation of one or more earlier generations of gouge preserved as clasts; and ii) by the development of later interconnected, polished and striated slip surfaces at low angles or sub-parallel to the foliation. These are coated with thin smectitic phyllosilicate films and are closely associated with the development of lozenge, arrow-head and triangular mineral veins (mostly calcite) precipitated in dilation sites during slip. Outwith of the actively creeping sections, mineral veins (mainly calcite, locally anhydrite) are widespread, with evidence for hydrofracturing events prior to, during and after local gouge-forming deformation episodes. Disseminated pyrite mineralisation is widespread and locally produces highly indurated sections of black, hard gouge. The gouges in the active creeping segments are different in three important respects: 1) mineral veins only occur as (or within) clasts; 2) pyrite mineralisation is limited; and 3) they carry numerous serpentinite clasts, some quite large (metre scale). The actively creeping gouges are also characterised by the most intense development of smectitic phyllosilicates. The SAFOD core fault rocks highlight the fundamental role played by fluid-rock interactions in upper crustal fault zones. There is clear evidence for the development of high pore fluid pressures (hydrofracture development), reaction weakening (phyllosilicate growth following cataclasis) and geometric weakening due to the development of weak interconnected layers (foliations, polished striated slip surfaces). There are also very significant similarities between the fault rocks seen here and those preserved along other deeply exhumed weak faults elsewhere in the world.

Meso-Cenozoic intraplate contraction in Central and Western Europe: a unique tectonic event?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kley, Jonas; Jähne, Fabian; Malz, Alexander

2014-05-01

From the British Isles to Poland, Europe experienced contractional deformation in Late Cretaceous and Paleogene time. The closest contemporaneous plate margins were the incipient Mid-Atlantic rift in the west and northwest, and the Mediterranean system of subduction zones in the south. Each of these plate margins was located more than 1000 km away from the site of deformation. This tectonic event thus represents an outstanding example of large-scale intraplate shortening and may serve as a template for comparison with modern examples. Its effects are seen in a ca. 500 km wide strip that stretches in NW-SE-direction along the Tornquist Line, a regional fault zone separating thick lithosphere of the Baltic Shield from much thinner lithosphere to the southwest. Most faults and folds also trend NW-SE, but some are linked by large N-S-striking transfer zones. In the southeast, the shortening structures are truncated by the Neogene Carpathian thrust front; their original extent is unknown. In the west, the fault zones fan out into more northerly trends in the Central North Sea and more easterly trends in the Channel area before dying out on the shelf. Late Cretaceous (ca. 90-70 Ma) shortening dominates from Poland to the North Sea, while the main shortening event in Southern Britain is of Paleogene age. Many Late Cretaceous to Paleogene structures have been conditioned by Permian or Triassic through Early Cretaceous extensional faulting, whereas some large basement uplifts and reverse faults have no demonstrable inheritance from earlier extension. The thick, mobile Zechstein salt has modified extensional and contractional structures, but both extend beyond its depositional borders. Even where thick evaporates underlie the Mesozoic sedimentary cover, the basement is typically involved in the deformation, except for localized thin-skinned imbricate thrusting and salt-cored anticlines. Different structural styles do not appear to correlate with the magnitude of shortening which is similar for transects across the inverted Lower Saxony Basin and areas of predominant basement thrusting. Bulk contraction of the entire deformed belt is unlikely to exceed a few tens of kilometers, corresponding to <<10% of horizontal shortening. Shortening rate estimates are around 1 mm/yr both for well-constrained local structures and for order-of-magnitude estimates of the entire belt, suggesting that a limited number of faults were active at any given time. Space geodetic data indicate similar modern shortening rates across Central Europe on a decade scale, but there is no geologic evidence for focused deformation comparable to the Mesozoic event. Fold orientations, fault slip data and stylolite teeth indicate relatively uniform, SSW-NNE-directed shortening. This direction is consistent with the convergence direction of Africa, Iberia and Eurasia that was established between ca. 120 Ma and 85 Ma in the course of global plate motion reorganization. The European short-lived pulse of intraplate deformation was apparently caused by a switch to near-orthogonal convergence across former transform boundaries, whereas modern examples of intraplate shortening seem to be bound to coeval orogens.

Palaeopermeability structure within fault-damage zones: A snap-shot from microfracture analyses in a strike-slip system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomila, Rodrigo; Arancibia, Gloria; Mitchell, Thomas M.; Cembrano, Jose M.; Faulkner, Daniel R.

2016-02-01

Understanding fault zone permeability and its spatial distribution allows the assessment of fluid-migration leading to precipitation of hydrothermal minerals. This work is aimed at unraveling the conditions and distribution of fluid transport properties in fault zones based on hydrothermally filled microfractures, which reflect the ''frozen-in'' instantaneous advective hydrothermal activity and record palaeopermeability conditions of the fault-fracture system. We studied the Jorgillo Fault, an exposed 20 km long, left-lateral strike-slip fault, which juxtaposes Jurassic gabbro against metadiorite belonging to the Atacama Fault System in northern Chile. Tracings of microfracture networks of 19 oriented thin sections from a 400 m long transect across the main fault trace was carried out to estimate the hydraulic properties of the low-strain fault damagezone, adjacent to the high-strain fault core, by assuming penny-shaped microfractures of constant radius and aperture within an anisotropic fracture system. Palaeopermeability values of 9.1*10-11 to 3.2*10-13 m2 in the gabbro and of 5.0*10-10 to 1.2*10-13 m2 in the metadiorite were determined, both decreasing perpendicularly away from the fault core. Fracture porosity values range from 40.00% to 0.28%. The Jorgillo Fault has acted as a left-lateral dilational fault-bend, generating large-scale dilation sites north of the JF during co-seismic activity.

Gently dipping normal faults identified with Space Shuttle radar topography data in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, and some implications for fault mechanics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spencer, J.E.

2011-01-01

Space-shuttle radar topography data from central Sulawesi, Indonesia, reveal two corrugated, domal landforms, covering hundreds to thousands of square kilometers, that are bounded to the north by an abrupt transition to typical hilly to mountainous topography. These domal landforms are readily interpreted as metamorphic core complexes, an interpretation consistent with a single previous field study, and the abrupt northward transition in topographic style is interpreted as marking the trace of two extensional detachment faults that are active or were recently active. Fault dip, as determined by the slope of exhumed fault footwalls, ranges from 4?? to 18??. Application of critical-taper theory to fault dip and hanging-wall surface slope, and to similar data from several other active or recently active core complexes, suggests a theoretical limit of three degrees for detachment-fault dip. This result appears to conflict with the dearth of seismological evidence for slip on faults dipping less than ~. 30??. The convex-upward form of the gently dipping fault footwalls, however, allows for greater fault dip at depths of earthquake initiation and dominant energy release. Thus, there may be no conflict between seismological and mapping studies for this class of faults. ?? 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Spatial variability of damage around faults in the Joe Lott Tuff Member of the Mount Belknap Volcanics, southwestern Utah: An analog to faulting in tuff on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okubo, C. H.

2011-12-01

The equatorial layered deposits on Mars exhibit abundant evidence for the sustained presence of groundwater, and therefore insight into past water-related processes may be gained through the study of these deposits. Pyroclastic and evaporitic sediments are two broad lithologies that are known or inferred to comprise these deposits. Investigations into the effects of faulting on fluid flow potential through such Mars analog lithologies have been limited. Thus a study into the effects of faulting on fluid flow pathways through fine-grained pyroclastic sediments has been undertaken, and the results of this study are presented here. Faults and their damage zones can influence the trapping and migration of fluids by acting as either conduits or barriers to fluid flow. In clastic sedimentary rocks, the conductivity of fault damage zones is primarily a function of the microstructure of the host rock, stress history, phyllosilicate content, and cementation. The chemical composition of the host rock influences the mechanical strength of the grains, the susceptibility of the grains to alteration, and the availability of authigenic cements. The spatial distribution of fault-related damage is investigated within the Joe Lott Tuff Member of the Mount Belknap Volcanics, Utah. Damage is characterized by measuring fracture densities along the fault, and by mapping the gas permeability of the surrounding rock. The Joe Lott Tuff is a partially welded, crystal-poor, rhyolite ash-flow tuff of Miocene age. While the rhyolitic chemical composition of the Joe Lott Tuff is not analogous to the basaltic compositions expected for Mars, the mechanical behavior of a poorly indurated mixture of fine-grained glass and pumice is pertinent to understanding the fundamental mechanics of faulting in Martian pyroclastic sediments. Results of mapping around two faults are presented here. The first fault is entirely exposed in cross-section and has a down-dip height of ~10 m. The second fault is partially exposed, with ~21 m visible in cross-section. Both faults have a predominantly normal sense of offset and a minor dextral strike-slip component. The 10 m fault has a single well-defined surface, while the 21 m fault takes the form of a 5-10 cm wide fault core. Fracture density at the 10 m fault is highest near its upper and lower tips, forming distinct near-tip fracture damage zones. At the 21 m fault, fracture density is broadly consistent along the exposed height of the fault, with the highest fracture densities nearest to the fault core. Fracture density is higher in the hanging walls than in the footwalls of both faults, and the footwall of the 21 m fault exhibits m-scale areas of significant distributed cataclasis. Gas permeability has a marked decrease, several orders of magnitude relative to the non-deformed host rock, at 1.5 m on either side of the 10 m fault. Permeability is lowest outboard of the fault's near-tip fracture damage zones. A similar permeability drop occurs at 1-5 m from the center of the 21 m fault's core, with the permeability drop extending furthest from the fault core in the footwall. These findings will be used to improve existing numerical methods for predicting subsurface fluid flow patterns from observed fault geometries on Mars.

The Pietra Grande thrust (Brenta Dolomites, Italy): looking for co-seismic indicators along a main fault in carbonate sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viganò, Alfio; Tumiati, Simone; Martin, Silvana; Rigo, Manuel

2013-04-01

At present, pseudotachylytes (i.e. solidified frictional melts) are the only unambiguous geological record of seismic faulting. Even if pseudotachylytes are frequently observed along faults within crystalline rocks they are discovered along carbonate faults in very few cases only, suggesting that other chemico-physical processes than melting could occur (e.g. thermal decomposition). In order to investigate possible co-seismic indicators we study the Pietra Grande thrust, a carbonate fault in the Brenta Dolomites (Trentino, NE Italy), to analyse field structure, microtextures and composition of rocks from the principal slip plane, the fault core and the damage zone. The Pietra Grande thrust is developed within limestones and dolomitic limestones of Late Triassic-Early Jurassic age (Calcari di Zu and Monte Zugna Formations). The thrust, interpreted as a north-vergent décollement deeply connected with the major Cima Tosa thrust, is a sub-horizontal fault plane gently dipping to the North that mainly separates the massive Monte Zugna Fm. limestones (upper side) from the stratified Calcari di Zu Fm. limestones with intercalated marls (lower side). On the western face of the Pietra Grande klippe the thrust is continuously well-exposed for about 1 km. The main fault plane shows reddish infillings, which form veins with thicknesses between few millimetres to several decimetres. These red veins lie parallel to the thrust plane or in same cases inject lateral fractures and minor high-angle faults departing from the main fault plane. Veins have carbonate composition and show textures characterized by fine-grained reddish matrix with embedded carbonate clasts of different size (from few millimetres to centimetres). In some portions carbonate boulders (dimension of some decimetres) are embedded in the red matrix, while clast content generally significantly decreases at the vein borders (chilled margins). Red veins are typically associated with cohesive cataclasites and/or breccias of the fault zone. Host and fault rocks are locally folded, with fold axes having a rough E-W direction compatible with simultaneous thrust activation, suggesting deformation under brittle-ductile conditions. A late brittle deformation is testified by near-vertical fractures and strike-slip faults (WNW-directed) intersecting the whole thrust system. Field structure, microtextures, chemical and mineralogical compositions of host rocks, cataclasites and breccias are analysed. In particular, red veins are carefully compared with the very similar Grigne carbonate pseudotachylytes (Viganò et al. 2011, Terra Nova, vol. 23, pp.187-194), in order to evaluate if they could represent a certain geological record of seismic faulting of the Pietra Grande thrust.

Paleomagnetic Reorientation of Structural Elements in Drill Cores: an example from Tolhuaca Geothermal Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Flores, P.; Veloso, E. E.; Cembrano, J. M.; Sánchez, P.; Iriarte, S.; Lohmar, S.

2013-12-01

Reorientation of mesoscopic faults, veins and fractures recovered from drilling is critical to construct reliable structural models that can account for their architecture and deformation regime. However, oriented cores are expensive and time consuming to drill. Some techniques achieve reorientation by introducing tools into the borehole. Problems arise when boreholes are unstable or collapse. One alternative technique allowing reorientation is to obtain reliable paleomagnetic vectors to reorient each core piece after drilling. Here, we present stable and reliable remnant magnetic vectors calculated from the Tol-1 core to analyze the geometry of the fracture network and its relationship to regional tectonic. Tol-1 core is a vertical, 1073 m deep geothermal well, drilled at the Tolhuaca Geothermal Field in the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes by MRP Geothermal Chile Ltda (formerly GGE Chile SpA) in 2009. The core consists of basaltic/andesitic volcanic rocks with subordinate pyroclastic/volcaniclastic units, with probable Pleistocene age. Fault planes with slickenlines and mineral fiber kinematic indicators are common in the upper 700 m of the core. Calcite, quartz and calcite-quartz veins are recognized along of entire core, whereas epidote-quartz and calcite-epidote veins occur in the last 350 m, minor chlorite, anhydrite and clay-minerals are present. Orientations of structural features in the core were measured with a goniometer using the core's axis and a false north for each piece; hence, orientation data has a false strike but a real dip. To achieve total reorientation of the pieces, we collected 200 standard-size paleomagnetic specimens, ensuring that at least four of them were recovered from continuous pieces. Thermal (up to 700°C) and alternating field demagnetization (up to 90mT on steps of 2mT) methods were used to isolate a stable remnant magnetization (RM) vector, and each technique yielded similar results. RM vectors were recovered between 0 to 25mT, and between 0 to 625°C. The declination of RM vectors was used to bring pieces to a common anchor orientation calculated through the Geocentric Axial Dipole Model (GAD). The paleomagnetic technique proved to be reliable to reorient the Tol-1 core. Structural analyses along the core show N50-60E-striking preferential vein orientation. In addition, N40-50E- and N60-70W-striking preferential fault orientations were identified. Kinematic analysis of fault-slip data shows a N60E-striking bulk fault plane solution with normal strain regime. The veins and faults orientation show strain axes compatible with published regional stress field (σmax N238E).

Quaternary extensional and compressional tectonics revealed from Quaternary landforms along Kosi River valley, outer Kumaun Lesser Himalaya, Uttarakhand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luirei, Khayingshing; Bhakuni, S. S.; Kothyari, Girish Ch.; Tripathi, Kavita; Pant, P. D.

2016-04-01

A portion of the Kosi River in the outer Kumaun Lesser Himalaya is characterized by wide river course situated south of the Ramgarh Thrust, where huge thickness (~200 m) of the landslide deposits and two to three levels of unpaired fan terraces are present. Brittle normal faults, suggesting extensional tectonics, are recognized in the Quaternary deposits and bedrocks as further supported by surface morphology. Trending E-W, these faults measure from 3 to 5 km in length and are traced as discontinuous linear mini-horst and fault scarps (sackungen) exposed due to cutting across by streams. Active normal faults have displaced the coarsely laminated debris fan deposits at two sites located 550 m apart. At one of the sites, the faults look like bookshelf faulting with the maximum displacement of ~2 m and rotation of the Quaternary boulders along the fault plane is observed. At another site, the maximum displacement measures about 0.60 cm. Thick mud units deposited due to blocking of the streams by landslides are observed within and above the fan deposit. Landslide debris fans and terrace landforms are widely developed; the highest level of fan is observed ~1240 m above mean sea level. At some places, the reworking of the debris fans by streams is characterized by thick laminated sand body. Along the South Almora Thrust and Ramgarh Thrust zones, the valleys are narrow and V-shaped where Quaternary deposits are sparse due to relatively rapid uplift across these thrusts. Along the South Almora Thrust zone, three to four levels of fluvial terraces are observed and have been incised by river exposing the bedrocks due to recent movement along the RT and SAT. Abandoned channel, tilted mud deposits, incised meandering, deep-cut V-shaped valleys and strath terraces indicate rapid uplift of the area. Thick mud sequences in the Quaternary columns indicate damming of streams. A ~10-km-long north-south trending transverse Garampani Fault has offset the Ramgarh Thrust producing tectonic landforms.

Initiation of a Low-Angle Normal Fault Active Across the Upper Brittle-Plastic Transition, Chemehuevi Mountains, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaForge, J.; John, B. E.; Grimes, C. B.; Stunitz, H.; Heilbronner, R.

2016-12-01

The Chemehuevi detachment fault system, part of the regionally developed Colorado River extensional corridor, hosts exceptional exposures of a denuded fault system related to Miocene extension. Here, we characterize the early history of extension associated with a small slip (1-2 km) low-angle normal fault, the Mohave Wash fault (MWF), initially active across the brittle-plastic transition. Strain localized in three principal ways across the 23-km down-dip exposure (T <150° to >400°C): a brittle fault zone, localized, disseminated quartz mylonites, and syntectonic dikes hosting mylonitic fabrics. Brittle deformation in these crystalline rocks was concentrated into a 10-62-m thick brittle fault zone hosting localized, unmineralized to chlorite-epidote-quartz mineralized zones of cataclasite series fault rocks ≤3 m thick and rare pseudotachylite. Mylonitic deformation played an increased role in deformation down dip (NE), with mylonites increasing in quantity and average thickness. At shallow structural levels, footwall mylonites are absent; at 9-18 km down dip, cm-scale quartz mylonites are common; ≥18 km down dip, meter-scale syntectonic intermediate-felsic dikes are mylonitic, are attenuated into parallelism with the MWF, and host well-developed L-S fabric; 23 km down dip, the footwall hosts meter-thick zones of disseminated mylonitic quartz of varying intensities. These mylonites host microstructures that record progressively higher deformation temperature down dip, with dislocation-creep in quartz indicative of T of 280-400°C to ≥500°C, and diffusion creep with grain boundary sliding in dikes suggestive of even higher T deformation. Dike emplacement in the system is syntectonic with MWF slip; mafic-intermediate composition dikes intruded damage zone fractures and cataclasites, and were in turn fractured; Pb/U zircon ages of intermediate-felsic dikes range from ca. 1.5 ± 1 Ma to 3.8 ± 1 Ma after the onset of regional extension, but predate rapid slip. Cross cutting relations and absolute dating suggest the early history of the MWF evolved in two distinct phases: 1) seismogenic rupture with contemporaneous localized footwall mylonitization, followed by 2) additional cataclasis, episodic localized and magmatism, mylonitization and fluid-flow.

Earthquake Rupture at Focal Depth, Part I: Structure and Rupture of the Pretorius Fault, TauTona Mine, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heesakkers, V.; Murphy, S.; Reches, Z.

2011-12-01

We analyze the structure of the Archaean Pretorius fault in TauTona mine, South Africa, as well as the rupture-zone that recently reactivated it. The analysis is part of the Natural Earthquake Laboratory in South African Mines (NELSAM) project that utilizes the access to 3.6 km depth provided by the mining operations. The Pretorius fault is a ~10 km long, oblique-strike-slip fault with displacement of up to 200 m that crosscuts fine to very coarse grain quartzitic rocks in TauTona mine. We identify here three structural zones within the fault-zone: (1) an outer damage zone, ~100 m wide, of brittle deformation manifested by multiple, widely spaced fractures and faults with slip up to 3 m; (2) an inner damage zone, 25-30 m wide, with high density of anastomosing conjugate sets of fault segments and fractures, many of which carry cataclasite zones; and (3) a dominant segment, with a cataclasite zone up to 50 cm thick that accommodated most of the Archaean slip of the Pretorius fault, and is regarded as the `principal slip zone' (PSZ). This fault-zone structure indicates that during its Archaean activity, the Pretorius fault entered the mature fault stage in which many slip events were localized along a single, PSZ. The mining operations continuously induce earthquakes, including the 2004, M2.2 event that rejuvenated the Pretorius fault in the NELSAM project area. Our analysis of the M2.2 rupture-zone shows that (1) slip occurred exclusively along four, pre-existing large, quasi-planer segments of the ancient fault-zone; (2) the slipping segments contain brittle cataclasite zones up to 0.5 m thick; (3) these segments are not parallel to each other; (4) gouge zones, 1-5 mm thick, composed of white `rock-flour' formed almost exclusively along the cataclasite-host rock contacts of the slipping segments; (5) locally, new, fresh fractures branched from the slipping segments and propagated in mixed shear-tensile mode; (6) the maximum observed shear displacement is 25 mm in oblique-normal slip. The mechanical analysis of this rupture-zone is presented in Part II (H eesakkers et al., Earthquake Rupture at Focal Depth, Part II: Mechanics of the 2004 M2.2 Earthquake Along the Pretorius Fault, TauTona mine, South Africa 2011, this volume).

Permeability and seismic velocity and their anisotropy across the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: An insight from laboratory measurements on core from the Deep Fault Drilling Project phase 1 (DFDP-1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, M. J.; Tatham, D.; Faulkner, D. R.; Mariani, E.; Boulton, C.

2017-08-01

The Alpine Fault, a transpressional plate boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates, is known to rupture quasiperiodically with large magnitude earthquakes (Mw 8). The hydraulic and elastic properties of fault zones are thought to vary over the seismic cycle, influencing the nature and style of earthquake rupture and associated processes. We present a suite of laboratory permeability and P (Vp) and S (Vs) wave velocity measurements performed on fault lithologies recovered during the first phase of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1), which sampled principal slip zone (PSZ) gouges, cataclasites, and fractured ultramylonites, with all recovered lithologies overprinted by abundant secondary mineralization, recording enhanced fluid-rock interaction. Core material was tested in three orthogonal directions, orientated relative to the down-core axis and, when present, foliation. Measurements were conducted with pore pressure (H2O) held at 5 MPa over an effective pressure (Peff) range of 5-105 MPa. Permeabilities and seismic velocities decrease with proximity to the PSZ with permeabilities ranging from 10-17 to 10-21 m2 and Vp and Vs ranging from 4400 to 5900 m/s in the ultramylonites/cataclasites and 3900 to 4200 m/s at the PSZ. In comparison with intact country rock protoliths, the highly variable cataclastic structures and secondary phyllosilicates and carbonates have resulted in an overall reduction in permeability and seismic wave velocity, as well as a reduction in anisotropy within the fault core. These results concur with other similar studies on other mature, tectonic faults in their interseismic period.

Three-Dimensional Structural and Hydrologic Evolution of Sant Corneli Anticline, a Fault-Cored Fold in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shackleton, J. R.; Cooke, M. L.

2005-12-01

The Sant Corneli Anticline is a well-exposed example of a fault-cored fold whose hydrologic evolution and structural development are directly linked. The E-W striking anticline is ~ 5 km wide with abrupt westerly plunge, and formed in response to thrusting associated with the upper Cretaceous to Miocene collision of Iberia with Europe. The fold's core of fractured carbonates contains a variety of west dipping normal faults with meter to decameter scale displacement and abundant calcite fill. This carbonate unit is capped by a marl unit with low angle, calcite filled normal faults. The marl unit is overlain by clastic syn-tectonic strata whose sedimentary architecture records limb rotation during the evolution of the fold. The syn-tectonic strata contain a variety of joint sets that record the stresses before, during, and possibly after fold growth. Faulting in the marl and calcite-filled joints in the syn-tectonic strata suggest that normal faults within the carbonate core of the fold eventually breached the overlying marl unit. This breach may have connected the joints of the syn-tectonic strata to the underlying carbonate reservoir and eliminated previous compartmentalization of fluids. Furthermore, breaching of the marl units probably enhanced joint formation in the overlying syn-tectonic strata. Future geochemical studies of calcite compositions in the three units will address this hypothesis. Preliminary mapping of joint sets in the syn-tectonic strata reveal a multistage history of jointing. Early bed-perpendicular joints healed by calcite strike NE-SW, parallel to normal faults in the underlying carbonates, and may be related to an early regional extensional event. Younger healed bed-perpendicular joints cross cut the NE-SW striking set, and are closer to N-S in strike: these joints are interpreted to represent the initial stages of folding. Decameter scale, bed perpendicular, unfilled fractures that are sub-parallel to strike probably represent small joints and faults that formed in response to outer arc extension during folding. Many filled, late stage joints strike sub-parallel to, and increase in frequency near, normal faults and transverse structures observed in the carbonate fold core. This suggests that faulting in the underlying carbonates and marls significantly affected the joint patterns in the syn-tectonic strata. Preliminary three-dimensional finite element restorations using Dynel have allowed us to test our hypotheses and constrain the timing of jointing and marl breach.

Microscale Relationships Between Fault Rock Fabric and Structural Style in Megathrusts - Observations from Tohoku-Oki Via J-Fast.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toy, V. G.; Fagereng, A.; Kirkpatrick, J. D.; Remitti, F.; Rowe, C. D.; Ujiie, K.; Wolfson-Schwehr, M.

2014-12-01

Recovered plate boundary thrust material from the site of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake rupture contains both distributed and localized fabrics. We1 infer these reflect two end members of behavior, namely steady state creep of weak, velocity/strain-hardening materials versus episodic, seismic failure of strong, velocity/strain-weakening materials. Core and downhole observations and mechanical tests demonstrate the fault rock is primarily smectite and has very low frictional strength (μk~0.08) 2,3,4,5. Additional observations of the recovered core indicate microscale fabrics affect mechanical properties. The fault zone fabric is defined mostly by anastomosing dark surfaces surrounding phacoids. Phacoid size and intensity of dark surfaces vary, probably reflecting differences in total strain. Phacoids contain foliations at angles to their long axes and bounding surfaces. Remnant bedding can be recognized in places, based on variation in phyllosilicate colour or clastic:phyllosilicate ratio (although other colour variations result from alteration1). Anastomosing shear surfaces may coincide with bedding but also commonly truncate it, indicating little primary lithological/rheological control on fabric formation. However, in late mm-thickness, through going, more intensely sheared zones, lithologic contrast more strongly defines phacoids while dark seams may be absent. A transition from distributed shear in phyllosilicates to localized shear on dark surfaces requires local change in stress or strain rate. If the orientation of clay fabrics change due to folding ('turbulent' flow), then weak basal planes of phyllosilicates rotated into unfavourable orientations may act as 'stress risers' promoting localization around phacoids containing poorly oriented fabrics. This mechanism is indicated by the presence of the most folded layering in plate boundary core adjacent to the most distinct through-going surfaces1,2. Alternatively, locally well-oriented fabrics may preferentially shear, leaving surrounding rock as lower strain phacoids. Refs: 1: Kirkpatrick, et al. submitted. Tectonics. 2: Chester et al., 2013. Science 342, 1208-1212. 3: Fulton et al., 2013. Science 342, 1214-1217. 4: Lin et al. 2013 Science 339 (6120), 687-690. 5: Ujiie et al., 2013. Science 342, 1211-1214.

The hazard education model in the high school science-club activities above active huge fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, R.

2017-12-01

Along the west coast of pacific ocean, includes Japan, there are huge numerous volcanoes and earthquakes. The biggest cause is their location on the border of plates. The pressure among the plates cause strains and cracks. By the island arc lines, strains make long and enormous faults. More than huge 150 faults are reported (the head quarters for earthquake research promotion, Japan, 2017). Below my working school, it is laying one of the biggest faults Nagamachi-Rifu line which is also laying under 1 million population city Sendai. Before 2011 Tohoku earthquake, one of the hugest earthquake was predicted because of the fault activities. Investigating the fault activity with our school student who live in the closest area is one of the most important hazard education. Therefore, now we are constructing the science club activity with make attention for (1) seeking fault line(s) with topographic land maps and on foot search (2) investigate boling core sample soils that was brought in our school founded. (1) Estimate of displacement of the faults on foot observation In order to seek the unknown fault line in Rifu area, at first it was needed to estimate on the maps(1:25,000 Scale Topographic Maps and Active Faults in Urban Area of Map(Sendai), Geographical Survey Institute of Japan). After that estimation, walked over the region with club students to observe slopes which was occurred by the faults activation and recorded on the maps. By observant slope gaps, there has a possibilities to have 3 or 4 fault lines that are located parallel to the known activate faults. (2) Investigate of the boling core samples above the fault. We investigated 6 columnar-shaped boling core samples which were excavated when the school has been built. The maximum depth of the samples are over 20m, some are new filled sands over original ash tephra and pumice from old volcanoes located west direction. In the club activities, we described column diagram of sediments and discussed the sediment circumstances by the sediments grain observation, however, it was impossible to describe the sediments origin of exact volcano(es).

Subsurface Resistivity Structures in and Around Strike-Slip Faults - Electromagnetic Surveys and Drillings Across Active Faults in Central Japan -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omura, K.; Ikeda, R.; Iio, Y.; Matsuda, T.

2005-12-01

Electrical resistivity is important property to investigate the structure of active faults. Pore fluid affect seriously the electrical properties of rocks, subsurface electrical resistivity can be an indicator of the existence of fluid and distribution of pores. Fracture zone of fault is expected to have low resistivity due to high porosity and small gain size. Especially, strike-slip type fault has nearly vertical fracture zone and the fracture zone would be detected by an electrical survey across the fault. We performed electromagnetic survey across the strike-slip active faults in central Japan. At the same faults, we also drilled borehole into the fault and did downhole logging in the borehole. We applied MT or CSAMT methods onto 5 faults: Nojima fault which appeared on the surface by the 1995 Great Kobe earthquake (M=7.2), western Nagano Ohtaki area(1984 Nagano-ken seibu earthquake (M=6.8), the fault did not appeared on the surface), Neodani fault which appeared by the 1891 Nobi earthquake (M=8.0), Atera fault which seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9), Gofukuji fault that is considered to have activated about 1200 years ago. The sampling frequencies of electrical and magnetic field were 2 - 1024Hz (10 frequencies) for CSAMT survey and 0.00055 - 384Hz (40 frequencies) for MT survey. The electromagnetic data were processed by standard method and inverted to 2-D resistivity structure along transects of the faults. Results of the survey were compared with downhole electrical logging data and observational descriptions of drilled cores. Fault plane of each fault were recognized as low resistivity region or boundary between relatively low and high resistivity region, except for Gofukuji fault. As for Gofukuji fault, fault was located in relatively high resistivity region. During very long elapsed time from the last earthquake, the properties of fracture zone of Gofukuji fault might changed from low resistivity properties as observed for other faults. Downhole electrical logging data were consistent to values of resistivity estimated by electromagnetic survey for each fault. The existence of relatively low and high resistivity regions in 2-D structure from electromagnetic survey was observed again by downhole logging at the correspondent portion in the borehole. Cores recovered from depthes where the electrical logging showed low resistivity were hardly fractured and altered from host rock which showed high resistivity. Results of electromagnetic survey, downhole electrical logging and observation of drilled cores were consistent to each other. In present case, electromagnetic survey is useful to explore the properties of fault fracture zone. In the further investigations, it is important to explore relationships among features of resistivity structure and geological and geophysical situations of the faults.

Sedimentary and tectonic evolution of Plio Pleistocene alluvial and lacustrine deposits of Fucino Basin (central Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavinato, Gian Paolo; Carusi, Claudio; Dall'Asta, Massimo; Miccadei, Enrico; Piacentini, Tommaso

2002-04-01

The Fucino Basin was the greatest lake of the central Italy, which was completely drained at the end of 19th century. The basin is an intramontane half-graben filled by Plio-Quaternary alluvial and lacustrine deposits located in the central part of the Apennines chain, which was formed in Upper Pliocene and in Quaternary time by the extensional tectonic activity. The analysis of the geological surface data allows the definition of several stratigraphic units grouped in Lower Units and Upper Units. The Lower Units (Upper Pliocene) are exposed along the northern and north-eastern basin margins. They consist of open to marginal lacustrine deposits, breccia deposits and fluvial deposits. The Upper Units (Lower Pliocene-Holocene) consist of interbedded marginal lacustrine deposits and fluvial deposits; thick coarse-grained fan-delta deposits are interfingered at the foot of the main relief with fluvial-lacustrine deposits. Most of the thickness of the lacustrine sequences (more than 1000-m thick) is buried below the central part of the Fucino Plain. The basin is bounded by E-W, WSW-ENE and NW-SE fault systems: Velino-Magnola Fault (E-W) and Tremonti-Celano-Aielli Fault (WSW-ENE) and S. Potito-Celano Fault (NW-SE) in the north; the Trasacco Fault, the Pescina-Celano Fault and the Serrone Fault (NW-SE) in the south-east. The geometry and kinematic indicators of these faults indicate normal or oblique movements. The study of industrial seismic profiles across the Fucino Basin gives a clear picture of the subsurface basin geometry; the basin shows triangular-shaped basin-fill geometry, with the maximum deposits thickness toward the main east boundary fault zones that dip south-westward (Serrone Fault, Trasacco Fault, Pescina-Celano Fault). On the basis of geological surface data, borehole stratigraphy and seismic data analysis, it is possible to recognize and to correlate sedimentary and seismic facies. The bottom of the basin is well recognized in the seismic lines available from the good and continuous signals of the top of Meso-Cenozoic carbonate rocks. The shape of sedimentary bodies indicates that the filling of the basin was mainly controlled by normal slip along the NW-SE boundary faults. In fact, the continental deposits are frequently in on-lap contact over the carbonate substratum; several disconformable contacts occurred during the sedimentary evolution of the basin. The main faults (with antithetic and synthetic fault planes) displace the whole sedimentary sequence up to the surface indicating a recent faults' activity (1915 Avezzano earthquake, Ms=7.0). The stratigraphic and tectonic setting of the Fucino Basin and neighboring areas indicates that the extensional tectonic events have had an important role in driving the structural-sedimentary evolution of the Plio-Quaternary deposits. The geometry of the depositional bodies, of the fault planes and their relationships indicate that the Fucino Basin was formed as a half-graben type structure during Plio-Quaternary extensional events. Some internal complexities are probably related to the fold-and-thrust structures of the Apenninic orogeny formed in Messinian time, in this area, and to a different activity timing of the E-W and WSW-ENE fault systems and the NW-SE fault systems. We believe, based on the similarity of the surface characteristics, that the structural setting of the Fucino Basin can be extrapolated to the other great intramontane basins in Central Italy (e.g. Rieti, L'Aquila, Sulmona, Sora, Isernia basins).

KINKFOLD—an AutoLISP program for construction of geological cross-sections using borehole image data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özkaya, Sait Ismail

2002-04-01

KINKFOLD is an AutoLISP program designed to construct geological cross-sections from borehole image or dip meter logs. The program uses the kink-fold method for cross-section construction. Beds are folded around hinge lines as angle bisectors so that bedding thickness remains unchanged. KINKFOLD may be used to model a wide variety of parallel fold structures, including overturned and faulted folds, and folds truncated by unconformities. The program accepts data from vertical or inclined boreholes. The KINKFOLD program cannot be used to model fault drag, growth folds, inversion structures or disharmonic folds where the bed thickness changes either because of deformation or deposition. Faulted structures and similar folds can be modelled by KINKFOLD by omitting dip measurements within fault drag zones and near axial planes of similar folds.

Crustal structure across the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze platform, central China, from seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhang, Z.; Bai, Z.; Mooney, W.; Wang, C.; Chen, X.; Wang, E.; Teng, J.; Okaya, N.

2009-01-01

We present active-source seismic data recorded along a 300??km-long profile across the Three Gorges area of the western Yangtze platform, central China. From west to east, the profile crosses the Zigui basin, Huangling dome and Jianghan basin. The derived crustal P-wave velocity structure changes significantly across the Tongchenghe fault that lies at the transition from the Huangling dome to the Jianghan basin. West of the Tongchenghe fault, beneath the Zigui basin and the Huangling dome, we observe a ~ 42??km thick crust of relatively low average velocity (6.3-6.4??km/s). In contrast, east of the Tongchenghe fault, beneath the Jianghan basin, the crust is only 30??km thick and has a high average velocity (6.6-6.7??km/s). A west-east variation in crustal composition along the Tongchenghe fault is also inferred. West of the fault, P-wave velocities suggest a felsic composition with an intermediate layer at the base of the crust, whilst, east of the fault, felsic, intermediate, and mafic crustal layers are apparent. Our results suggest that the crust beneath the Jianghan basin has been thinned by rifting, accompanied by intrusion of the lower crust by mafic dikes and sills. The west-to-east division of the crust in the Three Gorges area coincides with first-order geophysical contrasts in gravity, topography, crustal and lithospheric thickness. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Plume Activity and Tidal Deformation on Enceladus Influenced by Faults and Variable Ice Shell Thickness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Běhounková, Marie; Souček, Ondřej; Hron, Jaroslav; Čadek, Ondřej

2017-09-01

We investigated the effect of variations in ice shell thickness and of the tiger stripe fractures crossing Enceladus' south polar terrain on the moon's tidal deformation by performing finite element calculations in three-dimensional geometry. The combination of thinning in the polar region and the presence of faults has a synergistic effect that leads to an increase of both the displacement and stress in the south polar terrain by an order of magnitude compared to that of the traditional model with a uniform shell thickness and without faults. Assuming a simplified conductive heat transfer and neglecting the heat sources below the ice shell, we computed the global heat budget of the ice shell. For the inelastic properties of the shell described by a Maxwell viscoelastic model, we show that unrealistically low average viscosity of the order of 10^{13} Pa s is necessary for preserving the volume of the ocean, suggesting the important role of the heat sources in the deep interior. Similarly, low viscosity is required to predict the observed delay of the plume activity, which hints at other delaying mechanisms than just the viscoelasticity of the ice shell. The presence of faults results in large spatial and temporal heterogeneity of geysering activity compared to the traditional models without faults. Our model contributes to understanding the physical mechanisms that control the fault activity, and it provides potentially useful information for future missions that will sample the plume for evidence of life.

Metamorphic core complexes: Expression of crustal extension by ductile-brittle shearing of the geologic column

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, G. H.

1985-01-01

Metamorphic core complexes and detachment fault terranes in the American Southwest are products of stretching of continental crust in the Tertiary. The physical and geometric properties of the structures, fault rocks, and contact relationships that developed as a consequence of the extension are especially well displayed in southeastern Arizona. The structures and fault rocks, as a system, reflect a ductile-through-brittle continuum of deformation, with individual structures and faults rocks showing remarkably coordinated strain and displacement patterns. Careful mapping and analysis of the structural system has led to the realization that strain and displacement were partitioned across a host of structures, through a spectrum of scales, in rocks of progressively changing rheology. By integrating observations made in different parts of the extensional system, especially at different inferred depth levels, it has been possible to construct a descriptive/kinematic model of the progressive deformation that achieved continental crustal extension in general, and the development of metamorphic core complexes in particular.

Palaeomagnetic constraints on the evolution of the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, Antony; Pressling, Nicola; Gee, Jeffrey; John, Barbara; MacLeod, Christopher

2010-05-01

Oceanic core complexes expose lower crustal and upper mantle rocks on the seafloor by tectonic unroofing in the footwalls of large-slip detachment faults. They represent a fundamental component of the seafloor spreading system at slow and ultraslow axes. For example, recent analyses suggest that detachment faults may underlie more than 50% of the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and may take up most of the overall plate divergence at times when magma supply to the ridge system is reduced. The most extensively studied oceanic core complex is Atlantis Massif, located at 30°N on the MAR. This forms an inside-corner bathymetric high at the intersection of the Atlantis Transform Fault and the MAR. The central dome of the massif exposes the corrugated detachment fault surface and was drilled during IODP Expedition 304/305. This sampled a 1.4 km faulted and complexly layered footwall section dominated by gabbroic lithologies with minor ultramafic rocks. The core (Hole U1309D) reflects the interplay between magmatism and deformation prior to, during, and subsequent to a period of footwall displacement and denudation associated with slip on the detachment fault. Palaeomagnetic analyses demonstrate that the gabbroic sequences at Atlantis Massif carry highly stable remanent magnetizations that provide valuable information on the evolution of the section. Thermal demagnetization experiments recover high unblocking temperature components of reversed polarity (R1) throughout the gabbroic sequences. In a number of intervals, however, the gabbros exhibit a complex remanence structure with the presence of intermediate temperature normal (N1) and lower temperature reversed (R2) polarity components, suggesting an extended period of remanence acquisition during different polarity intervals. Sharp break-points between different polarity components suggest that they were acquired by a thermal mechanism. There appears to be no correlation between remanence structure and either the igneous stratigraphy or the distribution of alteration in the core. Instead, the remanence data are more consistent with a model in which the lower crustal section acquired magnetizations of different polarity during a protracted cooling history spanning two geomagnetic reversals. Differences in the width of blocking temperature spectra between samples appear to control the number of components present; samples with narrow and high temperature spectra record only R1 components, whereas those with broader blocking temperature spectra record multicomponent (R1-N1 and R1-N1-R2) remanences. The common occurrence of detachment faults in slow and ultra-slow spreading oceanic crust suggests they accommodate a significant component of plate divergence. However, the sub-surface geometry of oceanic detachment faults remains unclear. Competing models involve either: (a) displacement on planar, low-angle faults with little tectonic rotation; or (b) progressive shallowing by rotation of initially steeply dipping faults as a result of flexural unloading (the "rolling-hinge" model). We resolve this debate using paleomagnetic remanences as a marker for tectonic rotation of the Atlantis Massif footwall. Previous ODP/IODP palaeomagnetic studies have been restricted to analysis of magnetic inclination data, since hard-rock core pieces are azimuthally unoriented and free to rotate in the core barrel. For the first time we have overcome this limitation by independently reorienting core pieces to a true geographic reference frame by correlating structures in individual pieces with those identified from oriented imagery of the borehole wall. This allows reorientation of paleomagnetic data and subsequent tectonic interpretation without the need for a priori assumptions on the azimuth of the rotation axis. Results indicate a 46°±6° counterclockwise rotation of the footwall around a MAR-parallel horizontal axis trending 011°±6°. This provides unequivocal confirmation of the key prediction of flexural, rolling-hinge models for oceanic core complexes, whereby faults initiate at higher dips and rotate to their present day low angle geometries.

Crustal structure and kinematics of the TAMMAR propagating rift system on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from seismic refraction and satellite altimetry gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahle, Richard L.; Tilmann, Frederik; Grevemeyer, Ingo

2016-08-01

The TAMMAR segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge forms a classic propagating system centred about two degrees south of the Kane Fracture Zone. The segment is propagating to the south at a rate of 14 mm yr-1, 15 per cent faster than the half-spreading rate. Here, we use seismic refraction data across the propagating rift, sheared zone and failed rift to investigate the crustal structure of the system. Inversion of the seismic data agrees remarkably well with crustal thicknesses determined from gravity modelling. We show that the crust is thickened beneath the highly magmatic propagating rift, reaching a maximum thickness of almost 8 km along the seismic line and an inferred (from gravity) thickness of about 9 km at its centre. In contrast, the crust in the sheared zone is mostly 4.5-6.5 km thick, averaging over 1 km thinner than normal oceanic crust, and reaching a minimum thickness of only 3.5 km in its NW corner. Along the seismic line, it reaches a minimum thickness of under 5 km. The PmP reflection beneath the sheared zone and failed rift is very weak or absent, suggesting serpentinisation beneath the Moho, and thus effective transport of water through the sheared zone crust. We ascribe this increased porosity in the sheared zone to extensive fracturing and faulting during deformation. We show that a bookshelf-faulting kinematic model predicts significantly more crustal thinning than is observed, suggesting that an additional mechanism of deformation is required. We therefore propose that deformation is partitioned between bookshelf faulting and simple shear, with no more than 60 per cent taken up by bookshelf faulting.

Geologic and structural controls on rupture zone fabric: A field-based study of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake surface rupture

USGS Publications Warehouse

Teran, Orlando; Fletcher, John L.; Oskin, Michael; Rockwell, Thomas; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Spelz, Ronald; Akciz, Sinan; Hernandez-Flores, Ana Paula; Morelan, Alexander

2015-01-01

We systematically mapped (scales >1:500) the surface rupture of the 4 April 2010 Mw (moment magnitude) 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake through the Sierra Cucapah (Baja California, northwestern Mexico) to understand how faults with similar structural and lithologic characteristics control rupture zone fabric, which is here defined by the thickness, distribution, and internal configuration of shearing in a rupture zone. Fault zone thickness and master fault dip are strongly correlated with many parameters of rupture zone fabric. Wider fault zones produce progressively wider rupture zones and both of these parameters increase systematically with decreasing dip of master faults, which varies from 20° to 90° in our dataset. Principal scarps that accommodate more than 90% of the total coseismic slip in a given transect are only observed in fault sections with narrow rupture zones (<25 m). As rupture zone thickness increases, the number of scarps in a given transect increases, and the scarp with the greatest relative amount of coseismic slip decreases. Rupture zones in previously undeformed alluvium become wider and have more complex arrangements of secondary fractures with oblique slip compared to those with pure normal dip-slip or pure strike-slip. Field relations and lidar (light detection and ranging) difference models show that as magnitude of coseismic slip increases from 0 to 60 cm, the links between kinematically distinct fracture sets increase systematically to the point of forming a throughgoing principal scarp. Our data indicate that secondary faults and penetrative off-fault strain continue to accommodate the oblique kinematics of coseismic slip after the formation of a thoroughgoing principal scarp. Among the widest rupture zones in the Sierra Cucapah are those developed above buried low angle faults due to the transfer of slip to widely distributed steeper faults, which are mechanically more favorably oriented. The results from this study show that the measureable parameters that define rupture zone fabric allow for testing hypotheses concerning the mechanics and propagation of earthquake ruptures, as well as for siting and designing facilities to be constructed in regions near active faults.

Geometrical and Structural Asperities on Fault Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagy, A.; Brodsky, E. E.; van der Elst, N.; Agosta, F.; di Toro, G.; Collettini, C.

2007-12-01

Earthquake dynamics are strongly affected by fault zone structure and geometry. Fault surface irregularities and the nearby structure control the rupture nucleation and propagation, the fault strength, the near-field stress orientations and the hydraulic properties. New field observations demonstrate the existence of asperities in faults as displayed by topographical bumps on the fault surface and hardening of the internal structure near them. Ground-based LIDAR measurements on more than 30 normal and strike slip faults in different lithologies demonstrate that faults are not planar surfaces and roughness is strongly dependent on fault displacement. In addition to the well-understood roughness exemplified by abrasive striations and fracture segmentation, we found semi-elliptical topographical bumps with wavelengths of a few meters. In many faults the bumps are not spread equally on the surface and zones can be bumpier than others. The bumps are most easily identified on faults with total displacement of dozens to hundreds of meters. Smaller scale roughness on these faults is smoothed by abrasive processes. A key site in southern Oregon shows that the topographic bumps are closely tied to the internal structure of the fault zone. At this location, we combine LiDAR data with detailed structural analysis of the fault zone embedded in volcanic rocks. Here the bumps correlate with an abrupt change in the width of the cohesive cataclasite layer that is exposed under a thin ultracataclasite zone. In most of the exposures the cohesive layer thickness is 10-20 cm. However, under protruding bumps the layer is always thickened and the width can locally exceed one meter. Field and microscopic analyses show that the layer contains grains with dimensions ranging from less than 10 μ up to a few centimeters. There is clear evidence of internal flow, rotation and fracturing of the grains in the layer. X-Ray diffraction measurements of samples from the layer show that the bulk mineralogy is identical to that of the host rock, although thin section analysis suggests that some alteration and secondary mineralization of the grains also occurs. We infer that the cohesiveness of the layer is a consequence of repacking and cementation similar to deformation bands in granular material. By comparing the thickness of the cohesive layer on several secondary faults in this fault area we found that the average thickness of the layer increases with total slip. The correlation is nonlinear and the thickening rate decreases with increasing slip. We conclude that granular flow decreasing with increasing slip and thus the deformation is continually localized.

Microstructures imply cataclasis and authigenic mineral formation control geomechanical properties of New Zealand's Alpine Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuck, B.; Janssen, C.; Schleicher, A. M.; Toy, V. G.; Dresen, G.

2018-05-01

The Alpine Fault is capable of generating large (MW > 8) earthquakes and is the main geohazard on South Island, NZ, and late in its 250-291-year seismic cycle. To minimize its hazard potential, it is indispensable to identify and understand the processes influencing the geomechanical behavior and strength-evolution of the fault. High-resolution microstructural, mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the Alpine Fault's core demonstrate wall rock fragmentation, assisted by mineral dissolution, and cementation resulting in the formation of a fine-grained principal slip zone (PSZ). A complex network of anastomosing and mutually cross-cutting calcite veins implies that faulting occurred during episodes of dilation, slip and sealing. Fluid-assisted dilatancy leads to a significant volume increase accommodated by vein formation in the fault core. Undeformed euhedral chlorite crystals and calcite veins that have cut footwall gravels demonstrate that these processes occurred very close to the Earth's surface. Microstructural evidence indicates that cataclastic processes dominate the deformation and we suggest that powder lubrication and grain rolling, particularly influenced by abundant nanoparticles, play a key role in the fault core's velocity-weakening behavior rather than frictional sliding. This is further supported by the absence of smectite, which is reasonable given recently measured geothermal gradients of more than 120 °C km-1 and the impermeable nature of the PSZ, which both limit the growth of this phase and restrict its stability to shallow depths. Our observations demonstrate that high-temperature fluids can influence authigenic mineral formation and thus control the fault's geomechanical behavior and the cyclic evolution of its strength.

Low resistivity and permeability in actively deforming shear zones on the San Andreas Fault at SAFOD

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morrow, Carolyn A.; Lockner, David A.; Hickman, Stephen H.

2015-01-01

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) scientific drillhole near Parkfield, California crosses the San Andreas Fault at a depth of 2.7 km. Downhole measurements and analysis of core retrieved from Phase 3 drilling reveal two narrow, actively deforming zones of smectite-clay gouge within a roughly 200 m-wide fault damage zone of sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. Here we report electrical resistivity and permeability measurements on core samples from all of these structural units at effective confining pressures up to 120 MPa. Electrical resistivity (~10 ohm-m) and permeability (10-21 to 10-22 m2) in the actively deforming zones were one to two orders of magnitude lower than the surrounding damage zone material, consistent with broader-scale observations from the downhole resistivity and seismic velocity logs. The higher porosity of the clay gouge, 2 to 8 times greater than that in the damage zone rocks, along with surface conduction were the principal factors contributing to the observed low resistivities. The high percentage of fine-grained clay in the deforming zones also greatly reduced permeability to values low enough to create a barrier to fluid flow across the fault. Together, resistivity and permeability data can be used to assess the hydrogeologic characteristics of the fault, key to understanding fault structure and strength. The low resistivities and strength measurements of the SAFOD core are consistent with observations of low resistivity clays that are often found in the principal slip zones of other active faults making resistivity logs a valuable tool for identifying these zones.

Frictional and hydrologic behavior of the San Andreas Fault: Insights from laboratory experiments on SAFOD cuttings and core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpenter, B. M.; Marone, C.; Saffer, D. M.

2010-12-01

The debate concerning the apparent low strength of tectonic faults, including the San Andreas Fault (SAF), continues to focus on: 1) low intrinsic friction resulting from mineralogy and/or fabric, and 2) decreased effective normal stress due to elevated pore pressure. Here we inform this debate with laboratory measurements of the frictional behavior and permeability of cuttings and core returned from the SAF at a vertical depth of 2.7 km. We conducted experiments on cuttings and core recovered during SAFOD Phase III drilling. All samples in this study are adjacent to and within the active fault zone penetrated at 10814.5 ft (3296m) measured depth in the SAFOD borehole. We sheared gouge samples composed of drilling cuttings in a double-direct shear configuration subject to true-triaxial loading under constant effective normal stress, confining pressure, and pore pressure. Intact wafers of material were sheared in a single-direct shear configuration under similar conditions of effective stress, confining pressure, and pore pressure. We also report on permeability measurements on intact wafers of wall rock and fault gouge prior to shearing. Initial results from experiments on cuttings show: 1) a weak fault (µ=~0.21) compared to the surrounding wall rock (µ=~0.35), 2) velocity strengthening behavior, (a-b > 0), consistent with aseismic slip, and 3) near zero healing rates in material from the active fault. XRD analysis on cuttings indicates the main mineralogical difference between fault rock and wall rock, is the presence of significant amounts of smectite within the fault rock. Taken together, the measured frictional behavior and clay mineral content suggest that the clay composition exhibits a basic control on fault behavior. Our results document the first direct evidence of weak material from an active fault at seismogenic depths. In addition, our results could explain why the SAF in central California fails aseismically and hosts only small earthquakes.

The postglacial Stuoragurra Fault, North Norway - A textural and mineralogical study.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roaldset, E.

2012-04-01

The postglacial Stuoragurra Fault, North Norway - A textural and mineralogical study Elen Roaldset(1), Mari Åm (2), and Oddleiv Olesen(3) 1) Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway 2) Statoil R &D, P. O. Box 2470, 7005 Trondheim, Norway 3) Norwegian Geological Survey, P.O.Box 6315 Sluppen, 7491 Trondheim, Norway The Stuoragurra Fault is part of the Lapland province of postglacial faults and was identified in 1983 during a colloborative project between the Geological Surveys of Finland Norway and Sweden. The Stuoragurra Fault is an 80 km long fault zone which contains three main segments of eastward dipping faults (30-55 deg.) with up to 10 m of reverse displacement and a 7 m high escarpment. It cross-cuts glaciofluvial deposits and consequently being younger than 10.000 years. The postglacial fault segments follow to a large extent older fault zones represented by lithified breccias and diabases of Proterozoic age. In this paper we will present textural and mineralogical study of a 135 m continous core drilled across the fault zone. The investigation methods include quality assessments by rock quality designation methods (RQD and Q- methods), textural and petrological descriptions visually and by thin section microscopy, and mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction. Special attention is drawn to neoformed and/or degraded minerals like clay minerals and iron oxides/hydroxides. The quality assessments of the cored material reflect the degree of rock deformation and fragmentation and show the quality of the bedrock generally to be of very poor (about 60%) to poor quality" (25%) The main minerals in the fresh rock are quarts, feldspar, mica and iron oxides (magnetite and ilmenite). Throughout the cored borehole products of weathering have formed on fissures, fractures and in strongly deformed, gravelly, zones. The neoformed minerals include kaolinite, smectite, and vermiculite, as well as goethite. The mineralogical transformations will be discussed in relation to the rock texture,petrophysical properties and fault characteristics.

Surface faulting along the inland Itozawa normal fault (eastern Japan) and relation to the 2011 Tohoku-oki megathrust earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferry, Matthieu; Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki; Meghraoui, Mustapha; Toda, Shinji

2013-04-01

The 11 March 2011 Mw 9 Tohoku-oki earthquake ruptured ~500 km length of the Japan Trench along the coast of eastern Japan and significantly impacted the stress regime within the crust. The resulting change in seismicity over the Japan mainland was exhibited by the 11 April 2011 Mw 6.6 Iwaki earthquake that ruptured the Itozawa and Yunodake faults. Trending NNW and NW, respectively, these 70-80° W-dipping faults bound the Iwaki basin of Neogene age and have been reactivated simultaneously both along 15-km-long sections. Here, we present initial results from a paleoseismic excavation performed across the Itozawa fault within the Tsunagi Valley at the northern third of the observed surface rupture. At the Tsunagi site, the rupture affects a rice paddy, which provides an ideally horizontal initial state to collect detailed and accurate measurements. The surface break is composed of a continuous 30-to-40-cm-wide purely extensional crack that separates the uplifted block from a gently dipping 1-to-2-m-wide strip affected by right-stepping en-echelon cracks and locally bounded by a ~0.1-m-high reverse scarplet. Total station across-fault topographic profiles indicate the pre-earthquake ground surface was vertically deformed by ~0.6 m while direct field examinations reveal that well-defined rice paddy limits have been left-laterally offset by ~0.1 m. The 12-m-long, 3.5-m-deep trench exposes the 30-to-40-cm-thick cultivated soil overlaying a 1-m-thick red to yellow silt unit, a 2-m-thick alluvial gravel unit and a basal 0.1-1-m-thick organic-rich silt unit. Deformation associated to the 2011 rupture illustrates down-dip movement along a near-vertical fault with a well-expressed bending moment at the surface and generalized warping. On the north wall, the intermediate gravel unit displays a deformation pattern similar to granular flow with only minor discrete faulting and no splay to be continuously followed from the main fault to the surface. On the south wall, warping dominates as well but with some strain localization along two major splays that exhibit 15-20 cm of vertical offset. On both walls, the basal silt unit is vertically deformed by ~0.6 m, similarly to what is observed for the 2011 rupture. Furthermore, the base of said silt unit exhibits indication for secondary faulting prior to the 2011 event and that resemble cracks observed at the present-day surface. This suggests that the Itozawa fault has already ruptured in a similar fashion in the late Pleistocene). Hence, recent activity of the Itozawa fault may be controlled entirely by large to giant earthquakes along the Japan Trench.

Integrated characterization of the geologic framework of a contaminated site in West Trenton, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellefsen, Karl J.; Burton, William C.; Lacombe, Pierre J.

2012-01-01

Fractured sedimentary bedrock and groundwater at the former Naval Air Warfare Center in West Trenton, New Jersey (United States of America) are contaminated with chlorinated solvents. Predicting contaminant migration or removing the contaminants requires an understanding of the geology. Consequently, the geologic framework near the site was characterized with four different methods having different spatial scales: geologic field mapping, analyses of bedrock drill core, analyses of soil and regolith, and S-wave refraction surveys. A fault zone is in the southeast corner of the site and separates two distinct sedimentary formations; the fault zone dips (steeply) southeasterly, strikes northeasterly, and extends at least 550 m along its strike direction. Drill core from the fault zone is extensively brecciated and includes evidence of tectonic contraction. Approximately 300 m east of this fault zone is another fault zone, which offsets the contact between the two sedimentary formations. The S-wave refraction surveys identified both fault zones beneath soil and regolith and thereby provided constraints on their lateral extent and location.

A deep hydrothermal fault zone in the lower oceanic crust, Samail ophiolite Oman

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zihlmann, B.; Mueller, S.; Koepke, J.; Teagle, D. A. H.

2017-12-01

Hydrothermal circulation is a key process for the exchange of chemical elements between the oceans and the solid Earth and for the extraction of heat from newly accreted crust at mid-ocean ridges. However, due to a dearth of samples from intact oceanic crust, or continuous samples from ophiolites, there remain major short comings in our understanding of hydrothermal circulation in the oceanic crust, especially in the deeper parts. In particular, it is unknown whether fluid recharge and discharge occurs pervasively or if it is mainly channeled within discrete zones such as faults. Here, we present a description of a hydrothermal fault zone that crops out in Wadi Gideah in the layered gabbro section of the Samail ophiolite of Oman. Field observations reveal a one meter thick chlorite-epidote normal fault with disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite and heavily altered gabbro clasts at its core. In both, the hanging and the footwall the gabbro is altered and abundantly veined with amphibole, epidote, prehnite and zeolite. Whole rock mass balance calculations show enrichments in Fe, Mn, Sc, V, Co, Cu, Rb, Zr, Nb, Th and U and depletions of Si, Ca, Na, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ba and Pb concentrations in the fault rock compared to fresh layered gabbros. Gabbro clasts within the fault zone as well as altered rock from the hanging wall show enrichments in Na, Sc, V, Co, Rb, Zr, Nb and depletion of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb. Strontium isotope whole rock data of the fault rock yield 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7046, which is considerably more radiogenic than fresh layered gabbro from this locality (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7030 - 0.7034), and similar to black smoker hydrothermal signatures based on epidote, measured elsewhere in the ophiolite. Altered gabbro clasts within the fault zone show similar values with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7045 - 0.7050, whereas hanging wall and foot wall display values only slightly more radiogenic than fresh layered gabbro.The secondary mineral assemblages and strontium isotope compositions of the fault rock, clasts and hanging wall indicate interaction with a seawater-derived hydrothermal fluid during oceanic spreading at an ancient mid-ocean ridge. The considerable elemental mass changes in the fault rocks and surrounds compared to the primary layered gabbros suggests extensive hydrothermal fluid flow and exchange deep within the ocean crust.

Passive fault current limiting device

DOEpatents

Evans, Daniel J.; Cha, Yung S.

1999-01-01

A passive current limiting device and isolator is particularly adapted for use at high power levels for limiting excessive currents in a circuit in a fault condition such as an electrical short. The current limiting device comprises a magnetic core wound with two magnetically opposed, parallel connected coils of copper, a high temperature superconductor or other electrically conducting material, and a fault element connected in series with one of the coils. Under normal operating conditions, the magnetic flux density produced by the two coils cancel each other. Under a fault condition, the fault element is triggered to cause an imbalance in the magnetic flux density between the two coils which results in an increase in the impedance in the coils. While the fault element may be a separate current limiter, switch, fuse, bimetal strip or the like, it preferably is a superconductor current limiter conducting one-half of the current load compared to the same limiter wired to carry the total current of the circuit. The major voltage during a fault condition is in the coils wound on the common core in a preferred embodiment.

Passive fault current limiting device

DOEpatents

Evans, D.J.; Cha, Y.S.

1999-04-06

A passive current limiting device and isolator is particularly adapted for use at high power levels for limiting excessive currents in a circuit in a fault condition such as an electrical short. The current limiting device comprises a magnetic core wound with two magnetically opposed, parallel connected coils of copper, a high temperature superconductor or other electrically conducting material, and a fault element connected in series with one of the coils. Under normal operating conditions, the magnetic flux density produced by the two coils cancel each other. Under a fault condition, the fault element is triggered to cause an imbalance in the magnetic flux density between the two coils which results in an increase in the impedance in the coils. While the fault element may be a separate current limiter, switch, fuse, bimetal strip or the like, it preferably is a superconductor current limiter conducting one-half of the current load compared to the same limiter wired to carry the total current of the circuit. The major voltage during a fault condition is in the coils wound on the common core in a preferred embodiment. 6 figs.

Characterization of the Fault Core and Damage Zone of the Borrego Fault, 2010 M7.2 Rupture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorsey, M. T.; Rockwell, T. K.; Girty, G.; Ostermeijer, G.; Mitchell, T. M.; Fletcher, J. M.

2017-12-01

We collected a continuous sample of the fault core and 23 samples of the damage zone out to 52 m across the rupture trace of the 2010 M7.2 El Mayor-Cucapa earthquake to characterize the physical damage and chemical transformations associated with this active seismic source. In addition to quantifying fracture intensity from macroscopic analysis, we cut a continuous thin section through the fault core and from various samples in the damage zone, and ran each sample for XRD analyses for clay mineralogy, XRF for bulk geochemical analyses, and bulk and grain density from which porosity and volumetric strain were derived. The parent rock is a hydrothermally-altered biotite tonalite, with biotite partially altered to chlorite. The presence of epidote with chlorite suggests that these rocks were subjected to relatively high temperatures of 300-400° C. Adjacent to the outermost damage zone is a chaotic breccia zone with distinct chemical and physical characteristics, indicating possible connection to an ancestral fault to the southwest. The damage zone consists of an outer zone of protocataclasite, which grades inward towards mesocataclasite with seams of ultracataclasite. The fault core is anomalous in that it is largely composed of a sliver of marble that has been translated along the fault, so direct comparison with the damage zone is impaired. From collected data, we observe that chloritization increases into the breccia and damage zones, as does the presence of illite. Porosity reaches maximum values in the damage zone adjacent to the core, and closely follows trends in fracture intensity. Statistically significant gains in Mg, Na, K, Mn, and total bulk mass occurred within the inner damage zone, with losses of Ca and P mass, which led to the formation of chlorite and albite. The outer damage zone displays gains in Mg and Na mass with losses in Ca and P mass. The breccia zone shows gains in mass of Mg and Mn and loss in total bulk mass. A gain in LOI in both the breccia and damage zones is attributed to formation of clay. Volumetric strain tracks porosity, as expected, and increases towards the core. Notably, damage appears to be superposed on chemical alterations, which supports the idea that much of the hydrothermal alteration occurred at depth followed by brecciation and cataclasis once the fault zone rocks were exhumed closer to the surface.

The role of rock anisotropy in developing non-Andersonian faults: staircase trajectories for strike-slip faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barchi, M. R.; Collettini, C.; Lena, G.

2012-04-01

Thrust and normal faults affecting mechanically heterogeneous multilayers often show staircase trajectories, where flat segments follow less competent units. Within flat segments the initiation/reactivation angle, θ, which is the angle that the fault makes with the σ1 direction, is different from that predicted by the Andersonian theory. This suggests that fault trajectory is mainly controlled by rock anisotropy instead of frictional properties of the material. Our study areas are located in the Umbria-Marche fold-thrust belt, within the Northern Apennines of Italy. The area is characterized by a lithologically complex multilayer, about 2000 m thick, consisting of alternated competent (mainly calcareous) and less competent (marls or evaporites) units. At the outcrop scale, some units show a significant mechanical layering, consisting of alternated limestones and shales. Due to the complex tectonic evolution of the Apennines, well developed sets of conjugate normal, thrust and strike-slip faults are exposed in the region. The study outcrop, Candigliano Gourge, is characterized by steep (dip > 60°) NE dipping beds, affected by conjugate sets of strike-slip faults, exposed in the eastern limb of a NE verging anticline. The faults develop within the Marne a Fucoidi Fm., a Cretaceous sedimentary unit, about 70 m thick, made of competent calcareous beds (about 20 cm thick), separated by marly beds (1-20 cm thick). The conjugate strike-slip faults are formed after the major folding phase: in fact the strike-slip faults cut both minor folds and striated bedding surfaces, related to syn-folding flexural slip. Faults show marked staircase trajectories, with straight segments almost parallel to the marly horizons and ramps cutting through the calcareous layers. Slip along these faults induces local block rotation of the competent strata, dilational jogs (pull-aparts), extensional duplexes and boudinage of the competent layers, while marly levels are strongly laminated. In order to reconstruct the σ1 direction, calcite veins syntectonic to strike-slip faulting, have been used to constrain the σ1-σ2 plane: fixing the σ2 direction at the conjugate fault intersection, the σ1 is oriented N15°, forming an angle of about 70° with the bedding direction. Once constrained the σ1 direction, we have calculated the θ angle that is comprised between 40° and 55°, resulting therefore larger than expected from Andersonian theory, i.e. 22°-32° for friction coefficient in the range of 0.5-1.0. Initiation/reactivation angles, θ, as a function of the different lithologies, are less than 35° for calcareous beds, 50°-70° for the marly and clayey layers, and around 60° for the black shales. Our studies, focused on strike-slip small displacement faults, show that: 1) irrespective of the σ1 orientation, ramp and flat form along competent and less competent material respectively and 2) the overall fault orientation/initiation is at high-angle to the σ1 direction. Our results suggest that rock anisotropy and layering are one of the possible causes for faulting at high angle to the σ1 direction, i.e. fault weakness. Further studies are required to up-scale the results of our outcrop-based study to crustal scale structures.

Dips, ramps, and rolls- Evidence for paleotopographic and syn-depositional fault control on the Western Kentucky No. 4 coal bed, tradewater formation (Bolsovian) Illinois Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greb, S.F.; Eble, C.F.; Williams, D.A.; Nelson, W.J.

2001-01-01

The Western Kentucky No. 4 coal is a high-volatile B to high-volatile C bituminous coal that has been heavily mined along the southern margin of the Western Kentucky Coal Field. The seam has a reputation for rolling floor elevation. Elongate trends of floor depressions are referred to as "dips" and "rolls" by miners. Some are relatively narrow and straight to slightly curvilinear in plan view, with generally symmetric to slightly asymmetric cross-sections. Others are broader and asymmetric in section, with sharp dips on one limb and gradual, ramp-like dips on the other. Some limbs change laterally from gradual dip, to sharp dip, to offset of the coal. Lateral changes in the rate of floor elevation dip are often associated with changes in coal thickness, and in underground mines, changes in floor elevation are sometimes associated with roof falls and haulage problems. In order to test if coal thickness changes within floor depressions were associated with changes in palynology, petrography and coal quality, the coal was sampled at a surface mine across a broad. ramp-like depression that showed down-dip coal thickening. Increment samples of coal from a thick (150 cm), down-ramp and thinner (127 cm), up-ramp position at one surface mine correlate well between sample sites (a distance of 60 m) except for a single increment. The anomalous increment (31 cm) in the lower-middle part of the thick coal bed contained 20% more Lycospora orbicula spores. The rolling floor elevations noted in the study mines are inferred to have been formed as a result of pre-peat paleotopographic depressions, syn-depositional faulting, fault-controlled pre-peat paleotopography, and from compaction beneath post-depositional channels and slumps. Although the association of thick coal with linear trends and inferred faults has been used in other basins to infer syn-depositional faulting, changes in palynology within increment samples of the seam along a structural ramp in this study provide subtle evidence of faulting within a specific increment of the coal itself. The sudden increase in L. orbicula (produced by Paralycopodites) in a single increment of a down-ramp sample of the Western Kentucky No. 4 coal records the reestablishment of a rheotrophic mire following a sudden change in edaphic conditions. Paralycopodites was a colonizing lycopod, which in this case became locally abundant after the peat was well established along a fault with obvious growth during peat accumulation. Because many coal-mire plants were susceptible to sudden edaphic changes as might accompany faulting or flooding, changes in palynology would be expected in coals affected by syn-depositional faulting. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of varying core thicknesses and artificial aging on the color difference of different all-ceramic materials.

PubMed

Dikicier, Sibel; Ayyildiz, Simel; Ozen, Julide; Sipahi, Cumhur

2014-11-01

Clinicians should reserve all-ceramics with high translucency for clinical applications in which high-level esthetics are required. Furthermore, it is unclear whether a correlation exists between core thickness and color change. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of different core thicknesses and artificial aging on the color stability of three all-ceramic systems. Ninety disc-shaped cores with different thicknesses (0.5 mm, 0.8 mm and 1.0 mm) were prepared from three all-ceramic systems, In-Ceram Alumina (IC), IPS e.max Press (EM) and Katana (K). The colors of the samples were measured with a spectrophotometer and the color parameters (L*, a*, b*, ΔE) were calculated according to the CIE L*a*b* (Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage) color system before and after aging. The effects of aging on color parameters were statistically significant (p < 0.001), regardless of core thickness. For all systems, the CIE a* values increased as the thickness of the core increased. Conversely, such increases in core porcelain thickness were correlated with decreasing CIE L* and b* values. Core thickness had a statistically significant effect on color change among the groups. Different core thicknesses (from 1.0-0.5 mm) and artificial aging affected color stability of the all-ceramic materials tested.

Crustal Structure and Evolution of the Eastern Himalayan Plate Boundary System, Northeast India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitra, S.; Priestley, K. F.; Borah, Kajaljyoti; Gaur, V. K.

2018-01-01

We use data from 24 broadband seismographs located south of the Eastern Himalayan plate boundary system to investigate the crustal structure beneath Northeast India. P wave receiver function analysis reveals felsic continental crust beneath the Brahmaputra Valley, Shillong Plateau and Mikir Hills, and mafic thinned passive margin transitional crust (basement layer) beneath the Bengal Basin. Within the continental crust, the central Shillong Plateau and Mikir Hills have the thinnest crust (30 ± 2 km) with similar velocity structure, suggesting a unified origin and uplift history. North of the plateau and Mikir Hills the crustal thickness increases sharply by 8-10 km and is modeled by ˜30∘ north dipping Moho flexure. South of the plateau, across the ˜1 km topographic relief of the Dawki Fault, the crustal thickness increases abruptly by 12-13 km and is modeled by downfaulting of the plateau crust, overlain by 13-14 km thick sedimentary layer/rocks of the Bengal Basin. Farther south, beneath central Bengal Basin, the basement layer is thinner (20-22 km) and has higher Vs (˜4.1 km s-1) indicating a transitional crystalline crust, overlain by the thickest sedimentary layer/rocks (18-20 km). Our models suggest that the uplift of the Shillong Plateau occurred by thrust faulting on the reactivated Dawki Fault, a continent margin paleorift fault, and subsequent back thrusting on the south dipping Oldham Fault, in response to flexural loading of the Eastern Himalaya. Our estimated Dawki Fault offset combined with timing of surface uplift of the plateau reveals a reasonable match between long-term uplift and convergence rate across the Dawki Fault with present-day GPS velocities.

Fault-related fold styles and progressions in fold-thrust belts: Insights from sandbox modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Dan-Ping; Xu, Yan-Bo; Dong, Zhou-Bin; Qiu, Liang; Zhang, Sen; Wells, Michael

2016-03-01

Fault-related folds of variable structural styles and assemblages commonly coexist in orogenic belts with competent-incompetent interlayered sequences. Despite their commonality, the kinematic evolution of these structural styles and assemblages are often loosely constrained because multiple solutions exist in their structural progression during tectonic restoration. We use a sandbox modeling instrument with a particle image velocimetry monitor to test four designed sandbox models with multilayer competent-incompetent materials. Test results reveal that decollement folds initiate along selected incompetent layers with decreasing velocity difference and constant vorticity difference between the hanging wall and footwall of the initial fault tips. The decollement folds are progressively converted to fault-propagation folds and fault-bend folds through development of fault ramps breaking across competent layers and are followed by propagation into fault flats within an upper incompetent layer. Thick-skinned thrust is produced by initiating a decollement fault within the metamorphic basement. Progressive thrusting and uplifting of the thick-skinned thrust trigger initiation of the uppermost incompetent decollement with formation of a decollement fold and subsequent converting to fault-propagation and fault-bend folds, which combine together to form imbricate thrust. Breakouts at the base of the early formed fault ramps along the lowest incompetent layers, which may correspond to basement-cover contacts, domes the upmost decollement and imbricate thrusts to form passive roof duplexes and constitute the thin-skinned thrust belt. Structural styles and assemblages in each of tectonic stages are similar to that in the representative orogenic belts in the South China, Southern Appalachians, and Alpine orogenic belts.

Thermomagnetic properties of peat-soil layers from Sag pond near Lembang Fault, West Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iryanti, Mimin; Wibowo, Dimas Maulana; Bijaksana, Satria

2015-09-01

Sag pond is a body of water near fault system as water flows blocked by the fault. Sag pond is a special type of environment for peat formation as peat layers in were deposited as the fault moves in episodic fashion. Depending on the history of the fault, peat layers are often interrupted by soil layers. In this study, core of peat-soil layers from a Sag pond in Karyawangi Village near Lembang Fault was obtained and analyzed for its magnetic properties. The 5 m core was obtained using a hand auger. Individual samples were obtained every cm and measured for their magnetic susceptibility. In general, there are three distinct magnetic susceptibility layers that were associated with peat and soil layers. The upper first 1 m is unconsolidated mud layer with its relatively high magnetic susceptibility. Between 1-2.81 m, there is consolidated mud layer and the lowest part (2.82-5) m is basically peat layer. Six samples were then measured for their thermomagnetic properties by measuring their susceptibility during heating and cooling from room temperature to 700°C. The thermomagnetic profiles provide Curie temperatures for various magnetic minerals in the cores. It was found that the upper part (unconsolidated mud) contains predominantly iron-oxides, such as magnetite while the lowest part (peat layer) contains significant amount of iron-sulphides, presumably greigite.

Development of Hydrologic Characterization Technology of Fault Zones (in Japanese; English)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karasaki, Kenzi; Onishi, Tiemi; Wu, Yu-Shu

2008-03-31

Through an extensive literature survey we find that there is very limited amount of work on fault zone hydrology, particularly in the field using borehole testing. The common elements of a fault include a core, and damage zones. The core usually acts as a barrier to the flow across it, whereas the damage zone controls the flow either parallel to the strike or dip of a fault. In most of cases the damage zone isthe one that is controlling the flow in the fault zone and the surroundings. The permeability of damage zone is in the range of two tomore » three orders of magnitude higher than the protolith. The fault core can have permeability up to seven orders of magnitude lower than the damage zone. The fault types (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) by themselves do not appear to be a clear classifier of the hydrology of fault zones. However, there still remains a possibility that other additional geologic attributes and scaling relationships can be used to predict or bracket the range of hydrologic behavior of fault zones. AMT (Audio frequency Magneto Telluric) and seismic reflection techniques are often used to locate faults. Geochemical signatures and temperature distributions are often used to identify flow domains and/or directions. ALSM (Airborne Laser Swath Mapping) or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) method may prove to be a powerful tool for identifying lineaments in place of the traditional photogrammetry. Nonetheless not much work has been done to characterize the hydrologic properties of faults by directly testing them using pump tests. There are some uncertainties involved in analyzing pressure transients of pump tests: both low permeability and high permeability faults exhibit similar pressure responses. A physically based conceptual and numerical model is presented for simulating fluid and heat flow and solute transport through fractured fault zones using a multiple-continuum medium approach. Data from the Horonobe URL site are analyzed to demonstrate the proposed approach and to examine the flow direction and magnitude on both sides of a suspected fault. We describe a strategy for effective characterization of fault zone hydrology. We recommend conducting a long term pump test followed by a long term buildup test. We do not recommend isolating the borehole into too many intervals. We do recommend ensuring durability and redundancy for long term monitoring.« less

Holocene earthquakes of magnitude 7 during westward escape of the Olympic Mountains, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Alan R.; Personius, Stephen; Wells, Ray; Schermer, Elizabeth R.; Bradley, Lee-Ann; Buck, Jason; Reitman, Nadine G.

2017-01-01

The Lake Creek–Boundary Creek fault, previously mapped in Miocene bedrock as an oblique thrust on the north flank of the Olympic Mountains, poses a significant earthquake hazard. Mapping using 2015 light detection and ranging (lidar) confirms 2004 lidar mapping of postglacial (<13  ka"><13  ka) and Holocene fault scarps along the 22‐km‐long eastern section of the fault and documents Holocene scarps that extend ≥14  km">≥14  km along a splay fault, the Sadie Creek fault, west of Lake Crescent. Scarp morphology suggests repeated earthquake ruptures along the eastern section of the Lake Creek–Boundary Creek fault and the Sadie Creek fault since ∼13  ka">∼13  ka. Right‐lateral (∼11–28  m">∼11–28  m) and vertical (1–2 m) cumulative fault offsets suggest slip rates of ∼1–2  mm/yr">∼1–2  mm/yr Stratigraphic and age‐model data from five trenches perpendicular to scarps at four sites on the eastern section of the fault show evidence of 3–5 surface‐rupturing earthquakes. Near‐vertical fault dips and upward‐branching fault patterns in trenches, abrupt changes in the thickness of stratigraphic units across faults, and variations in vertical displacement of successive stratigraphic units along fault traces also suggest a large lateral component of slip. Age models suggest two earthquakes date from 1.3±0.8">1.3±0.8 and 2.9±0.6  ka">2.9±0.6  ka; evidence and ages for 2–3 earlier earthquakes are less certain. Assuming 3–5 postglacial earthquakes, lateral and vertical cumulative fault offsets yield average slip per earthquake of ∼4.6  m">∼4.6  m, a lateral‐to‐vertical slip ratio of ∼10:1">∼10:1, and a recurrence interval of 3.5±1.0  ka">3.5±1.0  ka. Empirical relations yield moment magnitude estimates of M 7.2–7.5 (slip per earthquake) and 7.1–7.3 (56 km maximum rupture length). An apparent left‐lateral Miocene to right‐lateral Holocene slip reversal on the faults is probably related to overprinting of east‐directed, accretion‐dominated deformation in the eastern core of the Olympic Mountains by north‐directed, margin‐parallel shortening and westward escape of the mountains.

Applications of resistivity modeling in reservoir development: examples from Balder Field, Norwegian North Sea

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paillet, Frederick L.; Haynes, F.M.; Buretz, O.M.

2001-01-01

The massive Paleocene oil sands of the Balder Field are overlain by several thinly bedded Eocene sand-prone packages of variable facies and reservoir quality. Although these sands have been penetrated by numerous exploration and development wells, uncertainty remains as to their extent, distribution, and ultimate effect on reservoir performance. The section is geologically complex (thin beds, injected sands, shale clasts and laminae, and faulting), and also contains a field-wide primary gas cap. With a depletion plan involving both gas and water injection, geologic/reservoir characterization of the Eocene is critical for prudent resource management during depletion. With this goal, resistivity modeling and core-based thin bed reservoir description from the first phase of development drilling have been integrated with seismic attribute mapping. Detailed core description, core permeability and grain size distribution data delineate six facies and help in distinguishing laterally continuous massive and laminated sands from potentially non-connected injection sands and non-reservoir quality siltstones and tuffs. Volumetric assessment of the thin sand resource has been enhanced by I-D forward modeling of induction log response using a commercial resistivity modeling program, R,BAN. After defining beds and facies with core and high resolution log data, the AHF60 array induction curve response was approximated using the 6FF40 response. Because many of the beds were thinner than 6FF40 resolution, the modeling is considered to provide a lower bound on R,. However, for most beds this model-based R, is significantly higher than that provided by one-foot vertical resolution shallow resistivity data, and is thought to be the best available estimate of true formation resistivity. Sensitivities in STOOIP were assessed with multiple R, earth models which can later be tested against production results. In addition, water saturation height functions, developed in vertical wells and thick beds, can be validated in deviated wells with thin beds. Sand thickness models constrained by this logand core-based petrophysical analysis were used to build impedance seismic synthetic sections from which seismic attributes could be extracted and calibrated. The model-based attribute calibration was then applied to the seismic impedance 3-D cube permitting sand thickness to be mapped and reservoir geology to be modeled with significantly more detail than previously possible. These results will guide the field''s reservoir management and assist in the delineation of new targets.

The Effect of Nozzle Trailing Edge Thickness on Jet Noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henderson, Brenda; Kinzie, Kevin; Haskin, Henry

2004-01-01

The effect of nozzle trailing edge thickness on broadband acoustic radiation and the production of tones is investigated for coannular nozzles. Experiments were performed for a core nozzle trailing edge thickness between 0.38 mm and 3.17 mm. The on-set of discrete tones was found to be predominantly affected by the velocity ratio, the ratio of the fan velocity to the core velocity, although some dependency on trailing edge thickness was also noted. For a core nozzle trailing edge thickness greater than or equal to 0.89 mm, tones were produced for velocity ratios between 0.91 and 1.61. For a constant nozzle trailing edge thickness, the frequency varied almost linearly with the core velocity. The Strouhal number based on the core velocity changed with nozzle trailing edge thickness and varied between 0.16 and 0.2 for the core nozzles used in the experiments. Increases in broadband noise with increasing trailing edge thickness were observed for tone producing and non-tone producing conditions. A variable thickness trailing edge (crenellated) nozzle resulted in no tonal production and a reduction of the broadband trailing edge noise relative to that of the corresponding constant thickness trailing edge.

Thick deltaic sedimentation and detachment faulting delay the onset of continental rupture in the Northern Gulf of California: Analysis of seismic reflection profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín-Barajas, Arturo; González-Escobar, Mario; Fletcher, John M.; Pacheco, Martín.; Oskin, Michael; Dorsey, Rebecca

2013-09-01

transition from distributed continental extension to the rupture of continental lithosphere is imaged in the northern Gulf of California across the obliquely conjugate Tiburón-Upper Delfin basin segment. Structural mapping on a 5-20 km grid of seismic reflection lines of Petroleos Mexicanos demonstrates that ~1000% extension is accommodated on a series of NNE striking listric-normal faults that merge at depth into a detachment fault. The detachment juxtaposes a late-Neogene marine sequence over thinned continental crust and contains an intrabasinal divide due to footwall uplift. Two northwest striking, dextral-oblique faults bound both ends of the detachment and shear the continental crust parallel to the tectonic transport. A regional unconformity in the upper 0.5 s (two-way travel time) and crest erosion of rollover anticlines above the detachment indicates inversion and footwall uplift during the lithospheric rupture in the Upper Delfin and Lower Delfin basins. The maximum length of new crust in both Delfin basins is less than 40 km based on the lack of an acoustic basement and the absence of a lower sedimentary sequence beneath a wedge-shaped upper sequence that reaches >5 km in thickness. A fundamental difference exists between the Tiburón-Delfin segment and the Guaymas segment to the south in terms of presence of low-angle normal faults and amount of new oceanic lithosphere, which we attribute to thermal insulation, diffuse upper-plate extension, and slip on low-angle normal faults engendered by a thick sedimentary lid.

Thick deltaic sedimentation and detachment faulting delay the onset of continental rupture in the Northern Gulf of California: Analysis of seismic reflection profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, A.; González-Escobar, M.; Fletcher, J. M.; Pacheco, M.; Oskin, M. E.; Dorsey, R. J.

2013-12-01

The transition from distributed continental extension to the rupture of continental lithosphere is imaged in the northern Gulf of California across the obliquely conjugate Tiburón-Upper Delfín basin segment. Structural mapping on a 5-20 km grid of seismic reflection lines of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) demonstrates that ~1000% extension is accommodated on a series of NNE-striking listric-normal faults that merge at depth into a detachment fault. The detachment juxtaposes a late-Neogene marine sequence over thinned continental crust and contains an intrabasinal divide due to footwall uplift. Two northwest striking, dextral-oblique faults bound both ends of the detachment and shear the continental crust parallel to the tectonic transport. A regional unconformity in the upper 0.5 seconds (TWTT) and crest erosion of rollover anticlines above the detachment indicates inversion and footwall uplift during the lithospheric rupture in the Upper Delfin and Lower Delfin basins. The maximum length of new crust in both Delfin basins is less than 40 km based on the lack of an acoustic basement and the absence of a lower sedimentary sequence beneath a wedge shaped upper sequence that reaches >5 km in thickness. A fundamental difference exists between the Tiburón-Delfin segment and the Guaymas segment to the south in terms of presence of low angle normal faults and amount of new oceanic lithosphere, which we attribute to thermal insulation, diffuse upper-plate extension, and slip on low angle normal faults engendered by a thick sedimentary lid.

Retrodeformable cross sections and Oak Ridge fault, Ventura basin, California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yeats, R.S.; Huftile, G.F.

1988-03-01

A retrodeformable (balanced) cross section is constructed such that stratified rocks are restored to their undeformed state without loss or gain of bed length or bed thickness. Ductile strata may be area-balanced if original thickness is known. Near Ventura, folds in Pliocene-Pleistocene turbidites and Miocene-early Pliocene shales (Rincon, Monterey, Sisquoc) overlie an unfolded competent Paleogene sequence. The basal decollement of the foldbelt is in the ductile Rincon Formation (lower Miocene). The overlying Sulphur Mountain, Ventura Avenue, San Miguelito, and Rincon anticlines are fault-propagation folds developing from south-dipping, largely late Quaternary frontal ramp thrusts (Sisar-Big Canyon-Lion fault set, Barnard fault set,more » padre Juan fault, and C-3 fault, respectively) that rise from the decollement. Cross-section balancing shows that the overlying fold-thrust belt has shortened 2.5-6 km more than subjacent Paleogene competent strata. This excess bed length is taken up in the Paleogene sequence on the Oak Ridge fault as a ramp from the brittle-plastic transition zone through the upper crust. This implies that the basal decollement is the frontal active thrust of the Oak Ridge fault. The decollement dies out southeast of a line between Timber Canyon oil field and the west end of Oak Ridge, possibly because of decreased ductility in the Miocene decollement sequence due to appearance of sandstone interbeds. Farther southeast, late Quaternary displacement concentrated on the Oak Ridge fault itself at rates greater than 10 mm/year.« less

Frictional, Hydraulic, and Acoustic Properties of Alpine Fault DFDP-1 Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpenter, B. M.; Ikari, M.; Kitajima, H.; Kopf, A.; Marone, C.; Saffer, D. M.

2012-12-01

The Alpine Fault, a transpressional plate-boundary fault transecting the South Island of New Zealand, is the current focus of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP), a major fault zone drilling initiative. Phase 1 of this project included 2 boreholes that penetrated the active fault at depths of ˜100 m and ˜150 m, and provided a suite of core samples crossing the fault. Here, we report on laboratory measurements of frictional strength and constitutive behavior, permeability, and ultrasonic velocities for a suite of the recovered core samples We conducted friction experiments on powdered samples in a double-direct shear configuration at room temperature and humidity. Our results show that over a range of effective normal stresses from 10-100 MPa, friction coefficients are ~0.60-0.70, and are similar for all of the materials we tested. Rate-stepping tests document velocity-weakening behavior in the majority of wall rock samples, whereas the principal slip surface (PSS) and an adjacent clay-rich cataclasite exhibit velocity-strengthening behavior. We observe significant rates of frictional healing in all of our samples, indicating that that the fault easily regains its strength during interseismic periods. Our results indicate that seismic slip is not likely to nucleate in the clay-rich PSS at shallow depths, but might nucleate and propagate on the gouge/wall rock interface. We measured permeability using a constant head technique, on vertically oriented cylindrical mini-cores (i.e. ˜45 degrees to the plane of the Alpine Fault). We conducted these tests in a triaxial configuration, under isotropic stress conditions and effective confining pressures from ~2.5 - 63.5 MPa. We conducted ultrasonic wavespeed measurements concurrently with the permeability measurements to determine P- and S-wave velocities from time-of-flight. The permeability of all samples decreases systematically with increasing effective stress. The clay-rich cataclasite (1.37 x 10-19 m2) and PSS (1.62 x 10-20 m2) samples exhibit the lowest permeabilities. The cataclasite, and wall rock mylonite and gravel samples, all exhibit permeabilities > 10-18 m2. We also observe that permeability of the cataclasites appears to decrease with proximity to the active fault zone. Our laboratory measurements are consistent with borehole slug tests that show the fault is a hydraulic barrier, and suggest that fault rock permeability is sufficiently low to facilitate transient pore pressure effects during rapid slip, including thermal pressurization and dilatancy hardening. Elastic wave velocity increases systematically with increasing effective stress. We find the lowest P-wave velocities in clay-rich, poorly lithified samples from within and near the active fault, including hanging wall cataclasite, fault gouge, and footwall gravel. Our results are consistent with borehole logging data that show an increase in P-wave velocity from the mylonite into the competent cataclasites, and a decrease in P-wave velocity through the clay-rich cataclasite and into the fault zone.

Stratigraphy, Structure and Tectonics of the Eyjafjarðaráll Rift, Abandoned Southern Segment of the Kolbeinsey Ridge, North Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandsdottir, B.; Karson, J. A.; Magnúsdóttir, S.; Detrick, B.; Driscoll, N. W.

2017-12-01

The multi-branched plate boundary across Iceland is made up of divergent and oblique rifts, and transform zones, characterized by entwined extensional and transform tectonics. The Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) is a complex transform linking the northern rift zone (NVZ) on land with the offshore Kolbeinsey Ridge. The TFZ lacks a clear topographic expression typical of oceanic fracture zones. The transform zone is roughly 150 km long (E-W) by 50-75 km wide (N-S) with three N-S trending pull-apart basins bounded by a complex array of normal and oblique-slip faults. The offshore extension of the NVZ, the Grímsey Oblique Rift, is composed of several active volcanic systems with N-S trending fissure swarms, including the Skjálfandadjúp Basin (SB). The magma-starved southern extension of the KR, the 80 km NS and 15-20 EW Eyjafjarðaráll Rift (ER), is made up of dominantly normal faults merging southwards with a system of right-lateral strike-slip faults with vertical displacement up to 15 m in the Húsavík Flatey Fault Zone (HFFZ). The northern ER is a 500-700 m deep asymmetric rift, framed by normal faults with 20-25 m vertical displacement, To the south, transform movement associated with the HFFZ has created a NW- striking pull-apart basin with frequent earthquake swarms. Details of the tectonic framework of the ER are documented in a compilation of data from aerial photos, satellite images, field mapping, multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (Chirp) and seismicity. The TFZ rift basins contain post-glacial sediments of variable thickness. Strata in the western ER and SB basins dip steeply E along the normal faults, towards the deepest part of the rift. The eastern side of the ER and SB basins differ considerably from the western side, with near-vertical faults. Correlation of Chirp reflection data and tephrachronology from a sediment core reveal major rifting episodes between 10-12.1 kyrs BP activating both the Eyjafjarðaráll and Skjálfandadjúp rift basins, followed by smaller-scale fault movements throughout Holocene. These vertical fault movements reflect elevated tectonic activity during early postglacial time coinciding with isostatic rebound and enhanced volcanism within Iceland.

Field- to nano-scale evidence for weakening mechanisms along the fault of the 2016 Amatrice and Norcia earthquakes, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smeraglia, Luca; Billi, Andrea; Carminati, Eugenio; Cavallo, Andrea; Doglioni, Carlo

2017-08-01

In August and October 2016, two normal fault earthquakes (Mw 6.0 and Mw 6.5, respectively) struck the Amatrice-Norcia area in the central Apennines, Italy. The mainshocks nucleated at depths of 7-9 km with the co-seismic slip propagating upward along the Mt. Gorzano Fault (MGF) and Mt. Vettore Fault System (MVFS). To recognize possible weakening mechanisms along the carbonate-hosted seismogenic faults that generated the Amatrice-Norcia earthquakes, the fresh co-seismic fault exposure (i.e., "nastrino") exposed along the Mt. Vettoretto Fault was sampled and analyzed. This exposed fault belongs to the MVFS and was exhumed from 2-3 km depth. Over the fresh fault surface, phyllosilicates concentrated and localized along mm- to μm-thick layers, and truncated clasts and fluid-like structures were found. At the nano-scale, instead of their common platy-lamellar crystallographic texture, the analyzed phyllosilicates consist of welded nm-thick nanospherules and nanotubes similar to phyllosilicates deformed in rotary shear apparatus at seismic velocities or altered under high hydrothermal temperatures (> 250 °C). Moreover, the attitude of the Mt. Vettoretto Fault and its kinematics inferred from exposed slickenlines are consistent with the co-seismic fault and slip vectors obtained from the focal mechanisms computed for the 2016 mainshocks. All these pieces of evidence suggest that the Mt. Vettoretto Fault slipped seismically during past earthquakes and that co-seismic slip was assisted and facilitated at depths of < 3 km by phyllosilicate-rich layers and overpressured fluids. The same weakening processes may also have been decisive in facilitating the co-seismic slip propagation during the 2016 Mw 6.0 Amatrice and Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquakes. The microstructures found along the Mt. Vettoretto Fault, which is certainly a seismogenic fault, provide a realistic synoptic picture of co-seismic processes and weakening mechanisms that may occur in carbonate-hosted seismogenic faults.

Spent Fuel Test-Climax: core logging for site investigation and instrumentation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilder, D.G.; Yow, J.L. Jr.; Thorpe, R.K.

1982-05-28

As an integral part of the Spent Fuel Test-Climax 5150 ft (1570 m) of granite core was obtained. This core was diamond drilled in various sizes, mainly 38-mm and 76-mm diameters. The core was teken with single tube core barrels and was unoriented. Techniques used to drill and log this core are discussed, as well as techniques to orient the core. Of the 5150 ft (1570 m) of core more than 3645 ft (1111 m) was retained and logged in some detail. As a result of the core logging, geologic discontinuities were identified, joint frequency and spacing characterized. Discontinuities identifiedmore » included several joint sets, shear zones and faults. Correlations based on coring along were generally found to be impossible, even for the more prominent features. The only feature properly correlated from the exploratory drilling was the fault system at the end of the facility, but it was not identified from the exploratory core as a fault. Identification of discontinuities was later helped by underground mapping that identified several different joint sets with different characteristics. It was found that joint frequency varied from 0.3 to 1.1 joint per foot of core for open fractures and from 0.3 to 3.3/ft for closed or healed fractures. Histograms of fracture spacing indicate that there is likely a random distribution of spacing superimposed upon uniformly spaced fractures. It was found that a low angle joint set had a persistent mean orientation. These joints were healed and had pervasive wall rock alteration which made identification of joints in this set possible. The recognition of a joint set with known attitude allowed orientation of much of the core. This orientation technique was found to be effective. 10 references, 25 figures, 4 tables.« less

Influence of core thickness and artificial aging on the biaxial flexural strength of different all-ceramic materials: An in-vitro study.

PubMed

Dikicier, Sibel; Ayyildiz, Simel; Ozen, Julide; Sipahi, Cumhur

2017-05-31

The purpose of this study was to investigate the flexural strength of all-ceramics with varying core thicknesses submitted to aging. In-Ceram Alumina (IC), IPS e.max Press (EM) and Katana (K) (n=40), were selected. Each group contained two core groups based on the core thickness as follows: IC/0.5, IC/0.8, EM/0.5, EM/0.8, K/0.5 and K/0.8 mm in thickness (n=20 each). Ten specimens from each group were subjected to aging and all specimens were tested for strength in a testing machine either with or without being subjected aging. The mean strength of the K were higher (873.05 MPa) than that of the IC (548.28 MPa) and EM (374.32 MPa) regardless of core thickness. Strength values increased with increasing core thickness for all IC, EM and K regardless of aging. Results of this study concluded that strength was not significantly affected by aging. Different core thicknesses affected strength of the all-ceramic materials tested (p<0.05).

The ICDP Dead Sea deep drill cores: records of climate change and tectonics in the Levant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldstein, S. L.; Stein, M.; Ben-Avraham, Z.; Agnon, A.; Ariztegui, D.; Brauer, A.; Haug, G. H.; Ito, E.; Kitagawa, H.; Torfstein, A.

2012-12-01

The Dead Sea drainage basin sits at the boundary of the Mediterranean and the Saharan climate zones, and the basin is formed by the Dead Sea transform fault. The ICDP-funded Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project recovered the longest and most complete paleo-environmental and paleo-seismic record in the Middle East, drilling holes of ~450 and ~350 meters in deep (~300 m below the lake level) and shallow sites (~3 m), respectively, and. The sediments record the evolving environmental conditions (e.g. droughts, rains, floods, dust-storms), as well as tectonics (earthquake layers). The core can be dated using 14C on organic materials, U-Th on inorganic aragonite, stable isotopes, and layer counting. They were opened, described, and XRF-scanned during June to November 2011, the first sampling party took place in July 2012, and study is now underway. Some important conclusions can already be drawn. The stratigraphy reflects the climate conditions. During wet climate intervals the lithology is typically varve-like laminated aragonite and detritus (aad), reflecting summer and winter seasons, respectively, and sequences of mud. Gypsum layers reflect more arid climate, and salt (halite) indicates extreme aridity. The Dead Sea expands during glacials, and the portion of the core that corresponds to the last glacial Lisan Formation above the shoreline is easily recognized in the core based on the common lithological sequence, and this allows us to infer a broad scale age model. Interglacials show all the lithologic facies (aad, mud, gypsum, salt), reflecting extreme climate variability, while glacials contain the aad, mud, and gypsum but lack salt layers. Thus we estimate that the deep site hole extends into MIS 7 (to ~200,000 years). Thin (up to several cm thick) seismic layers occur throughout the core, but thick (up to several meters) landslide deposits only occur during glacial intervals. The most dramatic discovery is evidence of an extreme dry interval during MIS 5 at the deep site. There is a ~40 cm thick interval of partly rounded pebbles in the core at ~235 m below the lake floor. It is the only clean pebbly unit in the core, and resembles a beach deposit. Below the layer there is ~45 meters of mainly salt. These observations indicate a severe dry interval during MIS 5. This observation has implications for the Middle East today, where the Dead Sea level is dropping at rates >1m/year, as all the countries in the area are using all the runoff. GCM models indicate a more arid future in the region. The core shows that the runoff nearly stopped during the last interglacial without human intervention. Dating is underway to constrain the timing of the extreme drydown.

Self-Catalyzed Growth of Axial GaAs/GaAsSb Nanowires by Molecular Beam Epitaxy for Photodetectors

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

blende structure with mixture of stacking faults and twins and the presence of these faults were significantly reduced in the NWs grown on chemically...a) TEM image of the core NW (b) HR-TEM image displaying the stacking faults and twinning defects. (c)SAED pattern showing the ZB crystal structure...of stacking faults and twins and the presence of these faults were significantly reduced in the NWs grown on chemically etched substrates. For

Surface faulting along the inland Itozawa normal fault (eastern Japan) and relation to the 2011 Tohoku-oki megathrust earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferry, M.; Tsutsumi, H.; Meghraoui, M.; Toda, S.

2012-12-01

The 11 March 2011 Mw 9 Tohoku-oki earthquake ruptured ~500 km length of the Japan Trench along the coast of eastern Japan and significantly impacted the stress regime within the crust. The resulting change in seismicity over the Japan mainland was exhibited by the 11 April 2011 Mw 6.6 Iwaki earthquake that ruptured the Itozawa and Yunodake faults. Trending NNW and NW, respectively, these 70-80° W-dipping faults bound the Iwaki basin of Neogene age and have been reactivated simultaneously both along 15-km-long sections. Here, we present initial results from a paleoseismic excavation performed across the Itozawa fault within the Tsunagi Valley at the northern third of the observed surface rupture. At the Tsunagi site, the rupture affects a rice paddy, which provides an ideally horizontal initial state to collect detailed and accurate measurements. The surface break is composed of a continuous 30-to-40-cm-wide purely extensional crack that separates the uplifted block from a gently dipping 1-to-2-m-wide strip affected by right-stepping en-echelon cracks and locally bounded by a ~0.1-m-high reverse scarplet. Total station across-fault topographic profiles indicate the pre-earthquake ground surface was vertically deformed by ~0.6 m while direct field examinations reveal that well-defined rice paddy limits have been left-laterally offset by ~0.1 m. The 12-m-long, 3.5-m-deep trench exposes the 30-to-40-cm-thick cultivated soil overlaying a 1-m-thick red to yellow silt unit, a 2-m-thick alluvial gravel unit and a basal 0.1-1-m-thick organic-rich silt unit. Deformation associated to the 2011 rupture illustrates down-dip movement along a near-vertical fault with a well-expressed bending moment at the surface and generalized warping. On the north wall, the intermediate gravel unit displays a deformation pattern similar to granular flow with only minor discrete faulting and no splay to be continuously followed from the main fault to the surface. On the south wall, warping dominates as well but with some strain localization along two major splays that exhibit 15-20 cm of vertical offset. On both walls, the basal silt unit is vertically deformed by ~0.6 m, similarly to what is observed for the 2011 rupture. Furthermore, the base of said silt unit exhibits indication for secondary faulting prior to the 2011 event and that resemble cracks observed at the present-day surface. This suggests that the Itozawa fault has already ruptured in a similar fashion; probably in the late Pleistocene-early Holocene (radiocarbon samples are being processed). Hence, recent activity of the Itozawa fault may be controlled entirely by large to giant earthquakes along the Japan Trench.

Correlation of clayey gouge in a surface exposure of serpentinite in the San Andreas Fault with gouge from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Diane E.; Rymer, Michael J.

2012-05-01

Magnesium-rich clayey gouge similar to that comprising the two actively creeping strands of the San Andreas Fault in drill core from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) has been identified in a nearby outcrop of serpentinite within the fault zone at Nelson Creek. Each occurrence of the gouge consists of porphyroclasts of serpentinite and sedimentary rocks dispersed in a fine-grained, foliated matrix of Mg-rich smectitic clays. The clay minerals in all three gouges are interpreted to be the product of fluid-assisted, shear-enhanced reactions between quartzofeldspathic wall rocks and serpentinite that was tectonically entrained in the fault from a source in the Coast Range Ophiolite. We infer that the gouge at Nelson Creek connects to one or both of the gouge zones in the SAFOD core, and that similar gouge may occur at depths in between. The special significance of the outcrop is that it preserves the early stages of mineral reactions that are greatly advanced at depth, and it confirms the involvement of serpentinite and the Mg-rich phyllosilicate minerals that replace it in promoting creep along the central San Andreas Fault.

Mechanism for generating the anomalous uplift of oceanic core complexes: Atlantis Bank, southwest Indian Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baines, A. Graham; Cheadle, Michael J.; Dick, Henry J. B.; Hosford Scheirer, Allegra; John, Barbara E.; Kusznir, Nick J.; Matsumoto, Takeshi

2003-12-01

Atlantis Bank is an anomalously uplifted oceanic core complex adjacent to the Atlantis II transform, on the southwest Indian Ridge, that rises >3 km above normal seafloor of the same age. Models of flexural uplift due to detachment faulting can account for ˜1 km of this uplift. Postdetachment normal faults have been observed during submersible dives and on swath bathymetry. Two transform-parallel, large-offset (hundreds of meters) normal faults are identified on the eastern flank of Atlantis Bank, with numerous smaller faults (tens of meters) on the western flank. Flexural uplift associated with this transform-parallel normal faulting is consistent with gravity data and can account for the remaining anomalous uplift of Atlantis Bank. Extension normal to the Atlantis II transform may have occurred during a 12 m.y. period of transtension initiated by a 10° change in spreading direction ca. 19.5 Ma. This extension may have produced the 120-km-long transverse ridge of which Atlantis Bank is a part, and is consistent with stress reorientation about a weak transform fault.

Mechanism for generating the anomalous uplift of oceanic core complexes: Atlantis Bank, southwest Indian Ridge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baines, A.G.; Cheadle, Michael J.; Dick, H.J.B.; Scheirer, A.H.; John, Barbara E.; Kusznir, N.J.; Matsumoto, T.

2003-01-01

Atlantis Bank is an anomalously uplifted oceanic core complex adjacent to the Atlantis II transform, on the southwest Indian Ridge, that rises >3 km above normal seafloor of the same age. Models of flexural uplift due to detachment faulting can account for ???1 km of this uplift. Postdetachment normal faults have been observed during submersible dives and on swath bathymetry. Two transform-parallel, large-offset (hundreds of meters) normal faults are identified on the eastern flank of Atlantis Bank, with numerous smaller faults (tens of meters) on the western flank. Flexural uplift associated with this transform-parallel normal faulting is consistent with gravity data and can account for the remaining anomalous uplift of Atlantis Bank. Extension normal to the Atlantis II transform may have occurred during a 12 m.y. period of transtension initiated by a 10?? change in spreading direction ca. 19.5 Ma. This extension may have produced the 120-km-long transverse ridge of which Atlantis Bank is a part, and is consistent with stress reorientation about a weak transform fault.

Late Quaternary sediment-accumulation rates within the inner basins of the California Continental Borderland in support of geologic hazard evaluation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Normark, W.R.; McGann, M.; Sliter, R.W.

2009-01-01

An evaluation of the geologic hazards of the inner California Borderland requires determination of the timing for faulting and mass-movement episodes during the Holocene. Our effort focused on basin slopes and turbidite systems on the basin floors for the area between Santa Barbara and San Diego, California. Dating condensed sections on slopes adjacent to fault zones provides better control on fault history where high-resolution, seismic-reflection data can be used to correlate sediment between the core site and the fault zones. This study reports and interprets 147 radiocarbon dates from 43 U.S. Geological Survey piston cores as well as 11 dates from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1015 on the floor of Santa Monica Basin. One hundred nineteen dates from 39 of the piston cores have not previously been published. Core locations were selected for hazard evaluation, but despite the nonuniform distribution of sample locations, the dates obtained for the late Quaternary deposits are useful for documenting changes in sediment-accumulation rates during the past 30 ka. Cores from basins receiving substantial sediment from rivers, i.e., Santa Monica Basin and the Gulf of Santa Catalina, show a decrease in sediment supply during the middle Holocene, but during the late Holocene after sea level had reached the current highstand condition, rates then increased partly in response to an increase in El Ni??o-Southern Oscillation events during the past 3.5 ka. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Fracture properties from tight reservoir outcrop analogues with application to geothermal exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philipp, Sonja L.; Reyer, Dorothea; Afsar, Filiz; Bauer, Johanna F.; Meier, Silke; Reinecker, John

2015-04-01

In geothermal reservoirs, similar to other tight reservoirs, fluid flow may be intensely affected by fracture systems, in particular those associated with fault zones. When active (slipping) the fault core, that is, the inner part of a fault zone, which commonly consists of breccia or gouge, can suddenly develop high permeability. Fault cores of inactive fault zones, however, may have low permeabilities and even act as flow barriers. In the outer part of a fault zone, the damage zone, permeability depends mainly on the fracture properties, that is, the geometry (orientation, aperture, density, connectivity, etc.) of the fault-associated fracture system. Mineral vein networks in damage zones of deeply eroded fault zones in palaeogeothermal fields demonstrate their permeability. In geothermal exploration, particularly for hydrothermal reservoirs, the orientation of fault zones in relation to the current stress field as well as their internal structure, in particular the properties of the associated fracture system, must be known as accurately as possible for wellpath planning and reservoir engineering. Here we present results of detailed field studies and numerical models of fault zones and associated fracture systems in palaeogeo¬thermal fields and host rocks for geothermal reservoirs from various stratigraphies, lithologies and tectonic settings: (1) 74 fault zones in three coastal sections of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic age (mudstones and limestone-marl alternations) in the Bristol Channel Basin, UK. (2) 58 fault zones in 22 outcrops from Upper Carboniferous to Upper Cretaceous in the Northwest German Basin (siliciclastic, carbonate and volcanic rocks); and (3) 16 fault zones in 9 outcrops in Lower Permian to Middle Triassic (mainly sandstone and limestone) in the Upper Rhine Graben shoulders. Whereas (1) represent palaeogeothermal fields with mineral veins, (2) and (3) are outcrop analogues of reservoir horizons from geothermal exploration. In the study areas of palaeo¬geothermal fields in the Bristol Channel (1), all mineral veins, most of which are extension fractures, are of calcite. They are clearly associated with the faults and indicate that geothermal water was transported along the then-active faults into the host rocks with evidence of injection as hydrofractures. Layers with contrasting mechanical properties (in particular, stiffnesses), however, acted as stress barriers and lead to fracture arrest. Along some faults, veins propagated through the barriers along faults to shallower levels. In the Northwest German Basin (2) there are pronounced differences between normal-fault zones in carbonate and clastic rocks. Only in carbonate rocks clear damage zones occur, characterized by increased fracture frequencies and high amounts of fractures with large apertures. On the Upper Rhine Graben shoulders (3) damage zones in Triassic Muschelkalk limestones are well developed; fault cores are narrow and comprise breccia, clay smear, host rock lenses and mineralization. A large fault zone in Triassic Bunter sandstone shows a clearly developed fault core with fault gouge, slip zones, deformation bands and host rock lenses, a transition zone with mostly disturbed layering and highest fracture frequency, and a damage zone. The latter damage zone is compared to the damage zone of a large Bunter sandstone fault zone currently explored for geothermal energy production. The numerical models focus on stress field development, fracture propagation and associated permeability changes. These studies contribute to the understanding of the hydromechanical behaviour of fault zones and related fluid transport in fractured reservoirs complementing predictions based on geophysical measurements. Eventually we aim at classifying and quantifying fracture system properties in fault zones to improve exploration and exploitation of geothermal reservoirs. Acknowledgements The authors appreciate the support of 'Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissen¬schaft und Kultur' and 'Baker Hughes' within the gebo research project (http://www.gebo-nds.de), the Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU; FKZ: 0325302, AuGE) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. GeoEnergy GmbH, Karlsruhe, is thanked for explorational data.

Depositional history of the Fire Clay coal bed (Late Duckmantian), Eastern Kentucky, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greb, S.F.; Eble, C.F.; Hower, J.C.

1999-01-01

More than 3800 coal thickness measurements, proximate analyses from 97 localities, and stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses from more than 300 outcrops and cores were used in conjunction with previously reported palynological and petrographic studies to map individual benches of the coal and document bench-scale variability in the Fire Clay (Hazard No. 4) coal bed across a 1860 km2 area of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field. The bench architecture of the Fire Clay coal bed consists of uncommon leader benches, a persistent but variable lower bench, a widespread, and generally thick upper bench, and local, variable rider benches. Rheotrophic conditions are inferred for the leader benches and lower bench based on sedimentological associations, mixed palynomorph assemblages, locally common cannel coal layers, and generally high ash yields. The lower bench consistently exhibits vertical variability in petrography and palynology that reflects changing trophic conditions as topographic depressions infilled. Infilling also led to unconfined flooding and ultimately the drowning of the lower bench mire. The drowned mire was covered by an air-fall volcanic-ash deposit, which produced the characteristic flint clay parting. The extent and uniform thickness of the parting suggests that the ash layer was deposited in water on a relatively flat surface without a thick canopy or extensive standing vegetation across most of the study area. Ash deposits led to regional ponding and establishment of a second planar mire. Because the topography had become a broadly uniform, nutrient-rich surface, upper-bench peats became widespread with large areas of the mire distant to clastic sources. Vertical sections of thick (> 70 cm), low-ash yield, upper coal bench show a common palynomorph change from arborescent lycopod dominance upward to fern and densospore-producing, small lycopod dominance, inferred as a shift from planar to ombrotrophic mire phases. Domed mires appear to have been surrounded by wide areas of planar mires, where the coal was thinner (< 70 cm), higher in ash yield, and dominated by arborescent lycopods. Rectangular thickness trends suggest that syndepositional faulting influenced peat accumulation, and possibly the position of the domed mire phase. Faulting also influenced post-depositional clastic environments of deposition, resulting in sandstone channels with angular changes in orientation. Channels and lateral facies were locally draped by high-ash-yield rider coal benches, which sometimes merged with the upper coal bench. These arborescent-lycopod dominant rider coal benches were profoundly controlled by palcotopography, much like the leader coal benches. Each of the benches of coal documented here represent distinctly different mires that came together to form the Fire Clay coal bed, rather than a single mire periodically split by clastic influx. This is significant as each bench of the coal has its own characteristics, which contribute to the total coal characteristics. The large data set allows interpretation of both vertical and lateral limits to postulated domed phases in the upper coal bench, and to the delineation of subtle tectonic structures that allow for meaningful thickness projections beyond the limits of present mining.A study was conducted to analyze the depositional history of the Fire Clay coal bed in the eastern Kentucky coal field. The study involved over 3800 coal thickness measurements, proximate analyses from 97 localities, and stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses from more than 300 outcrops and cores in conjunction with previously reported palynological and petrographic studies to map individual benches of the coal and document bench-scale variability.

VNIR reflectance spectroscopy of natural carbonate rocks: implication for remote sensing identification of fault damage zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Traforti, Anna; Mari, Giovanna; Carli, Cristian; Demurtas, Matteo; Massironi, Matteo; Di Toro, Giulio

2017-04-01

Reflectance spectroscopy in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) is a common technique used to study the mineral composition of Solar System bodies from remote sensed and in-situ robotic exploration. In the VNIR spectral range, both crystal field and vibrational overtone absorptions can be present with spectral characteristics (i.e. albedo, slopes, absorption band with different positions and depths) that vary depending on composition and texture (e.g. grain size, roughness) of the sensed materials. The characterization of the spectral variability related to the rock texture, especially in terms of grain size (i.e., both the size of rock components and the size of particulates), commonly allows to obtain a wide range of information about the different geological processes modifying the planetary surfaces. This work is aimed at characterizing how the grain size reduction associated to fault zone development produces reflectance variations in rock and mineral spectral signatures. To achieve this goal we present VNIR reflectance analysis of a set of fifteen rock samples collected at increasing distances from the fault core of the Vado di Corno fault zone (Campo Imperatore Fault System - Italian Central Apennines). The selected samples had similar content of calcite and dolomite but different grain size (X-Ray Powder Diffraction, optical and scanning electron microscopes analysis). Consequently, differences in the spectral signature of the fault rocks should not be ascribed to mineralogical composition. For each sample, bidirectional reflectance spectra were acquired with a Field-Pro Spectrometer mounted on a goniometer, on crushed rock slabs reduced to grain size <800, <200, <63, <10 μm and on intact fault zone rock slabs. The spectra were acquired on dry samples, at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure. The source used was a Tungsten Halogen lamp with an illuminated spot area of ca. 0.5 cm2and incidence and emission angles of 30˚ and 0˚ respectively. The spectral analysis of the crushed and intact rock slabs in the VNIR spectral range revealed that in both cases, with increasing grain size: (i) the reflectance decreases (ii) VNIR spectrum slopes (i.e. calculated between wavelengths of 0.425 - 0.605 μm and 2.205 - 2.33 μm, respectively) and (iii) carbonate main absorption band depth (i.e. vibrational absorption band at wavelength of ˜2.3 μm) increase. In conclusion, grain size variations resulting from the fault zone evolution (e.g., cumulated slip or development of thick damage zones) produce reflectance variations in rocks and mineral spectral signatures. The remote sensing analysis in the VNIR spectral range can be applied to identify the spatial distribution and extent of fault core and damage zone domains for industrial and seismic hazard applications. Moreover, the spectral characterization of carbonate-built rocks can be of great interest for the surface investigation of inner planets (e.g. Earth and Mars) and outer bodies (e.g. Galilean icy satellites). On these surfaces, carbonate minerals at different grain sizes are common and usually related to water and carbon distribution, with direct implications for potential life outside Earth (e.g. Mars).

Coeval gravity-driven and thick-skinned extensional tectonics in the mid-Cretaceous of the western Pyrenees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodego, Arantxa; Agirrezabala, Luis M.

2010-05-01

The Mesozoic Basque-Cantabrian Basin in the western Pyrenees constitutes a peri-cratonic basin originated by rifting related to the Cretaceous opening of the Bay of Biscay. During the mid-Cretaceous the basin experienced important extensional/transtensional tectonics, which controlled the deposition of thick sedimentary successions. Many extensional structures have been documented in the basin but their thin-skinned/thick-skinned character is an unresolved question. In this field-based study, we characterize contemporaneous thin-skinned and thick-skinned deformations that took place during the filling of the mid-Cretaceous Lasarte sub-basin, located in the northeastern margin of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (western Pyrenees). Most of these extensional structures and associated growth strata are preserved and allow us to characterize and date different deformation phases. Moreover, verticalization and overturning of the successions during Tertiary compression allow mapping the geometry of the extensional structures at depth. The Lasarte sub-basin constitutes a triangular sag bordered by three major basement-involved faults, which trend N, E and NE, respectively. These trends, common in the Variscan fault pattern of Pyrenees, suggest that they are old faults reactivated during the mid-Cretaceous extension. Stratigraphy of the area shows very thin to absent Aptian-Albian (and older) deposits above the upward border blocks, whereas on the downward blocks (sub-basin interior) contemporaneous thick successions were deposited (up to 1500 m). The sub-basin fill is composed of different sedimentary systems (from alluvial to siliciclastic and carbonate platforms) affected by syndepositional extensional faults (and related folds). These faults die out in a southwestward dipping (~4°) detachment layer composed of Triassic evaporites and clays. A NE-SW cross-section of the sub-basin shows NW- to N-trending six planar and two listric extensional faults and associated folds, which define a horst and graben system. Rollovers (unfaulted and faulted), hangingwall synclines and central domes are present in the hangingwalls of both listric and planar faults. Also, a fault-propagation fold, a forced fold and a roller have been interpreted. Synkinematic depositional systems and sediment-filled fissures are parallel to the NW- to N-trending tectonic structures. Based on the trend of tectonic structures, the orientation of sediment-filled fissures and the paleocurrent pattern of growth strata, a thin-skinned NE-SW to E-W extension has been deduced for the interior of the Lasarte sub-basin. Both the coincidence between the directions of extension and dip of the detachment layer and the characteristics of the deformation suggest a thin-skinned gravity-driven extensional tectonics caused by the dip of the detachment layer. Recorded extensional deformation event in the Lasarte sub-basin is contemporaneous with and would have been triggered by the extreme crustal thinning and mantle exhumation processes documented recently in both the Basque-Cantabrian Basin and the Pyrenees.

Crustal Strain Patterns in Magmatic and Amagmatic Early Stage Rifts: Border Faults, Magma Intrusion, and Volatiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebinger, C. J.; Keir, D.; Roecker, S. W.; Tiberi, C.; Aman, M.; Weinstein, A.; Lambert, C.; Drooff, C.; Oliva, S. J. C.; Peterson, K.; Bourke, J. R.; Rodzianko, A.; Gallacher, R. J.; Lavayssiere, A.; Shillington, D. J.; Khalfan, M.; Mulibo, G. D.; Ferdinand-Wambura, R.; Palardy, A.; Albaric, J.; Gautier, S.; Muirhead, J.; Lee, H.

2015-12-01

Rift initiation in thick, strong continental lithosphere challenges current models of continental lithospheric deformation, in part owing to gaps in our knowledge of strain patterns in the lower crust. New geophysical, geochemical, and structural data sets from youthful magmatic (Magadi-Natron, Kivu), weakly magmatic (Malawi, Manyara), and amagmatic (Tanganyika) sectors of the cratonic East African rift system provide new insights into the distribution of brittle strain, magma intrusion and storage, and time-averaged deformation. We compare and contrast time-space relations, seismogenic layer thickness variations, and fault kinematics using earthquakes recorded on local arrays and teleseisms in sectors of the Western and Eastern rifts, including the Natron-Manyara basins that developed in Archaean lithosphere. Lower crustal seismicity occurs in both the Western and Eastern rifts, including sectors on and off craton, and those with and without central rift volcanoes. In amagmatic sectors, lower crustal strain is accommodated by slip along relatively steep border faults, with oblique-slip faults linking opposing border faults that penetrate to different crustal levels. In magmatic sectors, seismicity spans surface to lower crust beneath both border faults and eruptive centers, with earthquake swarms around magma bodies. Our focal mechanisms and Global CMTs from a 2007 fault-dike episode show a local rotation from ~E-W extension to NE-SE extension in this linkage zone, consistent with time-averaged strain recorded in vent and eruptive chain alignments. These patterns suggest that strain localization via widespread magma intrusion can occur during the first 5 My of rifting in originally thick lithosphere. Lower crustal seismicity in magmatic sectors may be caused by high gas pressures and volatile migration from active metasomatism and magma degassing, consistent with high CO2 flux along fault zones, and widespread metasomatism of xenoliths. Volatile release and migration may be critical to strength reduction of initially cold, strong cratonic lithosphere. Our comparisons suggest that large offset border faults that develop very early in rift history create fluid pathways that maintain the initial along-axis segmentation until magma (if available), reaches mid-crustal levels.

Structural and facies characterization of the Niobrara Formation in Goshen and Laramie counties, Wyoming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kernan, Nicholas Devereux

The Niobrara Formation is a fine-grained marine rock deposited in the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous. It is composed of fossil-rich interlayered shale, marls, and chalks. Recent interest in the Niobrara has grown due to the advent of lateral drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. This technology allows operators to economically extract hydrocarbons from chalkier Niobrara facies. Yet two aspects of the Niobrara Formation have remained enigmatic. The first is the occurrence of abundant, randomly oriented, layer-bound, normal faults. The second is the large degree of vertical heterogeneity. This research aimed to increase understanding in both these aspects of the Niobrara Formation. Randomly oriented normal faults have been observed in Niobrara outcrops for nearly a hundred years. Recent high resolution 3D seismic in the Denver Basin has allowed investigators to interpret these faults as part of a polygonal fault system (PFS). PFS are layer bound extensional structures that typically occur in fine-grained marine sediments. Though their genesis and development is still poorly understood, their almost exclusive occurrence in fine-grained rocks indicates their origin is linked to lithology. Interpretation of a 3D seismic cube in Southeast Wyoming found a tier of polygonal faulting within the Greenhorn-Carlile formations and another tier of polygonal faulting within the Niobrara and Pierre formations. This research also found that underlying structural highs influence fault growth and geometries within both these tiers. Core data and thin sections best describe vertical heterogeneity in fine-grained rocks. This investigation interpreted core data and thin sections in a well in Southeast Wyoming and identified 10 different facies. Most of these facies fall within a carbonate/clay spectrum with clay-rich facies deposited during periods of lower sea level and carbonate-rich facies deposited during periods of higher sea level. Because the average operator will typically have little core but abundant well logs, this investigation used three different methods of describing facies variability with logs. Facies interpreted with these methods are referred to as electrofacies. First, a conventional interpretation of Niobrara sub-units was done using gamma ray and resistivity logs. Then a cluster analysis was conducted on an extensive petrophysical log suite. Finally, a neural network was trained with the previous core interpretation so that it learned to identify facies from logs. The research found that when little core is available a cluster analysis method can capture significant amounts of vertical heterogeneity within the Niobrara Formation. But if core is available then a neural network method provides more meaningful and higher resolution interpretations.

Experimental approach to domino-style basement fault systems with evaporites during extension and subsequent inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrer, Oriol; McClay, Ken

2017-04-01

Salt is mechanically weaker than other sedimentary rocks in rift basins. During extension it commonly acts as a strain localizer, decoupling supra- and sub-salt deformation. In this scenario the movement of the subsalt faults combined with the salt migration commonly constraint the development of syncline basins. The shape of these synclines is basically controlled by the thickness and strength of the overlying salt section, as well as by the shapes of the extensional faults, and the magnitudes and slip rates along the faults. The inherited extensional structure, and particularly the continuity of the salt section, plays a key role if the rift basin is subsequently inverted. This research utilizes scaled physical models to analyse the interplay between subsalt structures and suprasalt units during both extension and inversion in domino-style basement fault systems. The experimental program includes twelve analogue models to analyze how the thickness and stratigraphy of the salt unit as well as the thickness of the pre-extensional cover constraint the structural style during extension and subsequent inversion. Different models with the same setup have been used to examine the kinematic evolution. Model kinematics was documented and analyzed combining high-resolution photographs and sub-millimeter resolution scanners. The vertical sections carried out at the end of the experiments have been used to characterize the variations of the structures along strike using new methodologies (3D voxel models in image processing software and 3D seismic). The experimental results show that after extension, rift systems with salt affected by domino-style basement faults don't show the classical growth stratal wedges. In this case synclinal basins develop above the salt on the hangingwall of the basement faults. The evolution of supra- and subsalt deformation is initially decoupled by the salt layer. Salt migrates from the main depocenters towards the edges of the basin constraining the sinking of this basin. As extension progressed, salt was locally depleted above the basement faults. From this point the structural style changed dramatically evolving to a coupled deformation. Welding produces a variation in the position of the basin depocenter that jumps towards a new formed antithetic fault above the depleted area. During inversion this basins were progressively folded and uplifted. Shortcuts formed on subsalt fault whereas the salt section acts as a contractional detachment transferring part of the deformation out of the basin. Changes in thickness of the salt section during the inversion produced primary welds and these permitted the sub-polymer deformation to propagate upwards into the supra-salt layers. These experimental results are compared with seismic examples from different areas of the Southern North Sea.

Coseismic microstructures of experimental fault zones in Carrara marble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ree, Jin-Han; Ando, Jun-ichi; Han, Raehee; Shimamoto, Toshihiko

2014-09-01

Experimental fault zones developed in Carrara marble that were deformed at seismic slip rates (1.18-1.30 m s-1) using a high-velocity-rotary-shear apparatus exhibit very low friction (friction coefficient as low as 0.06) at steady state due to nanoparticle lubrication of the decomposition product (lime). The fault zones show a layered structure; a central slip-localization layer (5-60 μm thick) of lime nanograins mantled by gouge layers (5-150 μm thick) and a plastically deformed layer (45-500 μm thick) between the wall rock and gouge layer in the marginal portion of cylindrical specimens. Calcite grains of the wall rock adjacent to the slip zone deform by dislocation glide when subjected to frictional heating and a lower strain rate than that of the principal slip zone. The very fine (2-5 μm) calcite grains in the gouge layer show a foam structure with relatively straight grain boundaries and 120° triple junctions. This foam structure is presumed to develop by welding at high temperature and low strain once slip is localized along the central layer. We suggest that a seismic event can be inferred from deformed marbles, given: (i) the presence of welded gouge with foam structure in a fault zone where wall rocks show no evidence of thermal metamorphism and (ii) a thin plastically deformed layer immediately adjacent to the principal slip zone of a cataclastic fault zone.

Constraints on the stress state of the San Andreas Fault with analysis based on core and cuttings from San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) drilling phases 1 and 2

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tembe, S.; Lockner, D.; Wong, T.-F.

2009-01-01

Analysis of field data has led different investigators to conclude that the San Andreas Fault (SAF) has either anomalously low frictional sliding strength (?? 0.6). Arguments for the apparent weakness of the SAF generally hinge on conceptual models involving intrinsically weak gouge or elevated pore pressure within the fault zone. Some models assert that weak gouge and/or high pore pressure exist under static conditions while others consider strength loss or fluid pressure increase due to rapid coseismic fault slip. The present paper is composed of three parts. First, we develop generalized equations, based on and consistent with the Rice (1992) fault zone model to relate stress orientation and magnitude to depth-dependent coefficient of friction and pore pressure. Second, we present temperature-and pressure-dependent friction measurements from wet illite-rich fault gouge extracted from San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) phase 1 core samples and from weak minerals associated with the San Andreas Fault. Third, we reevaluate the state of stress on the San Andreas Fault in light of new constraints imposed by SAFOD borehole data. Pure talc (?????0.1) had the lowest strength considered and was sufficiently weak to satisfy weak fault heat flow and stress orientation constraints with hydrostatic pore pressure. Other fault gouges showed a systematic increase in strength with increasing temperature and pressure. In this case, heat flow and stress orientation constraints would require elevated pore pressure and, in some cases, fault zone pore pressure in excess of vertical stress. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Three-dimensional analysis of a faulted CO 2 reservoir using an Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach to rock elastic properties and fault permeability

DOE PAGES

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Last, George V.; ...

2016-09-29

This work develops a three-dimensional multiscale model to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults southwest of the Kimberlina site. The model uses the STOMP-CO 2 code for flow modeling that is coupled to the ABAQUS® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. A 3D ABAQUS® finite element model is developed that contains a large number of 3D solid elements with two nearly parallel faults whose damage zones and cores are discretized using the same continuum elements. Five zones with different mineral compositions are considered: shale, sandstone, faultmore » damaged sandstone, fault damaged shale, and fault core. Rocks’ elastic properties that govern their poroelastic behavior are modeled by an Eshelby-Mori-Tanka approach (EMTA). EMTA can account for up to 15 mineral phases. The permeability of fault damage zones affected by crack density and orientations is also predicted by an EMTA formulation. A STOMP-CO 2 grid that exactly maps the ABAQUS® finite element model is built for coupled hydro-mechanical analyses. Simulations of the reservoir assuming three different crack pattern situations (including crack volume fraction and orientation) for the fault damage zones are performed to predict the potential leakage of CO 2 due to cracks that enhance the permeability of the fault damage zones. Here, the results illustrate the important effect of the crack orientation on fault permeability that can lead to substantial leakage along the fault attained by the expansion of the CO 2 plume. Potential hydraulic fracture and the tendency for the faults to slip are also examined and discussed in terms of stress distributions and geomechanical properties.« less

Three-dimensional analysis of a faulted CO 2 reservoir using an Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach to rock elastic properties and fault permeability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Last, George V.

This work develops a three-dimensional multiscale model to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults southwest of the Kimberlina site. The model uses the STOMP-CO 2 code for flow modeling that is coupled to the ABAQUS® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. A 3D ABAQUS® finite element model is developed that contains a large number of 3D solid elements with two nearly parallel faults whose damage zones and cores are discretized using the same continuum elements. Five zones with different mineral compositions are considered: shale, sandstone, faultmore » damaged sandstone, fault damaged shale, and fault core. Rocks’ elastic properties that govern their poroelastic behavior are modeled by an Eshelby-Mori-Tanka approach (EMTA). EMTA can account for up to 15 mineral phases. The permeability of fault damage zones affected by crack density and orientations is also predicted by an EMTA formulation. A STOMP-CO 2 grid that exactly maps the ABAQUS® finite element model is built for coupled hydro-mechanical analyses. Simulations of the reservoir assuming three different crack pattern situations (including crack volume fraction and orientation) for the fault damage zones are performed to predict the potential leakage of CO 2 due to cracks that enhance the permeability of the fault damage zones. Here, the results illustrate the important effect of the crack orientation on fault permeability that can lead to substantial leakage along the fault attained by the expansion of the CO 2 plume. Potential hydraulic fracture and the tendency for the faults to slip are also examined and discussed in terms of stress distributions and geomechanical properties.« less

Conditions for Land Subsidence and Ground Failure in Lacustrine Sediments, the Case of West Chapala Basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Marin, M.; Pacheco, J.; Ortiz-Lozano, J. A.; Ramirez-Cortes, A.; Araiza, G.

2014-12-01

Surface deformation in the form of land subsidence and ground failure in the Chapala Basin has caused serious damage to structures, mostly homes. In this work, the conditions for the occurrence of deformation particularly regarding the physical and mechanical properties of the soil are discussed. In 2012 a maximum land subsidence of 7.16 cm in a short period of 8 months was recorded with maximum velocities of deformation close to 0.89 centimeters per month. Natural conditions of the zone of study include a lacustrine low land with the perennial Chapala Lake, surrounded by ranges formed by volcanic extrusive rocks, mostly basalts and andesites. Two soil cores of 11 meters depth show the predominance of fine soil but with the incrustation of several sandy lenses of volcanic ash. In the first core closer to the piedmont, the volcanic ash presents an accumulated thickness close to three meters, starting at 4.5 meters depth; on the contrary, this thickness in the second core closer to the lake is critically reduced to no more than 50 centimeters. Even though the predominance of fine soil is significant, water-content averages 100 % and the liquid limit is low, suggesting amongst other possibilities, low content of clay or at least low content of smectites or allophanes in the clayey portion. Other properties of the soil are being determined for analyses. The occurrence of three alignments of ground failures in the community of Jocotepec at the west, mostly faults, suggests highly heterogeneous subsoil. The high volumes of groundwater withdrawn from the local aquifers mainly for agriculture are directly contributing to the increase of the effective stress and surface deformation, however, the relationship between level descents and surficial deformation is still not clear.

Paleoclimatic and Paleoceanographic Holocene Sedimentary Records in the Gulf of California - Eastern Pacific Ocean Interhemispheric Connections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Cruz, L.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.

2009-05-01

Initial results of a study on the distribution, thickness and stratigraphy of the sedimentary sequences in the Gulf of California are presented. The Gulf is an elongated narrow young oceanic basin bordered by the Baja California peninsula and mainland Mexico. The Gulf extends over 1200 km across the Tropic of Cancer from the tropical to the temperate zones, surrounded by arid and semi-arid regions, including the Sonora-Mojave Desert. Paleoceanographic conditions are dominated by water exchange at the Gulf mouth and water masses changes along the Gulf. Tectonic basins reach down in excess of 3000 m depths and get shallower to the north. Here we focus on the Holocene sediment sequences in the southern sector, which contains several marginal and central anoxic basins that constitute rich archives of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evolution for the past 3.6 Ma. In the mouth area, main sources of sediments are silicic volcanic and intrusive rocks in the Baja peninsula and mainland, including Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta batholiths. Fine-grained eolian dusts, pluvial and biogenic sediments are present in the sediment cores in the Gulf basins such as La Paz, Alfonso, Carmen, Pescadero and Guaymas basins. Turbiditic currents and tephra deposits also occur in the cores. Paleoclimatic records show the influences of regional processes, including the ENSO and PDO signals marked by drought and increased precipitation phases. Relative distribution and thickness of sediments at the mouth of the Gulf correlate with bathymetry and location with respect to spreading center, transform faults and margins of the peninsula and mainland Mexico. Rock magnetic core scans and mineralogy at few locations are available, which allow inferences on sediment sources, transport and deposition processes, diagenesis, paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic evolution for the Holocene.

Characteristics of earthquake-induced turbidites in Beppu Bay, southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, K.; Takemura, K.; Kuwae, M.; Ikehara, K.; Yamamoto, M.

2015-12-01

Beppu Bay is located at the western end of the arc-bisecting dextral fault (Median Tectonic Line) associated with the northwestward subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate. According to Itoh et al. (1998) and Itoh et al. (2014), the process of formation of the bay was divided into two stages. The older stage (5 to 1.5 Ma) was dominated by a northward-inclined half-graben, while a pull-apart stress resulting from the right-stepping of the MTL developed during the younger stage (1.5 Ma to present in particular, 0.7 Ma to present), so seamless sediments were clearly preserved in the bay. Recently, Kuwae et al. (2012) revealed that the hemipelagic sediments accompanied with some event layers (18 major event layers (> 1 cm thick) and 55 minor event layers (< 1 cm thick)) were deposited. The core was well dated based on AMS 14C ages of 42 bivalves. In this study, we investigated the lithology of the event layers to understand how the layers were deposited. As a result, major event layers are classified into five types based on difference in the grain composition and facies: turbidites (type A-C), tephras (type D), and others (type E). Type A (4 layers) is thick event layers with a basal sand division, middle laminated silt division, and upper clay division. Relatively heavy particles, such as minerals, are concentrated in the basal division with clear erosion. Type B (7 layers) is similar to type A, but lack the basal division. Type C (5 layers) is almost the same as type B, but contains gypsum. Type D (2 layers) consists of a large amount of volcanic glass without bottom erosion. Type E (1 layer) is different from all other types and distinguishes by black color coarse particles and relatively high magnetic susceptibility. In particular, type A event layers are deposited in 334, 617, 1685, and 1893 cal. yrs BP using our age-depth model. The deposition age of an event layer corresponds to Keicho-Bungo historical earthquake occurred in 354 cal. yrs BP (Usami, 1996). The ages of other three layers are also not inconsistent with the ages of three fault events estimated by previous on-fault studies (Oita Prefecture, 2001; Chida et al., 2004). We thus concluded that the type A event layers were likely induced by earthquakes.

Geologic appraisal of Paradox basin salt deposits for water emplacement

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hite, Robert J.; Lohman, Stanley William

1973-01-01

Thick salt deposits of Middle Pennsylvanian age are present in an area of 12,000 square miles in the Paradox basin of southeast Utah and southwest Colorado. The deposits are in the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation. The greatest thickness of this evaporite sequence is in a troughlike depression adjacent to the Uncompahgre uplift on the northeast side of the basin.The salt deposits consist of a cyclical sequence of thick halite units separated by thin units of black shale, dolomite, and anhydrite. Many halite units are several hundred feet thick and locally contain economically valuable potash deposits.Over much of the Paradox basin the salt deposits occur at depths of more than 5,000 feet. Only in a series of salt anticlines located along the northeastern side of the basin do the salt deposits rise to relatively shallow depths. The salt anticlines can be divided geographically and structurally into five major systems. Each system consists of a long undulating welt of thickened salt over which younger rocks are arched in anticlinal form. Locally there are areas along the axes of the anticlines where the Paradox Member was never covered by younger sediments. This allowed large-scale migration of Paradox strata toward and up through these holes in the sediment cover forming diapiric anticlines.The central or salt-bearing cores of the anticlines range in thickness from about 2,500 to 14,000 feet. Structure in the central core of the salt anticlines is the result of both regional-compression and flowage of the Paradox Member into the anticlines from adjacent synclines. Structure in the central cores of the salt anticlines ranges from relatively undeformed beds to complexly folded and faulted masses, in which stratigraphic continuity is undemonstrable.The presence of thick cap rock .over many of the salt anticlines is evidence of removal of large volumes of halite by groundwater. Available geologic and hydrologic information suggests that this is a relatively slow process and that any waste-storage or disposal sites in these structures should remain dry for hundreds of thousands of years.Trace to commercial quantities of oil and gas are found in all of the black shale-dolomite-anhydrite interbeds of the Paradox Member. These hydrocarbons constitute a definite hazard in the construction and operation of underground waste-storage or disposal facilities. However, many individual halite beds are of. sufficient thickness that a protective seal of halite can be left between the openings and the gassy beds.A total of 12 different localities were considered to be potential waste-storage or disposal sites in the Paradox basin. Two Sharer dome and Salt Valley anticline, were considered to have the most favorable characteristics.

Patterns of brittle deformation under extension on Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neumann, G. A.; Zuber, M. T.

1994-01-01

The development of fractures at regular length scales is a widespread feature of Venusian tectonics. Models of lithospheric deformation under extension based on non-Newtonian viscous flow and brittle-plastic flow develop localized failure at preferred wavelengths that depend on lithospheric thickness and stratification. The characteristic wavelengths seen in rift zones and tessera can therefore provide constraints on crustal and thermal structure. Analytic solutions were obtained for growth rates in infinitesimal perturbations imposed on a one-dimensional, layered rheology. Brittle layers were approximated by perfectly-plastic, uniform strength, overlying ductile layers exhibiting thermally-activated power-law creep. This study investigates the formation of faults under finite amounts of extension, employing a finite-element approach. Our model incorporates non-linear viscous rheology and a Coulomb failure envelope. An initial perturbation in crustal thickness gives rise to necking instabilities. A small amount of velocity weakening serves to localize deformation into planar regions of high strain rate. Such planes are analogous to normal faults seen in terrestrial rift zones. These 'faults' evolve to low angle under finite extension. Fault spacing, orientation and location, and the depth to the brittle-ductile transition, depend in a complex way on lateral variations in crustal thickness. In general, we find that multiple wavelengths of deformation can arise from the interaction of crustal and mantle lithosphere.

Plume Activity and Tidal Deformation on Enceladus Influenced by Faults and Variable Ice Shell Thickness

PubMed Central

Souček, Ondřej; Hron, Jaroslav; Čadek, Ondřej

2017-01-01

Abstract We investigated the effect of variations in ice shell thickness and of the tiger stripe fractures crossing Enceladus' south polar terrain on the moon's tidal deformation by performing finite element calculations in three-dimensional geometry. The combination of thinning in the polar region and the presence of faults has a synergistic effect that leads to an increase of both the displacement and stress in the south polar terrain by an order of magnitude compared to that of the traditional model with a uniform shell thickness and without faults. Assuming a simplified conductive heat transfer and neglecting the heat sources below the ice shell, we computed the global heat budget of the ice shell. For the inelastic properties of the shell described by a Maxwell viscoelastic model, we show that unrealistically low average viscosity of the order of 1013 Pa s is necessary for preserving the volume of the ocean, suggesting the important role of the heat sources in the deep interior. Similarly, low viscosity is required to predict the observed delay of the plume activity, which hints at other delaying mechanisms than just the viscoelasticity of the ice shell. The presence of faults results in large spatial and temporal heterogeneity of geysering activity compared to the traditional models without faults. Our model contributes to understanding the physical mechanisms that control the fault activity, and it provides potentially useful information for future missions that will sample the plume for evidence of life. Key Words: Enceladus—Tidal deformation—Faults—Variable ice shell thickness—Tidal heating—Plume activity and timing. Astrobiology 17, 941–954. PMID:28816521

Mars tectonics and volcanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solomon, Sean C.

1990-01-01

The focus of this research was on three broad areas: (1) the relation between lithospheric stress in the vicinity of a growing volcano and the evolution of eruption characteristics and tectonic faulting; (2) the relation between elastic lithosphere thickness and thermal structure; and (3) a synthesis of constraints on heat flow and internal dynamics on Mars. The two reports presented are: (1) Heterogeneities in the Thickness of the Elastic Lithosphere of Mars--Constraints on Heat Flow and Internal Dynamics; and (2) State of Stress, Faulting, and Eruption Characteristics of Large Volcanoes on Mars.

Scientific drilling into the San Andreas Fault Zone - an overview of SAFOD's first five years

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zoback, Mark; Hickman, Stephen; Ellsworth, William; ,

2011-01-01

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) was drilled to study the physical and chemical processes controlling faulting and earthquake generation along an active, plate-bounding fault at depth. SAFOD is located near Parkfield, California and penetrates a section of the fault that is moving due to a combination of repeating microearthquakes and fault creep. Geophysical logs define the San Andreas Fault Zone to be relatively broad (~200 m), containing several discrete zones only 2–3 m wide that exhibit very low P- and S-wave velocities and low resistivity. Two of these zones have progressively deformed the cemented casing at measured depths of 3192 m and 3302 m. Cores from both deforming zones contain a pervasively sheared, cohesionless, foliated fault gouge that coincides with casing deformation and explains the observed extremely low seismic velocities and resistivity. These cores are being now extensively tested in laboratories around the world, and their composition, deformation mechanisms, physical properties, and rheological behavior are studied. Downhole measurements show that within 200 m (maximum) of the active fault trace, the direction of maximum horizontal stress remains at a high angle to the San Andreas Fault, consistent with other measurements. The results from the SAFOD Main Hole, together with the stress state determined in the Pilot Hole, are consistent with a strong crust/weak fault model of the San Andreas. Seismic instrumentation has been deployed to study physics of faulting—earthquake nucleation, propagation, and arrest—in order to test how laboratory-derived concepts scale up to earthquakes occurring in nature.

Project REPONS: Offshore Faults, Tectonic Deformation and Turbidite Record in Response to the January 12 2010 Earthquake, Haiti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McHugh, C. M.; Gulick, S. P.; Cormier, M.; Dieudonne, N.; Diebold, J. B.; Douilly, R.; Hornbach, M.; Johnson, H. E.; Mishkin, K.; Seeber, L.; Sorlien, C. C.; Steckler, M. S.; Symithe, S. J.

2010-12-01

As part of an NSF RAPID response to the January 12, 2010 earthquake, we mapped the underwater continuation of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGF) west of Léogâne. Multibeam bathymetry, sidescan sonar, chirp subbottom profiler, sediment sampling and CTD measurements were conducted in water depths of 2 m to 1750 m from the R/V Endeavor and from a small inflatable boat. The offshore segment of the EPGF is manifested by two steep, 50-80 m high linear ridges and at least two subsurface faults. The submarine EPGF is part of a transition from releasing to restraining segment. To the east, it joins its onshore trace in a releasing bend and continues to the west in a restraining bend that perhaps caused the Tapion ridge. Within the Baies de Petit and Grand Goâve, river outlets are correlated with lateral spreading and/or subsidence where we observed increased local damage to structures. Lateral spreading and/or subsidence appears to have increased tsunami effects locally. Coral uplift NE and SW of offshore fault traces offer evidence of the January 12, 2010 surface deformation. While a seafloor rupture is not evident from the data collected we do image deformation within the upper 20 m in both bays. Mass wasting and gravity flow deposits from the last and older earthquakes were tracked from the Léogâne delta and along the coast to the deepest depocenter. Th-234 and Be-7 with half-lives of 24 and 53 days, respectively verified the January 12 turbidite and indicated an influx of terrigenous sediment mixed with marine sources. Coral debris was sampled in the shelf and upper slope (100-300 m) near the EPGF; basalt sand derived from the highlands and wood fragments at intermediate water depths (1000-1100 m); lastly an ~0.03 km3 and >1 m thick turbidite was deposited over 50 km2 in the Canal du Sud depocenter (1750 m). The sandy parts of all cores recovered from Canal du Sud depocenter have alternate episodes of traction deposition and erosion that reflect pulses of increased energy fluctuations consistent with long waves. These currents are generated by seiches and tsunamis. In the deepest waters of Canal du Sud at 1750 m, we observed a 600 m thick layer of sediment that was still in suspension almost two months after the earthquake. Deep marginal basins adjacent to strike slip margins are important for tracking paleoseismic records that are critical for understanding the rupture history of these faults.

Results from Geothermal Logging, Air and Core-Water Chemistry Sampling, Air Injection Testing and Tracer Testing in the Northern Ghost Dance Fault, YUCCA Mountain, Nevada, November 1996 to August 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lecain, G.D.; Anna, L.O.; Fahy, M.F.

1998-08-01

Geothermal logging, air and core-water chemistry sampling, air-injection testing, and tracer testing were done in the northern Ghost Dance Fault at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, from November 1996 to August 1998. The study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy. The fault-testing drill room and test boreholes were located in the crystal-poor, middle nonlithophysal zone of the Topopah Spring Tuff, a tuff deposit of Miocene age. The drill room is located off the Yucca Mountain underground Exploratory Studies Facility at about 230 meters below ground surface. Borehole geothermal logging identified a temperature decreasemore » of 0.1 degree Celsius near the Ghost Dance Fault. The temperature decrease could indicate movement of cooler air or water, or both, down the fault, or it may be due to drilling-induced evaporative or adiabatic cooling. In-situ pneumatic pressure monitoring indicated that barometric pressure changes were transmitted from the ground surface to depth through the Ghost Dance Fault. Values of carbon dioxide and delta carbon-13 from gas samples indicated that air from the underground drill room had penetrated the tuff, supporting the concept of a well-developed fracture system. Uncorrected carbon-14-age estimates from gas samples ranged from 2,400 to 4,500 years. Tritium levels in borehole core water indicated that the fault may have been a conduit for the transport of water from the ground surface to depth during the last 100 years.« less

A crustal model of the ultrahigh-pressure Dabie Shan orogenic belt, China, derived from deep seismic refraction profiling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Chun-Yong; Zeng, Rong-Sheng; Mooney, W.D.; Hacker, B.R.

2000-01-01

We present a new crustal cross section through the east-west trending ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) Dabie Shan orogenic belt, east central China, based on a 400-km-long seismic refraction profile. Data from our profile reveal that the cratonal blocks north and south of the orogen are composed of 35-km-thick crust consisting of three layers (upper, middle, and lower crust) with average seismic velocities of 6.0±0.2 km/s, 6.5±0.1 km/s, and 6.8±0.1 km/s. The crust reaches a maximum thickness of 41.5 km beneath the northern margin of the orogen, and thus the present-day root beneath the orogen is only 6.5 km thick. The upper mantle velocity is 8.0±0.1 km/s. Modeling of shear wave data indicate that Poisson's ratio increases from 0.24±0.02 in the upper crust to 0.27±0.03 in the lower crust. This result is consistent with a dominantly felsic upper crustal composition and a mafic lower crustal composition within the amphibolite or granulite metamorphic facies. Our seismic model indicates that eclogite, which is abundant in surface exposures within the orogen, is not a volumetrically significant component in the middle or lower crust. Much of the Triassic structure associated with the formation of the UHP rocks of the Dabie Shan has been obscured by post-Triassic igneous activity, extension and large-offset strike-slip faulting. Nevertheless, we can identify a high-velocity (6.3 km/s) zone in the upper (<5 km depth) crustal core of the orogen which we interpret as a zone of ultrahigh-pressure rocks, a north dipping suture, and an apparent Moho offset that marks a likely active strike-slip fault.

Preliminary Gravity and Magnetic Data of the Lake Pillsbury Region, Northern Coast Ranges, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, V.E.; Jachens, Robert C.; Morin, Robert L.; McCabe, Craig A.

2007-01-01

The Lake Pillsbury region is transected by the Bartlett Springs Fault zone, one of the main strike-slip faults of the San Andreas system north of San Francisco Bay, California. Gravity and magnetic data were collected to help characterize the geometry and offset of the fault zone as well as determine the geometry of the Gravelly Valley pull-apart basin and Potter Valley, an alluvial intermontane basin southwest of Lake Pillsbury. The Bartlett Springs fault zone lies at the base of a significant gravity gradient. Superposed on the gradient is a small gravity low centered over Lake Pillsbury and Gravelly Valley. Another small gravity low coincides with Potter Valley. Inversion of gravity data for basin thickness indicates a maximum thickness of 400 and 440 m for the Gravelly and Potter Valley depressions, respectively. Ground magnetic data indicate that the regional aeromagnetic data likely suffer from positional errors, but that large, long-wavelength anomalies, sourced from serpentinite, may be offset 8 km along the Bartlett Springs Fault zone. Additional gravity data collected either on the lake surface or bottom and in Potter Valley would better determine the shape of the basins. A modern, high-resolution aeromagnetic survey would greatly augment the ability to map and model the fault geometry quantitatively.

The balance of frictional heat production, thermal pressurization, and slip resistance on exhumed mid-crustal faults (Adamello batholith, Southern Italian Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffith, W. A.; di Toro, G.; Pollard, D. D.

2005-12-01

Exhumed faults cutting the Adamello batholith (Italian Alps) were active ca. 30 Ma at seismogenic depths of 9-11 km. The faults "exploited preexisting joints and can be classified into three groups containing: (A) only cataclasite (a fault rock with no evidence of melting), (B) cataclasite and pseudotachylyte (solidified friction-induced melts produced during earthquakes), and (C) only pseudotachylyte. The majority of pseudotachylyte-bearing faults in this outcrop overprint pre-existing cataclasites (Type B), suggesting a transition between slip styles; however, some faults exhibiting pseudotachylyte and no cataclasite (Type C) display evidence of only one episode of slip. Faults of Type A never transitioned to frictional melting. We attempt to compare faults of type A, B, and C in terms of a simple one-dimensional thermo-mechanical model introduced by Lachenbruch (1980) describing the interaction between frictional heating, pore fluid pressure, and shear resistance during slip. The interaction of these three parameters influences how much elastic strain is relieved during an earthquake. For a conceptualized fault zone of finite thickness, the interplay between the shear resistance, heat production, and pore fluid pressure can be expressed as a non-linear partial differential equation relating these processes to the strain rate acting within a fault zone during a slip event. The behavior of fault zones in terms of these coupled processes during an earthquake depends on a number of parameters, such as thickness of the principal slipping zone, net coseismic slip, fault rock permeability and thermal diffusivity. Ideally, the governing equations should be testable on real fault zones if the requisite parameters can be measured or reasonably estimated. The model can be further simplified if the peak temperature reached during slip and the coseismic slip rate can be constrained. The contrasting nature of slip on the three Adamello fault types highlights (1) important differences between slip processes on cataclastic and melt-producing faults at depth and (2) some limitations of applicability of such models to real faults.

basement reservoir geometry and properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, bastien; Geraud, yves; Diraison, marc

2017-04-01

Basement reservoirs are nowadays frequently investigated for deep-seated fluid resources (e.g. geothermal energy, groundwater, hydrocarbons). The term 'basement' generally refers to crystalline and metamorphic formations, where matrix porosity is negligible in fresh basement rocks. Geothermal production of such unconventional reservoirs is controlled by brittle structures and altered rock matrix, resulting of a combination of different tectonic, hydrothermal or weathering phenomena. This work aims to characterize the petro-structural and petrophysical properties of two basement surface analogue case studies in geological extensive setting (the Albert Lake rift in Uganda; the Ifni proximal margin of the South West Morocco Atlantic coast). Different datasets, using field structural study, geophysical acquisition and laboratory petrophysical measurements, were integrated to describe the multi-scale geometry of the porous network of such fractured and weathered basement formations. This study points out the multi-scale distribution of all the features constituting the reservoir, over ten orders of magnitude from the pluri-kilometric scale of the major tectonics structures to the infra-millimetric scale of the secondary micro-porosity of fractured and weathered basements units. Major fault zones, with relatively thick and impermeable fault core structures, control the 'compartmentalization' of the reservoir by dividing it into several structural blocks. The analysis of these fault zones highlights the necessity for the basement reservoirs to be characterized by a highly connected fault and fracture system, where structure intersections represent the main fluid drainage areas between and within the reservoir's structural blocks. The suitable fluid storage areas in these reservoirs correspond to the damage zone of all the fault structures developed during the tectonic evolution of the basement and the weathered units of the basement roof developed during pre-rift exhumation phases. Macroscopic fracture density is highly dependent on the petrographic nature of the basement, with values up to 80 frac./m in fault damage zones of crystalline rocks. Dense micro-cracks associated to major fault structures can develop porosity and permeability up to 10% and 0.1 D. In some weathered horizons, alteration can develop matrix porosity up to 40% and the permeability reaches up to 1D. This study highlights therefore that basement reservoir properties are the result of the long geodynamic evolution of such formations, and the different fault zone compartments or weathering horizons have to be considered separately for reservoir understanding.

Microstructures Indicate Large Influence of Temperature and Fluid Pressure on the Reactivation of the Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuck, B.; Janssen, C.; Schleicher, A.; Toy, V.; Dresen, G.

2017-12-01

The transpressional Alpine Fault within New Zealand's South Island is the major structure that accommodates relative motion between the Pacific and the Australian Plates. It has been intensively studied, because it is late in its 291-year seismic cycle (Cochran et al., 2017; doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.026), is likely to generate large (i.e. MW > 8) earthquakes, thus presents the biggest seismic hazard in the region. However, because it is severely misoriented in the present-day stress field for reactivation (Boese et al., 2013; doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2013.06.030), supra-lithostatic fluid-pressures are required for rupture nucleation. We have analyzed microstructures (SEM and TEM), geochemistry (ICP-OES) and mineralogy (XRD) of outcrop samples of the fault core to investigate the influence of fluids on the geomechanical behavior of the fault. Fluid-related alteration is pervasive within 20 m of the principal slip zone (PSZ) (Sutherland et al., 2012; doi: 10.1130/G33614.1), which is an incohesive, cemented and repeatedly reworked fault gouge mostly consisting of a fine-grained matrix composed of comminuted detrital quartz and feldspar as well as authigenic chlorite and calcite. Authigenic phases seal the PSZ for interseismic cross-fault fluid flow and enable fluid pressure to build-up. Notable, smectite, previously considered to significantly influence propagation of Alpine Fault ruptures, is not present in these samples. Undeformed, euhedral chlorite grains suggest that the processes leading to fault sealing are not only active at greater depths but also close to the surface. The absence of smectite and the presence of undeformed chlorite at very shallow depths can be attributed to the fault's high geothermal gradient of > 120 °C km-1 (Sutherland et al., 2012; doi:10.1038/nature22355), which gives temperature conditions unfavorable for smectite to be stable and fostering chlorite growth. A pervasive network of anastomosing calcite veins in the fault core, depicting mutual cross-cutting relations, attests for episodic fluid flow and mineralization within the PSZ. We interpret these as microstructural evidence for transient fault core permeability resulting from rupture nucleation due to supra-lithostatic fluid pressures following during fault-valve behavior.

Faulting processes in active faults - Evidences from TCDP and SAFOD drill core samples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Janssen, C.; Wirth, R.; Wenk, H. -R.

The microstructures, mineralogy and chemistry of representative samples collected from the cores of the San Andreas Fault drill hole (SAFOD) and the Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling project (TCDP) have been studied using optical microscopy, TEM, SEM, XRD and XRF analyses. SAFOD samples provide a transect across undeformed host rock, the fault damage zone and currently active deforming zones of the San Andreas Fault. TCDP samples are retrieved from the principal slip zone (PSZ) and from the surrounding damage zone of the Chelungpu Fault. Substantial differences exist in the clay mineralogy of SAFOD and TCDP fault gouge samples. Amorphous material has beenmore » observed in SAFOD as well as TCDP samples. In line with previous publications, we propose that melt, observed in TCDP black gouge samples, was produced by seismic slip (melt origin) whereas amorphous material in SAFOD samples was formed by comminution of grains (crush origin) rather than by melting. Dauphiné twins in quartz grains of SAFOD and TCDP samples may indicate high seismic stress. The differences in the crystallographic preferred orientation of calcite between SAFOD and TCDP samples are significant. Microstructures resulting from dissolution–precipitation processes were observed in both faults but are more frequently found in SAFOD samples than in TCDP fault rocks. As already described for many other fault zones clay-gouge fabrics are quite weak in SAFOD and TCDP samples. Clay-clast aggregates (CCAs), proposed to indicate frictional heating and thermal pressurization, occur in material taken from the PSZ of the Chelungpu Fault, as well as within and outside of the SAFOD deforming zones, indicating that these microstructures were formed over a wide range of slip rates.« less

Constraints on the stress state of the San Andreas fault with analysis based on core and cuttings from SAFOD drilling phases I and II

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockner, David A.; Tembe, Cheryl; Wong, Teng-fong

2009-01-01

Analysis of field data has led different investigators to conclude that the San Andreas Fault (SAF) has either anomalously low frictional sliding strength (m < 0.2) or strength consistent with standard laboratory tests (m > 0.6). Arguments for the apparent weakness of the SAF generally hinge on conceptual models involving intrinsically weak gouge or elevated pore pressure within the fault zone. Some models assert that weak gouge and/or high pore pressure exist under static conditions while others consider strength loss or fluid pressure increase due to rapid coseismic fault slip. The present paper is composed of three parts. First, we develop generalized equations, based on and consistent with the Rice (1992) fault zone model to relate stress orientation and magnitude to depth-dependent coefficient of friction and pore pressure. Second, we present temperature- and pressure-dependent friction measurements from wet illite-rich fault gouge extracted from San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) phase 1 core samples and from weak minerals associated with the San Andreas Fault. Third, we reevaluate the state of stress on the San Andreas Fault in light of new constraints imposed by SAFOD borehole data. Pure talc (m0.1) had the lowest strength considered and was sufficiently weak to satisfy weak fault heat flow and stress orientation constraints with hydrostatic pore pressure. Other fault gouges showed a systematic increase in strength with increasing temperature and pressure. In this case, heat flow and stress orientation constraints would require elevated pore pressure and, in some cases, fault zone pore pressure in excess of vertical stress.

Stratigraphy and tectonic history of the Tucson Basin, Pima County, Arizona, based on the Exxon state (32)-1 well

USGS Publications Warehouse

Houser, Brenda B.; Peters, Lisa; Esser, Richard P.; Gettings, Mark E.

2004-01-01

The Tucson Basin is a relatively large late Cenozoic extensional basin developed in the upper plate of the Catalina detachment fault in the southern Basin and Range Province, southeastern Arizona. In 1972, Exxon Company, U.S.A., drilled an exploration well (Exxon State (32)-1) near the center of the Tucson Basin that penetrated 3,658 m (12,001 ft) of sedimentary and volcanic rocks above granitoid basement. Detailed study of cuttings and geophysical logs of the Exxon State well has led to revision of the previously reported subsurface stratigraphy for the basin and provided new insight into its depositional and tectonic history. There is evidence that detachment faulting and uplift of the adjacent Catalina core complex on the north have affected the subsurface geometry of the basin. The gravity anomaly map of the Tucson Basin indicates that the locations of subbasins along the north-trending axis of the main basin coincide with the intersection of this axis with west-southwest projections of synforms in the adjacent core complex. In other words, the subbasins overlie synforms and the ridges between subbasins overlie antiforms. The Exxon State well was drilled near the center of one of the subbasins. The Exxon well was drilled to a total depth of 3,827 m (12,556 ft), and penetrated the following stratigraphic section: Pleistocene(?) to middle(?) Miocene upper basin-fill sedimentary rocks (0-908 m [0-2,980 ft]) lower basin-fill sedimentary rocks (908-1,880 m [2,980-6,170 ft]) lower Miocene and upper Oligocene Pantano Formation (1,880-2,516 m [6,170-8,256 ft]) upper Oligocene to Paleocene(?) volcanic and sedimentary rocks (2,516-3,056 m [8,256-10,026 ft]) Lower Cretaceous to Upper Jurassic Bisbee Group (3,056-3,658 m [10,026-12,001 ft]) pre-Late Jurassic granitoid plutonic rock (3,658-3,827 m [12,001- 12,556 ft]). Stratigraphy and Tectonic History of the Tucson Basin, Pima County, Arizona, Based on the Exxon State (32)-1 Well The 1,880 m (6,170 ft) of basin-fill sedimentary rocks consist of alluvial-fan, alluvial-plain, and playa facies. The uppermost unit, a 341-m-thick (1,120-ft) lower Pleistocene and upper Pliocene alluvial-fan deposit (named the Cienega Creek fan in this study), is an important aquifer in the Tucson basin. The facies change at the base of the alluvial fan may prove to be recognizable in well data throughout much of the basin. The well data show that a sharp boundary at 908 m (2,980 ft) separates relatively unconsolidated and undeformed upper basin fill from denser, significantly faulted lower basin fill, indicating that there were two stages of basin filling in the Tucson basin as in other basins of the region. The two stages apparently occurred during times of differing tectonic style in the region. In the Tucson area the Pantano Formation, which contains an andesite flow dated at about 25 Ma, fills a syntectonic basin in the hanging wall of the Catalina detachment fault, reflecting middle Tertiary extension on the fault. The formation in the well is 636 m thick (2,086 ft) and consists of alluvial-fan, playa, and lacustrine sedimentary facies, a lava flow, and rock- avalanche deposits. Analysis of the geophysical logs indicates that a K-Ar date of 23.4 Ma reported previously for the Pantano interval of the well was obtained on selected cuttings collected from a rock-avalanche deposit near the base of the unit and, thus, does not date the Pantano Formation. The middle Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks have an aggregate thickness of 540 m (1,770 ft). We obtained a new 40Ar/ 39Ar age of 26.91+0.18 Ma on biotite sampled at a depth of 2,584-2,609 m (8,478-8,560 ft) from a 169-m-thick (554-ft) silicic tuff in this interval. The volcanic rocks probably correlate with other middle Tertiary volcanic rocks of the area, and the sedimentary rocks may correlate with the Cloudburst and Mineta Formations exposed on the flanks of the San Pedro Basin to the northeast. The Bisbee Group in the Exxon well is 602 m (1,975 f

Constraining the Mean Crustal Thickness on Mercury

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nimmo, F.

2001-01-01

The topography of Mercury is poorly known, with only limited radar and stereo coverage available. However, radar profiles reveal topographic contrasts of several kilometers over wavelengths of approximately 1000 km. The bulk of Mercury's geologic activity took place within the first 1 Ga of the planet's history), and it is therefore likely that these topographic features derive from this period. On Earth, long wavelength topographic features are supported either convectively, or through some combination of isostasy and flexure. Photographic images show no evidence for plume-like features, nor for plate tectonics; I therefore assume that neither convective support nor Pratt isostasy are operating. The composition and structure of the crust of Mercury are almost unknown. The reflectance spectrum of the surface of Mercury is similar to that of the lunar highlands, which are predominantly plagioclase. Anderson et al. used the observed center-of-mass center-of-figure offset together with an assumption of Airy isostasy to infer a crustal thickness of 100-300 km. Based on tidal despinning arguments, the early elastic thickness (T(sub e)) of the (unfractured) lithosphere was approximately equal to or less than 100 km. Thrust faults with lengths of up to 500 km and ages of about 4 Ga B.P. are known to exist on Mercury. Assuming a semicircular slip distribution and a typical thrust fault angle of 10 degrees, the likely vertical depth to the base of these faults is about 45 km. More sophisticated modelling gives similar or slightly smaller answers. The depth to the base of faulting and the elastic layer are usually similar on Earth, and both are thought to be thermally controlled. Assuming that the characteristic temperature is about 750 K, the observed fault depth implies that the heat flux at 4 Ga B.P. is unlikely to be less than 20 mW m(exp -2) for a linear temperature gradient. For an elastic thickness of 45 km, topography at 1000 km wavelength is likely to be about 60% compensated. There are thus likely to be considerable lateral variations in crustal thickness. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Correlation of clayey gouge in a surface exposure of the San Andreas fault with gouge at depth from SAFOD: Implications for the role of serpentinite in fault mechanics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Diane E.; Rymer, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Magnesium-rich clayey gouge similar to that comprising the two actively creeping strands of the San Andreas Fault in drill core from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) has been identified in a nearby outcrop of serpentinite within the fault zone at Nelson Creek. Each occurrence of the gouge consists of porphyroclasts of serpentinite and sedimentary rocks dispersed in a fine-grained, foliated matrix of Mg-rich smectitic clays. The clay minerals in all three gouges are interpreted to be the product of fluid-assisted, shear-enhanced reactions between quartzofeldspathic wall rocks and serpentinite that was tectonically entrained in the fault from a source in the Coast Range Ophiolite. We infer that the gouge at Nelson Creek connects to one or both of the gouge zones in the SAFOD core, and that similar gouge may occur at depths in between. The special significance of the outcrop is that it preserves the early stages of mineral reactions that are greatly advanced at depth, and it confirms the involvement of serpentinite and the Mg-rich phyllosilicate minerals that replace it in promoting creep along the central San Andreas Fault.

Brittle extension of the continental crust along a rooted system of low-angle normal faults: Colorado River extensional corridor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

John, B. E.; Howard, K. A.

1985-01-01

A transect across the 100 km wide Colorado River extensional corridor of mid-Tertiary age shows that the upper 10 to 15 km of crystalline crust extended along an imbricate system of brittle low-angle normal faults. The faults cut gently down a section in the NE-direction of tectonic transport from a headwall breakaway in the Old Woman Mountains, California. Successively higher allochthons above a basal detachment fault are futher displaced from the headwall, some as much as tens of kilometers. Allochthonous blocks are tilted toward the headwall as evidenced by the dip of the cappoing Tertiary strata and originally horizontal Proterozoic diabase sheets. On the down-dip side of the corridor in Arizona, the faults root under the unbroken Hualapai Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. Slip on faults at all exposed levels of the crust was unidirectional. Brittle thinning above these faults affected the entire upper crust, and wholly removed it locally along the central corridor or core complex region. Isostatic uplift exposed metamorphic core complexes in the domed footwall. These data support a model that the crust in California moved out from under Arizona along an asymmetric, rooted normal-slip shear system. Ductile deformation must have accompanied mid-Tertiary crustal extension at deeper structural levels in Arizona.

A study of the United States coal resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferm, J. C.; Muthig, P. J.

1982-01-01

Geologically significant coal resources were identified. Statistically controlled tonnage estimates for each resource type were prepared. Particular emphasis was placed on the identification and description of coals in terms of seam thickness, inclination, depth of cover, discontinuities caused by faulting and igneous intrusion, and occurrence as isolated or multiseam deposits. The national resource was organized into six major coal provinces: the Appalachian Plateau, the Interior Basins, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Rocky Mountain Basins, the High Plains, and North Alaska. Each basin within a province was blocked into subareas of homogeneous coal thickness. Total coal tonnage for a subarea was estimated from an analysis of the cumulative coal thickness derived from borehole or surface section records and subsequently categorized in terms of seam thickness, dip, overburden, multiseam proportions, coal quality, and tonnage impacted by severe faulting and igneous intrusions. Confidence intervals were calculated for both subarea and basin tonnage estimates.

Earthquake geology along the North Anatoli Fault Zone in the Marmara Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McHugh, C. M.; Cormier, M.-H.; Seeber, L.; Cagatay, M. N.; Capotondi, L.; Polonia, A.; Lozefski, G.

2003-04-01

The feasibility of conducting submarine earthquake geology along the North Anatolia Fault Zone (NAFZ) was evaluated from sediment cores and geophysical data (multibeam bathymetry and high-resolution CHIRP) recently collected from the Marmara Sea. We have successfully begun to characterize the Holocene earthquake record of the NAFZ in a small basin along the Ganos fault east of the Gelibolu peninsula, and in Izmit Gulf (west of the Hersek promontory and in the Karamürsel basin). Evidence for seismic activity was derived from mass-wasting and gravity flow deposits including homogenites (deposits >10cm thick containing turbidites with resuspended sediment above) identified from core x-rays, grain size, organic carbon, and mineralogical analyses. Deposits were correlated to the historical earthquake record of the Marmara Sea region by chronology derived from 14C, 210Pb and 137Cs. The basin near Ganos is ideal for the study of earthquake-related activity. It is deep (>50m), bisected by the fault, and isolated from other basins and distal from fluvial and alluvial fan input that may include weather-related events. Yet, its sedimentation rates are very high (>2m/1000 years). Homogenites, have been tentatively correlated to the 1912 Ganos earthquake and to the mid-1960's and mid-1800's Saros Gulf earthquakes. The Ganos earthquake ruptured the entire 50km long segment across the Gelibolu peninsula plus submarine portions on either side. If the timing of these events is correct, it suggests frequent seismic activity for this region. On the Gulf of Izmit, west of Hersek, sandy-mass flows containing soft sediment deformation such as recumbent folds and sand injections have been linked to the 1509 earthquake. Historical records indicate that the segment of the NAFZ in the Hersek Peninsula ruptured during this earthquake and our findings suggest that the rupture may have continued beneath the Izmit Gulf. In the eastern portion of the Karamürsel basin, sandy turbidites have been tentatively correlated to the 17 August 1999 mainshock. The western part of the basin contains several turbidites that have been correlated to large earthquakes that occurred near Izmit in 145, 269, 478 and 740 AD. Mass-wasting and gravity flow deposits are not directly revealing surface ruptures but they can indicate earthquake activity providing a tool to better characterize individual fault strands and assess the long-term record of seismic activity of the NAFZ.

Fracture overprinting history using Markov chain analysis: Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin, Maritimes Basin, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, Morgan E.; Waldron, John W. F.

2018-03-01

The deformation history of the Upper Paleozoic Maritimes Basin, Atlantic Canada, can be partially unraveled by examining fractures (joints, veins, and faults) that are well exposed on the shorelines of the macrotidal Bay of Fundy, in subsurface core, and on image logs. Data were collected from coastal outcrops and well core across the Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin, a subbasin in the Maritimes Basin, using the circular scan-line and vertical scan-line methods in outcrop, and FMI Image log analysis of core. We use cross-cutting and abutting relationships between fractures to understand relative timing of fracturing, followed by a statistical test (Markov chain analysis) to separate groups of fractures. This analysis, previously used in sedimentology, was modified to statistically test the randomness of fracture timing relationships. The results of the Markov chain analysis suggest that fracture initiation can be attributed to movement along the Minas Fault Zone, an E-W fault system that bounds the Windsor-Kennetcook subbasin to the north. Four sets of fractures are related to dextral strike slip along the Minas Fault Zone in the late Paleozoic, and four sets are related to sinistral reactivation of the same boundary in the Mesozoic.

Laboratory Evidence of Strength Recovery of Healed Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masuda, K.

2015-12-01

Fault zones consist of a fault core and a surrounding damage zone. Fault zones are typically characterized by the presence of many healed surfaces, the strength of which is unknown. If a healed fault recovers its strength such that its cohesion is equal to or greater than that of the host rock, repeated cycles of fracture and healing may be one mechanism producing wide fault zones. I present laboratory evidence supporting the strength recovery of healed fault surface, obtained by AE monitoring, strain measurements and X-ray CT techniques. The loading experiment was performed with a specimen collected from an exhumed fault zone. Healed surfaces of the rock sample were interpreted to be parallel to slip surfaces. The specimen was a cylinder with 50 mm diameter and 100 mm long. The long axis of the specimen was inclined with respect to the orientation of the healed surfaces. The compression test used a constant loading rate under 50 MPa of confining pressure. Macroscopic failure occurred when the applied differential stress reached 439 MPa. The macro-fracture surface created during the experiment was very close to the preexisting plane. The AE hypocenters closely match the locations of the preexisting healed surface and the new fault plane. The experiment also revealed details of the initial stage of fault development. The new fault zone developed near, but not precisely on the preexisting healed fault plane. An area of heterogeneous structure where stress appears to have concentrated, was where the AEs began, and it was also where the fracture started. This means that the healed surface was not a weak surface and that healing strengthened the fault such that its cohesion was equal to or greater than that of the intact host rock. These results suggest that repeated cycles of fracture and healing may be the main mechanism creating wide fault zones with multiple fault cores and damage zones.

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Controls On Unsteady Deformation Rates, Northern Apennine Mountains, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anastasio, D. J.; Gunderson, K. L.; Pazzaglia, F. J.; Kodama, K. P.

2017-12-01

The slip rates of faults in the Northern Apennine Mountains were unsteady at 104-105 year timescales during the Neogene and Quaternary. Fault slip rates were recovered from growth strata and uplifted fluvial terraces associated with the Salsomaggiore, Quatto Castella, and Castevetro fault-related folds, sampled along the Stirone, Enza, and Panaro Rivers, respectively. The forelimb stratigraphy of each anticline was dated using rock magnetic-based cyclostratigraphy, which varies with Milankovitch periodicity, multispecies biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, OSL luminescence dating, TCN burial dating, and radiocarbon dating of uplifted and folded fluvial terraces. Fault slip magnitudes were constrained with trishear forward models. We observed decoupled deformation and sediment accumulation rates at each structure. From 3.5Ma deformation of a thick and thin-skinned thrusts was temporally variable and controlled by intrinsic rock processes, whereas, the more regional Pede-Apenninic thrust fault, a thick-skinned thrust underlying the mountain front, was likely activated because of extrinsic forcing from foreland basin sedimentation rate accelerations since 1.4Ma. We found that reconstructed slip rate variability increased as the time resolution increased. The reconstructed slip history of the thin-skinned thrust faults was characterized relatively long, slow fold growth and associated fault slip, punctuated by shorter, more rapid periods limb rotation, and slip on the underlying thrust fault timed asynchronously. Thrust fault slip rates slip rates were ≤ 0.1 to 6 mm/yr at these intermediate timescales. The variability of slip rates on the thrusts is likely related to strain partitioning neighboring faults within the orogenic wedge. The studied structures slowed down at 1Ma when there was a switch to slower synchronous fault slip coincident with orogenic wedge thickening due to the emplacement of the out of sequence Pene-Apenninic thrust fault that was emplaced at 1.4±0.7 mm/yr. Both tectonic control and climate controlled variability on syntectonic sedimentation was observed in the growth sections.

The role of elasticity in simulating long-term tectonic extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olive, Jean-Arthur; Behn, Mark D.; Mittelstaedt, Eric; Ito, Garrett; Klein, Benjamin Z.

2016-05-01

While elasticity is a defining characteristic of the Earth's lithosphere, it is often ignored in numerical models of long-term tectonic processes in favour of a simpler viscoplastic description. Here we assess the consequences of this assumption on a well-studied geodynamic problem: the growth of normal faults at an extensional plate boundary. We conduct 2-D numerical simulations of extension in elastoplastic and viscoplastic layers using a finite difference, particle-in-cell numerical approach. Our models simulate a range of faulted layer thicknesses and extension rates, allowing us to quantify the role of elasticity on three key observables: fault-induced topography, fault rotation, and fault life span. In agreement with earlier studies, simulations carried out in elastoplastic layers produce rate-independent lithospheric flexure accompanied by rapid fault rotation and an inverse relationship between fault life span and faulted layer thickness. By contrast, models carried out with a viscoplastic lithosphere produce results that may qualitatively resemble the elastoplastic case, but depend strongly on the product of extension rate and layer viscosity U × ηL. When this product is high, fault growth initially generates little deformation of the footwall and hanging wall blocks, resulting in unrealistic, rigid block-offset in topography across the fault. This configuration progressively transitions into a regime where topographic decay associated with flexure is fully accommodated within the numerical domain. In addition, high U × ηL favours the sequential growth of multiple short-offset faults as opposed to a large-offset detachment. We interpret these results by comparing them to an analytical model for the fault-induced flexure of a thin viscous plate. The key to understanding the viscoplastic model results lies in the rate-dependence of the flexural wavelength of a viscous plate, and the strain rate dependence of the force increase associated with footwall and hanging wall bending. This behaviour produces unrealistic deformation patterns that can hinder the geological relevance of long-term rifting models that assume a viscoplastic rheology.

Delineation of the North Anatolian Fault Within the Sapanca Lake and Correlation of Seismo-Turbidites With Major Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulen, L.; Demirbağ, E.; Cagatay, M. N.; Yıldırım, E.; Yalamaz, B.

2015-12-01

Seismic reflection studies have been carried out in the Sapanca Lake to delineate the geometry of the North Anatolian Fault. A total of 28 N-S and 2 E-W trending seismic profiles were obtained. The interpretation of seismic reflection profiles have revealed that the North Anatolian Fault Zone exhibits a pull-apart fault geometry within the Sapanca Lake and the active fault segments have been mapped. A bathymetry map of the Sapanca Lake is also generated and the maximum depth is determined to be 54 m. A systematic study of the sedimentological, physical and geochemical properties of three up to 75.7 cm long water-sediment interface cores located along depth transects ranging from 43 to 5.1.5 m water depth. The cores were analyzed using Geotek Multi Sensor Core Logger (MSCL) for physical properties, laser particle size analyzer for granulometry, TOC Analyzer for Total Organic Organic (TOC) and Total Inorganic carbon (TIC) analysis and Itrax-XRF Core Scanner for elemental analysis and digital X-RAY Radiography. The Sapanca Lake earthquake records are characterized by seismo-turbidites consisting of grey or dark grey coarse to fine sand and silty mud with a sharp basal and transitional upper boundaries. The units commonly show normal size grading with their basal parts showing high density and magnetic susceptibility and enrichment in one or more of elements, such as Si, Ca, Tİ, K, Rb, Zr and Fe, indicative of coarse detrial input. Based on radionuclide and radiocarbon analyses the seismo-turbidites are correlated with the 1999 İzmit and Düzce (Mw=7.4 and 7.2), 1967 Mudurnu (Mw= 6.8), and 1957 Abant (Mw= 7.1) Earthquakes. Additionally a prominent Cs137 peak was found in the Sapanca Lake sediment cores at a depth of 12 cm. indicating that a radioactive fallout occurred in the region as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in Ukraine.

Structural Evolution of Transform Fault Zones in Thick Oceanic Crust of Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J. A.; Brandsdottir, B.; Horst, A. J.; Farrell, J.

2017-12-01

Spreading centers in Iceland are offset from the regional trend of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by the Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in the north and the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) in the south. Rift propagation away from the center of the Iceland hotspot, has resulted in migration of these transform faults to the N and S, respectively. As they migrate, new transform faults develop in older crust between offset spreading centers. Active transform faults, and abandoned transform structures left in their wakes, show features that reflect different amounts (and durations) of slip that can be viewed as a series of snapshots of different stages of transform fault evolution in thick, oceanic crust. This crust has a highly anisotropic, spreading fabric with pervasive zones of weakness created by spreading-related normal faults, fissures and dike margins oriented parallel to the spreading centers where they formed. These structures have a strong influence on the mechanical properties of the crust. By integrating available data, we suggest a series of stages of transform development: 1) Formation of an oblique rift (or leaky transform) with magmatic centers, linked by bookshelf fault zones (antithetic strike-slip faults at a high angle to the spreading direction) (Grimsey Fault Zone, youngest part of the TFZ); 2) broad zone of conjugate faulting (tens of km) (Hreppar Block N of the SISZ); 3) narrower ( 20 km) zone of bookshelf faulting aligned with the spreading direction (SISZ); 4) mature, narrow ( 1 km) through-going transform fault zone bounded by deformation (bookshelf faulting and block rotations) distributed over 10 km to either side (Húsavík-Flatey Fault Zone in the TFZ). With progressive slip, the transform zone becomes progressively narrower and more closely aligned with the spreading direction. The transform and non-transform (beyond spreading centers) domains may be truncated by renewed propagation and separated by subsequent spreading. This perspective provides an analog for the evolution of migrating transforms along mid-ocean ridge spreading centers or other places where plate boundary rearrangements result in the formation of a new transform fault in highly anisotropic oceanic crust.

Geology of epithermal silver-gold bulk-mining targets, bodie district, Mono County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hollister, V.F.; Silberman, M.L.

1995-01-01

The Bodie mining district in Mono County, California, is zoned with a core polymetallic-quartz vein system and silver- and gold-bearing quartz-adularia veins north and south of the core. The veins formed as a result of repeated normal faulting during doming shortly after extrusion of felsic flows and tuffs, and the magmatic-hydrothermal event seems to span at least 2 Ma. Epithermal mineralization accompanied repeated movement of the normal faults, resulting in vein development in the planes of the faults. The veins occur in a very large area of argillic alteration. Individual mineralized structures commonly formed new fracture planes during separate fault movements, with resulting broad zones of veinlets growing in the walls of the major vein-faults. The veinlet swarms have been found to constitute a target estimated at 75,000,000 tons, averaging 0.037 ounce gold per ton. The target is amenable to bulkmining exploitation. The epithermal mineralogy is simple, with electrum being the most important precious metal mineral. The host veins are typical low-sulfide banded epithermal quartz and adularia structures that filled voids created by the faulting. Historical data show that beneficiation of the simple vein mineralogy is very efficient. ?? 1995 Oxford University Press.

Internal architecture, permeability structure, and hydrologic significance of contrasting fault-zone types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawling, Geoffrey C.; Goodwin, Laurel B.; Wilson, John L.

2001-01-01

The Sand Hill fault is a steeply dipping, large-displacement normal fault that cuts poorly lithified Tertiary sediments of the Albuquerque basin, New Mexico, United States. The fault zone does not contain macroscopic fractures; the basic structural element is the deformation band. The fault core is composed of foliated clay flanked by structurally and lithologically heterogeneous mixed zones, in turn flanked by damage zones. Structures present within these fault-zone architectural elements are different from those in brittle faults formed in lithified sedimentary and crystalline rocks that do contain fractures. These differences are reflected in the permeability structure of the Sand Hill fault. Equivalent permeability calculations indicate that large-displacement faults in poorly lithified sediments have little potential to act as vertical-flow conduits and have a much greater effect on horizontal flow than faults with fractures.

An integrated geophysical study wajid formation of water-bearing aquifers: Case study at Wadi Aldwasir area-Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alasmari, Abdulsalam; Suliman, Asim

2015-04-01

Wadi Aldwasir area is very important province in Saudi Arabia. It contains the main water aquifer that attains a proven groundwater reserve (Wajid aquifer). This study aims to investigate the subsurface features of this aquifer (thickness, depth to basement, overlying section and the structural elements) using an integrated gravity survey (2D profiles) and aeromagnetic interpretation (RTP, low pass and high-pass maps). Gravity data are measured in the field using CG-5 AutoGrav, while magnetic data are taken from a survey made by Saudi Geological Survey. The interpretation of aeromagnetic data revealed structural elements trending towards N-S, NNE-SSW, WNW and NNW-SSE directions. Positive magnetic anomalies are found indicating the presence of anticlinal blocks and strike-slip fault patterns. These structural elements are associated with the prevailing Najd fault and the transform fault systems. Gravity data showed that the depth to basement vary from 600 m to 1150 m, giving rise to a considerable range for aquifer thickness of 250 m to 700 m. Local basins of good thicknesses are indicated. Finally, a basement relief map is conducted based on an integrated interpretation of the magnetic and gravity outputs. It shows an increase of depth from south to north (good aquifer thickness).

Insulation effect on thermal stability of Coated Conductors wires in liquid nitrogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubeli, Thomas; Dutoit, Bertrand; Martynova, Irina; Makarevich, Artem; Molodyk, Alexander; Samoilenkov, Sergey

2017-02-01

Superconducting wires are not perfectly homogeneous in term of critical current as well as stabilization. In resistive fault current limiter applications this could lead to hot spots if the fault current is only slightly above the nominal current of the device. Increasing stabilization by using thicker silver coating for example may prevent this problem but this method implies longer wire length to maintain the same impedance during a fault. Very efficient cooling in another way to prevent hot spots, this can be achieved in nucleate boiling regime. Optimal insulation can be used to prevent film boiling regime, staying in nucleate boiling regime in a much broader temperature range. In this work a novel technique is used to monitor in real time the temperature of the wire during the quench. Using this method several increasing insulation thicknesses are tested, measuring for each the heat exchange rate to the nitrogen bath. Exchange rate measurements are made in quasistatic regime and during the re-cooling of the wire. SuperOx wires provided with different insulation thicknesses exhibit an excellent stability, far above a bare wire. On the other side, for very thick insulations the stability gain is lost. Re-cooling speeds dependency on insulation thicknesses is measured too.

Ultra-thin clay layers facilitate seismic slip in carbonate faults.

PubMed

Smeraglia, Luca; Billi, Andrea; Carminati, Eugenio; Cavallo, Andrea; Di Toro, Giulio; Spagnuolo, Elena; Zorzi, Federico

2017-04-06

Many earthquakes propagate up to the Earth's surface producing surface ruptures. Seismic slip propagation is facilitated by along-fault low dynamic frictional resistance, which is controlled by a number of physico-chemical lubrication mechanisms. In particular, rotary shear experiments conducted at seismic slip rates (1 ms -1 ) show that phyllosilicates can facilitate co-seismic slip along faults during earthquakes. This evidence is crucial for hazard assessment along oceanic subduction zones, where pelagic clays participate in seismic slip propagation. Conversely, the reason why, in continental domains, co-seismic slip along faults can propagate up to the Earth's surface is still poorly understood. We document the occurrence of micrometer-thick phyllosilicate-bearing layers along a carbonate-hosted seismogenic extensional fault in the central Apennines, Italy. Using friction experiments, we demonstrate that, at seismic slip rates (1 ms -1 ), similar calcite gouges with pre-existing phyllosilicate-bearing (clay content ≤3 wt.%) micro-layers weaken faster than calcite gouges or mixed calcite-phyllosilicate gouges. We thus propose that, within calcite gouge, ultra-low clay content (≤3 wt.%) localized along micrometer-thick layers can facilitate seismic slip propagation during earthquakes in continental domains, possibly enhancing surface displacement.

Magmatic controls on axial relief and faulting at mid-ocean ridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhonglan; Buck, W. Roger

2018-06-01

Previous models do not simultaneously reproduce the observed range of axial relief and fault patterns at plate spreading centers. We suggest that this failure is due to the approximation that magmatic dikes open continuously rather than in discrete events. During short - lived events, dikes open not only in the strong axial lithosphere but also some distance into the underlying weaker asthenosphere. Axial valley relief affects the partitioning of magma between the lithosphere and asthenosphere during diking events. The deeper the valley, the more magma goes into lithospheric dikes in each event and so the greater the average opening rate of those dikes. The long-term rate of lithospheric dike opening controls faulting rate and axial depth. The feedback between axial valley depth D and lithospheric dike opening rate allows us to analytically relate steady-state values of D to lithospheric thickness HL and crustal thickness HC. A two-dimensional model numerical model with a fixed axial lithospheric structure illustrates the analytic model implications for axial faulting. The predictions of this new model are broadly consistent with global and segment-scale trends of axial depth and fault patterns with HL and HC.

Characterization of Seismogenic Faults of Central Japan by Geophysical Survey and Drilling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, R.; Omura, K.; Matsuda, T.

2004-12-01

Integrated investigations on seismogenic faults by geophysical survey and drilling are indispensable to better understand deep structure and physical properties of a fault fracture zone. In central Japan, three large active faults, Neodani, Atotsugawa and Atera faults, exist and are remarkable for research because of the potentiality of a scale of magnitude 7 to 8 class earthquake and the different characteristics of the seismogenic activities in these faults. Each individual fault shows its own characteristic features, which may reflect different stages in an earthquake cycle. High seismicity is concentrated with a clear lineation on and around the Atotsugawa fault, which is recognized as aftershocks from the latest event of the 1858 Hida earthquake (M=7.0). On the other hand, extremely low seismicity is found around the Atera fault, of which some parts seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9). As an example of the results of study at the Atera fault, we obtained a wide variety of fault structures, composed materials, states of crustal stress and strengths of the fault from the geophysical survey (resistivity and gravity) and in-situ borehole experiments. Our findings are as follows: (1) The fracture zone around the Atera fault shows a very wide and complex fracture structure, from approximately 1 km to 4 km wide. (2) The average slip rate was estimated to be 5.3 m /1000 yr by the distribution of basalt in the age of 1.5 Ma as determined by radioactive dating. We inferred that the Atera fault has been repeatedly active in recent geologic time; however, it is in a very weak state at present. (3) Stress magnitude decreases in the area closer to the center of the fracture zone. These are important results to evaluate fault activity. Recent in-situ downhole measurements and coring through active faults have provided us with new insights into the physical properties of fault zones. In the vicinity of the epicenter of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake, we have conducted an integrated study by using 1,000 m to 1,800 m deep drilling wells. In particular, the Nojima-Hirabayashi borehole was drilled to a depth of 1,838 m and directly intersected the Nojima fault. Three possible fault strands were detected at depths of 1,140 m, 1,313 m and 1,800 m. Major results obtained from this study include the following: (1) Shear stress around the fault zone is very small, and the orientation of the maximum horizontal compression is perpendicular to the surface trace of faults. (2) From the results of a heat flow study, the lower cut-off depth of the aftershocks was estimated to be roughly 300 _E#8249;C. (3) Cores were classified into several types of fault rocks, and an asymmetric distribution pattern of these fault rocks in the fracture zones was identified. (4) Country rock is characterized by very low permeability and high strength. (5) Resistivity structure can be explained by a model of a fault extending to greater depths but with low resistivity. The integrated study by geophysical survey, drilling and core analyses, downhole measurements and long-term monitoring directly within these fault zones, provide us with characteristic features and dynamics of active faults.

Gas turbine bucket wall thickness control

DOEpatents

Stathopoulos, Dimitrios; Xu, Liming; Lewis, Doyle C.

2002-01-01

A core for use in casting a turbine bucket including serpentine cooling passages is divided into two pieces including a leading edge core section and a trailing edge core section. Wall thicknesses at the leading edge and the trailing edge of the turbine bucket can be controlled independent of each other by separately positioning the leading edge core section and the trailing edge core section in the casting die. The controlled leading and trailing edge thicknesses can thus be optimized for efficient cooling, resulting in more efficient turbine operation.

Location of deeply buried, offshore Mesozoic transform fault along the western margin of the Gulf of Mexico inferred from gravity and magnetic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, L. C.; Mann, P.; Bird, D. E.

2013-12-01

Several workers have proposed that a Jurassic age, 500-km-long, right-lateral transform fault along the western margin of the Gulf of Mexico, possibly extending southward and onshore for another 500 km onto the isthmus area of southern Mexico, was formed as the ocean basin opened. This proposed transform fault plays a critical role in the most widely accepted tectonic model for the Mesozoic opening of the Gulf of Mexico by a ~40 degree, CCW rotation of the Yucatan block about a pole near southern Florida. Previously proposed names for the fault include the Tamaulipas-Chiapas transform fault and the Western Main transform fault for the offshore fault and the Orizaba transform fault for the southern, onland continuation of the fault into southern Mexico. There are few direct geologic or geophysical observations on the location or characteristics of the proposed offshore transform because it is buried beneath an over 10-km-thick sedimentary wedge along the continental margin of eastern Mexico. To better define this offshore fault, we identify a 500-km-long, 40-km-wide gravity anomaly, concentric with, and located about 60-70 km off the eastern coast of Mexico. Two east-west 200/1200-km-long gravity models constructed to cross the anomaly at right angles are parallel to existing multi-channel seismic lines with age-correlated stratigraphy. Both gravity models reveal an abrupt crustal thickness change beneath the gravity anomaly: from 27 km to 12 km over a distance of 65 km in the southern profile, and from 23 km to 16 km over a distance of 30 km in northern profile. The linearity of the anomaly in map view combined with the abrupt change in thickness inferred from gravity modeling is consistent with the tectonic origin of a right-lateral transform fault separating continental rocks of Mexico from Mesozoic seafloor produced by the opening of the Gulf of Mexico. Magnetic profiles were analyzed using a Werner depth-to-magnetic source technique, coincident with the gravity models, estimate the depth to top of crystalline basement for the northern (9 km) and southern (11 km) transects. Subsidence analysis along both transects shows that sedimentation rates sharply peaked during the Laramide orogeny in the latest Cretaceous-Eocene, but otherwise conform to steady thermal subsidence of oceanic crust in the deep Gulf of Mexico that formed during the Jurassic CCW rotation of the Yucatan block. The more precisely defined offshore fault aligns well with the onland right-lateral Orizaba transform fault of southern Mexico that is thought to have been active in Mesozoic time.

Modeling of Stick-Slip Behavior in Sheared Granular Fault Gouge Using the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Ke; Euser, Bryan J.; Rougier, Esteban

Sheared granular layers undergoing stick-slip behavior are broadly employed to study the physics and dynamics of earthquakes. In this paper, a two-dimensional implementation of the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM), which merges the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method (DEM), is used to explicitly simulate a sheared granular fault system including both gouge and plate, and to investigate the influence of different normal loads on seismic moment, macroscopic friction coefficient, kinetic energy, gouge layer thickness, and recurrence time between slips. In the FDEM model, the deformation of plates and particles is simulated using the FEM formulation whilemore » particle-particle and particle-plate interactions are modeled using DEM-derived techniques. The simulated seismic moment distributions are generally consistent with those obtained from the laboratory experiments. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that with increasing normal load, (i) the kinetic energy of the granular fault system increases; (ii) the gouge layer thickness shows a decreasing trend; and (iii) the macroscopic friction coefficient does not experience much change. Analyses of the slip events reveal that, as the normal load increases, more slip events with large kinetic energy release and longer recurrence time occur, and the magnitude of gouge layer thickness decrease also tends to be larger; while the macroscopic friction coefficient drop decreases. Finally, the simulations not only reveal the influence of normal loads on the dynamics of sheared granular fault gouge, but also demonstrate the capabilities of FDEM for studying stick-slip dynamic behavior of granular fault systems.« less

Modeling of Stick-Slip Behavior in Sheared Granular Fault Gouge Using the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method

DOE PAGES

Gao, Ke; Euser, Bryan J.; Rougier, Esteban; ...

2018-06-20

Sheared granular layers undergoing stick-slip behavior are broadly employed to study the physics and dynamics of earthquakes. In this paper, a two-dimensional implementation of the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM), which merges the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method (DEM), is used to explicitly simulate a sheared granular fault system including both gouge and plate, and to investigate the influence of different normal loads on seismic moment, macroscopic friction coefficient, kinetic energy, gouge layer thickness, and recurrence time between slips. In the FDEM model, the deformation of plates and particles is simulated using the FEM formulation whilemore » particle-particle and particle-plate interactions are modeled using DEM-derived techniques. The simulated seismic moment distributions are generally consistent with those obtained from the laboratory experiments. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that with increasing normal load, (i) the kinetic energy of the granular fault system increases; (ii) the gouge layer thickness shows a decreasing trend; and (iii) the macroscopic friction coefficient does not experience much change. Analyses of the slip events reveal that, as the normal load increases, more slip events with large kinetic energy release and longer recurrence time occur, and the magnitude of gouge layer thickness decrease also tends to be larger; while the macroscopic friction coefficient drop decreases. Finally, the simulations not only reveal the influence of normal loads on the dynamics of sheared granular fault gouge, but also demonstrate the capabilities of FDEM for studying stick-slip dynamic behavior of granular fault systems.« less

The geological record of prehistorical tsunami at a coastal area of Beppu Bay in eastern Kyushu, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, M.; Fujino, S.; Chiba, T.; Shinozaki, T.; Okuwaki, R.; Takeda, D.

2015-12-01

Tsunamis are typically generated by plate-boundary ruptures at subduction zones, but also vertical displacement associated with intraplate earthquakes. Historical written records documented that coasts of Beppu Bay, eastern Kyushu, Japan was devastated by a tsunami associated with the AD 1596 Keicho-Bungo earthquake (M7.0). It is considered that the earthquake occurred at submarine active faults in the bay. The aim of this study is to unravel the occurrence age and source of tsunamis that struck the coast of the bay in prehistorical ages. This study may also make a contribution to the understanding of tsunami-generating system at submarine active faults. We conducted a coring survey at paddy fields along the north coast of the bay. The 10 cm thick muddy sand layer with a few granules (hereinafter, sand layer), bounded by sharp contacts, was evident in the 1.7 m long sediment core taken at 700 m from the shoreline. Plant materials obtained from mud above the sand layer was dated to 1880-2000 cal. yr BP. Sharp contacts between sand and surrounding muds imply that the sand layer is formed by a sudden event. Existence of mud clast in the sand layer indicates erosion of surface mud. There were no brackish-marine diatoms in surrounding mud, but they accounted for 5-6% of the total within the sand layer, indicating that the sand grains were sourced at least in part from brackish-marine environment. Mean grain size/sorting of the sand layer and beach sand were 2.31/0.94 and 2.03/0.41 phi. The difference in sorting probably suggests that the sand layer partly contains the onshore sediments eroded in inundation process. Additional coring surveys would clarify the distribution of prehistorical tsunami deposits and source of past tsunamis.

The grand tour of the Ruby-East Humboldt metamorphic core complex, northeastern Nevada: Part 1 - Introduction & road log

USGS Publications Warehouse

Snoke, A.W.; Howard, K.A.; McGrew, A.J.; Burton, B.R.; Barnes, C.G.; Peters, M.T.; Wright, J.E.

1997-01-01

The purpose of this geological excursion is to provide an overview of the multiphase developmental history of the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, northeastern Nevada. Although these mountain ranges are commonly cited as a classic example of a Cordilleran metamorphic core complex developed through large-magnitude, mid-Tertiary crustal extension, a preceding polyphase Mesozoic contractional history is also well preserved in the ranges. An early phase of this history involved Late Jurassic two-mica granitic magmatism, high-temperature but relatively low-pressure metamorphism, and polyphase deformation in the central Ruby Mountains. In the northern Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, a Late Cretaceous history of crustal shortening, metamorphism, and magmatism is manifested by fold-nappes (involving Archean basement rocks in the northern East Humboldt Range), widespread migmatization, injection of monzogranitic and leucogranitic magmas, all coupled with sillimanite-grade metamorphism. Following Late Cretaceous contraction, a protracted extensional deformation partially overprinted these areas during the Cenozoic. This extensional history may have begun as early as the Late Cretaceous or as late as the mid-Eocene. Late Eocene and Oligocene magmatism occurred at various levels in the crust yielding mafic to felsic orthogneisses in the deep crust, a composite granitic pluton in the upper crust, and volcanic rocks at the surface. Movement along a west-rooted, extensional shear zone in the Oligocene and early Miocene led to core-complex exhumation. The shear zone produced mylonitic rocks about 1 km thick at deep crustal levels, and an overprint of brittle detachment faulting at shallower levels as unroofing proceeded. Megabreccias and other synextensional sedimentary deposits are locally preserved in a tilted, upper Eocene through Miocene stratigraphic sequence. Neogene magmatism included the emplacement of basalt dikes and eruption of rhyolitic rocks. Subsequent Basin and Range normal faulting, as young as Holocene, records continued tectonic extension.

[Effect of core: dentin thickness ratio on the flexure strength of IPS Empress II heat-pressed all-ceramic restorative material].

PubMed

Liu, Yi-hong; Feng, Hai-lan; Bao, Yi-wang; Qiu, Yan

2007-02-18

To evaluate the effect of core:dentin thickness ratio on the flexure strength, fracture mode and origin of bilayered IPS Empress II ceramic composite specimens. IPS Empress II core ceramic, dentin porcelain and bilayered composite specimens with core:dentin thickness ratio of 2:1 and 1:1 were tested in three-point flexure strength. Mean strengths and standard deviations were determined. The optical microscopy was employed for identification of the fracture mode and origin. The flexure strength of dentin porcelain was the smallest(62.7 MPa), and the strength of bilayered composite specimens was smaller than single-layered core ceramic(190.2 MPa). The core: dentin ratio did not influence the strength of bilayered composite specimens. The frequency of occurrence of bilayered specimen delaminations was higher in the group of core: dentin thickness ratio of 1:1 than in the group of 2:1. IPS Empress II core ceramic was significantly stronger than veneering dentin porcelain. Core:dentin thickness ratio could significantly influence the fracture mode and origin, and bilayered IPS Empress II ceramic composite specimens showed little influence in the fracture strength.

New Structural Interpretation of the Central Confusion Range, Western Utah, Based On Balanced Cross Sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yezerski, D.; Greene, D. C.

2009-12-01

The Confusion Range is a topographically low mountain range in the Basin and Range of west-central Utah, located east of and in the hanging wall of the Snake Range core complex. Previous workers have used a gravity sliding model to interpret the Confusion Range as a large structural trough or synclinorium (e.g. Hose, 1977). Based on existing mapping (Hose, 1965; Hintze, 1974) and new field data, we use balanced and restored cross sections to reinterpret the structure of the Confusion Range as an east-vergent fold-and-thrust belt formed during the Sevier Orogeny. The Confusion Range consists of Cambro-Ordovician through Triassic strata, with predominantly thick-bedded, competent carbonate rocks in the lower Paleozoic (lPz) section and incompetent shales and thin-bedded carbonates in the upper Paleozoic (uPz) section. The contrasting mechanical behavior of these stratigraphic sections results in faulted folds within uPz carbonates above detachments in shale-rich units, deforming in response to ramp-flat thrust faulting of the underlying lPz units. East of the axis of the Conger Mountain (Mtn) syncline, we attribute the increase in structural elevation of lPz rocks to a subsurface thrust sheet consisting of lPz strata that advanced eastward via a high-angle ramp from a lower detachment in the Kanosh Shale to an upper detachment in the Pilot Shale. The doubling of lPz strata that resulted continues through the eastern Confusion Range where a series of small-displacement thrust faults comprising the Kings Canyon thrust system gently tilt strata to the west. In the Conger Range, west of the Conger Mtn syncline, our analysis focuses on reinterpreting the geometrically unlikely folding depicted in previous cross sections as more admissible, fault-cored, asymmetric, detached folding. In our interpretation, resistance created by a steeply-dipping thrust ramp in the lPz section west of Conger Mtn resulted in folding of uPz strata into an east-vergent anticline. Continued east-vergent contraction against the ramp resulted in the west-dipping limb of the anticline, consisting of Ely Limestone, developing into an overturned, west-vergent, synclinal backfold detached in the Chainman Shale. Further contraction exceeded the fold capacity of the detachment fold and resulted in the formation of the Browns Wash fault as an east-vergent thrust fault. The Browns Wash fault is a key component in the development of the present structural geometry, emplacing a west-vergent overturned syncline (detachment fold) in the hanging wall against an east-vergent overturned syncline (footwall syncline) in the footwall. Further west, underlying the western Conger Range and Buckskin Hills, lPz strata are exposed in what we interpret to be a ramp anticline overlying a subsurface thrust ramp. This interpretation implies a lateral ramp separating lPz rocks in the Buckskin Hills from uPz rocks exposed in the Knoll Hill anticline to the north. UPz and Mesozoic strata exposed to the west on the edge of Snake Valley were emplaced by a Tertiary west-dipping normal fault that truncated the west limb of the ramp anticline.

Characterization of geologic deposits in the vicinity of US Ecology, Amargosa Basin, southern Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, Emily M.

2010-01-01

Multiple approaches have been applied to better understand the characteristics of geologic units exposed at the surface and buried at depth in the vicinity of US Ecology (USE), a low-level commercial waste site in the northern Amargosa Desert, Nevada. Techniques include surficial geologic mapping and interpretation of the subsurface using borehole data. Dated deposits at depth were used to estimate rates of sediment accumulation. The subsurface lithologies have been modeled in three dimensions. Lithologic cross sections have been created from the three-dimensional model and have been compared to resistivity data at the same location. Where deposits appear offset, a fault was suspected. Global Positioning System elevation transects were measured and trenches were excavated to locate a strand of the Carrara Fault. The presence of the fault helps to better understand the shape of the potentiometric surface. These data will be used to better understand the hydrologic parameters controlling the containment of the waste at US Ecology.Quaternary geologic units exposed at the surface, in the vicinity of US Ecology, are derived from the alluvium shed off the adjacent range front and the Amargosa River. These deposits vary from modern to early Pleistocene in age. At depth, heterogeneous sands and gravel occur. Observed in deep trenches and boreholes, the subsurface deposits are characterized as fining-upward sequence of sediment from 5- to 8-meters thick. No volcanic units or fine-grained playa deposits were described in the boreholes to a depth of 200 meters. Based on Infrared Stimulated Luminescence dated core samples, short-term rates of sediment accumulation (<70,000 years) are an average of 2.7 millimeters per year, however, long-term rates (<3,900,000 years) are orders of magnitude less. Resistivity data, when compared to lithologic cross sections, generally are consistent with lithology grain size and probable soil carbonate accumulations. Surface resistivity displays a fining-upward sequence of sediments at the surface with a soil carbonate imprint. Finally, trenching north of US Ecology successfully exposed offset Quaternary deposits on a splay of the Carrara Fault. Holocene deposits do not appear to be faulted, however, a fault zone does intersect middle and late Pleistocene aged units.

Beyond Brittle Deformation: Insights into Seismogenic Slip Processes from Natural and Experimental Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holdsworth, R.; De Paola, N.; Bullock, R. J.; Collettini, C.; Viti, C.; Nielsen, S. B.

2015-12-01

Shear displacements in upper crustal faults are typically localized within cm- to m-thick high strain fault cores composed of interlayered tabular domains of cataclasite and gouge. Evidence from exhumed/exposed seismic faults shows that the great majority of co-seismic slip is taken up along narrow (<10 cm) ultracataclasite slip zones, containing thin (<100μm) principal slip zones (PSZ) bounded by sharp, polished and striated principal slip surfaces (PSS). Even in unconsolidated materials deformed near to the surface, seismogenic slip is observed to localize within discrete, narrow PSZs. Theoretical studies suggest that in all but the shallowest settings, the natural PSZs may be sufficiently thin to generate localised frictional heating that potentially promotes thermally-activated dynamic weakening mechanisms. We can recreate these processes in the laboratory using displacement-controlled friction experiments performed in a rotary shear apparatus on fault gouges of known composition deformed at seismic slip rates (v > 1ms-1) and normal stresses of up to 20 MPa. A sequential sampling approach is used in which slip is arrested at different stages of the observed friction evolution (e.g. post-compaction, peak friction, steady state after weakening). This allows the evolution of gouge microstructures and deformation mechanisms in the experimental samples to be: a) related to the evolving temperature regimes in the PSZ and changing mechanical behavior; and b) compared to natural PSZ/PSSs. Using this approach we have investigated the behavior and deformation mechanisms of gouges made of common, rock-forming minerals (calcite, clays, olivine, quartz) both in pure form and, in some cases, as mixed compositions deformed under a range of experimental conditions. We have studied the effects of varying confining pressure, fluid content (room humidity vs water saturated) and composition (de-ionized water vs brine) and slip rate (e.g. seismic vs. sub-seismic). Our findings - and those of others - reveal a startling diversity of 'non-brittle' micro- to nano-scale deformation processes (e.g. viscous GBS, particulate flow). This has implications for our understanding of the frictional strength of faults, the recognition of past seismogenic events in natural examples and the forecasting of future earthquakes.

Exploring geothermal structures in the Ilan Plain, Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chien-Ying; Shih, Ruey-Chan; Chung, Chen-Tung; Huang, Ming-Zi; Kuo, Hsuan-Yu

2017-04-01

The Ilan Plain in northeast Taiwan is located at the southwestern tip of the Okinawa Trough, which extends westward into the Taiwan orogeny. The Ilan Plain covered by thick sediments is clipped by the Hsuehshan Range in the northern side and the Central Range in the southern side. High geothermal gradients with plenteous hot springs of this area may result from igneous intrusion associated with the back-arc spreading of the Okinawa Trough. In this study, we use reflection seismic survey to explore underground structures in the whole Ilan Plain, especially in SanShin, Wujie, and Lize area. We aim to find the relationship between underground structures and geothermal forming mechanism. The research uses reflection seismic survey to investigate the high geothermal gradient area with two mini-vibrators and 240-channel system. The total length of seismic lines is more than 30 kilometers. The results show that alluvial sediments covering the area about 400 600 meters thick and then thin out to the west in SanShin area. In SanShin , the Taiyaqiao anticline in Hsuehshan Range has entered the plain area and is bounded by the Zhuoshui fault (south) and the Zailian fault (north). In Wujie and Lize , Zhuoshui fault cut through a strong reflector which is the top of the gravel layer near the bottom of the alluvial layer, while the SanShin fault seems to cut near very shallow strata. These two faults are a strike-slip fault with a bit of normal fault component distributing over a range of 600 meters. In Ilan Plain, the geothermal forming mechanism is controlled by anticlines and faults. The hydrothermal solution which migrates upward along these anticline or fault zones to the shallow part causing high geothermal gradients in these areas.

Extensional tectonics during the igneous emplacement of the mafic-ultramafic rocks of the Barberton greenstone belt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dewit, M. J.

1986-01-01

The simatic rocks (Onverwacht Group) of the Barberton greenstone belt are part of the Jamestown ophiolite complex. This ophiolite, together with its thick sedimentary cover occupies a complex thrust belt. Field studies have identified two types of early faults which are entirely confined to the simatic rocks and are deformed by the later thrusts and associated folds. The first type of fault (F1a) is regional and always occurs in the simatic rocks along and parallel to the lower contacts of the ophiolite-related cherts (Middle Marker and equivalent layers). These fault zones have previously been referred to both as flaser-banded gneisses and as weathering horizons. In general the zones range between 1-30m in thickness. Displacements along these zones are difficult to estimate, but may be in the order of 1-100 km. The structures indicate that the faults formed close to horizontal, during extensional shear and were therefore low angle normal faults. F1a zones overlap in age with the formation of the ophiolite complex. The second type of faults (F1b) are vertical brittle-ductile shear zones, which crosscut the complex at variable angles and cannot always be traced from plutonic to overlying extrusive (pillowed) simatic rocks. F1b zones are also apparently of penecontemporaneous origin with the intrusive-extrusive igneous processs. F1b zones may either represent transform fault-type activity or represent root zones (steepened extensions) of F1a zones. Both fault types indicate extensive deformation in the rocks of the greenstone belt prior to compressional overthrust tectonics.

Preliminary report on the lignite resources of the Niobe area, Burke and Ward counties, North Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Owen, Hal E.

1977-01-01

Two lignite beds, the Niobe and the Bonus, occur at strippable depths within the Niobe area. The Niobe bed averages 5 feet (1.5 meters) in thickness and the Bonus bed averages 8 feet (2.4 meters) in thickness. These beds lie in the lower part of the Sentinel Butte Member of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene). The demonstrated resources of both beds combined is 122 million tons (110 million tonnes), all of which are under less than 120 feet (37 meters) of overburden. The overburden consists of glacial till and shale. The lateral continuity of the coal has been locally interrupted by faulting, glacial outwash channels, and erosion. Folding and/or faulting occurs parallel to the Missouri Coteau escarpment and faulting occurs roughly perpendicular to the escarpment.

Frictional melt generated by the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake and its faulting mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H.; Li, H.; Si, J.; Sun, Z.; Zhang, L.; He, X.

2017-12-01

Fault-related pseudotachylytes are considered as fossil earthquakes, conveying significant information that provide improved insight into fault behaviors and their mechanical properties. The WFSD project was carried out right after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, detailed research was conducted in the drilling cores. 2 mm rigid black layer with fresh slickenlines was observed at 732.6 m in WFSD-1 cores drilled at the southern Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF). Evidence of optical microscopy, FESEM and FIB-TEM show it's frictional melt (pseudotachylyte). In the northern part of YBF, 4 mm fresh melt was found at 1084 m with similar structures in WFSD-4S cores. The melts contain numerous microcracks. Considering that (1) the highly unstable property of the frictional melt (easily be altered or devitrified) under geological conditions; (2) the unfilled microcracks; (3) fresh slickenlines and (4) recent large earthquake in this area, we believe that 2-4 mm melt was produced by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. This is the first report of fresh pseudotachylyte with slickenlines in natural fault that generated by modern earthquake. Geochemical analyses show that fault rocks at 732.6 m are enriched in CaO, Fe2O3, FeO, H2O+ and LOI, whereas depleted in SiO2. XRF results show that Ca and Fe are enriched obviously in the 2.5 cm fine-grained fault rocks and Ba enriched in the slip surface. The melt has a higher magnetic susceptibility value, which may due to neoformed magnetite and metallic iron formed in fault frictional melt. Frictional melt visible in both southern and northern part of YBF reveals that frictional melt lubrication played a major role in the Wenchuan earthquake. Instead of vesicles and microlites, numerous randomly oriented microcracks in the melt, exhibiting a quenching texture. The quenching texture suggests the frictional melt was generated under rapid heat-dissipation condition, implying vigorous fluid circulation during the earthquake. We surmise that during earthquakes vigorous fluid influx within fault zone, likely dissipating the frictional heat and resulting in rapid temperature drop, may facilitate the solidification of melt and hamper the aftermost fault slip. Meanwhlie, the high temperature fluid-rock interaction may play an important role in the chemical elements migrating in fault zones.

Fault imprint in clay units: magnetic fabric, structural and mineralogical signature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, Eva; Homberg, Catherine; Schnyder, Johann; Person, Alain; du Peloux1, Arthur; Dick, Pierre

2014-05-01

Fault-induced deformations in clay units can be difficult to decipher because strain markers are not always visible at outcrop scale or using geophysical methods. Previous studies have indicated that the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (ASM) provides a powerful and rapid technique to investigate tectonic deformation in clay units even when they appear quite homogenous and undeformed at the outcrop scale (Lee et al. 1990, Mattei et al. 1997). We report here a study based on ASM, structural analysis and magnetic and clay mineralogy from two boreholes (TF1 and ASM1)drilled horizontally in the Experimental Station of Tournemire of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in Aveyron (France). The boreholes intersect a N-S trending strike-slip fault from west to east. The ASM study indicates the evolution of the magnetic fabric from the undeformed host rock to the fault core. Also, all the fractures cutting the studied interval of the core have been measured as well as the slip vectors which are generally well preserved. In the two boreholes, the undeformed sediments outside the fault zone are characterized by an oblate fabric, a sub-vertical minimum susceptibility axis (k3) perpendicular to the bedding plane and without magnetic lineation. Within the fault zone, a tilt in the bedding plane has been observed in two boreholes TF1 and ASM1. In addition, in the TF1 core, the fault area presents a tectonic fabric characterized by a triaxial AMS ellipsoid. Moreover, the magnetic lineation increases and k3 switches from a vertical to a sub-horizontal plane. This kind of fabric has not been observed in borehole ASM1. The structural analysis of the individual fractures making the fault zone indicates a complex tectonic history with different imprint in the two fault segments cut by the two boreholes. The large majority of fractures correspond to dextral strike-slip faults but normal and reverse movements were observed and are more or less frequent depending on the borehole. Notably, many fractures are low angle faults (dip<45°) and may bear both strike-slip or normal striae. The mineralogical study based on X-ray diffraction analysis, have pointed out some variations in clay minerals associations nearby the deformed zones that may be the result of fluid circulation along the fault system which is in agreement with the presence of goethite determined by low magnetic temperature measurements. This multi-proxi study, combining ASM, petrostructural and mineralogical approaches has highlighted the heterogeneity of the fault, but also its past role as a drain to fluid circulation.

The seismogenic Gole Larghe Fault Zone (Italian Southern Alps): quantitative 3D characterization of the fault/fracture network, mapping of evidences of fluid-rock interaction, and modelling of the hydraulic structure through the seismic cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bistacchi, A.; Mittempergher, S.; Di Toro, G.; Smith, S. A. F.; Garofalo, P. S.

2016-12-01

The Gole Larghe Fault Zone (GLFZ) was exhumed from 8 km depth, where it was characterized by seismic activity (pseudotachylytes) and hydrous fluid flow (alteration halos and precipitation of hydrothermal minerals in veins and cataclasites). Thanks to glacier-polished outcrops exposing the 400 m-thick fault zone over a continuous area > 1.5 km2, the fault zone architecture has been quantitatively described with an unprecedented detail, providing a rich dataset to generate 3D Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) models and simulate the fault zone hydraulic properties. The fault and fracture network has been characterized combining > 2 km of scanlines and semi-automatic mapping of faults and fractures on several photogrammetric 3D Digital Outcrop Models (3D DOMs). This allowed obtaining robust probability density functions for parameters of fault and fracture sets: orientation, fracture intensity and density, spacing, persistency, length, thickness/aperture, termination. The spatial distribution of fractures (random, clustered, anticlustered…) has been characterized with geostatistics. Evidences of fluid/rock interaction (alteration halos, hydrothermal veins, etc.) have been mapped on the same outcrops, revealing sectors of the fault zone strongly impacted, vs. completely unaffected, by fluid/rock interaction, separated by convolute infiltration fronts. Field and microstructural evidence revealed that higher permeability was obtained in the syn- to early post-seismic period, when fractures were (re)opened by off-fault deformation. We have developed a parametric hydraulic model of the GLFZ and calibrated it, varying the fraction of faults/fractures that were open in the post-seismic, with the goal of obtaining realistic fluid flow and permeability values, and a flow pattern consistent with the observed alteration/mineralization pattern. The fraction of open fractures is very close to the percolation threshold of the DFN, and the permeability tensor is strongly anisotropic, resulting in a marked channelling of fluid flow in the inner part of the fault zone. Amongst possible seismological applications of our study, we will discuss the possibility to evaluate the coseismic fracture intensity due to off-fault damage, a fundamental mechanical parameter in the energy balance of earthquakes.

Geological modeling of a fault zone in clay rocks at the Mont-Terri laboratory (Switzerland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakurina, M.; Guglielmi, Y.; Nussbaum, C.; Valley, B.

2016-12-01

Clay-rich formations are considered to be a natural barrier for radionuclides or fluids (water, hydrocarbons, CO2) migration. However, little is known about the architecture of faults affecting clay formations because of their quick alteration at the Earth's surface. The Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory provides exceptional conditions to investigate an un-weathered, perfectly exposed clay fault zone architecture and to conduct fault activation experiments that allow explore the conditions for stability of such clay faults. Here we show first results from a detailed geological model of the Mont Terri Main Fault architecture, using GoCad software, a detailed structural analysis of 6 fully cored and logged 30-to-50m long and 3-to-15m spaced boreholes crossing the fault zone. These high-definition geological data were acquired within the Fault Slip (FS) experiment project that consisted in fluid injections in different intervals within the fault using the SIMFIP probe to explore the conditions for the fault mechanical and seismic stability. The Mont Terri Main Fault "core" consists of a thrust zone about 0.8 to 3m wide that is bounded by two major fault planes. Between these planes, there is an assembly of distinct slickensided surfaces and various facies including scaly clays, fault gouge and fractured zones. Scaly clay including S-C bands and microfolds occurs in larger zones at top and bottom of the Mail Fault. A cm-thin layer of gouge, that is known to accommodate high strain parts, runs along the upper fault zone boundary. The non-scaly part mainly consists of undeformed rock block, bounded by slickensides. Such a complexity as well as the continuity of the two major surfaces are hard to correlate between the different boreholes even with the high density of geological data within the relatively small volume of the experiment. This may show that a poor strain localization occurred during faulting giving some perspectives about the potential for reactivation and leakage of faults affecting clay materials.

Making the case for high temperature low sag (htls) overhead transmission line conductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Koustubh

The future grid will face challenges to meet an increased power demand by the consumers. Various solutions were studied to address this issue. One alternative to realize increased power flow in the grid is to use High Temperature Low Sag (HTLS) since it fulfills essential criteria of less sag and good material performance with temperature. HTLS conductors like Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced (ACCR) and Aluminum Conductor Carbon Composite (ACCC) are expected to face high operating temperatures of 150-200 degree Celsius in order to achieve the desired increased power flow. Therefore, it is imperative to characterize the material performance of these conductors with temperature. The work presented in this thesis addresses the characterization of carbon composite core based and metal matrix core based HTLS conductors. The thesis focuses on the study of variation of tensile strength of the carbon composite core with temperature and the level of temperature rise of the HTLS conductors due to fault currents cleared by backup protection. In this thesis, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) was used to quantify the loss in storage modulus of carbon composite cores with temperature. It has been previously shown in literature that storage modulus is correlated to the tensile strength of the composite. Current temperature relationships of HTLS conductors were determined using the IEEE 738-2006 standard. Temperature rise of these conductors due to fault currents were also simulated. All simulations were performed using Microsoft Visual C++ suite. Tensile testing of metal matrix core was also performed. Results of DMA on carbon composite cores show that the storage modulus, hence tensile strength, decreases rapidly in the temperature range of intended use. DMA on composite cores subjected to heat treatment were conducted to investigate any changes in the variation of storage modulus curves. The experiments also indicates that carbon composites cores subjected to temperatures at or above 250 degree Celsius can cause permanent loss of mechanical properties including tensile strength. The fault current temperature analysis of carbon composite based conductors reveal that fault currents eventually cleared by backup protection in the event of primary protection failure can cause damage to fiber matrix interface.

Physical properties of fault zone rocks from SAFOD: Tying logging data to high-pressure measurements on drill core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeppson, T.; Tobin, H. J.

2013-12-01

In the summer of 2005, Phase 2 of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) borehole was completed and logged with wireline tools including a dipole sonic tool to measure P- and S-wave velocities. A zone of anomalously low velocity was detected from 3150 to 3414 m measured depth (MD), corresponding with the subsurface location of the San Andreas Fault Zone (SAFZ). This low velocity zone is 5-30% slower than the surrounding host rock. Within this broad low-velocity zone, several slip surfaces were identified as well as two actively deforming shear zones: the southwest deformation zone (SDZ) and the central deformation zone (CDZ), located at 3192 and 3302 m MD, respectively. The SAFZ had also previously been identified as a low velocity zone in seismic velocity inversion models. The anomalously low velocity was hypothesized to result from either (a) brittle deformation in the damage zone of the fault, (b) high fluid pressures with in the fault zone, or (c) lithological variation, or a combination of the above. We measured P- and S-wave velocities at ultrasonic frequencies on saturated 2.5 cm diameter core plug samples taken from SAFOD core obtained in 2007 from within the low velocity zone. The resulting values fall into two distinct groups: foliated fault gouge and non-gouge. Samples of the foliated fault gouge have P-wave velocities between 2.3-3.5 km/s while non-gouge samples lie between 4.1-5.4 km/s over a range of effective pressures from 5-70 MPa. There is a good correlation between the log measurements and laboratory values of P-and S wave velocity at in situ pressure conditions especially for the foliated fault gouge. For non-gouge samples the laboratory values are approximately 0.08-0.73 km/s faster than the log values. This difference places the non-gouge velocities within the Great Valley siltstone velocity range, as measured by logs and ultrasonic measurements performed on outcrop samples. As a high fluid pressure zone was not encountered during SAFOD drilling, we use the ultrasonic velocities of SAFOD core and analogous outcrop samples to determine if the velocity reduction is due to lithologic variations or the presence of deformational fabrics and alteration in the fault zone. Preliminary analysis indicates that while the decrease in velocity across the broad fault zone is heavily influenced by fractures, the extremely low velocities associated with the actively deforming zones are more likely caused by the development of scaly fabric with clay coatings on the fracture surfaces. Analysis of thin sections and well logs are used to support this interpretation.

Seismic Reflection Imaging of the Tucson Basin and Subsurface Relations Between the Catalina Detachment System and the Santa Rita Fault, SE Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, F. T.; Johnson, R. A.

2003-12-01

Industry seismic reflection data collected in SE Arizona in the 1970's imaged the structure of the Tucson basin, the low-angle Catalina detachment fault, and the Santa Rita fault. Recent reprocessing of these data, including detailed near-surface statics compensation and modern event-migration techniques, have served to better focus the subsurface images. The Tucson basin occupies an area of approximately 2600 km2 and is bounded to the northeast by the Catalina-Rincon metamorphic core complex and to the south by the Santa Rita Mountains. The basin is characterized by an apparent half-graben structure down dropped along the eastern side and filled with up to 3700 m of Oligocene to recent volcanic and sedimentary rocks. In the northern portion of the basin, the gently-dipping ( ˜30 degrees) Catalina detachment fault is imaged from the western flank of the core complex dipping to the southwest beneath the Tucson basin. The detachment surface is evident to several seconds two-way-time in the seismic data and is characterized by broad corrugations parallel to extension with wavelengths of tens of kilometers. In the southern portion of the basin, the Santa Rita fault is imaged at the northwest side of the Santa Rita Mountains and dips ˜20 degrees to the northwest beneath the Tucson basin. Large, rotated hanging-wall blocks are also imaged above both the Catalina detachment and Santa Rita faults. While the Catalina detachment fault is no longer active, geomorphic analysis of fault scarps along the western flank of the Santa Rita Mountains supports recent (60-100 ka) movement on the Santa Rita fault. Preliminary results indicate that the Santa Rita fault terminates against the Catalina detachment fault beneath the central basin, suggesting that the recent movement observed on this fault may be, in part, a reactivation of the older fault surface.

The lateral boundary of a metamorphic core complex: the Moutsounas shear zone on Naxos, Cyclades, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, S.; Neubauer, F.

2012-04-01

One of the apparently best investigated metamorphic core complexes all over world is that of Naxos in the Aegean Sea and numerous high-quality data on structures and microfabrics have been published. Among these structures is the Naxos-Paros ductile low-angle fault (Gautier et al., 1993), which is located along the northern margin of Naxos and which is part of the North Cycladic Detachment System (Jolivet et al., 2010). There, structural evidence indicates that the hanging wall of the core complex experienced large-scale top-to-the-north (ca. 010°) transport along a low-angle detachment fault. Interestingly no attention has been paid on the well exposed boundary fault on the eastern margin of the Naxos Island, which is even not mentioned in the lierarure. We denote this fault as Moutsounas shear zone, which represents the lateral boundary of the Naxos metamorphic core complex. The Naxos metamorphic core complex is a N-trending elongated dome, which exposes on its eastern side moderately E-dipping micaschists and marbles, which are largely well annealed due to late heating. These annealed rocks grade towards the Moutsounas Peninsula in retrogressed sheared rocks, mostly phyllonitic micaschists and phyllites with an E-dipping foliation and a ca. NNE-trending subhorizontal stretching lineation. Shear bands, asymmetric fringes around rigid clasts and oblique mineralized extension veins consistently indicate top-to-the-NNE shear. The shear zone is structurally overlain by hydrothermally altered Miocene conglomerates, which contain no pebbles from the Naxos metamorphic core complex but exclusively from the ophiolitic hangingwall unit. Miocene rocks are exposed both on the northern and southern edge of the Moutsounas Peninsula. Their bedding is variable but dips generally towards NW, oblique to the detachment fault, which dips with a medium-angle towards east indicating therefore a rollover structure. The Miocene succession is overlain by subhorizontal conglomerates of Pliocene age, which form the main portion of the Moutsounas Peninsula and which contain numerous clasts, mainly marble, of the metamorphic core complex. These sedimentary data indicate that exhumation of the Naxos metamorphic core complex postdate deposition of Miocene successions and predate Pliocene rocks. We interpret the Moutsounas shear zone as a lateral boundary of the Naxos migmatite dome and relate their main activity with top NNE-shear with the main stage of updoming during migmatite formation and granite uplift between ca. 15 and 11 Ma.

Stratigraphy, structure, and some petrographic features of Tertiary volcanic rocks in the USW G-2 drill hole, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maldonado, Florian; Koether, S.L.

1983-01-01

A continuously cored drill hole designated as USW G-2, located at Yucca Mountain in southwestern Nevada, penetrated 1830.6 m of Tertiary volcanic strata composed of abundant silicic ash-flow tuffs, minor lava and flow breccias, and subordinate volcaniclastic rocks. The volcanic strata penetrated are comprised of the following in descending order: Paintbrush Tuff (Tiva Canyon Member, Yucca Mountain Member, bedded tuff, Pah Canyon Member, and Topopah Spring Member), tuffaceous beds of Calico Hills, Crater Flat Tuff (Prow Pass Member, Bullfrog Member, and Tram unit), lava and flow breccia (rhyodacitic), tuff of Lithic Ridge, bedded and ash-flow tuff, lava and flow breccia (rhyolitic, quartz latitic, and dacitic), bedded tuff, conglomerate and ash-flow tuff, and older tuffs of USW G-2. Comparison of unit thicknesses at USW G-2 to unit thicknesses at previously drilled holes at Yucca Mountain indicate the following: (1) thickening of the Paintbrush Tuff members and tuffaceous beds of Calico Hills toward the northern part of Yucca Mountain; (2) thickening of the Prow Pass Member but thinning of the Bullfrog Member and Tram unit; (3) thinning of the tuff of Lithic Ridge; (4) presence of approximately 280 m of lava and flow breccia not previously penetrated by any drill hole; and (5) presence of an ash-flow tuff unit at the bottom of the drill hole not previously intersected, apparently the oldest unit penetrated at Yucca Mountain to date. Petrographic features of some of the units include: (1) decrease in quartz and K-feldspar and increases in biotite and plagioclase with depth in the tuffaceous beds of Calico Hills; (2) an increase in quartz phenocrysts from the top to the bottom members of the Crater Flat Tuff; (3) a low quartz content in the tuff of Lithic Ridge, suggesting tapping of the magma chamber at quartz-poor levels; (4) a change in zeolitic alteration from heulandite to clinoptilolite to mordenite with increasing depth; (5) lavas characterized by a rhyolitic top and dacitic base, suggesting reverse compositional zoning; and (6) presence of hydrothermal mineralization in the lavas that could be related to an intrusive under Yucca Mountain or to volcanism associated with the Timber Mountain-Claim Canyon caldera complex. A fracture analysis of the core resulted n tabulation of 7,848 fractures, predominately open and high angle. The fractures were filled or coated with material in various combinations and include the following in decreasing abundance: CaCo3, iron oxides and hydroxides, SiO2, manganese oxides and hydroxides, clays and zeolites. An increase in the intensity of fracturing can be correlated with the following: (1) densely welded zones, (2) lithophysal zones, (3) vitrophyre, (4) silicified zones, (5) fault zones, and (6) cooling joints. Numerous fault zones were penetrated by the drill hole, predominately in the lithophysal zone of the Topopah Spring Member and below the tuffaceous beds of Calico Hills. The faults are predominately high angle with both a vertical and lateral component. Three major faults were penetrated, two of which intersect the ground surface, with displacements of at least 20 m and possibly as much as 52 m. The faults and some fractures are probably related to the regional doming of the area associated with the volcanism-tectonism of the Timber Mountain-Claim Canyon caldera complex, and to Basin and Range tectonism.

Meteoric water in metamorphic core complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teyssier, Christian; Mulch, Andreas

2015-04-01

The trace of surface water has been found in all detachment shear zones that bound the Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes of North America. DeltaD values of mica fish in detachment mylonites demonstrate that these synkinematic minerals grew in the presence of meteoric water. Typically deltaD values are very negative (-120 to -160 per mil) corresponding to deltaD values of water that are < -100 per mil given the temperature of water-mica isotopic equilibration (300-500C). From British Columbia (Canada) to Nevada (USA) detachment systems bound a series of core complexes: the Thor-Odin, Valhalla, Kettle-Okanogan, Bitterroot -Anaconda, Pioneer, Raft River, Ruby Mountain, and Snake Range. The bounding shear zones range in thickness from ~100 m to ~1 km, and within the shear zones, meteoric water signature is recognized over 10s to 100s of meters beneath the detachment fault. The age of shearing ranges generally from Eocene in the N (~50-45 Ma) to Oligo-Miocene in the S (25-15 Ma). DeltaD water values derived from mica fish in shear zones are consistent with supradetachment basin records of the same age brackets and can be used for paleoaltimetry if coeval isotopic records from near sea level are available. Results show that a wave of topography (typically 4000-5000 m) developed from N to S along the Cordillera belt from Eocene to Miocene, accompanied by the propagation of extensional deformation and volcanic activity. In addition, each detachment system informs a particular extensional detachment process. For example, the thick Thor-Odin detachment shear zone provides sufficient age resolution to indicate the downward propagation of shearing and the progressive incorporation of footwall rocks into the hanging wall. The Kettle detachment provides a clear illustration of the dependence of fluid circulation on dynamic recrystallization processes. The Raft River system consists of a thick Eocene shear zone that was overprinted by Miocene shearing; channels of meteoric paleofluids can be traced into a zone of pervasive flow (in the direction of extension from W to E) in which a high transient geotherm is preserved. In the Snake Range the pattern of meteoric signature is consistent with the expected diachronous fluid-rock interaction that would be expected from a rolling-hinge detachment; in the arched section of the detachment meteoric fluid-rock interaction was cut-off early, while the long-lived portion of the E-dipping detachment continued to receive surface fluids. In summary, the hydrology of extending crust involves circulation of surface fluids through the upper crust to the ductile detachment shear zones in the root system of normal faults. Synkinematic hydrous phases encapsulate the signature of meteoric fluids and indicate high-elevation catchment areas for the Cordillera, with development of topography from N to S over Cenozoic time. Meteoric fluids leave a distinct stable isotopic signature that tracks the spatial and temporal interaction among fluid, rock, and structures/ microstructures, and provides useful fingerprints of the inter-relationship between tectonics and crustal hydrology.

Structural characteristics and implication on tectonic evolution of the Daerbute strike-slip fault in West Junggar area, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Kongyou; Pei, Yangwen; Li, Tianran; Wang, Xulong; Liu, Yin; Liu, Bo; Ma, Chao; Hong, Mei

2018-03-01

The Daerbute fault zone, located in the northwestern margin of the Junggar basin, in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, is a regional strike-slip fault with a length of 400 km. The NE-SW trending Daerbute fault zone presents a distinct linear trend in plain view, cutting through both the Zair Mountain and the Hala'alate Mountain. Because of the intense contraction and shearing, the rocks within the fault zone experienced high degree of cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization, resulting in rocks that are easily eroded to form a valley with a width of 300-500 m and a depth of 50-100 m after weathering and erosion. The well-exposed outcrops along the Daerbute fault zone present sub-horizontal striations and sub-vertical fault steps, indicating sub-horizontal shearing along the observed fault planes. Flower structures and horizontal drag folds are also observed in both the well-exposed outcrops and high-resolution satellite images. The distribution of accommodating strike-slip splay faults, e.g., the 973-pluton fault and the Great Jurassic Trough fault, are in accordance with the Riedel model of simple shear. The seismic and time-frequency electromagnetic (TFEM) sections also demonstrate the typical strike-slip characteristics of the Daerbute fault zone. Based on detailed field observations of well-exposed outcrops and seismic sections, the Daerbute fault can be subdivided into two segments: the western segment presents multiple fault cores and damage zones, whereas the eastern segment only presents a single fault core, in which the rocks experienced a higher degree of rock cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization. In the central overlapping portion between the two segments, the sediments within the fault zone are primarily reddish sandstones, conglomerates, and some mudstones, of which the palynological tests suggest middle Permian as the timing of deposition. The deformation timing of the Daerbute fault was estimated by integrating the depocenters' basinward migration and initiation of the splay faults (e.g., the Great Jurassic Trough fault and the 973-pluton fault). These results indicate that there were probably two periods of faulting deformation for the Daerbute fault. By integrating our study with previous studies, we speculate that the Daerbute fault experienced a two-phase strike-slip faulting deformation, commencing with the initial dextral strike-slip faulting in mid-late Permian, and then being inversed to sinistral strike-slip faulting since the Triassic. The results of this study can provide useful insights for the regional tectonics and local hydrocarbon exploration.

Translucency of zirconia-based pressable ceramics with different core and veneer thicknesses.

PubMed

Jeong, Il-Do; Bae, So-Yeon; Kim, Dong-Yeon; Kim, Ji-Hwan; Kim, Woong-Chul

2016-06-01

Little information is available on the translucency of zirconia-based pressable ceramic restorations with a pressed ceramic veneer and zirconia core in various thickness combinations. The purpose of this in vitro study was to assess the translucency of 3 types of zirconia-based pressable ceramics for different core-veneer thickness combinations. A bilayered ceramic specimen was prepared with a pressable ceramic (IPS e.max Zirpress, Initial IQ, Rosetta UltraPress) veneer over a zirconia core (Zenostar Zr). Three groups of specimens (n=7) were formed with the following core+veneer thicknesses: 1 +0.5 mm, 0.7 +0.8 mm, and 0.5 +1 mm. To obtain consistent thickness and high translucency, all specimens were subjected to surface grinding with a grinding machine. To eliminate the effect of differences in roughness on the translucency, the surface roughness of the ground specimens was measured with a scanning profiler, and the consistency of these measured values was verified through statistical analysis. The luminous transmittance of the specimens was measured with a spectrophotometer. The effects of the pressable ceramic type and core-veneer thickness combination on transmittance were assessed using a 2-way ANOVA (α=.05). The consistency of the surface roughness among the tested specimens was confirmed using a 1-way ANOVA and the Tukey HSD post hoc test (P<.05). The luminous transmittance exhibited a statistically significant dependence on both the type of pressable ceramic and the core-veneer thickness combination (P<.05). The type of pressable ceramic and core-veneer thickness combination affected the translucency of the restoration. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault Zone - Geomorphology of a submarine transform fault, offshore British Columbia and southeastern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walton, M. A. L.; Barrie, V.; Greene, H. G.; Brothers, D. S.; Conway, K.; Conrad, J. E.

2017-12-01

The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather (QC-FW) Fault Zone is the Pacific - North America transform plate boundary and is clearly seen for over 900 km on the seabed as a linear and continuous feature from offshore central Haida Gwaii, British Columbia to Icy Point, Alaska. Recently (July - September 2017) collected multibeam bathymetry, seismic-reflection profiles and sediment cores provide evidence for the continuous strike-slip morphology along the continental shelfbreak and upper slope, including a linear fault valley, offset submarine canyons and gullies, and right-step offsets (pull apart basins). South of central Haida Gwaii, the QC-FW is represented by several NW-SE to N-S trending faults to the southern end of the islands. Adjacent to the fault at the southern extreme and offshore Dixon Entrance (Canada/US boundary) are 400 to 600 m high mud volcanos in 1000 to 1600 m water depth that have plumes extending up 700 m into the water column and contain extensive carbonate crusts and chemosynthetic communities within the craters. In addition, gas plumes have been identified that appear to be directly associated with the fault zone. Surficial Quaternary sediments within and adjacent to the central and southern fault date either to the deglaciation of this region of the Pacific north coast (16,000 years BP) or to the last interstadial period ( 40,000 years BP). Sediment accumulation is minimal and the sediments cored are primarily hard-packed dense sands that appear to have been transported along the fault valley. The majority of the right-lateral slip along the entire QC-FW appears to be accommodated by the single fault north of the convergence at its southern most extent.

The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault Zone - Geomorphology of a submarine transform fault, offshore British Columbia and southeastern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walton, M. A. L.; Barrie, V.; Greene, H. G.; Brothers, D. S.; Conway, K.; Conrad, J. E.

2016-12-01

The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather (QC-FW) Fault Zone is the Pacific - North America transform plate boundary and is clearly seen for over 900 km on the seabed as a linear and continuous feature from offshore central Haida Gwaii, British Columbia to Icy Point, Alaska. Recently (July - September 2017) collected multibeam bathymetry, seismic-reflection profiles and sediment cores provide evidence for the continuous strike-slip morphology along the continental shelfbreak and upper slope, including a linear fault valley, offset submarine canyons and gullies, and right-step offsets (pull apart basins). South of central Haida Gwaii, the QC-FW is represented by several NW-SE to N-S trending faults to the southern end of the islands. Adjacent to the fault at the southern extreme and offshore Dixon Entrance (Canada/US boundary) are 400 to 600 m high mud volcanos in 1000 to 1600 m water depth that have plumes extending up 700 m into the water column and contain extensive carbonate crusts and chemosynthetic communities within the craters. In addition, gas plumes have been identified that appear to be directly associated with the fault zone. Surficial Quaternary sediments within and adjacent to the central and southern fault date either to the deglaciation of this region of the Pacific north coast (16,000 years BP) or to the last interstadial period ( 40,000 years BP). Sediment accumulation is minimal and the sediments cored are primarily hard-packed dense sands that appear to have been transported along the fault valley. The majority of the right-lateral slip along the entire QC-FW appears to be accommodated by the single fault north of the convergence at its southern most extent.

Mechanical constraints on fault geometries and structural styles in extensional geologic settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, A. N.

2017-12-01

The geologic structures that accommodate crustal extension in various tectonic environments, including rifts basins, passive margins, and gravitational collapse systems, exhibit a wide range of geometric styles. While several previous studies have focused on the mechanical controls on crustal-scale rift margin geometry, less attention has been paid to the role of mechanics in the style of the individual structures or groups of structures that deform the brittle upper crust. The main modes of extensional structures that have been observed—including parallel fault arrays, half-grabens, grabens, and core complexes—inherently imply mechanical conditions that favor their formation, but an exhaustive evaluation of the circumstances that favor the creation of each of these primary types has yet to be explored, and thus is the focus of this study. This issue is addressed through the construction of a series of 2D forward mechanical models using the discrete element modeling approach. With the intent of representing the wide range of realistic geologic circumstances in which these structures form, a suite of models were constructed by varying parameters such as rock section thickness and strength properties, detachment zone friction, thickness, and dip, extension rate, and various boundary conditions such as erosion and syntectonic sedimentation. The results of these models were then evaluated in order to identify the combinations of parameters that favor the development of each of the main structural styles. Furthermore, the ability to interrogate the stress and strain fields in the models helps shed light on the specific mechanisms that give rise to these different manifestations of extensional strain. Application of these insights to interpretations of extensional structures in rift basins will help to provide a useful framework for understanding the connection between the observed structural style in a region and the conditions that gave rise to its occurrence.

Two-stage rifting in the Kenya rift: implications for half-graben models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mugisha, F.; Ebinger, C. J.; Strecker, M.; Pope, D.

1997-09-01

The Kerio sub-basin in the northern Kenya rift is a transitional area between the southern Kenya rift, where crustal thickness is 30 km, and the northern Kenya rift, where crustal thickness is 20 km. The lack of data on the shallow crustal structure, geometry of rift-bounding faults, and rift evolution makes it difficult to determine if the crustal thickness variations are due to pre-rift structure, or along-axis variations in crustal stretching. We reprocessed reflection seismic data acquired for the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, and integrated results with field and gravity observations to (1) delineate the sub-surface geometry of the Kerio sub-basin, (2) correlate seismic stratigraphic sequences with dated strata exposed along the basin margins, and (3) use new and existing results to propose a two-stage rifting model for the central Kenya rift. Although a classic half-graben form previously had been inferred from the attitude of uppermost strata, new seismic data show a more complex form in the deeper basin: a narrow full-graben bounded by steep faults. We suggest that the complex basin form and the northwards increase in crustal thinning are caused by the superposition of two or more rifting events. The first rifting stage may have occurred during Palaeogene time contemporaneous with sedimentation and rifting in northwestern Kenya and southern Sudan. The distribution of seismic sequences suggests that a phase of regional thermal subsidence occurred prior to renewed faulting and subsidence at about 12 Ma after the eruption of flood phonolites throughout the central Kenya rift. A new border fault developed during the second rifting stage, effectively widening the basin. Gravity and seismic data indicate sedimentary and volcanic strata filling the basin are 6 km thick, with up to 4 km deposited during the first rifting stage.

Structure of the Dichotomy Boundary at 50-90E Revealed by Geologic Mapping and Gravity and Magnetic Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smrekar, S. E.; Raymond, C. A.; McGill, G. E.

2002-01-01

In the 50-90E section of the dichotomy, the gravity and magnetic fields correlate with a buried fault. These data will be used to infer fault slip and thickness of the magnetic layer. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Internal Structure of Taiwan Chelungpu Fault Zone Gouges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Y.; Song, S.; Tang, M.; Chen, F.; Chen, Y.

2005-12-01

Gouge formation is found to exist in brittle faults at all scale (1). This fine-grain gouge is thought to control earthquake instability. And thus investigating the gouge textures and compositions is very important to an understanding of the earthquake process. Employing the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and a new transmission X-ray microscope (TXM), we study the internal structure of fault zone gouges from the cores of the Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Drilling Project (TCDP), which drilled in the fault zone of 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. This X-ray microscope have installed at beamline BL01B of the Taiwan Light Source, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC). It provides 2D imaging and 3D tomography at energy 8-11 keV with a spatial resolution of 25-60 nm, and is equipped with the Zernike-phase contrast capability for imaging light materials. In this work, we show the measurements of gouge texture, particle size distribution and 3D structure of the ultracataclasite in fault gouges within 12 cm about 1111.29 m depth. These characterizations in transition from the fault core to damage zone are related to the comminuting and the fracture energy in the earthquake faulting. The TXM data recently shows the particle size distributions of the ultracataclasite are between 150 nm and 900 nm in diameter. We will keep analyzing the characterization of particle size distribution, porosity and 3D structure of the fault zone gouges in transition from the fault core to damage zone to realize the comminuting and fracture surface energy in the earthquake faulting(2-5).The results may ascertain the implication of the nucleation, growth, transition, structure and permeability of the fault zones(6-8). Furthermore, it may be possible to infer the mechanism of faulting, the physical and chemical property of the fault, and the nucleation of the earthquake. References 1) B. Wilson, T. Dewerw, Z. Reches and J. Brune, Nature, 434 (2005) 749. 2) S. E. Schulz and J. P. Evans, Tectonophysics 295 (1998) 223. 3) A. M. Boullier, K. Fujimoto, T. Ohtani, G. Roman-Ross, ? Lewin and H. Ito, P. Pezard, B. Ildefonse, Tectonophysics 378 (2004)v165. 4) Z. K. Shipton and P. A. Cowie, J. Structural Geology 25 (2003) 333. 5) J. S. Chester, F. M. Chester and A. K. Kronenberg, Nature 437, (2005) 133. 6) A. Billi, F. Salvini and F. Storti, J. Structural Geology 25 (2003)1779. 7) J. S. Caine, J. P. Evans and C. B. Forster, Geology 24 (11) (1996)1025. 8) N. Nakimura, T. Hirose and G. J. Borradaile, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 201 (2002) 13.

Paleogeographic implications of an erosional remnant of Paleogene rocks southwest of the Sur-Nacimiento Fault Zone, southern Coast Ranges, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vedder, J.G.; McLean, H.; Stanley, R.G.; Wiley, T.J.

1991-01-01

A small tract of heretofore-unrecognized Paleogene rocks lies about 30 km northeast of Santa Maria and 1 km southwest of the Sur-Nacimiento fault zone near upper Pine Creek. This poorly exposed assemblage of rocks is less than 50 m thick, lies unconformably on regionally distributed Upper Cretaceous submarine-fan deposits, and consists of three units: fossiliferous lower Eocene mudstone, Oligocene(?) conglomerate, and basaltic andesite that has a radiometric age of 26.6 ?? 0.5 Ma. Both the sedimentary and igneous constituents in the Paleogene sequence are unlike those of known sequences on either side of the Sur-Nacimiento fault zone. The Paleogene sedimentary rocks near upper Pine Creek presumably are remnants of formerly widespread early Eocene bathyal deposits and locally distributed Oligocene(?) fluvial deposits southwest of the fault zone. The 26.6 Ma basaltic andesite, however, may not have extended much beyond its present outcrops. An episode of Oligocene(?) displacement is required by the contrast in thicknesses, depositional patterns, and paleobathymetry of the juxtaposed rock sequences. -from Authors

We introduce an algorithm for the simultaneous reconstruction of faults and slip fields. We prove that the minimum of a related regularized functional converges to the unique solution of the fault inverse problem. We consider a Bayesian approach. We use a parallel multi-core platform and we discuss techniques to save on computational time.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volkov, D.

2017-12-01

We introduce an algorithm for the simultaneous reconstruction of faults and slip fields on those faults. We define a regularized functional to be minimized for the reconstruction. We prove that the minimum of that functional converges to the unique solution of the related fault inverse problem. Due to inherent uncertainties in measurements, rather than seeking a deterministic solution to the fault inverse problem, we consider a Bayesian approach. The advantage of such an approach is that we obtain a way of quantifying uncertainties as part of our final answer. On the downside, this Bayesian approach leads to a very large computation. To contend with the size of this computation we developed an algorithm for the numerical solution to the stochastic minimization problem which can be easily implemented on a parallel multi-core platform and we discuss techniques to save on computational time. After showing how this algorithm performs on simulated data and assessing the effect of noise, we apply it to measured data. The data was recorded during a slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico.

Characterizing the effects of intermittent faults on a processor for dependability enhancement strategy.

PubMed

Wang, Chao Saul; Fu, Zhong-Chuan; Chen, Hong-Song; Wang, Dong-Sheng

2014-01-01

As semiconductor technology scales into the nanometer regime, intermittent faults have become an increasing threat. This paper focuses on the effects of intermittent faults on NET versus REG on one hand and the implications for dependability strategy on the other. First, the vulnerability characteristics of representative units in OpenSPARC T2 are revealed, and in particular, the highly sensitive modules are identified. Second, an arch-level dependability enhancement strategy is proposed, showing that events such as core/strand running status and core-memory interface events can be candidates of detectable symptoms. A simple watchdog can be deployed to detect application running status (IEXE event). Then SDC (silent data corruption) rate is evaluated demonstrating its potential. Third and last, the effects of traditional protection schemes in the target CMT to intermittent faults are quantitatively studied on behalf of the contribution of each trap type, demonstrating the necessity of taking this factor into account for the strategy.

Hydraulic and acoustic properties of the active Alpine Fault, New Zealand: Laboratory measurements on DFDP-1 drill core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpenter, B. M.; Kitajima, H.; Sutherland, R.; Townend, J.; Toy, V. G.; Saffer, D. M.

2014-03-01

We report on laboratory measurements of permeability and elastic wavespeed for a suite of samples obtained by drilling across the active Alpine Fault on the South Island of New Zealand, as part of the first phase of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1). We find that clay-rich cataclasite and principal slip zone (PSZ) samples exhibit low permeabilities (⩽10-18 m), and that the permeability of hanging-wall cataclasites increases (from c. 10-18 m to 10-15 m) with distance from the fault. Additionally, the PSZ exhibits a markedly lower P-wave velocity and Young's modulus relative to the wall rocks. Our laboratory data are in good agreement with in situ wireline logging measurements and are consistent with the identification of an alteration zone surrounding the PSZ defined by observations of core samples. The properties of this zone and the low permeability of the PSZ likely govern transient hydrologic processes during earthquake slip, including thermal pressurization and dilatancy strengthening.

Seismic measurements of the internal properties of fault zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mooney, W.D.; Ginzburg, A.

1986-01-01

The internal properties within and adjacent to fault zones are reviewed, principally on the basis of laboratory, borehole, and seismic refraction and reflection data. The deformation of rocks by faulting ranges from intragrain microcracking to severe alteration. Saturated microcracked and mildly fractured rocks do not exhibit a significant reduction in velocity, but, from borehole measurements, densely fractured rocks do show significantly reduced velocities, the amount of reduction generally proportional to the fracture density. Highly fractured rock and thick fault gouge along the creeping portion of the San Andreas fault are evidenced by a pronounced seismic low-velocity zone (LVZ), which is either very thin or absent along locked portions of the fault. Thus there is a correlation between fault slip behavior and seismic velocity structure within the fault zone; high pore pressure within the pronounced LVZ may be conductive to fault creep. Deep seismic reflection data indicate that crustal faults sometimes extend through the entire crust. Models of these data and geologic evidence are consistent with a composition of deep faults consisting of highly foliated, seismically anisotropic mylonites. ?? 1986 Birkha??user Verlag, Basel.

Structural and physical property characterization in the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project — hole 1 (WFSD-1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Haibing; Xu, Zhiqin; Niu, Yixiong; Kong, Guangsheng; Huang, Yao; Wang, Huan; Si, Jialiang; Sun, Zhiming; Pei, Junling; Gong, Zheng; Chevalier, Marie-Luce; Liu, Dongliang

2014-04-01

The Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project (WFSD) started right after the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake to investigate its faulting mechanism. Hole 1 (WFSD-1) reached the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF), and core samples were recovered from 32 to 1201.15 m-depth. Core investigation and a suite of geophysical downhole logs (including P-wave velocity, natural gamma ray, self-potential, resistivity, density, porosity, temperature, magnetic susceptibility and ultrasound borehole images) were acquired in WFSD-1. Integrated studies of cores and logs facilitate qualitative and quantitative comparison of the structures and physical properties of rocks. Logging data revealed that the geothermal gradient of the volcanic Pengguan complex (above 585.75 m) is 1.85 °C/100 m, while that of the sedimentary Xujiahe Formation (below 585.75 m) is 2.15 °C/100 m. In general, natural gamma ray, resistivity, density, porosity, P-wave velocity and magnetic susceptibility primarily depend on the rock lithology. All major fault zones are characterized by high magnetic susceptibility, low density and high porosity, with mostly low resistivity, high natural gamma ray and sound wave velocity. The high magnetic susceptibility values most likely result from the transformation of magnetic minerals by frictional heating due to the earthquake. The YBF exposed in WFSD-1 can be subdivided into five different parts based on different logging responses, each of them corresponding to certain fault-rocks. The high gamma radiation, porosity and P-wave velocity, as well as low resistivity and temperature anomalies indicate that the Wenchuan earthquake fault zone is located at 585.75-594.5 m-depth, with an average inclination and dip angle of N305° and 71°, respectively. The fact that the fracture directions in the hanging wall and footwall are different suggests that their stress field direction is completely different, implying that the upper Pengguan complex may not be local.

Ring faults and ring dikes around the Orientale basin on the Moon.

PubMed

Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C; Head, James W; Johnson, Brandon; Keane, James T; Kiefer, Walter S; McGovern, Patrick J; Neumann, Gregory A; Wieczorek, Mark A; Zuber, Maria T

2018-08-01

The Orientale basin is the youngest and best-preserved multiring impact basin on the Moon, having experienced only modest modification by subsequent impacts and volcanism. Orientale is often treated as the type example of a multiring basin, with three prominent rings outside of the inner depression: the Inner Rook Montes, the Outer Rook Montes, and the Cordillera. Here we use gravity data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission to reveal the subsurface structure of Orientale and its ring system. Gradients of the gravity data reveal a continuous ring dike intruded into the Outer Rook along the plane of the fault associated with the ring scarp. The volume of this ring dike is ~18 times greater than the volume of all extrusive mare deposits associated with the basin. The gravity gradient signature of the Cordillera ring indicates an offset along the fault across a shallow density interface, interpreted to be the base of the low-density ejecta blanket. Both gravity gradients and crustal thickness models indicate that the edge of the central cavity is shifted inward relative to the equivalent Inner Rook ring at the surface. Models of the deep basin structure show inflections along the crust-mantle interface at both the Outer Rook and Cordillera rings, indicating that the basin ring faults extend from the surface to at least the base of the crust. Fault dips range from 13-22° for the Cordillera fault in the northeastern quadrant, to 90° for the Outer Rook in the northwestern quadrant. The fault dips for both outer rings are lowest in the northeast, possibly due to the effects of either the direction of projectile motion or regional gradients in pre-impact crustal thickness. Similar ring dikes and ring faults are observed around the majority of lunar basins.

Detection of Frictional Heating on Faults Using Raman Spectra of Carbonaceous Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, K.; Ujiie, K.; Kagi, H.

2017-12-01

Raman spectra of carbonaceous material (RSCM) have been used as geothermometer in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. However, it remains poorly understood whether RSCM are useful for detecting past frictional heating on faults. To detect increased heating during seismic slip, we examine the thrust fault in the Jurassic accretionary complex, central Japan. The thrust fault zone includes 10 cm-thick cataclasite and a few mm-thick dark layer. The cataclasite is characterized by fragments of black and gray chert in the black carbonaceous mudstone matrix. The dark layer is marked by intensely cracked gray chert fragments in the dark matrix of carbonaceous mudstone composition, which bounds the fractured gray chert above from the cataclasite below. The RSCM are analyzed for carbonaceous material in the cataclasite, dark layer, and host rock <10 mm from cataclasite and dark layer boundaries. The result indicates that there is no increased carbonization in the cataclasite. In contrast, the dark layer and part of host rocks <2 mm from the dark layer boundaries show prominent increase in carbonization. The absent of increased carbonization in the cataclasite could be attributed to insufficient frictional heating associated with distributed shear and/or faulting at low slip rates. The dark layer exhibits the appearance of fault and injection veins, and the dark layer boundaries are irregularly embayed or intensely cracked; these features have been characteristically observed in pseudotachylytes. Therefore, the increased carbonization in the dark layer is likely resulted from increased heating during earthquake faulting. The intensely cracked fragments in the dark layer and cracked wall rocks may reflect thermal fracturing in chert, which is caused by heat conduction from the molten zone. We suggest that RSCM are useful for the detection of increased heating on faults, particularly when the temperature is high enough for frictional melting and thermal fracturing.

Seismic energy partitioning during the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake from WFSD-1 core sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H.; Li, H.; Janssen, C.; He, X.

2016-12-01

The seismic energy, defined as the total energy released from an earthquake, including frictional heating energy, radiated energy and fracture energy, is one of the fundamental parameters for understanding the overall features of the dynamic rupture on the fault. Here we present a natural sample from the Wenchuan earthquake fault scientific drilling project at WFSD-1, at 732.4-732.8 m-depth for frictional heating and fracture energy caculation. Slickenlines are clear on the fresh mirrore-like surface at 732.6 m. Detailed microstructural analyses via optical microscope, SEM and TEM, reveal that a 2 mm-thick amorphous material with quartz grains sitting in are present in fault gouge. Circles with different densities in the amorphous material indicate a melt-origin. Numerous open microcracks in the melt suggest that they are newly formed. Combined with anomaly mercury concentration and logging data at this location, we believe that the melt was generated during the Wenchuan earthquake. In addition, a melt with similar feature is also found at 1084 m-depth in WFSD-4S as the principal slip zone of the Wenchuan earthquake, hence we speculate that the melt may be present all along the Yingxiu-Beichuan rupture zone. TEM-EDX analyses show that the melt is mainly made of feldspar, i.e. feldspar is melted but quartz is not, indicating that the frictional melting temperature was 1230°C < T < 1720°C assuming a dry condition. Therefore, we can calculate the frictional heating using the melt caused by the earthquake. Besides, 120 µm-thick nano-scale quartz-rich layer is visible at the very edge of the melt layer, which compose the mirror-like structure surface with slicklines, produced by the Wenchuan earthquake. Therefore, it can be used to calculate the fracture energy based on the particule size distribution. As previous research show, during an earthquake, most of the energy was released by frictional heating (Scholz, 2002), only a small amount was consumed by seismic wave radiation (< 6%, Mc Garr, 1999) and mechanical wear (< 0.1%, Scholz, 1990). This sample yields a unique material to accurately calculate the seismic energy associated with the Wenchuan earthquake.

Anatomy of anomalously thick sandstone units in the Brent Delta of the northern North Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Xiaojie; Steel, Ronald J.; Ravnås, Rodmar; Jiang, Zaixing; Olariu, Cornel; Ma, Yinsheng

2018-05-01

Some potentially attractive reservoirs, containing anomalously thick (10s to a few 100 m), cross-stratified sandstone, have been locally encountered within both the classic regressive (lower Brent) and the transgressive (upper Brent) segments of the Brent Delta. Three documented cases of these sandstone bodies are re-examined. They are internally dominated by simple or compound dunes, and typified by two types of deepening-upward succession, recording a retrogradational or transgressive shoreline history. Type I is expressed as a single estuarine succession changing upwards from erosive, coarse-grained channelized deposits into outer estuary tidal bar deposits. The estuary is underlain and overlain by deltaic deposits. Type II lacks significant basal river deposits but is composed by stacked mixed-energy and tide-dominated estuarine deposits. It is underlain by deltaic deposits and overlain by open marine sediments. Considering the structural evolution in the northern North Sea basin, we suggest (as did some earlier researchers) that these sandstone bodies were local, but sometimes broad transgressive estuaries, formed at any time during large-scale Brent Delta growth and decay. The estuary generation was likely triggered by fluvial incision coupled with active faulting, producing variable accommodation embayments, where tidal currents became focused and deposition became transgressive. The spatial variations of the interpreted estuary deposits were linked with variable, fault-generated accommodation. The relatively simple, lower Brent estuarine units were created by short-lived, fault activity in places, whereas the complex, stacked upper-Brent estuarine units were likely a result of more long-lived, punctuated fault-induced subsidence leading into the northern North Sea main rifting stage. The thick cross-stratified units potentially accumulated in the hangingwall of large bounding faults.

Tectonic history of the Syria Planum province of Mars

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tanaka, K.L.; Davis, P.A.

1988-01-01

We attribute most of the development of extensive fractures in the Tharsis region to discrete tectonic provinces within the region, rather than to Tharsis as a single entity. One of these provinces is in Syria Planum. Faults and collapse structures in the Syria Planum tectonic province on Mars are grouped into 13 sets based on relative age, areal distribution, and morphology. According to superposition and fault crosscutting relations and crater counts we designate six distinct episodes of tectonic activity. Photoclinometric topographic profiles across 132 grabens and fault scarps show that Syria Planum grabens have widths (average of 2.5 km, and most range from 1 to 6 km) similar to lunar grabens, but the Martian grabens have slightly higher side walls (average abour 132 m) and gentler wall slopes (average of 9?? and range of 2??-25??) than lunar grabens (93 m high and 18?? slopes). Estimates of the amount of extension for individual grabens range from 20 to 350 m; most estimates of the thickness of the faulted layer range from 0.5 to 4.5 km (average is 1.5 km). This thickness range corresponds closely to the 0.8- to 3.6-km range in depth for pits, troughs, and canyons in Noctis Labyrinthus and along the walls of Valles Marineris. We propose that the predominant 1- to 1.5-km values obtained for both the thickness of the faulted layer and the depths of the pits, troughs, and theater heads of the canyons reflect the initial depth to the water table in this region, as governed by the depth to the base of ground ice. Maximum depths for these features may indicate lowered groundwater table depths and the base of ejecta material. -from Authors

Testing thin-skinned inversion of a prerift salt-bearing passive margin (Eastern Prebetic Zone, SE Iberia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escosa, Frederic O.; Roca, Eduard; Ferrer, Oriol

2018-04-01

Detailed geologic mapping combined with well and seismic data from the Eastern Prebetic Zone (SE Iberia) reveal extensional and contractional structures that permit characterization of passive margin development and its incorporation into a thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt. The study area is represented by NW-directed, ENE-trending folds and thrusts faults locally disrupted by the NW-trending Matamoros Basin and the active Jumilla and La Rosa diapirs. These structures resulted from the thin-skinned inversion of the proximal part of the Eastern South Iberian passive margin containing prerift salt. Here, Upper Jurassic to Santonian thick-skinned extension controlled the accumulation of sediment over mobile prerift salt. This in turn defined the style of salt tectonics characterized by monoclinal drape folds, suprasalt extensional faults and diapirs. The structural and sedimentological analysis suggests that during extension, salt localizes strain thus decoupling sub- and suprasalt deformation. Thick-skinned extension controls suprasalt deformation as well as its location and distribution which changes over time. Salt also localizes strain during inversion. The preexisting salt structures, weaker than adjacent areas, preferentially absorb the contractional deformation. In addition, the stepped subsalt geometry that results from thick-skinned extension also controls the shortening propagation. Therefore, the degree of strain localization depends on the thickness of the suprasalt cover and on the dip of subsalt faults relative to the thin-skinned transport direction.

Development of Murray Loop Bridge for High Induced Voltage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isono, Shigeki; Kawasaki, Katsutoshi; Kobayashi, Shin-Ichi; Ishihara, Hayato; Chiyajo, Kiyonobu

In the case of the cable fault that ground fault resistance is less than 10MΩ, Murray Loop Bridge is excellent as a fault locator in location accuracy and the convenience. But, when the induction of several hundred V is taken from the single core cable which adjoins it, a fault location with the high voltage Murray Loop Bridge becomes difficult. Therefore, we developed Murray Loop Bridge, which could be applied even when the induced voltage of several hundred V occurs in the measurement cable. The evaluation of the fault location accuracy was done with the developed prototype by the actual line and the training equipment.

Field-based perspective on fault rock evolution and microstructures in low-angle fault zones (W-Cyclades, Greece)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasemann, Bernhard

2010-05-01

The mechanics of sub-horizontal faults, typically active at the brittle/ductile transition zone, are still controversial because they do not conform to current fault-mechanical theory. In the Western Cyclades (Greece) conjugate high-angle brittle faults mechanically interact with sub-horizontal faults and therefore models based on fault and/or stress rotation can be rejected. A range of different deformation mechanisms and/or rock properties must have resulted in an reduction of the fault strength in both the ductily and cataclastically deformed fault rocks. Typically the low-angle faults have following characteristics: The footwall below the subhorizontal faults consists of coarse-grained impure marbles and greenschists, which record an increase in shear strain localizing in several meters to tens of meters thick ultra fine-grained marble mylonites. These ultamylonites are delimited along a knife-sharp slickenside plane juxtaposing tens of decimeter thick zones of polyphase ultracataclasites. The marbles accommodated high shear strain by ductile deformation mechanisms such as dislocation creep and/or grain size sensitive flow by recrystallization, which might have result in fault zone weakening. Typically the marbles are impure and record spatial arrangement of mica and quartz grains, which might have lead to structural softening by decoupling of the calcite matrix from the clasts. During brittle deformation the massif marble ultramylonites act as a strong plate and ultracataclastic deformation is localizing exactly along the border of this plate. Although some of the cataclastic deformation mechanisms lead to chaotic fabrics with evidence for frictional sliding and comminution, others favor the formation of foliated cataclasites and fault gouges with various intensities of phyllosilicate fabrics. Frequently, a repeated switch between grain fracturing processes and processes, which created a sc or scc'-type foliation can be observed. On Serifos the low-angle fault cuts the roof of a pluton, recording progressive deformation of the undeformed granodiorite at lower structural levels, to mylonitic granodiorite within the shear zone. Although there were almost no whole-rock compositional, mass or volume changes in the strongly deformed footwall, the weakly foliated granodiorite in the hanging wall has been heavily fractured and totally bleached by fluid infiltration. Concluding, a wide range of different deformation mechanisms, both in the ductile and the brittle field, acted during formation of the low-angle faults in the Western Cyclades.

Characterisation of along- and across-strike variation of accretionary prism structure and insights into earthquake segmentation, Central Sumatran Forearc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, B.; Henstock, T.; McNeill, L. C.; Geersen, J.; Bull, J. M.

2013-12-01

The Central Sumatran Forearc exhibits along and across strike variations in morphology and deformation style; variations occur over distances of 10's to 100's of kilometres and are related to the varying oceanic basement topography and sediment input. We present a detailed interpretation of multi-channel seismic reflection (MCS) data offshore Central Sumatra to better characterise morphologic and structural variations; provide insight into fault development; relate structures to the varying input parameters; and identify any links to seismicity. The data were collected using a 5420 cu. in. gun array and recorded with a 192-channel, 2.4 km long streamer. Data coverage extends across strike from the deformation front to the outer forearc high with a few lines extending into the forearc basin; and along strike from 1.5οS to 3oN. In the southern part of our study area, from 1.5oS to 0.5oN, oceanic basement highs outcrop at the seafloor along the outer-arc high and the sediment section thickness varies from approximately 1.2 to 3.2 km at the trench. The accretionary prism is comprised of seaward-, landward- and mixed-vergence faults which apparently sole into the top of oceanic basement. Landward-vergent faults are concentrated at the deformation front near the subducting Wharton Fossil Ridge and seem to be associated with a relatively strong downgoing plate reflection. The larger accretionary prism structure is dominated by two relatively continuous, major fault-controlled structures that divide the prism into three strike-parallel belts. From 0.5oN to 2oN, the sediment section is approximately 2.3-4.3 km thick and we do not observe oceanic basement outcrops at the seafloor. Landward-vergent faults are less common and where present they are subordinate to relatively high-offset seaward-vergent faults at the deformation front. The larger prism structure has a convex profile which results from displacement on several major faults. North of 2oN, the sediment section at the trench is >4.5 km thick and a high-amplitude, negative polarity reflector is observed approximately 500 m above the oceanic basement. Landward-vergent faults are commonly observed at the deformation front. The larger accretionary prism structure transitions to the steep frontal prism and wide plateau geometry observed off Northern Sumatra. In the southern part of our study area, short wavelength variations in structure and plate boundary reflectivity, and the Batu Islands earthquake segment boundary are coincident with the subducting Wharton Fossil Ridge. Longer-wavelength changes in the overall prism structure observed across our study area are likely related to regional changes in sediment properties and thickness and may be linked to differing rupture characteristics.

Sedimentary response to halfgraben dipslope faults evolution -Billefjorden Trough, Svalbard.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyrak-Sikora, Aleksandra; Kristensen, Jakob B.; Braathen, Alvar; Johannessen, Erik P.; Olaussen, Snorre; Sandal, Geir; Stemmerik, Lars

2017-04-01

Fault growth and linkage into larger segments has profound effect on the sedimentary architecture of rift basins. The uplifted Billefjorden Through located in central Spitsbergen is an excellent example of half-graben basin development. Detailed sedimentological and structural investigations supported by helicopter and ground base lidar scans along with photogrammetry analysis have been used to improve our understanding of the sedimentary response to faulting and along strike variations in footwall uplift and hanging wall subsidence. The early syn-rift basin fill, the Serpukhovian to Bashkirian Hultberget Formation and the Bashkirian Ebbaelven Member consists of fluvial to deltaic sandstones with minor marine incursions. During this early stage tens to hundred- meters-scale syn-tectonic faults disrupted the dipslope, and created local hanging wall depocentres where sediments were arrested. Changes in fluvial drainage pattern, development of small lacustrine basins along the faults, and the sharp based boundaries of some facies associations are interpreted as response to activity along these, mostly antithetic faults. The basin fill of the late syn-rift stage is composed of shallow marine to tidal mixed evaporite -carbonate facies in the hanging wall i.e. the Bashkirian Trikolorfjellet Member and the Moscovian Minkenfjellet Formation. These sediments interfinger with thick alluvial fan deposits outpouring from relay ramps on the master fault i.e. drainage from the footwall. The carbonate-evaporite cycles deposited on the hanging wall responded to both the eustatic sea level variations and tectonic movements in the rift basin. Intra-basinal footwall uplift of the dipslope controlled development of an internal unconformity and resulted in dissolution of the gypsum to produce stratiform breccia. In contrast thick gypsum-rich subbasins are preserved locally in hanging wall positions where they were protected from the erosion. The syn rift basin fill is capped by post rift carbonate ramp deposit of the Kasimovian to Asselian Wordiekammen Formation. This unit marks the final fill (and drowning) of the rift basin and covers both the hanging wall and footwall. In this presentation our focus will be on details of the sedimentary architecture related to internal and local dipslope activity within the rift basin, particularly thickness and facies variations, and transport directions.

Old stories and lost pieces of the Eastern Mediterranean puzzle: a new approach to the tectonic evolution of the Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaltırak, Cenk; Engin Aksu, Ali; Hall, Jeremy; Elitez, İrem

2015-04-01

During the last 20 or so years, the tectonic evolution of Aegean Sea and Western Anatolia has been dominantly explained by back-arc extension and escape tectonics along the North Anatolian Fault. Various datasets have been considered in the construction of general tectonic models, including the geometry of fault patterns, paleomagnetic data, extensional directions of the core complexes, characteristic changes in magmatism and volcanism, the different sense of Miocene rotation between the opposite sides of the Aegean Sea, and the stratigraphy and position of the Miocene and Pliocene-Quaternary basins. In these models, the roles of the Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone, the Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone, the Anaximander Mountains and Isparta Angle have almost never been taken into consideration. The holistic evaluation of numerous land and marine researches in the Aegean Sea and western Anatolia suggest the following evolutionary stages: 1. during the early Miocene, Greece and western Anatolia were deformed under the NE-SW extensional tectonics associated with the back-arc extension, when core complexes and supra-detachment basins developed, 2. following the collision of the Anaximander Mountains and western Anatolia in early Miocene , the Isparta Angle locked this side of the western arc by generating a triangle-shaped compressional structure, 3. while the Isparta Angle penetrated into the Anatolia, the NE-striking Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone in the west and NW-striking Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone in the north developed along the paleo-tectonic zones , 4. the formation of these two tectonic structures allowed the counterclockwise rotation of the western Anatolia in the middle Miocene and this rotation removed the effect of the back-arc extension on the western Anatolian Block, 5. the counterclockwise rotation developed with the early westward escape of the Western Anatolian reached up to 35-40o and Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone created a total dextral displacement of about 200 km. Therefore the original NE-SW extension records on the core complexes rotated to the N-S orientation and replace 45o in reference to the core complexes in Greece, 6. During this stage, the left-lateral shear along the Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone indicates the southern part of the counterclockwise rotation. 7. The North Anatolian Fault started to form as the result of the collision of the Arabian Microplate and the Eurasian Plate in the late Miocene. This continental transform fault propagated into the Marmara Region in the late Pliocene. Its late westward escape by cutting the Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone on three points generates its transportation through Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone splays. 8. During the Miocene, while Greece was rotating 20o clockwise and continuing to be shaped by the NW-SE normal faults, which were formed as a result of back-arc tectonic, the late westward escape of the Anatolia changed the orientation of the NEE-SWW striking oblique-extensional fault-controlled Miocene basins to NE-SW direction. The rotational E-W basins, which had developed by the North Anatolian Fault tectonics, superimposed with these Miocene basins .

Stress accumulated mechanisms on strike-slip faults

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turcotte, D. L.

1980-01-01

The tectonic framework causing seismicity on the San Andreas and North Anatolian faults can be understood in terms of plate tectonics. However, the mechanisms responsible for the distribution of seismicity in space and time on these faults are poorly understood. The upper part of the crust apparently behaves elastically in storing energy that is released during an earthquake. The relatively small distances from the fault in which stress is stored argue in favor of a plate with a thickness of 5-10 km. The interaction of this plate with a lower crust that is behaving as a fluid damps the seismic cycling in distances of the order of 10 km from the fault. Low measured heat flow also argues in favor of a thin plate with a low stress level on the fault. Future measurements of stress, strain, and heat flow should help to provide a better understanding of the basic mechanisms governing the behavior of strike-slip faults.

Heterogeneous rupture on homogenous faults: Three-dimensional spontaneous rupture simulations with thermal pressurization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urata, Yumi; Kuge, Keiko; Kase, Yuko

2008-11-01

To understand role of fluid on earthquake rupture processes, we investigated effects of thermal pressurization on spatial variation of dynamic rupture by computing spontaneous rupture propagation on a rectangular fault. We found thermal pressurization can cause heterogeneity of rupture even on a fault of uniform properties. On drained faults, tractions drop linearly with increasing slip in the same way everywhere. However, by changing the drained condition to an undrained one, the slip-weakening curves become non-linear and depend on locations on faults with small shear zone thickness w, and the dynamic frictional stresses vary spatially and temporally. Consequently, the super-shear transition fault length decreases for small w, and the final slip distribution can have some peaks regardless of w, especially on undrained faults. These effects should be taken into account of determining dynamic rupture parameters and modeling earthquake cycles when the presence of fluid is suggested in the source regions.

From 2012 HAITI-SIS Survey: thick-skin versus thin-skin tectonics partitioned along offshore strike-slip Faults-Haïti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellouz, N.; Leroy, S. D.; Momplaisir, R.; Mercier de Lepinay, B.

2013-12-01

The characterization of the deformation along large strike-slip fault-systems like transpressive boundaries between N. Caribbean/N America is a challenging topic, which requires a multi-scale approach. Thanks to Haiti-sis new data, the precise description of the fault segmentation pattern, the sedimentogical distribution, the uplift/subsidence rates, the along-fault and intra-basin fluids circulations, allows to actualize the evolution of the deformation history up to present-day . All the co-seismic surface to near-surface events, have to be also identified in order to integrate geophysical solutions for the earthquake, within the present-day geological and structural pattern. These two approaches, ranging from geological to instantaneous time-scales have been used during multi-tools Haiti-Sis oceanographic survey, allowing to document and image these different aspects at a large scale. The complex strike-slip North Caribbean boundary registered significative stress partitioning. Oblique convergence is expressed by along-strike evolution; from rifted segments (Cayman Through) to transpressive ones (Haiti, Dominican Rep.), to subduction (Porto Rico). In the Haiti-Sis survey, we acquired new offshore data surrounding the active fault areas, in the Gonâve Bay, the Jamaica Channel and along Southern Peninsula. Mapping the sea-floor, and HR seismic acquisition were our main objectives, in order to characterize the fault and fold architecture, with a new delineation of active segments. Offshore piston cores, have been used as representative of the modern basin sedimentation, and to document the catastrophic events (earthquakes, massive flood or sudden destabilization of the platform ) represented by turbiditic or mass-flow sequences, with the objective to track the time recurrence of seismic events by dating some of these catastrophic sediment deposition. At surface, the other markers of the fault activity are linked with along-fault permeability and fluid circulation pathway changes. Geochemical signature and temperature of the fluids and gas, change drastically depending on location and depth provenance. Our first results show that 1) the present-day EPGF geometry results from oblique shortening processes along different segments of the fault. Deep basins previously localized south and north of the fault are inverted at different degrees, 2) the Gonâve Island is only the emerged part of a NW-SE, either growing large " anti-formal stack" or basement inversion responsible for the large present-day fold amplitude, or both of them successively. It separates two sub-basins South and North Gonâve with independant sedimentary and deformation evolution 3) the Jeremie Basin probably has a specific long-living evolution, allowing to precise the geodynamic evolution of the Western Hispaniola Margin.

Implementation of Integrated System Fault Management Capability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Figueroa, Fernando; Schmalzel, John; Morris, Jon; Smith, Harvey; Turowski, Mark

2008-01-01

Fault Management to support rocket engine test mission with highly reliable and accurate measurements; while improving availability and lifecycle costs. CORE ELEMENTS: Architecture, taxonomy, and ontology (ATO) for DIaK management. Intelligent Sensor Processes; Intelligent Element Processes; Intelligent Controllers; Intelligent Subsystem Processes; Intelligent System Processes; Intelligent Component Processes.

Building geomechanical characteristic model in Ilan geothermal area, NE Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiang, Yu-Hsuan; Hung, Jih-Hao

2015-04-01

National Energy Program-Phase II (NEPPII) was initiated to understand the geomechanical characteristic in Ilan geothermal area. In this study, we integrate well cores and logs (e.g. Nature Gamma-ray, Normal resistivity, Formation Micro Imager) which were acquired in HongChaiLin (HCL), Duck-Field (DF) and IC21 to determine the depth of fracture zone, in-situ stress state, the depth of basement and lithological characters. In addition, the subsurface in-situ stress state will be helpful to analyze the fault reactivation potential and slip tendency. By retrieved core from HCL well and the results of geophysical logging, indicated that the lithological character is slate (520m ~ 1500m) and the basement depth is around 520m. To get the minimum and maximum horizontal stress, several hydraulic fracturing tests were conducted in the interval of 750~765m on HCL well. The horizontal maximum and minimum stresses including the hydrostatic pressure are calculated as 15.39MPa and 13.57MPa, respectively. The vertical stress is decided by measuring the core density from 738m to 902m depth. The average core density is 2.71 g/cm3, and the vertical stress is 19.95 MPa (at 750m). From DF well, the basement depth is 468.9m. Besides, by analyzing the IC21 well logging data, we know the in-situ orientation of maximum horizontal stress is NE-SW. Using these parameters, the fault reactivation potential and slip tendency can be analyzed with 3DStress, Traptester software and demonstrated on model. On the other hand, we interpreted the horizons and faults from the nine seismic profiles including six N-S profiles, two W-E profiles and one NE-SW profile to construct the 3D subsurface structure model with GOCAD software. The result shows that Zhuosui fault and Kankou Formation are dip to north, but Hanxi fault and Xiaonanao fault are dip to south. In addition, there is a syncline-like structure on Nansuao Formation and the Chingshuihu member of the Lushan Formation. However, there is a conflict on Szeleng sandstone. We need to more drilling data to confirm the dip of Szeleng sandstone.

Field aided characterization of a sandstone reservoir: Arroyo Grande Oil Field, California, USA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Antonellini, M.; Aydin, A.

1995-08-01

The Arroyo Grande Oil Field in Central California has been productive since 1905 from the miopliocene Edna member of the Pismo formation. The Edna member is a massive poorly consolidated sandstone unit with an average porosity of 0.2 and a permeability of 1000-5000 md; the producing levels are shallow, 100 to 500 m from the ground surface. Excellent surface exposures of the same formation along road cuts across the field and above the reservoir provide an opportunity to study reservoir rocks at the surface and to relate fracture and permeability distribution obtained from cores to folds and faults observed inmore » outcrops. We mapped in outcrops the major structures of the oil field and determine the statistical distribution and orientation of small faults (deformation bands) that have been observed both in cores and outcrop. The relation between deformation bands and major structures has also been characterized with detailed mapping. By using synthetic logs it is possible to determine the log signature of structural heterogeneities such as deformation bands in sandstone; these faults cause a neutron porosity drop respect to the host rock in the order of 1-4%. Image analysis has been used to determine the petrophysical properties of the sandstone in outcrop and in cores; permeability is three orders of magnitude lower in faults than in the host rock and capillary pressure is 1-2 orders of magnitude larger in faults than in the host rock. Faults with tens of meters offsets are associated with an high density of deformation bands (10 to 250 m{sup -1}) and with zones of cement precipitation up to 30 m from the fault. By combining well and field data, we propose a structural model for the oil field in which high angle reverse faults with localized deformation bands control the distribution of the hydrocarbons on the limb of a syncline, thereby explaining the seemingly unexpected direction of slope of the top surface of the reservoir which was inferred by well data only.« less

The effects of core-reflected waves on finite fault inversions with teleseismic body wave data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Yunyi; Ni, Sidao; Wei, Shengji; Almeida, Rafael; Zhang, Han

2017-11-01

Teleseismic body waves are essential for imaging rupture processes of large earthquakes. Earthquake source parameters are usually characterized by waveform analyses such as finite fault inversions using only turning (direct) P and SH waves without considering the reflected phases from the core-mantle boundary (CMB). However, core-reflected waves such as ScS usually have amplitudes comparable to direct S waves due to the total reflection from the CMB and might interfere with the S waves used for inversion, especially at large epicentral distances for long duration earthquakes. In order to understand how core-reflected waves affect teleseismic body wave inversion results, we develop a procedure named Multitel3 to compute Green's functions that contain turning waves (direct P, pP, sP, direct S, sS and reverberations in the crust) and core-reflected waves (PcP, pPcP, sPcP, ScS, sScS and associated reflected phases from the CMB). This ray-based method can efficiently generate synthetic seismograms for turning and core-reflected waves independently, with the flexibility to take into account the 3-D Earth structure effect on the timing between these phases. The performance of this approach is assessed through a series of numerical inversion tests on synthetic waveforms of the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2015 Mw7.8 Nepal earthquake. We also compare this improved method with the turning-wave only inversions and explore the stability of the new procedure when there are uncertainties in a priori information (such as fault geometry and epicentre location) or arrival time of core-reflected phases. Finally, a finite fault inversion of the 2005 Mw8.7 Nias-Simeulue earthquake is carried out using the improved Green's functions. Using enhanced Green's functions yields better inversion results as expected. While the finite source inversion with conventional P and SH waves is able to recover large-scale characteristics of the earthquake source, by adding PcP and ScS phases, the inverted slip model and moment rate function better match previous results incorporating field observations, geodetic and seismic data.

Salt flow direction and velocity during subsalt normal faulting and syn-kinematic sedimentation—implications from analytical calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warsitzka, M.; Kukowski, N.; Kley, J.

2018-04-01

Salt flow induced by subsalt normal faulting is mainly controlled by tilting of the salt layer, the amount of differential loading due to syn-kinematic deposition, and tectonic shearing at the top or the base of the salt layer. Our study addresses the first two mechanisms and aims to examine salt flow patterns above a continuously moving subsalt normal fault and beneath a syn-kinematic minibasin. In such a setting, salt either tends to flow down towards the basin centre driven by its own weight or is squeezed up towards the footwall side owing to loading differences between the minibasin and the region above the footwall block. Applying isostatic balancing in analytical models, we calculated the steady-state flow velocity in a salt layer. This procedure gives insights into (1) the minimum vertical offset required for upward flow to occur, (2) the magnitude of the flow velocity, and (3) the average density of the supra-salt cover layer at the point at which upward flow starts. In a sensitivity study, we examined how the point of flow reversal and the velocity patterns are influenced by changes of the salt and cover layer thickness, the geometry of the cover flexure, the dip of the subsalt fault, compaction parameters of the supra-salt cover, the salt viscosity and the salt density. Our model results reveal that in most geological scenarios, salt flow above a continuously displacing subsalt normal fault goes through an early phase of downward flow. At sufficiently high fault offset in the range of 700-2600 m, salt is later squeezed upward towards the footwall side. This flow reversal occurs at smaller vertical fault displacement, if the thickness of the pre-kinematic layer is larger, the sedimentation rate of the syn-kinematic cover is higher, the compaction coefficient of cover sediments (i.e. the density increase with depth) is larger or the average density of the salt is lower. Other geometrical parameters such as the width of the cover monocline, the dip of the basement fault or the thickness of the salt layer have no significant influence on the point of reversal, but modify the velocity of the salt flow.

Subsurface signature of North Anatolian Fault Zone and its relation with old sutures: New insight from receiver function analysis.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özacar, Arda A.; Abgarmi, Bizhan

2017-04-01

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is an active continental transform plate boundary that accommodates the westward extrusion of the Anatolian plate. The central segment of NAFZ displays northward convex surface trace which coincides partly with the Paleo-Tethyan suture formed during the early Cenozoic. The depth extent and detailed structure of the actively deforming crust along the NAF is still under much debate and processes responsible from rapid uplift are enigmatic. In this study, over five thousand high quality P receiver functions are computed using teleseismic earthquakes recorded by permanent stations of national agencies and temporary North Anatolian Fault Passive Seismic experiment (2005-2008). In order to map the crustal thickness and Vp/Vs variations accurately, the study area is divided into grids with 20 km spacing and along each grid line Moho phase and its multiples are picked through constructed common conversion point (CCP) profiles. According to our results, nature of discontinuities and crustal thickness display sharp changes across the main strand of NAFZ supporting a lithospheric scale faulting that offsets Moho discontinuity. In the southern block, crust is relatively thin in the west ( 35 km) and becomes thicker gradually towards east ( 40 km). In contrast, the northern block displays a strong lateral change in crustal thickness reaching up to 10 km across a narrow roughly N-S oriented zone which is interpreted as the subsurface signature of the ambiguous boundary between Istanbul Block and Pontides located further west at the surface.

3D Model of the San Emidio Geothermal Area

DOE Data Explorer

James E. Faulds

2013-12-31

The San Emidio geothermal system is characterized by a left-step in a west-dipping normal fault system that bounds the western side of the Lake Range. The 3D geologic model consists of 5 geologic units and 55 faults. Overlying Jurrassic-Triassic metasedimentary basement is a ~500 m-1000 m thick section of the Miocene lower Pyramid sequence, pre- syn-extensional Quaternary sedimentary rocks and post-extensional Quaternary rocks. 15-30º eastward dip of the stratigraphy is controlled by the predominant west-dipping fault set. Both geothermal production and injection are concentrated north of the step over in an area of closely spaced west dipping normal faults.

Overview of SAFOD Phases 1 and 2: Drilling, Sampling and Measurements in the San Andreas Fault Zone at Seismogenic Depth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoback, M. D.; Hickman, S.; Ellsworth, W.

2005-12-01

In this talk we provide an overview of on-site drilling, sampling and downhole measurement activities associated with the first two Phases of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth. SAFOD is located at the transition between the creeping and locked sections of the fault, 9 km NW of Parkfield, CA. A 2.1 km deep vertical pilot hole was drilled at the site in 2002. The SAFOD main borehole was drilled vertically to a depth of 1.5 km and then deviated at an average angle of 55° to vertical, passing beneath the surface trace of the San Andreas fault, 1.8 km to the NW at a depth of 3.2 km. Repeating microearthquakes on the San Andreas define the main active fault trace at depth, as well as a secondary active fault about 250 m to the SW (i.e., closer to SAFOD). The hole was rotary drilled, comprehensive cuttings were obtained and a real-time analysis of gases in the drilling mud was carried out. Spot cores were obtained at three depths (at casing set points) in the shallow granite and deeper sedimentary rocks penetrated by the hole, augmented by over fifty side-wall cores. Continuous coring of the San Andreas Fault Zone will be carried out in Phase 3 of the project in the summer of 2007. In addition to sampling mud gas, discrete fluid and gas samples were obtained at several depths for geochemical analysis. Real-time geophysical measurements were made while drilling through most of the San Andreas Fault Zone. A suite of "open hole" geophysical measurements were also made over essentially the entire depth of the hole. Construction of the multi-component SAFOD observatory is well underway, with a seismometer and tiltmeter operating at 1 km depth in the pilot hole and a fiber-optic laser strainmeter cemented behind casing in the main hole. A seismometer deployed at depth in the hole between Phases 1 and 2 detected one of the target earthquakes. A number of surface-to-borehole seismic experiments have been carried out to characterize seismic velocities and structures at depth, including deployment of an 80-level, 240-component seismic array in SAFOD in the spring of 2005. With knowledge of P- and S-wave velocities obtained from the geophysical measurements in conjunction with downhole recordings of the SAFOD target earthquake, it appears that the seismically active main trace of the fault is on the order of 400 m SW of the surface trace, in proximity to several candidate zones of particularly anomalous geophysical properties. Observations of casing deformation to be made over the next several years, as well as monitoring of the microearthquakes using seismometers directly within the fault zone, will pinpoint the exact location of this and other active fault traces prior to continuous coring in Phase 3. As will be elaborated in detail by the presentations of the SAFOD science team at this meeting, the activities carried out as part of Phases 1 and 2 of SAFOD lay the ground work for years of exciting research in earthquake physics, fault-rock geology, rock mechanics and the role of fluids and gases in faulting and earthquake generation.

Superconducting shielded core reactor with reduced AC losses

DOEpatents

Cha, Yung S.; Hull, John R.

2006-04-04

A superconducting shielded core reactor (SSCR) operates as a passive device for limiting excessive AC current in a circuit operating at a high power level under a fault condition such as shorting. The SSCR includes a ferromagnetic core which may be either closed or open (with an air gap) and extends into and through a superconducting tube or superconducting rings arranged in a stacked array. First and second series connected copper coils each disposed about a portion of the iron core are connected to the circuit to be protected and are respectively wound inside and outside of the superconducting tube or rings. A large impedance is inserted into the circuit by the core when the shielding capability of the superconducting arrangement is exceeded by the applied magnetic field generated by the two coils under a fault condition to limit the AC current in the circuit. The proposed SSCR also affords reduced AC loss compared to conventional SSCRs under continuous normal operation.

Depositional architecture of a mixed travertine-terrigenous system in a fault-controlled continental extensional basin (Messinian, Southern Tuscany, Central Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Croci, Andrea; Della Porta, Giovanna; Capezzuoli, Enrico

2016-03-01

The extensional Neogene Albegna Basin (Southern Tuscany, Italy) includes several thermogene travertine units dating from the Miocene to Holocene time. During the late Miocene (Messinian), a continental fault-controlled basin (of nearly 500-km2 width) was filled by precipitated travertine and detrital terrigenous strata, characterized by a wedge-shaped geometry that thinned northward, with a maximum thickness of nearly 70 m. This mixed travertine-terrigenous succession was investigated in terms of lithofacies types, depositional environment and architecture and the variety of precipitated travertine fabrics. Deposited as beds with thickness ranging from centimetres to a few decimetres, carbonates include nine travertine facies types: F1) clotted peloidal micrite and microsparite boundstone, F2) raft rudstone/floatstone, F3) sub-rounded radial coated grain grainstone, F4) coated gas bubble boundstone, F5) crystalline dendrite cementstone, F6) laminated boundstone, F7) coated reed boundstone and rudstone, F8) peloidal skeletal grainstone and F9) calci-mudstone and microsparstone. Beds of terrigenous deposits with thickness varying from a decimetre to > 10 m include five lithofacies: F10) breccia, F11) conglomerate, F12) massive sandstone, F13) laminated sandstone and F14) claystone. The succession recorded the following three phases of evolution of the depositional setting: 1) At the base, a northward-thinning thermogene travertine terraced slope (Phase I, travertine slope lithofacies association, F1-F6) developed close to the extensional fault system, placed southward with respect to the travertine deposition. 2) In Phase II, the accumulation of travertines was interrupted by the deposition of colluvial fan deposits with a thickness of several metres (colluvial fan lithofacies association, F10 and F12), which consisted of massive breccias, adjacent to the alluvial plain lithofacies association (F11-F14) including massive claystone and sandstone and channelized conglomerates. Travertine lenses, of 2-3-m thickness, appeared intermittently alternating with the colluvial fan breccias. 3) In the third phase, the filled fault-controlled basin evolved into an alluvial plain with ponds rich in coated reed travertines, which record the influence of freshwater (travertine flat lithofacies association, F7-F9). This study shows the stratigraphic architecture and sedimentary evolution of a continental succession, wherein the hydrothermal activity and consequent travertine precipitation were driven by the extensional tectonic regime, with faults acting as fluid paths for the thermal water. Fault activity created the accommodation space for travertine and colluvial fan accumulation. Erosion of the uplifted footwall blocks provided the source of sediments for the colluvial fan breccias, which alternated with the thermogene travertine precipitation. Climatic oscillations might have led to the recharge of the aquifer that fed the hydrothermal vents. The studied continental succession in an extensional basin provides valuable information about the interplay between thermogene travertine and alluvial/colluvial deposition, which in turn might improve the understanding of similar fault-controlled continental depositional systems in outcrops and the subsurface.

Extrapolating subsurface geometry by surface expressions in transpressional strike slip fault, deduced from analogue experiments with settings of rheology and convergence angle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, Shang Yu; Neubauer, Franz

2015-04-01

The internal structure of major strike-slip faults is still poorly understood, particularly how to extrapolate subsurface structures by surface expressions. Series of brittle analogue experiments by Leever et al., 2011 resulted the convergence angle is the most influential factor for surface structures. Further analogue models with different ductile settings allow a better understanding in extrapolating surface structures to the subsurface geometry of strike-slip faults. Fifteen analogue experiments were constructed to represent strike-slip faults in nature in different geological settings. As key parameters investigated in this study include: (a) the angle of convergence, (b) the thickness of brittle layer, (c) the influence of a rheological weak layer within the crust, and (d) influence of a thick and rheologically weak layer at the base of the crust. The experiments are aimed to explain first order structures along major transcurrent strike-slip faults such as the Altyn, Kunlun, San Andrea and Greendale (Darfield earthquake 2010) faults. The preliminary results show that convergence angle significantly influences the overall geometry of the transpressional system with greater convergence angles resulting in wider fault zones and higher elevation. Different positions, densities and viscosities of weak rheological layers have not only different surface expressions but also affect the fault geometry in the subsurface. For instance, rheological weak material in the bottom layer results in stretching when experiment reaches a certain displacement and a buildup of a less segmented, wide positive flower structure. At the surface, a wide fault valley in the middle of the fault zone is the reflection of stretching along the velocity discontinuity at depth. In models with a thin and rheologically weaker layer in the middle of the brittle layer, deformation is distributed over more faults and the geometry of the fault zone below and above the weak zone shows significant differences, suggesting that the correlation of structures across a weak layer has to be supported by geophysical data, which help constraining the geometry of the deep part. This latter experiment has significantly similar phenomena in reality, such as few pressure ridges along Altyn fault. The experimental results underline the need to understand the role of the convergence angle and the influence of rheology on fault evolution, in order to connect between surface deformation and subsurface geometry.

Hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry constrains intraplate strike-slip faulting on the Kuh-e-Faghan Fault, central Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calzolari, Gabriele; Rossetti, Federico; Ault, Alexis K.; Lucci, Federico; Olivetti, Valerio; Nozaem, Reza

2018-03-01

The Kuh-e-Faghan strike-slip fault system (KFF), located to the northern edge of the Lut Block in central Iran, developed through a Neogene-Quaternary pulsed history of eastward fault propagation and fault-related exhumation. This system is a consequence of the residual stresses transmitted from the Arabia-Eurasia convergent plate boundary. Here we integrate structural and textural analysis with new and previously published apatite fission-track (AFT) and apatite (U-Th)/He (apatite He) results, chlorite thermomentry, and hematite (U-Th)/He data from hematite-coated brittle fault surfaces to constrain the timing of tectonic activity and refine patterns of late Miocene-Pliocene burial and exhumation associated with the propagation of the KFF. Twenty-nine hematite (U-Th)/He (hematite He) dates from three striated hematite coated slip surfaces from the KFF fault core and damage zone yield individual dates from 12-2 Ma. Petrographic analysis and chlorite thermometry of a polyphase, fossil fluid system in the KFF fault core document that fluid circulation and mineralization transitioned from a closed system characterized by pressure solution and calcite growth to an open system characterized by hot hydrothermal (T = 239 ± 10 °C) fluids and hematite formation. Hematite microtextures and grain size analysis reveal primary and secondary syntectonic hematite fabrics, no evidence of hematite comminution and similar hematite He closure temperatures ( 60-85 °C) in each sample. Integration of these results with thermal history modeling of AFT and apatite He data shows that KFF activity in the late Miocene is characterized by an early stage of fault nucleation, fluid circulation, hematite mineralization, and eastward propagation not associated with vertical movement that lasted from 12 to 7 Ma. Hematite He, AFT, and apatite He data track a second phase of fault system activity involving fault-related exhumation initiating at 7 Ma and continuing until present time. Our new data constrain the onset of the recognized Late Miocene-Pliocene tectonic reorganization in north-central Iran.

Volcanic rocks cored on hess rise, Western Pacific Ocean

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vallier, T.L.; Windom, K.E.; Seifert, K.E.; Thiede, Jorn

1980-01-01

Large aseismic rises and plateaus in the western Pacific include the Ontong-Java Plateau, Magellan Rise, Shatsky Rise, Mid-Pacific Mountains, and Hess Rise. These are relatively old features that rise above surrounding sea floors as bathymetric highs. Thick sequences of carbonate sediments overlie, what are believed to be, Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous volcanic pedestals. We discuss here petrological and tectonic implications of data from volcanic rocks cored on Hess Rise. The data suggest that Hess Rise originated at a spreading centre in the late early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian stages). Subsequent off-ridge volcanism in the late Albian-early Cenomanian stages built a large archipelago of oceanic islands and seamounts composed, at least in part, of alkalic rocks. The volcanic platform subsided during its northward passage through the mid-Cretaceousequatorial zone. Faulting and uplift, and possibly volcanism, occurred in the latest Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian stages). Since then, Hess Rise continued its northward movement and subsidence. Volcanic rocks from holes drilled on Hess Rise during IPOD Leg 62 (Fig. 1) are briefly described here and we relate the petrological data to the origin and evolution of that rise. These are the first volcanic rocks reported from Hess Rise. ?? 1980 Nature Publishing Group.

Photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles with shell thickness as controlling parameter under green environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajbongshi, Himanshu; Bhattacharjee, Suparna; Datta, Pranayee

2017-02-01

Plasmonic Ag/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles have been synthesized via a simple two-step wet chemical method for application in Photocatalysis. The morphology, size, crystal structure, composition and optical properties of the nanoparticles are investigated by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FTIR spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The shell thicknesses are varied by varying the concentration of zinc nitrate hexa-hydrate and triethanolamine. The ZnO shell coating over Ag core enhances the charge separation, whereas the larger shell thickness and increased refractive index of surrounding medium cause red shifts of surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of Ag core. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Ag/ZnO core-shell show that the larger shell thickness quenches the near band edge UV emission of ZnO. The electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) i.e. Nyquist plots also confirm the higher charge transfer efficiency of the Ag/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles. The Photocatalytic activities of Ag/ZnO core-shell nanoparticles are investigated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under direct sunlight irradiation. Compared to pure ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), Ag/ZnO core-shell NPs display efficient sunlight plasmonic photocatalytic activity because of the influence of SPR of Ag core and the electron sink effect. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnO core-shell NPs is found to be enhanced with increase in shell thickness.

Characterization of the coating and tablet core roughness by means of 3D optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Markl, Daniel; Wahl, Patrick; Pichler, Heinz; Sacher, Stephan; Khinast, Johannes G

2018-01-30

This study demonstrates the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to simultaneously characterize the roughness of the tablet core and coating of pharmaceutical tablets. OCT is a high resolution non-destructive and contactless imaging methodology to characterize structural properties of solid dosage forms. Besides measuring the coating thickness, it also facilitates the analysis of the tablet core and coating roughness. An automated data evaluation algorithm extracts information about coating thickness, as well as tablet core and coating roughness. Samples removed periodically from a pan coating process were investigated, on the basis of thickness and profile maps of the tablet core and coating computed from about 480,000 depth measurements (i.e., 3D data) per sample. This data enables the calculation of the root mean square deviation, the skewness and the kurtosis of the assessed profiles. Analyzing these roughness parameters revealed that, for the given coating formulation, small valleys in the tablet core are filled with coating, whereas coarse features of the tablet core are still visible on the final film-coated tablet. Moreover, the impact of the tablet core roughness on the coating thickness is analyzed by correlating the tablet core profile and the coating thickness map. The presented measurement method and processing could be in the future transferred to in-line OCT measurements, to investigate core and coating roughness during the production of film-coated tablets. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Influence of ceramic dental crown coating substrate thickness ratio on strain energy release rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khasnulhadi, K.; Daud, R.; Mat, F.; Noor, S. N. F. M.; Basaruddin, K. S.; Sulaiman, M. H.

2017-10-01

This paper presents the analysis of coating substrate thickness ratio effect on the crown coating fracture behaviour. The bi-layer material is examined under four point bending with pre-crack at the bottom of the core material by using finite element. Three different coating thickness of core/substrate was tested which is 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1. The fracture parameters are analysed based on bilayer and homogenous elastic interaction. The result shows that the ratio thickness of core/veneer provided a significant effect on energy release rate.

Generalized analytic solutions and response characteristics of magnetotelluric fields on anisotropic infinite faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bing, Xue; Yicai, Ji

2018-06-01

In order to understand directly and analyze accurately the detected magnetotelluric (MT) data on anisotropic infinite faults, two-dimensional partial differential equations of MT fields are used to establish a model of anisotropic infinite faults using the Fourier transform method. A multi-fault model is developed to expand the one-fault model. The transverse electric mode and transverse magnetic mode analytic solutions are derived using two-infinite-fault models. The infinite integral terms of the quasi-analytic solutions are discussed. The dual-fault model is computed using the finite element method to verify the correctness of the solutions. The MT responses of isotropic and anisotropic media are calculated to analyze the response functions by different anisotropic conductivity structures. The thickness and conductivity of the media, influencing MT responses, are discussed. The analytic principles are also given. The analysis results are significant to how MT responses are perceived and to the data interpretation of the complex anisotropic infinite faults.

Interplay between magmatic accretion, spreading asymmetry and detachment faulting at a segment end: Crustal structure south of the Ascension Fracture Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bialas, Jörg; Dannowski, Anke; Reston, Timothy J.

2015-12-01

A wide-angle seismic section across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge just south of the Ascension transform system reveals laterally varying crustal thickness, and to the east a strongly distorted Moho that appears to result from slip along a large-offset normal fault, termed an oceanic detachment fault. Gravity modelling supports the inferred crustal structure. We investigate the interplay between magmatism, detachment faulting and the changing asymmetry of crustal accretion, and consider several possible scenarios. The one that appears most likely is remarkably simple: an episode of detachment faulting which accommodates all plate divergence and results in the westward migration of the ridge axis, is interspersed with dominantly magmatic and moderately asymmetric (most on the western side) spreading which moves the spreading axis back towards the east. Following the runaway weakening of a normal fault and its development into an oceanic detachment fault, magma both intrudes the footwall to the fault, producing a layer of gabbro (subsequently partially exhumed).

An approach to secure weather and climate models against hardware faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Düben, Peter D.; Dawson, Andrew

2017-03-01

Enabling Earth System models to run efficiently on future supercomputers is a serious challenge for model development. Many publications study efficient parallelization to allow better scaling of performance on an increasing number of computing cores. However, one of the most alarming threats for weather and climate predictions on future high performance computing architectures is widely ignored: the presence of hardware faults that will frequently hit large applications as we approach exascale supercomputing. Changes in the structure of weather and climate models that would allow them to be resilient against hardware faults are hardly discussed in the model development community. In this paper, we present an approach to secure the dynamical core of weather and climate models against hardware faults using a backup system that stores coarse resolution copies of prognostic variables. Frequent checks of the model fields on the backup grid allow the detection of severe hardware faults, and prognostic variables that are changed by hardware faults on the model grid can be restored from the backup grid to continue model simulations with no significant delay. To justify the approach, we perform model simulations with a C-grid shallow water model in the presence of frequent hardware faults. As long as the backup system is used, simulations do not crash and a high level of model quality can be maintained. The overhead due to the backup system is reasonable and additional storage requirements are small. Runtime is increased by only 13 % for the shallow water model.

An approach to secure weather and climate models against hardware faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Düben, Peter; Dawson, Andrew

2017-04-01

Enabling Earth System models to run efficiently on future supercomputers is a serious challenge for model development. Many publications study efficient parallelisation to allow better scaling of performance on an increasing number of computing cores. However, one of the most alarming threats for weather and climate predictions on future high performance computing architectures is widely ignored: the presence of hardware faults that will frequently hit large applications as we approach exascale supercomputing. Changes in the structure of weather and climate models that would allow them to be resilient against hardware faults are hardly discussed in the model development community. We present an approach to secure the dynamical core of weather and climate models against hardware faults using a backup system that stores coarse resolution copies of prognostic variables. Frequent checks of the model fields on the backup grid allow the detection of severe hardware faults, and prognostic variables that are changed by hardware faults on the model grid can be restored from the backup grid to continue model simulations with no significant delay. To justify the approach, we perform simulations with a C-grid shallow water model in the presence of frequent hardware faults. As long as the backup system is used, simulations do not crash and a high level of model quality can be maintained. The overhead due to the backup system is reasonable and additional storage requirements are small. Runtime is increased by only 13% for the shallow water model.

Field characterization of elastic properties across a fault zone reactivated by fluid injection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jeanne, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Rutqvist, Jonny

In this paper, we studied the elastic properties of a fault zone intersecting the Opalinus Clay formation at 300 m depth in the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (Switzerland). Four controlled water injection experiments were performed in borehole straddle intervals set at successive locations across the fault zone. A three-component displacement sensor, which allowed capturing the borehole wall movements during injection, was used to estimate the elastic properties of representative locations across the fault zone, from the host rock to the damage zone to the fault core. Young's moduli were estimated by both an analytical approach and numerical finite differencemore » modeling. Results show a decrease in Young's modulus from the host rock to the damage zone by a factor of 5 and from the damage zone to the fault core by a factor of 2. In the host rock, our results are in reasonable agreement with laboratory data showing a strong elastic anisotropy characterized by the direction of the plane of isotropy parallel to the laminar structure of the shale formation. In the fault zone, strong rotations of the direction of anisotropy can be observed. Finally, the plane of isotropy can be oriented either parallel to bedding (when few discontinuities are present), parallel to the direction of the main fracture family intersecting the zone, and possibly oriented parallel or perpendicular to the fractures critically oriented for shear reactivation (when repeated past rupture along this plane has created a zone).« less

Field characterization of elastic properties across a fault zone reactivated by fluid injection

DOE PAGES

Jeanne, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Rutqvist, Jonny; ...

2017-08-12

In this paper, we studied the elastic properties of a fault zone intersecting the Opalinus Clay formation at 300 m depth in the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (Switzerland). Four controlled water injection experiments were performed in borehole straddle intervals set at successive locations across the fault zone. A three-component displacement sensor, which allowed capturing the borehole wall movements during injection, was used to estimate the elastic properties of representative locations across the fault zone, from the host rock to the damage zone to the fault core. Young's moduli were estimated by both an analytical approach and numerical finite differencemore » modeling. Results show a decrease in Young's modulus from the host rock to the damage zone by a factor of 5 and from the damage zone to the fault core by a factor of 2. In the host rock, our results are in reasonable agreement with laboratory data showing a strong elastic anisotropy characterized by the direction of the plane of isotropy parallel to the laminar structure of the shale formation. In the fault zone, strong rotations of the direction of anisotropy can be observed. Finally, the plane of isotropy can be oriented either parallel to bedding (when few discontinuities are present), parallel to the direction of the main fracture family intersecting the zone, and possibly oriented parallel or perpendicular to the fractures critically oriented for shear reactivation (when repeated past rupture along this plane has created a zone).« less

Impact of different detachment topographies on pull-apart basin evolution - analog modelling and computer visualisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoprich, M.; Decker, K.; Grasemann, B.; Sokoutis, D.; Willingshofer, E.

2009-04-01

Former analog modeling on pull-apart basins dealt with different sidestep geometries, the symmetry and ratio between velocities of moving blocks, the ratio between ductile base and model thickness, the ratio between fault stepover and model thickness and their influence on basin evolution. In all these models the pull-apart basin is deformed over an even detachment. The Vienna basin, however, is considered a classical thin-skinned pull-apart with a rather peculiar basement structure. Deformation and basin evolution are believed to be limited to the brittle upper crust above the Alpine-Carpathian floor thrust. The latter is not a planar detachment surface, but has a ramp-shaped topography draping the underlying former passive continental margin. In order to estimate the effects of this special geometry, nine experiments were accomplished and the resulting structures were compared with the Vienna basin. The key parameters for the models (fault and basin geometry, detachment depth and topography) were inferred from a 3D GoCad model of the natural Vienna basin, which was compiled from seismic, wells and geological cross sections. The experiments were scaled 1:100.000 ("Ramberg-scaling" for brittle rheology) and built of quartz sand (300 µm grain size). An average depth of 6 km (6 cm) was calculated for the basal detachment, distances between the bounding strike-slip faults of 40 km (40 cm) and a finite length of the natural basin of 200 km were estimated (initial model length: 100 cm). The following parameters were changed through the experimental process: (1) syntectonic sedimentation; (2) the stepover angle between bounding strike slip faults and basal velocity discontinuity; (3) moving of one or both fault blocks (producing an asymmetrical or symmetrical basin); (4) inclination of the basal detachment surface by 5°; (6) installation of 2 and 3 ramp systems at the detachment; (7) simulation of a ductile detachment through a 0.4 cm thick PDMS layer at the basin floor. The surface of the model was photographed after each deformation increment through the experiment. Pictures of serial cross sections cut through the models in their final state every 4 cm were also taken and interpreted. The formation of en-echelon normal faults with relay ramps is observed in all models. These faults are arranged in an acute angle to the basin borders, according to a Riedel-geometry. In the case of an asymmetric basin they emerge within the non-moving fault block. Substantial differences between the models are the number, the distance and the angle of these Riedel faults, the length of the bounding strike-slip faults and the cross basin symmetry. A flat detachment produces straight fault traces, whereas inclined detachments (or inclined ramps) lead to "bending" of the normal faults, rollover and growth strata thickening towards the faults. Positions and the sizes of depocenters also vary, with depocenters preferably developing above ramp-flat-transitions. Depocenter thicknesses increase with ramp heights. A similar relation apparently exists in the natural Vienna basin, which shows ramp-like structures in the detachment just underneath large faults like the Steinberg normal fault and the associated depocenters. The 3-ramp-model also reveals segmentation of the basin above the lowermost ramp. The evolving structure is comparable to the Wiener Neustadt sub-basin in the southern part of the Vienna basin, which is underlain by a topographical high of the detachment. Cross sections through the ductile model show a strong disintergration into a horst-and-graben basin. The thin silicon putty base influences the overlying strata in a way that the basin - unlike the "dry" sand models - becomes very flat and shallow. The top view shows an irregular basin shape and no rhombohedral geometry, which characterises the Vienna basin. The ductile base also leads to a symmetrical distribution of deformation on both fault blocks, even though only one fault block is moved. The stepover angle, the influence of gravitation in a ramp or inclined system and the strain accomodation by a viscous silicone layer can be summarized as factors controlling the characteristics of the models.

Structure and energetics of extended defects in ice Ih

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva Junior, Domingos L.; de Koning, Maurice

2012-01-01

We consider the molecular structure and energetics of extended defects in proton-disordered hexagonal ice Ih. Using plane-wave density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we compute the energetics of stacking faults and determine the structure of the 30∘ and 90∘ partial dislocations on the basal plane. Consistent with experimental data, the formation energies of all fully reconstructed stacking faults are found to be very low. This is consistent with the idea that basal-plane glide dislocations in ice Ih are dissociated into partial dislocations separated by an area of stacking fault. For both types of partial dislocation we find a strong tendency toward core reconstruction through pairwise hydrogen-bond reformation. In the case of the 30∘ dislocation, the pairwise hydrogen-bond formation leads to a period-doubling core structure equivalent to that seen in zinc-blende semiconductor crystals. For the 90∘ partial we consider two possible core reconstructions, one in which the periodicity of the structure along the core remains unaltered and another in which it is doubled. The latter is preferred, although the energy difference between both is rather small, so that a coexistence of both reconstructions appears plausible. Our results imply that a mobility theory for dislocations on the basal plane in ice Ih should be based on the idea of reconstructed partial dislocations.

Numerical modeling of fold-and-thrust belts: Applications to Kuqa foreland fold belt, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, H.; Morgan, J. K.; Zhang, J.; Wang, Z.

2009-12-01

We constructed discrete element models to simulate the evolution of fold-and-thrust belts. The impact of rock competence and decollement strength on the geometric pattern and deformation mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts has been investigated. The models reproduced some characteristic features of fold-and-thrust belts, such as faulted detachment folds, pop-ups, far-traveled thrust sheets, passive-roof duplexes, and back thrusts. In general, deformation propagates farther above a weak decollement than above a strong decollement. Our model results confirm that fold-and-thrust belts with strong frictional decollements develop relatively steep and narrow wedges formed by closely spaced imbricate thrust slices, whereas fold belts with weak decollements form wide low-taper wedges composed of faulted detachment folds, pop-ups, and back thrusts. Far-traveled thrust sheets and passive-roof duplexes are observed in the model with a strong lower decollement and a weak upper detachment. Model results also indicate that the thickness of the weak layer is critical. If it is thick enough, it acts as a ductile layer that is able to flow under differential stress, which helps to partition deformation above and below it. The discrete element modeling results were used to interpret the evolution of Kuqa Cenozoic fold-and-thrust belt along northern Tarim basin, China. Seismic and well data show that the widely distributed Paleogene rock salt has a significant impact on the deformation in this area. Structures beneath salt are closely spaced imbricate thrust and passive-roof duplex systems. Deformation above salt propagates much farther than below the salt. Faults above salt are relatively wide spaced. A huge controversy over the Kuqa fold-and-thrust belt is whether it is thin-skinned or thick-skinned. With the insights from DEM results, we suggest that Kuqa structures are mostly thin-skinned with Paleogene salt as decollement, except for the rear part near the backstop, where the faults below the salt are thick-skinned and involve the Paleozoic basement. We think that most basement-involved sub-salt faults, if not all, formed later than the above salt-detached thin-skinned structures.

Hydrostructural maps of the Death Valley regional flow system, Nevada and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Potter, C.J.; Sweetkind, D.S.; Dickerson, R.P.; Killgore, M.L.

2002-01-01

The locations of principal faults and structural zones that may influence ground-water flow were compiled in support of a three-dimensional ground-water model for the Death Valley regional flow system (DVRFS), which covers 80,000 square km in southwestern Nevada and southeastern California. Faults include Neogene extensional and strike-slip faults and pre-Tertiary thrust faults. Emphasis was given to characteristics of faults and deformed zones that may have a high potential for influencing hydraulic conductivity. These include: (1) faulting that results in the juxtaposition of stratigraphic units with contrasting hydrologic properties, which may cause ground-water discharge and other perturbations in the flow system; (2) special physical characteristics of the fault zones, such as brecciation and fracturing, that may cause specific parts of the zone to act either as conduits or as barriers to fluid flow; (3) the presence of a variety of lithologies whose physical and deformational characteristics may serve to impede or enhance flow in fault zones; (4) orientation of a fault with respect to the present-day stress field, possibly influencing hydraulic conductivity along the fault zone; and (5) faults that have been active in late Pleistocene or Holocene time and areas of contemporary seismicity, which may be associated with enhanced permeabilities. The faults shown on maps A and B are largely from Workman and others (in press), and fit one or more of the following criteria: (1) faults that are more than 10 km in map length; (2) faults with more than 500 m of displacement; and (3) faults in sets that define a significant structural fabric that characterizes a particular domain of the DVRFS. The following fault types are shown: Neogene normal, Neogene strike-slip, Neogene low-angle normal, pre-Tertiary thrust, and structural boundaries of Miocene calderas. We have highlighted faults that have late Pleistocene to Holocene displacement (Piety, 1996). Areas of thick Neogene basin-fill deposits (thicknesses 1-2 km, 2-3 km, and >3 km) are shown on map A, based on gravity anomalies and depth-to-basement modeling by Blakely and others (1999). We have interpreted the positions of faults in the subsurface, generally following the interpretations of Blakely and others (1999). Where geophysical constraints are not present, the faults beneath late Tertiary and Quaternary cover have been extended based on geologic reasoning. Nearly all of these concealed faults are shown with continuous solid lines on maps A and B, in order to provide continuous structures for incorporation into the hydrogeologic framework model (HFM). Map A also shows the potentiometric surface, regional springs (25-35 degrees Celsius, D'Agnese and others, 1997), and cold springs (Turner and others, 1996).

3D Numerical Models of the Effect of Diking on the Faulting Pattern at Incipient Continental Rifts and Steady-State Spreading Centers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, X.; Choi, E.; Buck, W. R.

2015-12-01

The offset of faults and related topographic relief varies hugely at both continental rifts and mid-ocean ridges (MORs). In some areas fault offset is measured in 10s of meters while in places marked by core complexes it is measured in 10s of kilometers. Variation in the magma supply is thought to control much of these differences. Magma supply is most usefully described by the ratio (M) between rates of lithospheric extension accommodated by magmatic dike intrusion and that occurring via faulting. 2D models with different values of M successfully explain much of the observed cross-sectional structure seen at rifts and ridges. However, magma supply varies along the axis of extension and the interactions between the tectonics and magmatism are inevitably three-dimensional. We investigate the consequences of this along-axis variation in diking in terms of faulting patterns and the associated structures using a 3D parallel geodynamic modeling code, SNAC. Many observed 3D structural features are reproduced: e.g., abyssal hill, oceanic core complex (OCC), inward fault jump, mass wasting, hourglass-shaped median valley, corrugation and mullion structure. An estimated average value of M = 0.65 is suggested as a boundary value for separating abyssal hills and OCCs formation. Previous inconsistency in the M range for OCC formation between 2D model results (M = 0.3˜0.5) and field observations (M < 0.3 or M > 0.5) is reconciled by the along-ridge coupling between different faulting regimes. We also propose asynchronous faulting-induced tensile failure as a new possibility for explaining corrugations seen on the surface of core complexes. For continental rifts, we will describe a suite of 2D and 3D model calculations with a range of initial lithospheric structures and values of M. In one set of the 2D models we limit the extensional tectonic force and show how this affects the maximum topographic relief produced across the rift. We are also interested in comparing models in which the value of M varies as the rift evolves with observations from real rifts and continental margins. Finally, we plan to show how the faulting pattern in 3D can depend on the distribution of dike opening rate along segments for incipient continental rifts.

A low-angle detachment fault revealed: Three-dimensional images of the S-reflector fault zone along the Galicia passive margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuba, C. Nur; Gray, Gary G.; Morgan, Julia K.; Sawyer, Dale S.; Shillington, Donna J.; Reston, Tim J.; Bull, Jonathan M.; Jordan, Brian E.

2018-06-01

A new 3-D seismic reflection volume over the Galicia margin continent-ocean transition zone provides an unprecedented view of the prominent S-reflector detachment fault that underlies the outer part of the margin. This volume images the fault's structure from breakaway to termination. The filtered time-structure map of the S-reflector shows coherent corrugations parallel to the expected paleo-extension directions with an average azimuth of 107°. These corrugations maintain their orientations, wavelengths and amplitudes where overlying faults sole into the S-reflector, suggesting that the parts of the detachment fault containing multiple crustal blocks may have slipped as discrete units during its late stages. Another interface above the S-reflector, here named S‧, is identified and interpreted as the upper boundary of the fault zone associated with the detachment fault. This layer, named the S-interval, thickens by tens of meters from SE to NW in the direction of transport. Localized thick accumulations also occur near overlying fault intersections, suggesting either non-uniform fault rock production, or redistribution of fault rock during slip. These observations have important implications for understanding how detachment faults form and evolve over time. 3-D seismic reflection imaging has enabled unique insights into fault slip history, fault rock production and redistribution.

Plio-Pleistocene synsedimentary fault compartments, foundation for the eastern Olduvai Basin paleoenvironmental mosaic, Tanzania.

PubMed

Stollhofen, Harald; Stanistreet, Ian G

2012-08-01

Normal faults displacing Upper Bed I and Lower Bed II strata of the Plio-Pleistocene Lake Olduvai were studied on the basis of facies and thickness changes as well as diversion of transport directions across them in order to establish criteria for their synsedimentary activity. Decompacted differential thicknesses across faults were then used to calculate average fault slip rates of 0.05-0.47 mm/yr for the Tuff IE/IF interval (Upper Bed I) and 0.01-0.13 mm/yr for the Tuff IF/IIA section (Lower Bed II). Considering fault recurrence intervals of ~1000 years, fault scarp heights potentially achieved average values of 0.05-0.47 m and a maximum value of 5.4 m during Upper Bed I, which dropped to average values of 0.01-0.13 m and a localized maximum of 0.72 m during Lower Bed II deposition. Synsedimentary faults were of importance to the form and paleoecology of landscapes utilized by early hominins, most traceably and provably Homo habilis as illustrated by the recurrent density and compositional pattern of Oldowan stone artifact assemblage variation across them. Two potential relationship factors are: (1) fault scarp topographies controlled sediment distribution, surface, and subsurface hydrology, and thus vegetation, so that a resulting mosaic of microenvironments and paleoecologies provided a variety of opportunities for omnivorous hominins; and (2) they ensured that the most voluminous and violent pyroclastic flows from the Mt. Olmoti volcano were dammed and conduited away from the Olduvai Basin depocenter, when otherwise a single or set of ignimbrite flows might have filled and devastated the topography that contained the central lake body. In addition, hydraulically active faults may have conduited groundwater, supporting freshwater springs and wetlands and favoring growth of trees. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneities of mechanical properties in potential geothermal reservoir rocks of the North German Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyer, D.; Philipp, S. L.

2012-04-01

Heterogeneous rock properties in terms of layering and complex infrastructure of fault zones are typical phenomena in sedimentary basins such as the North German Basin. To be able to model reservoir stimulation in layered stratifications and to better adapt the drilling strategy to the rock mechanical conditions it is important to have knowledge about the effects of heterogeneous rock properties on fracture propagation and fault zone infrastructure for typical sedimentary reservoir rocks in the North German Basin. Therefore we aim at quantifying these properties by performing structural geological field studies in outcrop analogues combined with laboratory analyses. The field studies in Rotliegend sandstones (Lower Permian), the sandstones of the Middle Bunter (Lower Triassic) and the sandstones of the Upper Keuper (Upper Triassic) focus on 1) host rock fracture systems and 2) fault zone infrastructure. We analyse quantitatively the dimension, geometry, persistence and connectivity of fracture systems separately for host rocks and fault damage zones. The results show that in rocks with distinctive layering (sandstones and shales) natural fractures are often restricted to individual layers, that is, they are stratabound. The probability of fracture arrest seems to depend on the stiffness contrast between the two layers and on the thickness of the softer layer. The field studies are complemented by systematic sampling to obtain mechanical property variations caused by the layering. For the samples we measure the parameters Young's modulus, compressive and tensile strengths, elastic strain energy, density and porosity. The results show that the mechanical properties vary considerably and many samples are clearly anisotropic. That is, samples taken perpendicular to layering commonly have higher strengths but lower stiffnesses than those taken parallel to layering. We combine the results of laboratory analyses and field measurements to specify the mechanical heterogeneities of the sedimentary reservoir rocks of the North German Basin and of the mechanical units of fault zones therein. To estimate the in situ rock properties at different depths it is further important to understand how rocks from outcrops differ from rocks at depth (for example due to alteration and removal of the overburden load). To answer these questions we analyse samples from drill cores from depths relevant for the use as geothermal reservoirs which are stratigraphically and lithologically equivalent to those taken in outcrop analogues. The results from drill-core sample analyses are then compared with the results from the outcrop samples. Another approach is to analyse how rock mechanical properties correlate with petrographic properties (e.g., mineral content, cementation, fabric, porosity) to use this knowledge to extrapolate the data to depth. Altogether these results will be very useful to make better assumptions on natural reservoir permeabilities and to better adapt the drilling and reservoir stimulation strategy to the rock mechanical conditions.

A brittle (normal?) shear zone cored in Site C0002 of Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (IODP Expedition 348)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crespo-Blanc, Ana; Sample, James; Brown, Kevin; Otsubo, Makoto; Yamamoto, Yuzuru

2016-04-01

Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 348, which belongs to the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment, conducted riser-drilling to make deeper an existing hole at Site C0002, up to 3058.5 meters below seafloor (mbsf). This site is located 80 km SE of the Kii Peninsula (Japan) in the Kumano forearc basin, in turn situated on top of the Nankai accretionary prism. Cuttings (875.5-3058.5 mbsf) and cores (2163.0-2217.5 mbsf) were collected in the upper Miocene to Pliocene turbiditic silty claystone with few intercalations of sandstone which characterize the accretionary prism lithological units. A remarkably preserved fault zone has been cored around 2205 mbsf (core section Hole C0002P-348-5R-4). It is characterized by 34 cm of fault breccia, in which an anastomosed cataclastic foliation is present. The rocks of the damaged zone are formed by silty claystone with an incipient scaly fabric and scarce levels of sandstones. Extra-large thin sections were made along the whole core section. In the brittle shear zone, they reveal a catalogue of deformation structures characteristic of a high structural level. In particular, almond-type structures and arrays of microfaults cutting the stratification are the most common structures and outline the cataclastic foliation. The occurrence of calcite veins in the recovered cores is limited to this fault zone, which is indicative of its role as fluid path, accompanied by carbonate cementation. Generally fault veins have lower δ18O values than carbonate cements in the sedimentary matrix, consistent with veins forming at higher temperatures and/or from a fluid more strongly depleted in 18O. A continuum of the relationships between calcite veins and cataclastic deformation is observed, from veins that precipitated early in the fault history, with calcite grains broken during subsequent deformation, to late veins which seal the almond-type structures within the claystones. The geometry of the calcite grains within the veins and the relationship between the veins and the wall rock indicate that the mechanism that actuate during the vein formation is that of crack-seal. It took place along variable growth planes inside the vein and the wall rock (localized and delocalized stretching veins, respectively), which result in asymmetric syntaxial veins. All the observed microfaults produced lengthening of the markers. Together with the mesoscopic criteria (according to the visual core descriptions made onboard), this would indicate that, in its present-day position, this brittle shear zone is associated with a normal fault. Nevertheless, it is not discarded that it could be an early thrust rotated after its development. Acknowledgements: This research used samples provided by IODP. Grants RNM-215 and 451 ("Junta de Andalucía", Spain) and CGL2013-46368-P ("Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad", Spain) supported this study.

Unravelling the Paleoenvironmental and Diagenetic History of Fluviolacustrine Sediments from a Northern Kenya Rift Basin Through Analysis of HSPDP West Turkana-Kaitio Core Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabideaux, N. M.; Chaudhary, M. S.; Deocampo, D.; Feibel, C. S.; Cohen, A. S.

2016-12-01

The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) collected sediment cores from six rift basins in Ethiopia and Kenya. The goal of HSPDP is to construct high-resolution records of environmental change, and to understand how those changes relate to early human evolution and cultural adaptations. The West Turkana-Kaitio (WTK) site was targeted due to the abundant archeological and paleontological artifacts and fossils discovered around the basin. We conducted XRD and XRF analyses on HSPDP-WTK core material to construct a high-resolution record of paleoenvironmental conditions in the Kenya Rift during the Early Pleistocene ( 1.9-1.35 Ma). Mineralogical and geochemical trends were also used to identify the diagenetic history of fluviolacustrine sediments in the basin. The bulk mineralogy is comprised of mostly detrital feldspars, muscovite, α-quartz, and carbonates. Zeolites are present in intervals throughout the core, possibly suggesting pulses of increased salinity. Oxides and S-bearing minerals are abundant from 100-170 mbs, which may be indicative of redox and or hydrothermal processes in that interval. The lowermost portion of the core contains α- and β-quartz, pyrite and zeolites, suggesting either low-oxygen saline conditions or hydrothermal activity. Oriented clay analysis indicated multiple intervals of diagenesis, with the illitization of smectite related to hydrothermal and or microbial activity. Clay analysis provided evidence for a low degree of illitization in the upper portion of the core, whereas mixed-layered illite-smectite (I/S) contained 30-50% illite proximal to fault breccia and up to 70% illite below the faulted section, indicative of significant alteration in the lowermost portion of the core. Coupled mineralogical and geochemical analysis revealed a complex alteration history in the basin indicated by: 1) the presence of mixed-layer I/S throughout the 216 m core; 2) pronounced alteration proximal to faulting; and 3) authigenic silicates and pyrite in the basal section of the core.

Comparison between results of detailed tectonic studies on borehole core vs microresistivity images of borehole wall from gas-bearing shale complexes, Baltic Basin, Poland.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobek, Kinga; Jarosiński, Marek; Pachytel, Radomir

2017-04-01

Structural analysis of borehole core and microresistivity images yield an information about geometry of natural fracture network and their potential importance for reservoir stimulation. Density of natural fractures and their orientation in respect to the maximum horizontal stress has crucial meaning for hydraulic fractures propagation in unconventional reservoirs. We have investigated several hundred meters of continuous borehole core and corresponding microresistivity images (mostly XRMI) from six boreholes in the Pomeranian part of the Early Paleozoic Baltic Basin. In general, our results challenge the question about representatives of statistics based on structural analyses on a small shale volume represented by borehole core or borehole wall images and credibility of different sets of data. Most frequently, fractures observed in both XRMI and cores are steep, small strata-bound fractures and veins with minor mechanical aperture (0,1 mm in average). These veins create an orthogonal joint system, locally disturbed by fractures associated with normal or by gently dipping thrust faults. Mean fractures' height keeps in a range between 30-50 cm. Fracture density differs significantly among boreholes and Consistent Lithological Units (CLUs) but the most frequent means falls in a range 2-4 m-1. We have also payed an attention to bedding planes due to their expected coupling with natural fractures and their role as structural barriers for vertical fracture propagation. We aimed in construction for each CLU the so-called "mean brick", which size is limited by an average distance between two principal joint sets and between bedding fractures. In our study we have found out a discrepancy between structural profiles based on XRMI and core interpretation. For some CLUs joint fractures densities, are higher in cores than in XRMI. In this case, numerous small fractures were not recorded due to the limits of XRMI resolution. However, the most veins with aperture 0,1 mm, cemented with calcite, were clearly visible in scanner image. We have also observed significantly lower density of veins in core than in the XRMI that occurs systematically in one formation enriched with carbonate and dolomite. In this case, veins are not fractured in core and obliterated for bare eye by dolomitization, but are still contrastive in respect of electric resistance. Calculated density of bedding planes per 1 meter reveals systematically higher density of fractures observed on core than in the XRMI (depicted automatically by interpretation program). This difference may come from additional fracking due to relaxation of borehole core while recovery. Comparison of vertical joint fractures density with thickness of mechanical beds shows either lack of significant trends or a negative correlation (greater density of bedding fractures correspond to lower density of joints). This result, obtained for shale complexes contradict that derived for sandstone or limestone. Boundary between CLUs are visible on both: joint and bedding fracture density profiles. Considering small-scale faults and slickensides we have obtained good agreement between results of core and scanner interpretation. This study in the frame of ShaleMech Project funded by Polish Committee for Scientific Research is in progress and the results are preliminary.

Stratigraphic analysis of the Paleocene Beaufort Formation, Lenoir and Craven Counties, North Carolina

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McLaurin, B.T.

The Beaufort Formation (BF) occurs in the inner coastal plain in a fault-bounded basin associated with the Graingers wrench zone. The unit disconformably overlies the Cretaceous Peedee Fm., and is overlain disconformably by either the Eocene Castle Hayne Limestone or younger units. Although the BF is only known to crop out along the western margin of the basin, approximately 36 core-holes penetrate the unit in the basin. Core-hole analysis indicates that the BF rapidly varies in thickness from 0--85 feet over a distance of several hundred feet. The BF is divided into the lower Jericho Run Member of Danian agemore » and an upper unnamed member of Thanetian age. The Jericho Run Member (JRM) is principally a light-gray to gray siliceous mudstone which in some places contains interbeds of very fine to coarse glauconitic quartz sand. The mudstone is often burrowed and can contain as much as 40% quartz and 15% glauconite usually concentrated in thin laminae or burrows. The JRM is the most widespread member of the BF obtaining a maximum thickness of 53 feet. Where present, it always lies disconformably on the Peedee Formation and is either overlain disconformably by the unnamed member or younger sediments. Planktic foraminifera assigned to the P1 zone indicate that the JRM is Danian in age. The unnamed member is characterized by a gray-green to dark green glauconitic sand with minor thin sandy carbonates. When the JRM is absent, the unnamed member disconformably overlies the Peedee Formation with the contact marked by a thin phosphate-pebble conglomerate. The unnamed member is not as widely distributed as the Danian member, but its thickness in some areas exceeds 78 feet. The unnamed member contains up to 10% more glauconite and larger amounts of phosphatic material than the JRM. Planktic foraminifera (P4) and calcareous nannofossils (NP6) indicate that the unnamed member is Thanetian in age.« less

Predictive modelling of fault related fracturing in carbonate damage-zones: analytical and numerical models of field data (Central Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannino, Irene; Cianfarra, Paola; Salvini, Francesco

2010-05-01

Permeability in carbonates is strongly influenced by the presence of brittle deformation patterns, i.e pressure-solution surfaces, extensional fractures, and faults. Carbonate rocks achieve fracturing both during diagenesis and tectonic processes. Attitude, spatial distribution and connectivity of brittle deformation features rule the secondary permeability of carbonatic rocks and therefore the accumulation and the pathway of deep fluids (ground-water, hydrocarbon). This is particularly true in fault zones, where the damage zone and the fault core show different hydraulic properties from the pristine rock as well as between them. To improve the knowledge of fault architecture and faults hydraulic properties we study the brittle deformation patterns related to fault kinematics in carbonate successions. In particular we focussed on the damage-zone fracturing evolution. Fieldwork was performed in Meso-Cenozoic carbonate units of the Latium-Abruzzi Platform, Central Apennines, Italy. These units represent field analogues of rock reservoir in the Southern Apennines. We combine the study of rock physical characteristics of 22 faults and quantitative analyses of brittle deformation for the same faults, including bedding attitudes, fracturing type, attitudes, and spatial intensity distribution by using the dimension/spacing ratio, namely H/S ratio where H is the dimension of the fracture and S is the spacing between two analogous fractures of the same set. Statistical analyses of structural data (stereonets, contouring and H/S transect) were performed to infer a focussed, general algorithm that describes the expected intensity of fracturing process. The analytical model was fit to field measurements by a Montecarlo-convergent approach. This method proved a useful tool to quantify complex relations with a high number of variables. It creates a large sequence of possible solution parameters and results are compared with field data. For each item an error mean value is computed (RMS), representing the effectiveness of the fit and so the validity of this analysis. Eventually, the method selects the set of parameters that produced the least values. The tested algorithm describes the expected H/S values as a function of the distance from the fault core (D), the clay content (S), and the fault throw (T). The preliminary results of the Montecarlo inversion show that the distance (D) has the most effective influence in the H/S spatial distribution and the H/S value decreases with the distance from the fault-core. The rheological parameter shows a value similar to the diagenetic H/S values (1-1.5). The resulting equation has a reasonable RMS value of 0.116. The results of the Montecarlo models were finally implemented in FRAP, a fault environment modelling software. It is a true 4D tool that can predict stress conditions and permeability architecture associated to a given faults during single or multiple tectonic events. We present some models of fault-related fracturing among the studied faults performed by FRAP and we compare them with the field measurements, to test the validity of our methodology.

Time-dependent fracture probability of bilayer, lithium-disilicate-based, glass-ceramic, molar crowns as a function of core/veneer thickness ratio and load orientation.

PubMed

Anusavice, Kenneth J; Jadaan, Osama M; Esquivel-Upshaw, Josephine F

2013-11-01

Recent reports on bilayer ceramic crown prostheses suggest that fractures of the veneering ceramic represent the most common reason for prosthesis failure. The aims of this study were to test the hypotheses that: (1) an increase in core ceramic/veneer ceramic thickness ratio for a crown thickness of 1.6mm reduces the time-dependent fracture probability (Pf) of bilayer crowns with a lithium-disilicate-based glass-ceramic core, and (2) oblique loading, within the central fossa, increases Pf for 1.6-mm-thick crowns compared with vertical loading. Time-dependent fracture probabilities were calculated for 1.6-mm-thick, veneered lithium-disilicate-based glass-ceramic molar crowns as a function of core/veneer thickness ratio and load orientation in the central fossa area. Time-dependent fracture probability analyses were computed by CARES/Life software and finite element analysis, using dynamic fatigue strength data for monolithic discs of a lithium-disilicate glass-ceramic core (Empress 2), and ceramic veneer (Empress 2 Veneer Ceramic). Predicted fracture probabilities (Pf) for centrally loaded 1.6-mm-thick bilayer crowns over periods of 1, 5, and 10 years are 1.2%, 2.7%, and 3.5%, respectively, for a core/veneer thickness ratio of 1.0 (0.8mm/0.8mm), and 2.5%, 5.1%, and 7.0%, respectively, for a core/veneer thickness ratio of 0.33 (0.4mm/1.2mm). CARES/Life results support the proposed crown design and load orientation hypotheses. The application of dynamic fatigue data, finite element stress analysis, and CARES/Life analysis represent an optimal approach to optimize fixed dental prosthesis designs produced from dental ceramics and to predict time-dependent fracture probabilities of ceramic-based fixed dental prostheses that can minimize the risk for clinical failures. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Dental Materials. All rights reserved.

Time-dependent fracture probability of bilayer, lithium-disilicate-based glass-ceramic molar crowns as a function of core/veneer thickness ratio and load orientation

PubMed Central

Anusavice, Kenneth J.; Jadaan, Osama M.; Esquivel–Upshaw, Josephine

2013-01-01

Recent reports on bilayer ceramic crown prostheses suggest that fractures of the veneering ceramic represent the most common reason for prosthesis failure. Objective The aims of this study were to test the hypotheses that: (1) an increase in core ceramic/veneer ceramic thickness ratio for a crown thickness of 1.6 mm reduces the time-dependent fracture probability (Pf) of bilayer crowns with a lithium-disilicate-based glass-ceramic core, and (2) oblique loading, within the central fossa, increases Pf for 1.6-mm-thick crowns compared with vertical loading. Materials and methods Time-dependent fracture probabilities were calculated for 1.6-mm-thick, veneered lithium-disilicate-based glass-ceramic molar crowns as a function of core/veneer thickness ratio and load orientation in the central fossa area. Time-dependent fracture probability analyses were computed by CARES/Life software and finite element analysis, using dynamic fatigue strength data for monolithic discs of a lithium-disilicate glass-ceramic core (Empress 2), and ceramic veneer (Empress 2 Veneer Ceramic). Results Predicted fracture probabilities (Pf) for centrally-loaded 1,6-mm-thick bilayer crowns over periods of 1, 5, and 10 years are 1.2%, 2.7%, and 3.5%, respectively, for a core/veneer thickness ratio of 1.0 (0.8 mm/0.8 mm), and 2.5%, 5.1%, and 7.0%, respectively, for a core/veneer thickness ratio of 0.33 (0.4 mm/1.2 mm). Conclusion CARES/Life results support the proposed crown design and load orientation hypotheses. Significance The application of dynamic fatigue data, finite element stress analysis, and CARES/Life analysis represent an optimal approach to optimize fixed dental prosthesis designs produced from dental ceramics and to predict time-dependent fracture probabilities of ceramic-based fixed dental prostheses that can minimize the risk for clinical failures. PMID:24060349

Reflex-mediated dynamic neuromuscular stabilization in stroke patients: EMG processing and ultrasound imaging.

PubMed

Yoon, Hyun S; You, Joshua Sung H

2017-07-20

Postural core instability is associated with poor dynamic balance and a high risk of serious falls. Both neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) and dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS) core stabilization exercises have been used to improve core stability, but the outcomes of these treatments remain unclear. This study was undertaken to examine the therapeutic effects of NDT and DNS core stabilization exercises on muscular activity, core stability, and core muscle thickness. Ten participants (5 healthy adults; 5 hemiparetic stroke patients) were recruited. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to determine core muscle activity of the transversus abdominis/internal oblique (TrA/IO), external oblique (EO), and rectus abdominis (RA) muscles. Ultrasound imaging was used to measure transversus abdominals/internal oblique (TrA/IO) thickness, and a pressure biofeedback unit (PBU) was used to measure core stability during the DNS and NDT core exercise conditions. Data are reported as median and range and were compared using nonparametric Mann - Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank test at p< 0.05. Both healthy and hemiparetic stroke groups showed greater median EMG amplitude in the TrA/IO muscles, core stability, and muscle thickness values during the DNS exercise condition than during the NDT core exercise condition, respectively (p< 0.05). However, the relative changes in the EMG amplitude, core stability, and muscle thickness values were greater during the DNS exercise condition than during the NDT core exercise condition in the hemiparetic stroke patient group (p< 0.05). Our novel results provide the first clinical evidence that DNS is more effective than NDT in both healthy and hemiparetic stroke subjects to provide superior deep core muscle activation, core stabilization, and muscle thickness. Moreover, such advantageous therapeutic benefits of the DNS core stabilization exercise over the NDT exercise were more apparent in the hemiparetis stroke patients than normal controls.

San Andreas fault geometry at Desert Hot Springs, California, and its effects on earthquake hazards and groundwater

USGS Publications Warehouse

Catchings, R.D.; Rymer, M.J.; Goldman, M.R.; Gandhok, G.

2009-01-01

The Mission Creek and Banning faults are two of the principal strands of the San Andreas fault zone in the northern Coachella Valley of southern California. Structural characteristics of the faults affect both regional earthquake hazards and local groundwater resources. We use seismic, gravity, and geological data to characterize the San Andreas fault zone in the vicinity of Desert Hot Springs. Seismic images of the upper 500 m of the Mission Creek fault at Desert Hot Springs show multiple fault strands distributed over a 500 m wide zone, with concentrated faulting within a central 200 m wide area of the fault zone. High-velocity (up to 5000 m=sec) rocks on the northeast side of the fault are juxtaposed against a low-velocity (6.0) earthquakes in the area (in 1948 and 1986) occurred at or near the depths (~10 to 12 km) of the merged (San Andreas) fault. Large-magnitude earthquakes that nucleate at or below the merged fault will likely generate strong shaking from guided waves along both fault zones and from amplified seismic waves in the low-velocity basin between the two fault zones. The Mission Creek fault zone is a groundwater barrier with the top of the water table varying by 60 m in depth and the aquifer varying by about 50 m in thickness across a 200 m wide zone of concentrated faulting.

Aspects of modelling the tectonics of large volcanoes on the terrestrial planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgovern, Patrick J.; Solomon, Sean C.

1993-01-01

Analytic solutions for the response of planetary lithospheres to volcanic loads have been used to model faulting and infer elastic plate thicknesses. Predictions of the distribution of faulting around volcanic loads, based on the application of Anderson's criteria for faulting to the results of the models, do not agree well with observations. Such models do not give the stress state and stress history within the edifice. The effects of episodic load growth can also be treated. When these effects are included, models give much better agreement with observations.

Transient cnoidal waves explain the formation and geometry of fault damage zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veveakis, Manolis; Schrank, Christoph

2017-04-01

The spatial footprint of a brittle fault is usually dominated by a wide area of deformation bands and fractures surrounding a narrow, highly deformed fault core. This diffuse damage zone relates to the deformation history of a fault, including its seismicity, and has a significant impact on flow and mechanical properties of faulted rock. Here, we propose a new mechanical model for damage-zone formation. It builds on a novel mathematical theory postulating fundamental material instabilities in solids with internal mass transfer associated with volumetric deformation due to elastoviscoplastic p-waves termed cnoidal waves. We show that transient cnoidal waves triggered by fault slip events can explain the characteristic distribution and extent of deformation bands and fractures within natural fault damage zones. Our model suggests that an overpressure wave propagating away from the slipping fault and the material properties of the host rock control damage-zone geometry. Hence, cnoidal-wave theory may open a new chapter for predicting seismicity, material and geometrical properties as well as the location of brittle faults.

Attitude, movement history, and structure of cataclastic rocks of the Flemington Fault results of core drilling near Oldwick, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burton, W.C.; Ratcliffe, N.M.

1985-01-01

In the summer of 1983, two holes were drilled through the border fault of the Newark basin near Oldwick, New Jersey, in the Gladstone 7.5minute quadrangle. Figure 1A shows the location of the drill site in relation to regional geology and the major faults. The fault drilled in this study connects to the south with the Flemington fault, which trends southwestward across the Newark basin, as shown. To the north, the fault can be traced along the valley that extends towards Mendham, N. J., beyond the limits of exposed Mesozoic rocks, to connect with the Ramapo fault near Morristown N. J. (fig. 1A; Ratcliffe, 1980). For this reason, we use the name "Flemington" for the border fault in the region of the drill site. A detailed map (fig. 1B) shows the local geology along the border fault from Pottersville, N. J. southward to the axis of the Oldwick syncline.

Digital Isostatic Gravity Map of the Nevada Test Site and Vicinity, Nye, Lincoln, and Clark Counties, Nevada, and Inyo County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ponce, David A.; Mankinen, E.A.; Davidson, J.G.; Morin, R.L.; Blakely, R.J.

2000-01-01

An isostatic gravity map of the Nevada Test Site area was prepared from publicly available gravity data (Ponce, 1997) and from gravity data recently collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (Mankinen and others, 1999; Morin and Blakely, 1999). Gravity data were processed using standard gravity data reduction techniques. Southwest Nevada is characterized by gravity anomalies that reflect the distribution of pre-Cenozoic carbonate rocks, thick sequences of volcanic rocks, and thick alluvial basins. In addition, regional gravity data reveal the presence of linear features that reflect large-scale faults whereas detailed gravity data can indicate the presence of smaller-scale faults.

Characterization of compressive and short beam shear strength of bamboo opened cell foam core sandwich composites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Setyawan, Paryanto Dwi, E-mail: paryanto-ds@yahoo.com; Sugiman,; Saputra, Yudhi

The paper presents the compressive and the short beam shear strength of a sandwich composite with opened cell foam made of bamboo fiber as the core and plywood as the skins. The core thickness was varied from 10 mm to 40 mm keeping the volume fraction of fiber constant. Several test s were carried out including the core density, flatwise compressive and the short beam shear testing in three point bending. The results show that the density of bamboo opened cell foam is comparable with commercial plastic foam, such as polyurethane foam. The compressive strength tends to increase linearly with increasing themore » core thickness. The short beam shear failure load of the sandwich composite increases with the increase of core thickness, however on the contrary, the short beam shear strength which tends to sharply decrease from the thickness of 10 mm to 30 mm and then becomes flat.« less

Quaternary geology of the DFDP-2 drill holes, Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Upton, P.; Cox, S.; Howarth, J. D.; Sutherland, R.; Langridge, R.; Barth, N. C.; Atkins, C.

2015-12-01

A 240 m-thick Quaternary sediment sequence in Whataroa Valley was much thicker than predicted before drilling. DFDP-2A and DFDP-2B were mostly drilled through the sequence by dual-rotary method using air or water circulation, returning cuttings bagged at 1 or 2 m sample intervals. Some sorting/bias and contamination occurred. Core was retrieved in DFDP-2A from 125-160 m, with highly variable recovery (0-100%) and mixed preservation/quality. The sequence is interpreted to comprise: fluvial-glacial gravels (0-58 m); grading downward into sandy lake delta sediments (59-77 m); overlying a monotonous sequence of lake mud and silts, with rare pebble-cobble diamictite (77-206 m); with a basal unit (206-240 m) containing coarse cobbles and boulders that may represent a distinct till/diamictite. Evidence has yet to be found for any marine influence in lowermost sediments, despite deposition at least 120 m below present day sea level, and potentially 200 m bsl if uplift has occurred on the Alpine Fault. When corrected for uplift the lacustrine sequence broadly correlates to those in present Lakes Rotokina and Wahapo, suggesting a substantial (~100 km2) pro-glacial lake once covered the area. Radiocarbon dating of plant fragments indicate 70 m of upper lacustrine and deltaic sediments (129-59 m) were deposited rapidly between 16350-15800 Cal BP. Overlying alluvial gravels are much younger (<1 ka), but potentially also involved pulses of rapid aggradation. The sequence provides a record of sedimentation on the Alpine Fault hanging wall following late-glacial ice retreat up Whataroa Valley, with uplift and erosion followed by Holocene alluvial gravel deposition. Future work will address: (1) the nature and history of sedimentation, including the lithology and origin of sediments; (2) what, if any, geological record of tectonics (movement) or Alpine Fault earthquakes (shaking) the sediments contain.

Room-temperature ferromagnetic Cr-doped Ge/GeOx core-shell nanowires.

PubMed

Katkar, Amar S; Gupta, Shobhnath P; Seikh, Md Motin; Chen, Lih-Juann; Walke, Pravin S

2018-06-08

The Cr-doped tunable thickness core-shell Ge/GeO x nanowires (NWs) were synthesized and characterized using x-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and magnetization studies. The shell thickness increases with the increase in synthesis temperature. The presence of metallic Cr and Cr 3+ in core-shell structure was confirmed from XPS study. The magnetic property is highly sensitive to the core-shell thickness and intriguing room temperature ferromagnetism is realized only in core-shell NWs. The magnetization decreases with an increase in shell thickness and practically ceases to exist when there is no core. These NWs show remarkably high Curie temperature (T C  > 300 K) with the dominating values of its magnetic remanence (M R ) and coercivity (H C ) compared to germanium dilute magnetic semiconductor nanomaterials. We believe that our finding on these Cr-doped Ge/GeO X core-shell NWs has the potential to be used as a hard magnet for future spintronic devices, owing to their higher characteristic values of ferromagnetic ordering.

Low grade metamorphism fluid circulation in a sedimentary environment thrust fault zone: properties and modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trincal, Vincent; Lacroix, Brice; Buatier, Martine D.; Charpentier, Delphine; Labaume, Pierre; Lahfid, Abdeltif

2014-05-01

In fold-and-thrust belts, shortening is mainly accommodated by thrust faults that can constitute preferential pathways for fluid circulation. The present study focuses on the Pic de Port Vieux thrust, a second-order thrust related to major Gavarnie thrust in the Axial Zone of the Pyrenees. The fault juxtaposes lower Triassic red siltstones and sandstones in the hanging-wall and Upper Cretaceous limestone in the footwall. A dense network of synkinematic quartz-chlorite veins is present in outcrop and allows to unravel the nature of the fluid that circulated in the fault zone. The hanging wall part of fault zone comprises a core which consists of intensely foliated phyllonite; the green color of this shear zone is related to the presence of abundant newly-formed chlorite. Above, the damage zone consists of red pelites and sandstones. Both domains feature kinematic markers like S-C type shear structures associated with shear and extension quartz-chlorite veins and indicate a top to the south displacement. In the footwall, the limestone display increasing mylonitization and marmorization when getting close to the contact. In order to investigate the mineralogical and geochemical changes induced by deformation and subsequent fluid flow, sampling was conducted along a complete transect of the fault zone, from the footwall limestone to the red pelites of the hanging wall. In the footwall limestone, stable isotope and Raman spectroscopy analyzes were performed. The strain gradient is strongly correlated with a high decrease in δ18OV PDB values (from -5.5 to -14) when approaching the thrust (i.e. passing from limestone to marble) while the deformation temperatures estimated with Raman spectroscopy on carbon remain constant around 300° C. These results suggest that deformation is associated to a dynamic calcite recrystallization of carbonate in a fluid-open system. In the hanging wall, SEM observations, bulk chemical XRF analyses and mineral quantification from XRD analyses were conducted in order to compare the green phyllonites from the fault core zone with the red pelites from the damage zone. Quartz, muscovite 2M1, chlorite (clinochlore), calcite and rutile are present in all samples. Hematite occurs in the damage zone but is absent in the core zone. Synkinematic chlorites are abundant in the core and damage zones and are mainly located in veins, sometimes in association with quartz. The temperature of formation of these newly-formed chlorites is 300-350° C according to Inoue (2009) geothermometer. Mössbauer spectroscopic analyses were performed on bulk rock samples. In the damage zone, Fe3+/Fetotal vary between 0.7 and 0.8, whereas in the core zone Fe3+/Fetotal is about 0.35. This decrease in Fe3+ from the damage zone to the core zone can be related to the dissolution of hematite. In contrast, Fe3+/Fetotal in phyllosilicates is clearly related to the chlorite content relative to mica, as Fe2+ increases with chlorite content. All these data allow us to propose a model of fluid circulation in relation with the Pic de Port Vieux thrust activity. The origin of the fluid, its interactions with host-rock and the consequences on fault zone mineralizations will be discussed. Inoue, A., Meunier, A., Patrier-Mas, P., Rigault, C., Beaufort, D., Vieillard, P., 2009. Application of chemical geothermometry to low-temperature trioctahedral chlorites. Clay Clay Min. 57, 371-382.

Helium isotopes in matrix pore fluids from SAFOD drill core samples suggest mantle fluids cannot be responsible for fault weakening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, S.; Stute, M.; Torgersen, T.; Winckler, G.

2008-12-01

To quantify fluid flow in the San Andreas Fault (SAF) (and since direct fracture fluid sampling of the fault zone was not available), we have adapted a method to extract rare gases from matrix fluids of whole rocks by diffusion. Helium was measured on drill core samples obtained from 3054 m (Pacific Plate) to 3990 m (North American Plate) through the San Andreas Fault Zone (SAFZ) ~3300 m during SAFOD Phases I (2004), II (2005), III (2007). Samples were typically collected as 2.54 cm diameter subcores drilled into the ends of the cores, or from the core catcher and drillcore fragments within <2hr after core recovery. The samples were placed into ultra high vacuum stainless steel containers, flushed with ultra high purity nitrogen and immediately evacuated. Helium isotopes of the extracted matrix pore fluids and the solid matrix were determined by mass spectrometery at LDEO. Matrix porefluid 3He/4He ratios are ~0.4 - 0.5xRa (Ra: atmospheric 3He/4He = 1.384 x 10-6) in the Pacific Plate, increasing toward the SAFZ, while pore fluids in the North American Plate have a 3He/4He range of 0.7-0.9Ra, increasing away from the SAFZ (consistent with results from mud gas samples (Wiersberg and Erzinger, 2007) and direct fluid samples (Kennedy et al., 2007)). Helium isotope ratios of the solid matrix are less than 0.06Ra across the SAF in samples from both the North American and the Pacific plates, thereby excluding the host matrix as source for the enhanced isotopic signature. If the system is assumed to be in steady state, then the flux of mantle helium must be from the North American Plate to the Pacific plate. The steeper gradient in the Pacific Plate relative to the North American plate is consistent with a porosity corrected effective diffusivity. The source for this mantle helium in the North American Plate is likely related to a low crustal conductivity zone identified by magnetotelluric signals (Becken et al., 2008) that provides a channel for transport of mantle helium within brittle crust under high strain rates (Kennedy et al., 2007). The helium isotope gradients suggest that fault weakening by mantle-derived fluid pressure is unlikely. More likely, mantle fluids "bleed" into the North American plate below seismogenic depths and are transported across the fault by nonseismic, diffusive processes.

Influence of Shell Thickness on the Colloidal Stability of Magnetic Core-Shell Particle Suspensions

PubMed Central

Neville, Frances; Moreno-Atanasio, Roberto

2018-01-01

We present a Discrete Element study of the behavior of magnetic core-shell particles in which the properties of the core and the shell are explicitly defined. Particle cores were considered to be made of pure iron and thus possessed ferromagnetic properties, while particle shells were considered to be made of silica. Core sizes ranged between 0.5 and 4.0 μm with the actual particle size of the core-shell particles in the range between 0.6 and 21 μm. The magnetic cores were considered to have a magnetization of one tenth of the saturation magnetization of iron. This study aimed to understand how the thickness of the shell hinders the formation of particle chains. Chain formation was studied with different shell thicknesses and particle sizes in the presence and absence of an electrical double layer force in order to investigate the effect of surface charge density on the magnetic core-shell particle interactions. For core sizes of 0.5 and 4.0 μm the relative shell thicknesses needed to hinder the aggregation process were approximately 0.4 and 0.6 respectively, indicating that larger core sizes are detrimental to be used in applications in which no flocculation is needed. In addition, the presence of an electrical double layer, for values of surface charge density of less than 20 mC/m2, could stop the contact between particles without hindering their vertical alignment. Only when the shell thickness was considerably larger, was the electrical double layer able to contribute to the full disruption of the magnetic flocculation process. PMID:29922646

Influence of Shell Thickness on the Colloidal Stability of Magnetic Core-Shell Particle Suspensions.

PubMed

Neville, Frances; Moreno-Atanasio, Roberto

2018-01-01

We present a Discrete Element study of the behavior of magnetic core-shell particles in which the properties of the core and the shell are explicitly defined. Particle cores were considered to be made of pure iron and thus possessed ferromagnetic properties, while particle shells were considered to be made of silica. Core sizes ranged between 0.5 and 4.0 μm with the actual particle size of the core-shell particles in the range between 0.6 and 21 μm. The magnetic cores were considered to have a magnetization of one tenth of the saturation magnetization of iron. This study aimed to understand how the thickness of the shell hinders the formation of particle chains. Chain formation was studied with different shell thicknesses and particle sizes in the presence and absence of an electrical double layer force in order to investigate the effect of surface charge density on the magnetic core-shell particle interactions. For core sizes of 0.5 and 4.0 μm the relative shell thicknesses needed to hinder the aggregation process were approximately 0.4 and 0.6 respectively, indicating that larger core sizes are detrimental to be used in applications in which no flocculation is needed. In addition, the presence of an electrical double layer, for values of surface charge density of less than 20 mC/m 2 , could stop the contact between particles without hindering their vertical alignment. Only when the shell thickness was considerably larger, was the electrical double layer able to contribute to the full disruption of the magnetic flocculation process.

Tulelake, California: The last 3 million years

USGS Publications Warehouse

Adam, D.P.; Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M.; Rieck, Hugh J.; Bradbury, J.P.; Dean, W.E.; Forester, R.M.

1989-01-01

The Tulelake basin, formed by east-west extension and faulting during the past several million years, contains at least 550 m of lacustrine sediment. Interdisciplinary studies of a 334 m-long cored section from the town of Tulelake, California, near the center of the basin, document a 3-m.y. record of environmental changes. The core consists of a thick sequence of diatomaceous clayey, silty, and marly lacustrine sediments interbedded with numerous tephra layers. Paleomagnetic study puts the base of the core at about 3.0 Ma. Twelve widespread silicic tephra units provide correlations with other areas and complement age control provided by magnetostratigraphy; mafic and silicic tephra units erupted from local sources are also common in the core. Widespread tephra units include the Llao Rock pumice (=Tsoyawata, 7 ka), the Trego Hot Springs Bed (23 ka), and the Rockland (0.40 Ma), Lava Creek (0.62 Ma), and Rio Dell (1.5 Ma) ash beds, as well as several ash beds also found at Summer Lake, Oregon, and an ash bed originally recognized in DSDP hole 173 in the northeastern Pacific. Several tephra layers found in the core also occur in lacustrine beds exposed around the margins of the basin and elsewhere in the ancestral lacustrine system. Diatoms are present throughout the section. Pollen is present in most of the section, but some barren zones are found in the interval between 50 and 140 m; the greatest change in behavior of the pollen record takes place just above the top of the Olduvai Normal-Polarity Subchronozone. Ostracodes are present only in high-carbonate (>10% CaCO3) intervals. Evolutionary changes are found in the diatom and ostracode records. Bulk geochemical analyses show significant changes in elemental composition of the sediment through time. ?? 1989.

Heterogeneous distribution of pelagic sediments incoming the Japan Trench possibly controlling slip propagation on shallow plate boundary fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, A.; Nakamura, Y.; Fukuchi, R.; Kurano, H.; Ikehara, K.; Kanamatsu, T.; Arai, K.; Usami, K.; Ashi, J.

2017-12-01

Catastrophic tsunami of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake was triggered by large coseismic slip reached to the Japan Trench axis (e.g. Fujiwara et al., 2011, Science; Kodaira et al., 2012, Nature Geoscience). Results of the IODP Expedition 343 (JFAST) suggest that small friction of smectite-rich pelagic clay caused slip propagation on shallow plate boundary fault (Ujiie et al., 2013, Science; Kameda et al., 2015, Geology; Moore et al., 2015, Geosphere). On the other hand, JAMSTEC high-resolution seismic profiles show that incoming sediments have large heterogeneities in thicknesses, and two areas of extremely thin sediments on the Pacific Plate (thickness less than 100 m) were found at around 39°N (Nakamura et al., AGU 2017, this session). To reconcile whether the smectite-rich pelagic clay even exists in these areas, we sampled surface sediments during the R/V Shinsei Maru KS-15-3 cruise. Seven piston cores were retrieved from seaward trench slope, horst, graben, and graben edge. Core lithologies are mainly diatomaceous ooze/clay including tephra layers, not resemble to pelagic clays discovered in JFAST. Ages of tephra layers were estimated by correlating mineral assemblages and refractive indices of volcanic glasses to Japanese widespread tephras. Averaged sedimentation rates of seaward trench slope, horst, graben, and graben edge are estimated to be 25-30, 6.5-20, 45, 0.9 cm/kyr, respectively. These sedimentation rates imply that sediments on seaward trench slope and horst have been deposited in the last 160-500 kyr, suggesting that entire pelagic sediments, including smectite-rich pelagic clay, have been removed by some reasons in the last 0.5 million years. Possible reason for such modification of sediment is near-trench igneous activity known as petit-spot volcanism (Hirano et al., 2006, Science). The lack of smectite-rich pelagic clay near 39°N of the Japan Trench is consistent with results of tsunami inversions proposing shallow large coseismic slip propagated to 39°N and stopped northward (Koketsu et al., 2011, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.; Satake et al., 2013, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am.). In the off-Sanriku Japan Trench, slip propagation is likely to be controlled by frictional property of incoming sediments, and sediment disappearance due to petit-spot volcanism may affect rupture area segmentation.

A 100-year average recurrence interval for the San Andreas fault at Wrightwood, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fumal, T.E.; Pezzopane, S.K.; Weldon, R.J.; Schwartz, D.P.

1993-01-01

Evidence for five large earthquakes during the past five centuries along the San Andreas fault zone 70 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles, California, indicates that the average recurrence interval and the temporal variability are significantly smaller than previously thought. Rapid sedimentation during the past 5000 years in a 150-meter-wide structural depression has produced a greater than 21-meter-thick sequence of debris flow and stream deposits interbedded with more than 50 datable peat layers. Fault scarps, colluvial wedges, fissure infills, upward termination of ruptures, and tilted and folded deposits above listric faults provide evidence for large earthquakes that occurred in A.D. 1857, 1812, and about 1700, 1610, and 1470.

Effects of fluid-rock interactions on faulting within active fault zones - evidence from fault rock samples retrieved from international drilling projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janssen, C.; Wirth, R.; Kienast, M.; Yabe, Y.; Sulem, J.; Dresen, G. H.

2015-12-01

Chemical and mechanical effects of fluids influence the fault mechanical behavior. We analyzed fresh fault rocks from several scientific drilling projects to study the effects of fluids on fault strength. For example, in drill core samples on a rupture plane of an Mw 2.2 earthquake in a deep gold mine in South Africa the main shock occurred on a preexisting plane of weakness that was formed by fluid-rock interaction (magnesiohornblende was intensively altered to chlinochlore). The plane acted as conduit for hydrothermal fluids at some time in the past. The chemical influence of fluids on mineralogical alteration and geomechanical processes in fault core samples from SAFOD (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) is visible in pronounced dissolution-precipitation processes (stylolites, solution seams) as well as in the formation of new phases. Detrital quartz and feldspar grains are partially dissolved and replaced by authigenic illite-smectite (I-S) mixed-layer clay minerals. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) imaging of these grains reveals that the alteration processes and healing were initiated within pores and small intra-grain fissures. Newly formed phyllosilicates growing into open pore spaces likely reduced the fluid permeability. The mechanical influence of fluids is indicated by TEM observations, which document open pores that formed in-situ in the gouge material during or after deformation. Pores were possibly filled with formation water and/or hydrothermal fluids suggesting elevated fluid pressure preventing pore collapse. Fluid-driven healing of fractures in samples from SAFOD and the DGLab Gulf of Corinth project is visible in cementation. Cathodoluminescence microscopy (CL) reveals different generations of calcite veins. Differences in CL-colors suggest repeated infiltration of fluids with different chemical composition from varying sources (formation and meteoric water).

Strain-induced structural defects and their effects on the electrochemical performances of silicon core/germanium shell nanowire heterostructures

DOE PAGES

Lin, Yung-Chen; Kim, Dongheun; Li, Zhen; ...

2016-12-14

Here we report on strain-induced structural defect formation in core Si nanowire of Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure and influences of the structural defects on the electrochemical performances in lithium-ion battery anodes based on Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructures. The induced structural defects consisting of stacking faults and dislocations in the core Si nanowire were observed for the first time. The generation of stacking faults in Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure is observed to prefer settling in either only Ge shell region or in both Ge shell and Si core regions and is associated with the increase of the shell volume fraction. Themore » relax of misfit strain in [112] oriented core/shell nanowire heterostructure leads to subsequent gliding of Shockley partial dislocations, preferentially forming the twins. The observation of cross-over defect formation is of great importance for the understanding of heteroepitaxy in radial heterostructures at nanoscale and building the three dimensional heterostructures for the various applications. In addition, the effect of the defect formation on nanomaterial’s functionality is investigated by electrochemical performance test. The Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructures enhance the gravimetric capacity of lithium ion battery anodes under fast charging/discharging rates compared to Si nanowires. However, the induced structural defects hamper lithiation of the Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure.« less

Strain-induced structural defects and their effects on the electrochemical performances of silicon core/germanium shell nanowire heterostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Yung-Chen; Kim, Dongheun; Li, Zhen

Here we report on strain-induced structural defect formation in core Si nanowire of Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure and influences of the structural defects on the electrochemical performances in lithium-ion battery anodes based on Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructures. The induced structural defects consisting of stacking faults and dislocations in the core Si nanowire were observed for the first time. The generation of stacking faults in Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure is observed to prefer settling in either only Ge shell region or in both Ge shell and Si core regions and is associated with the increase of the shell volume fraction. Themore » relax of misfit strain in [112] oriented core/shell nanowire heterostructure leads to subsequent gliding of Shockley partial dislocations, preferentially forming the twins. The observation of cross-over defect formation is of great importance for the understanding of heteroepitaxy in radial heterostructures at nanoscale and building the three dimensional heterostructures for the various applications. In addition, the effect of the defect formation on nanomaterial’s functionality is investigated by electrochemical performance test. The Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructures enhance the gravimetric capacity of lithium ion battery anodes under fast charging/discharging rates compared to Si nanowires. However, the induced structural defects hamper lithiation of the Si/Ge core/shell nanowire heterostructure.« less

Faults Get Colder Through Transient Granular Vortices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Einav, I.; Rognon, P.; Miller, T.; Sulem, J.

2018-03-01

Fault temperatures govern their weakening and control the dynamics of earthquakes during slip. Despite predictions of significant temperature rise within fault gouges during earthquake events, observations of frictional melting zones along exhumed faults are relatively rare. Could there be a heat transfer mechanism, previously not considered, that results in ubiquitously colder faults during earthquakes? We demonstrate that the remarkable, previously neglected mechanism of heat transfer through transient granular vortices may be at the core of this. We present and analyze results from perpetual simple shear experiments on a system of granular disks with which we are able to quantify the sizes and lifetimes of granular vortices within fault gouges during earthquakes. We then develop a formula that captures the contribution these vortices have on heat transfer. Using this formula, we show that crustal faults such as those in the San Andreas system may experience a maximum temperature rise 5 to 10 times lower than previously thought.

Grain size and shape evolution of experimentally deformed sediments: the role of slip rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsamo, Fabrizio; Storti, Fabrizio; De Paola, Nicola

2016-04-01

Sediment deformation within fault zones occurs with a broad spectrum of mechanisms which, in turn, depend on intrinsic material properties (porosity, grain size and shape, etc.) and external factors (burial depth, fluid pressure, stress configuration, etc.). Fieldworks and laboratory measurements conducted in the last years in sediments faulted at shallow depth showed that cataclasis and grain size reduction can occur very close to the Earth surface (<1-2 km), and that fault displacement is one of the parameters controlling the amount of grain size, shape, and microtextural modifications in fault cores. In this contribution, we present a new set of microstructural observations combined with grain size and shape distribution data obtained from quart-feldspatic loose sediments (mean grain diameter 0.2 mm) experimentally deformed at different slip rates from subseismic (0.01 mm/s, 0.1 mm/s, 1 mm/s, 1 cm/s, and 10 cm/s) to coseismic slip rates (1 m/s). The experiments were originally performed at sigma n=14 MPa, with the same amount of slip (1.3 m), to constrain the frictional properties of such sediments at shallow confining pressures (<1 km). After the experiments, the granular materials deformed in the 0.1-1 mm-thick slip zones were prepared for both grain size distribution analyses and microstructural and textural analyses in thin sections. Grain size distribution analyses were obtained with a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 particle size laser-diffraction analyser, whereas grain shape data (angularity) were obtained by using image analysis technique on selected SEM-photomicrographs. Microstructural observations were performed at different scales with a standard optical microscope and with a SEM. Results indicate that mean grain diameter progressively decreases with increasing slip rates up to ~20-30 m, and that granulometric curves systematically modify as well, shifting toward finer grain sizes. Obtained fractal dimensions (D) indicate that D increases from ~2.3 up to >3 moving from subseismic to coseismic slip rates. Grain angularity also changes with increasing slip rates, being particles more smoothed and rounded in sediments deformed at coseismic slip rates. As a whole, our results indicate that both grain size and shape distributions of experimentally deformed sediments progressively changes from subseismic to coseismic slip rate, thus helping to understand the deformation mechanisms in natural fault zones and to predict frictional and permeability properties of faults affecting shallow sediments.

Timing, distribution, amount, and style of Cenozoic extension in the northern Great Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Henry, Christopher D.; McGrew, Allen J.; Colgan, Joseph P.; Snoke, Arthur W.; Brueseke, Matthew E.

2011-01-01

This field trip examines contrasting lines of evidence bearing on the timing and structural style of Cenozoic (and perhaps late Mesozoic) extensional deformation in northeastern Nevada. Studies of metamorphic core complexes in this region report extension beginning in the early Cenozoic or even Late Cretaceous, peaking in the Eocene and Oligocene, and being largely over before the onset of “modern” Basin and Range extension in the middle Miocene. In contrast, studies based on low-temperature thermochronology and geologic mapping of Eocene and Miocene volcanic and sedimentary deposits report only minor, localized extension in the Eocene, no extension at all in the Oligocene and early Miocene, and major, regional extension in the middle Miocene. A wealth of thermochronologic and thermobarometric data indicate that the Ruby Mountains–East Humboldt Range metamorphic core complex (RMEH) underwent ~170 °C of cooling and 4 kbar of decompression between ca. 85 and ca. 50 Ma, and another 450 °C cooling and 4–5 kbar decompression between ca. 50 and ca. 21 Ma. These data require ~30 km of exhumation in at least two episodes, accommodated at least in part by Eocene to early Miocene displacement on the major west-dipping mylonitic zone and detachment fault bounding the RMEH on the west (the mylonitic zone may also have been active during an earlier phase of crustal extension). Meanwhile, Eocene paleovalleys containing 45–40 Ma ash-flow tuffs drained eastward from northern Nevada to the Uinta Basin in Utah, and continuity of these paleovalleys and infilling tuffs across the region indicate little, if any deformation by faults during their deposition. Pre–45 Ma deformation is less constrained, but the absence of Cenozoic sedimentary deposits and mappable normal faults older than 45 Ma is also consistent with only minor (if any) brittle deformation. The presence of ≤1 km of late Eocene sedimentary—especially lacustrine—deposits and a low-angle angular unconformity between ca. 40 and 38 Ma rocks attest to an episode of normal faulting at ca. 40 Ma. Arguably the greatest conundrum is how much extension occurred between ca. 35 and 17 Ma. Major exhumation of the RMEH is interpreted to have taken place in the late Oligocene and early Miocene, but rocks of any kind deposited during this interval are scarce in northeastern Nevada and absent in the vicinity of the RMEH itself. In most places, no angular unconformity is present between late Eocene and middle Miocene rocks, indicating little or no tilting between the late Eocene and middle Miocene. Opinions among authors of this report differ, however, as to whether this indicates no extension during the same time interval. The one locality where Oligocene deposits have been documented is Copper Basin, where Oligocene (32.5–29.5 Ma) conglomerates are ~500 m thick. The contact between Oligocene and Eocene rocks in Copper Basin is conformable, and the rocks are uniformly tilted ~25° NW, opposite to a normal fault system dipping ~35° SE. Middle Miocene rhyolite (ca. 16 Ma) rests nonconformably on the metamorphosed lower plate of this fault system and appears to rest on the tilted upper-plate rocks with angular unconformity, but the contact is not physically exposed. Different authors of this report interpret geologic relations in Copper Basin to indicate either (1) significant episodes of extension in the Eocene, Oligocene, and middle Miocene or (2) minor extension in the Eocene, uncertainty about the Oligocene, and major extension in the middle Miocene. An episode of major middle Miocene extension beginning at ca. 16–17 Ma is indicated by thick (up to 5 km) accumulations of sedimentary deposits in half-graben basins over most of northern Nevada, tilting and fanning of dips in the synextensional sedimentary deposits, and apatite fission-track and (U-Th)/He data from the southern Ruby Mountains and other ranges that indicate rapid middle Miocene cooling through near-surface temperatures (~120–40 °C). Opinions among authors of this report differ as to whether this period of extension was merely the last step in a long history of extensional faulting dating back at least to the Eocene, or whether it accounts for most of the Cenozoic deformation in northeastern Nevada. Since 10–12 Ma, extension appears to have slowed greatly and been accommodated by high-angle, relatively wide-spaced normal faults that give topographic form to the modern ranges. Despite the low present-day rate of extension, normal faults are active and have generated damaging earthquakes as recently as 2008.

Antiferromagnetic exchange and magnetoresistance enhancement in Co-Re superlattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freitas, P. P.; Melo, L. V.; Trindade, I.; From, M.; Ferreira, J.; Monteiro, P.

1992-02-01

Co-Re superlattices were prepared that show either antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic coupling between the Co layers depending on the Re spacer thickness. Enhanced saturation magnetoresistance occurs for antiferromagnetically coupled layers. The saturation magnetoresistance decays exponentially with Re thickness but does not depend critically on the Co thickness.

Crustal-Scale Fault Interaction at Rifted Margins and the Formation of Domain-Bounding Breakaway Complexes: Insights From Offshore Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmundsen, P. T.; Péron-Pinvidic, G.

2018-03-01

The large-magnitude faults that control crustal thinning and excision at rifted margins combine into laterally persistent structural boundaries that separate margin domains of contrasting morphology and structure. We term them breakaway complexes. At the Mid-Norwegian margin, we identify five principal breakaway complexes that separate the proximal, necking, distal, and outer margin domains. Downdip and lateral interactions between the faults that constitute breakaway complexes became fundamental to the evolution of the 3-D margin architecture. Different types of fault interaction are observed along and between these faults, but simple models for fault growth will not fully describe their evolution. These structures operate on the crustal scale, cut large thicknesses of heterogeneously layered lithosphere, and facilitate fundamental margin processes such as deformation coupling and exhumation. Variations in large-magnitude fault geometry, erosional footwall incision, and subsequent differential subsidence along the main breakaway complexes likely record the variable efficiency of these processes.

Recent exploration and drilling activity in the Lafayette Bol. mex. basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrison, F.W. Jr.

1995-10-01

The 1984 discovery of thick Bol. mex. gas sands at the Broussard Field initiated an intense exploration play. This activity and further evaluation of existing fields has centered in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. Since 1984 drilling for Bol. mex. sands has resulted in the discovery of several new fields and extensions. Cumulative production from fields within the basin is 425 BCF gas and 20 million barrels of condensate through 1994. The quest for these high yield reservoirs, which average over 200 feet in thickness in some fault blocks, continues unabated. There are four wells currently drilling near Lafayette with Bol.more » mex. sands as the main objective. One of the most exciting ventures is being drilled by Vastar in the city of Lafayette. All the drilling wells are located in the Lafayette Bol. mex. basin which is a large depositional center of Oligocene {open_quotes}Frio{close_quotes} sands centering just west of Lafayette. Approximately 2000 feet thick, the basin is a sequence of alternating sands and shales deposited in a deep marine environment. It is flanked on the north by a large growth fault which forms the northern limit of the basin. Basinward, a series of additional growth faults strike south of the subparallel to the northern edge of the Bol. mex. basin. The production seems to be associated with structures along the strike of the growth faulting. The fields which produce from the Bol. mex. interval are Scott, Broussard, West Ridge, Duson-Ridge, North Broussard, Milton, Maurice, North Maurice and Perry Point.« less

Modeling of Permeability Structure Using Pore Pressure and Borehole Strain Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kano, Y.; Ito, H.

2011-12-01

Hydraulic or transport property, especially permeability, of the rock affect the behavior of the fault during earthquake rupture and also interseismic period. The methods to determine permeability underground are hydraulic test utilizing borehole and packer or core measurement in laboratory. Another way to know the permeability around a borehole is to examine responses of pore pressure to natural loading such as barometric pressure change at surface or earth tides. Using response to natural deformation is conventional method for water resource research. The scale of measurement is different among in-situ hydraulic test, response method, and core measurement. It is not clear that the relationship between permeability values form each method for an inhomogeneous medium such as a fault zone. Supposing the measurement of the response to natural loading, we made a model calculation of permeability structure around a fault zone. The model is 2 dimensional and constructed with vertical high-permeability layer in uniform low-permeability zone. We assume the upper and lower boundaries are drained and no-flow condition. We calculated the flow and deformation of the model for step and cyclic loading by numerically solving a two-dimensional diffusion equation. The model calculation shows that the width of the high-permeability zone and contrast of the permeability between high- and low- permeability zones control the contribution of the low-permeability zone. We made a calculation with combinations of permeability and fault width to evaluate the sensitivity of the parameters to in-situ measurement of permeability. We applied the model calculation to the field results of in-situ packer test, and natural response of water level and strain monitoring carried out in the Kamioka mine. The model calculation shows that knowledge of permeability in host rock is also important to obtain permeability of fault zone itself. The model calculations help to design long-term pore pressure monitoring, in-situ hydraulic test, and core measurement using drill holes to better understand fault zone hydraulic properties.

Deep permeability of the San Andreas Fault from San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) core samples

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morrow, Carolyn A.; Lockner, David A.; Moore, Diane E.; Hickman, Stephen H.

2014-01-01

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) scientific borehole near Parkfield, California crosses two actively creeping shear zones at a depth of 2.7 km. Core samples retrieved from these active strands consist of a foliated, Mg-clay-rich gouge containing porphyroclasts of serpentinite and sedimentary rock. The adjacent damage zone and country rocks are comprised of variably deformed, fine-grained sandstones, siltstones, and mudstones. We conducted laboratory tests to measure the permeability of representative samples from each structural unit at effective confining pressures, Pe up to the maximum estimated in situ Pe of 120 MPa. Permeability values of intact samples adjacent to the creeping strands ranged from 10−18 to 10−21 m2 at Pe = 10 MPa and decreased with applied confining pressure to 10−20–10−22 m2 at 120 MPa. Values for intact foliated gouge samples (10−21–6 × 10−23 m2 over the same pressure range) were distinctly lower than those for the surrounding rocks due to their fine-grained, clay-rich character. Permeability of both intact and crushed-and-sieved foliated gouge measured during shearing at Pe ≥ 70 MPa ranged from 2 to 4 × 10−22 m2 in the direction perpendicular to shearing and was largely insensitive to shear displacement out to a maximum displacement of 10 mm. The weak, actively-deforming foliated gouge zones have ultra-low permeability, making the active strands of the San Andreas Fault effective barriers to cross-fault fluid flow. The low matrix permeability of the San Andreas Fault creeping zones and adjacent rock combined with observations of abundant fractures in the core over a range of scales suggests that fluid flow outside of the actively-deforming gouge zones is probably fracture dominated.

Geometry and evolution of low-angle normal faults (LANF) within a Cenozoic high-angle rift system, Thailand: Implications for sedimentology and the mechanisms of LANF development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morley, Chris K.

2009-10-01

At least eight examples of large (5-35 km heave), low-angle normal faults (LANFs, 20°-30° dip) occur in the Cenozoic rift basins of Thailand and laterally pass into high-angle extensional fault systems. Three large-displacement LANFs are found in late Oligocene-Miocene onshore rift basins (Suphan Buri, Phitsanulok, and Chiang Mai basins), they have (1) developed contemporaneous with, or after the onset of, high-angle extension, (2) acted as paths for magma and associated fluids, and (3) impacted sedimentation patterns. Displacement on low-angle faults appears to be episodic, marked by onset of lacustrine conditions followed by axial progradation of deltaic systems that infilled the lakes during periods of low or no displacement. The Chiang Mai LANF is a low-angle (15°-25°), high-displacement (15-35 km heave), ESE dipping LANF immediately east of the late early Miocene Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep metamorphic core complexes. Early Cenozoic transpressional crustal thickening followed by the northward motion of India coupled with Burma relative to east Burma and Thailand (˜40-30 Ma) caused migmatization and gneiss dome uplift in the late Oligocene of the core complex region, followed by LANF activity. LANF displacement lasted 4-6 Ma during the early Miocene and possibly transported a late Oligocene-early Miocene high-angle rift system 35 km east. Other LANFs in Thailand have lower displacements and no associated metamorphic core complexes. The three LANFs were initiated as low-angle faults, not by isostatic rotation of high-angle faults. The low-angle dips appear to follow preexisting low-angle fabrics (thrusts, shear zones, and other low-angle ductile foliations) predominantly developed during Late Paleozoic and early Paleogene episodes of thrusting and folding.

Sediment Accretion During Horst and Graben Subduction associated with the Tohoku Oki M9 Earthquake, Northern Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, J. C.; Chester, F. M.

2015-12-01

The stratigraphic sequence within the frontal accretionary prism of the Japan Trench, the site of large slip during the Tohoku earthquake, is unique due to horst and graben subduction. Boreholes at IODP Site C0019, penetrating the toe of the Tohoku accretionary prism, document a younger over older intraprism thrust contact with a 9 Ma age gap across the basal plate boundary fault. The anomalously young (Quaternary to Pliocene), fault-bounded sediment package is 130 m thick, of a total of 820 m of sediment above the plate boundary fault. In contrast, typical accretionary prism structure consists of stacked sediment packages on imbricate faults above the basal decollement resulting in an overall increase in age downward. Site C0019 penetrates the prism directly above a horst of the subducting Pacific oceanic crust. Here the plate-boundary fault consists of a thin, weak smectitic pelagic clay that is probably the principal slip surface of ~50 m offset in the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The fault continues seaward deepening off the seaward edge of the horst and beneath the sediment fill of the adjacent graben, dying out at the landward base of the next incoming horst. The plate boundary fault and its splays in the graben form a narrow-taper protoprism and a small sedimentary basin of trench fill marking the seaward edge of the upper plate. The modern fault and sediment distributions within the graben are used to motivate a viable model for the presence of anomalously young sediments directly above the plate boundary fault. In this model sediments in the trench are thrust over the incoming horst by propagation of the plate boundary thrust up the landward-dipping fault of the incoming horst and along the smectitic clay layer to emplace Quaternary and Pliocene trench deposits directly on top of the incoming horst. These young deposits are in turn overlain by sediments 9 Ma or older that have been transported out of the graben along imbricate faults associated with the necessary increase in the taper of the prism above the graben. The Quaternary to Pliocene units thicken due to internal deformation accounting for the 130 m thickness now observed over the plate boundary fault at Site C0019. Conversely emplacement of very young sediment directly above a basal detachment would be unexpected in accretionary prisms subducting smoother oceanic crust.

Fault architecture and deformation processes within poorly lithified rift sediments, Central Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loveless, Sian; Bense, Victor; Turner, Jenni

2011-11-01

Deformation mechanisms and resultant fault architecture are primary controls on the permeability of faults in poorly lithified sediments. We characterise fault architecture using outcrop studies, hand samples, thin sections and grain-size data from a minor (1-10 m displacement) normal-fault array exposed within Gulf of Corinth rift sediments, Central Greece. These faults are dominated by mixed zones with poorly developed fault cores and damage zones. In poorly lithified sediment deformation is distributed across the mixed zone as beds are entrained and smeared. We find particulate flow aided by limited distributed cataclasis to be the primary deformation mechanism. Deformation may be localised in more competent sediments. Stratigraphic variations in sediment competency, and the subsequent alternating distributed and localised strain causes complexities within the mixed zone such as undeformed blocks or lenses of cohesive sediment, or asperities at the mixed zone/protolith boundary. Fault tip bifurcation and asperity removal are important processes in the evolution of these fault zones. Our results indicate that fault zone architecture and thus permeability is controlled by a range of factors including lithology, stratigraphy, cementation history and fault evolution, and that minor faults in poorly lithified sediment may significantly impact subsurface fluid flow.

Sedimentary facies and gas accumulation model of Lower Shihezi Formation in Shenguhao area, northern Ordos basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Weibing; Chen, Lin; Lu, Yongchao; Zhao, Shuai

2017-04-01

The Lower Shihezi formation of lower Permian series in Shenguhao develops the highest gas abundance of upper Paleozoic in China, which has already commercially produced on a large scale. The structural location of Shenguhao belongs to the transition zone of Yimeng uplift and Yishan slope of northern Ordos basin, China. Based on the data of core, well logging and seismic, the sedimentary facies and gas accumulation model have been studied in this paper. Sedimentary facies analysis shows that the braided delta is the major facies type developed in this area during the period of Lower Shihezi formation. The braided delta can be further divided into two microfacies, distributary channel and flood plain. The distributary channel sandbody develops the characteristics of scour surface, trough cross beddings and normal grading sequences. Its seismic reflection structure is with the shape of flat top and concave bottom. Its gamma-ray logging curve is mainly in a box or bell shape. The flood plain is mainly composed of thick mudstones. Its seismic reflection structure is with the shape of parallel or sub-parallel sheet. Its gamma-ray logging curve is mainly in a linear tooth shape. On the whole, the distribution of sandbody is characterized by large thickness, wide area and good continuity. Based on the analysis of the sea level change and the restoration of the ancient landform in the period of Lower Shihezi formation, the sea level relative change and morphology of ancient landform have been considered as the main controlling factors for the development and distribution of sedimentary facies. The topography was with big topographic relief, and the sea level was relatively low in the early stage of Low Shihezi formation. The sandbody distributed chiefly along the landform depressions. The sandbody mainly developed in the pattern of multiple vertical superpositions with thick layer. In the later stage, landform gradually converted to be flat, and strata tended to be gentle. With the sea level gradually increasing, the lateral continuity of sandbody gradually became worse and gradually transformed into the pattern of single and isolated. The analysis of the typical gas accumulation profile of the Lower Shihezi Formation in the study area reveals that the formation of gas pools is mainly controlled by the distribution of sedimentary facies, faults and high point of structures. Generally, the types of gas pool developed in the study area can be divided into up dip pinch out gas pool, fault block gas pool and microstructure gas pool. The coal bearing strata of the underlying Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation are the main hydrocarbon source rocks of the Lower Shihezi Formation. The gas transporting channel and lateral sealing composed by fault and sandbody constitute the key to form an effective gas pool, which usually made up of good lateral sealing, great thickness and good connectivity.

Microstructures and deformation mechanisms in Opalinus Clay: insights from scaly clay from the Main Fault in the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory (CH)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laurich, Ben; Urai, Janos L.; Nussbaum, Christophe

2017-01-01

The Main Fault in the shaly facies of Opalinus Clay is a small reverse fault formed in slightly overconsolidated claystone at around 1 km depth. The fault zone is up to 6 m wide, with micron-thick shear zones, calcite and celestite veins, scaly clay and clay gouge. Scaly clay occurs in up to 1.5 m wide lenses, providing hand specimens for this study. We mapped the scaly clay fabric at 1 m-10 nm scale, examining scaly clay for the first time using broad-ion beam polishing combined with scanning electron microscopy (BIB-SEM). Results show a network of thin shear zones and microveins, separating angular to lensoid microlithons between 10 cm and 10 µm in diameter, with slickensided surfaces. Our results show that microlithons are only weakly deformed and that strain is accumulated by fragmentation of microlithons by newly formed shear zones, by shearing in the micron-thick zones and by rearrangement of the microlithons.The scaly clay aggregates can be easily disintegrated into individual microlithons because of the very low tensile strength of the thin shear zones. Analyses of the microlithon size by sieving indicate a power-law distribution model with exponents just above 2. From this, we estimate that only 1 vol % of the scaly clay aggregate is in the shear zones.After a literature review of the hypotheses for scaly clay generation, we present a new model to explain the progressive formation of a self-similar network of anastomosing thin shear zones in a fault relay. The relay provides the necessary boundary conditions for macroscopically continuous deformation. Localization of strain in thin shear zones which are locally dilatant, and precipitation of calcite veins in dilatant shear fractures, evolve into complex microscale re-partitioning of shear, forming new shear zones while the microlithons remain much less deformed internally and the volume proportion of the µm-thick shear zones slowly increases. Grain-scale deformation mechanisms are microfracturing, boudinage and rotation of mica grains, pressure solution of carbonate fossils and pore collapse during ductile flow of the clay matrix. This study provides a microphysical basis to relate microstructures to macroscopic observations of strength and permeability of the Main Fault, and extrapolating fault properties in long-term deformation.

Preliminary observations and logs of BARB 1 and BARB 2: komatiites from the Tjakastad site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coetzee, Grace; Arndt, Nicholas; Wilson, Allan

2013-04-01

The BARB 1 and BARB 2 cores intersect a suite of komatiite flows and komatiitic basalts as well as fragmental rocks of the Komati Formation of the Onverwacht Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt. The cores give important and previously unattainable information on the structures, textures and contact relationships between individual komatiite flows and different lithological units within the flows. BARB 1 was drilled at -48° on a 5° azimuth to a depth of 419.9 m. This core contains a unique volcanic tumulus succession in the stratigraphically lower 100 m and the rest of the core consists of about 59 flows of spinifex-textured komatiite (1-3 m thick), massive komatiite (0.5-10 m thick), komatiitic basalt (1-9 m thick) and a single basalt layer (10 m thick), intruded by gabbro (0.5-2 m thick) and a single dolerite dyke (18 m thick). BARB 2, approximately 50 m from BARB 1 and parallel to it, was drilled at -45°on an 8° azimuth to a depth of 431.5 m. This core contains approximately 39 flows of komatiite (0.5-10 m thick) and komatiitic basalt (2-23 m thick) which contain possible selvages of pillows. Basalt flows are more numerous (0.3-4 m thick) in BARB 2 whilst gabbro (0.6-7 m thick) is less prevalent. The dolerite dyke observed in BARB 1 does not occur in BARB 2. As the Barberton strata young towards the east, the cores intersected the stratigraphy in a reverse sequence. The cores were drilled such that there exists a 141 m overlap in stratigraphy between them. The section 141 m from the base of BARB 1 should theoretically correlate with the top 141 m of BARB 2. However, this overlap is not evident in the core or in the core logs. A single gabbro layer appears to be lithologically correlatable between both holes. There is no apparent correlation between the pattern of the komatiite flows leading to an initial conclusion that the komatiite flows were not laterally extensive or changed laterally in form over short distances. In both cores the proportion of komatiitic basalt appears to increase with depth. However, chemical analyses indicate that some of the units originally logged as komatiitic basalt are actually komatiite. The rocks have all undergone alteration to serpentine, and in extreme cases are carbonated together with carbonate veins. Despite the alteration, the original spinifex and olivine cumulate textures, as a well as primary volcanic structures, including spectacular hyaloclastite in the cumulus unit, are well preserved. To date 140 samples have been analysed for major and trace elements and controls by olivine and possibly orthopyroxene have been demonstrated.

Geologic and Geophysical Framework of the Santa Rosa 7.5' Quadrangle, Sonoma County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLaughlin, R.J.; Langenheim, V.E.; Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M.; Fleck, R.J.; McPhee, D.K.; Roberts, C.W.; McCabe, C.A.; Wan, Elmira

2008-01-01

The geologic and geophysical maps of Santa Rosa 7.5? quadrangle and accompanying structure sections portray the sedimentary and volcanic stratigraphy and crustal structure of the Santa Rosa 7.5? quadrangle and provide a context for interpreting the evolution of volcanism and active faulting in this region. The quadrangle is located in the California Coast Ranges north of San Francisco Bay and is traversed by the active Rodgers Creek, Healdsburg and Maacama Fault Zones. The geologic and geophysical data presented in this report, are substantial improvements over previous geologic and geophysical maps of the Santa Rosa area, allowing us to address important geologic issues. First, the geologic mapping is integrated with gravity and magnetic data, allowing us to depict the thicknesses of Cenozoic deposits, the depth and configuration of the Mesozoic basement surface, and the geometry of fault structures beneath this region to depths of several kilometers. This information has important implications for constraining the geometries of major active faults and for understanding and predicting the distribution and intensity of damage from ground shaking during earthquakes. Secondly, the geologic map and the accompanying description of the area describe in detail the distribution, geometry and complexity of faulting associated with the Rodgers Creek, Healdsburg and Bennett Valley Fault Zones and associated faults in the Santa Rosa quadrangle. The timing of fault movements is constrained by new 40Ar/39Ar ages and tephrochronologic correlations. These new data provide a better understanding of the stratigraphy of the extensive sedimentary and volcanic cover in the area and, in particular, clarify the formational affinities of Pliocene and Pleistocene nonmarine sedimentary units in the map area. Thirdly, the geophysics, particularly gravity data, indicate the locations of thick sections of sedimentary and volcanic fill within ground water basins of the Santa Rosa plain and Rincon, Bennett, and northwestern Sonoma Valleys, providing geohydrologists a more realistic framework for groundwater flow models.

Cyclic Stable-Unstable Slip Preserved along an Appalachian Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, R. K.; Newman, J.; Holyoke, C. W., III; Wojtal, S. F.

2017-12-01

The inactive Copper Creek thrust, southern Appalachians, TN, preserves evidence suggesting cyclic aseismic and unstable slip. The Copper Creek thrust is a low-temperature (4-6 km burial depth) foreland thrust with an estimated net slip of 15-20 km. Immediately below the 2 cm thick calcite-shale fault zone, the footwall is composed of shale with cross-cutting calcite veins and is separated from the fault zone by a 300 µm thick layered calcite vein. Optical and electron microscopy indicates that this complex vein layer experienced grain size reduction by plasticity-induced fracturing followed by aseismic diffusion creep. The fault zone calcite exhibits interpenetrating grain boundaries and four-grain junctions suggesting diffusion creep, but also contains nanoscale grains (7 nm), vesicular calcite, and partially-coated clasts indicating unstable, possibly seismic, slip. Well-preserved clasts of deformed calcite vein layer material within the fault zone indicate repeated cycle(s) of aseismic diffusion creep. In addition, nanoscale calcite grains, 30 nm, with straight grain boundaries that form triple junctions, may represent earlier nanoscale grains formed during unstable slip that have experienced grain growth during periods of aseismic creep. Based on the spatial and temporal relations of these preserved microstructures, we propose a sequence of deformation processes consistent with cyclic episodes of unstable slip separated by intervals of aseismic creep. Formation of calcite-filled veins is followed by grain size reduction in vein calcite by plasticity-induced fracturing and aseismic grain-size sensitive diffusion creep deformation in fine-grained calcite. During aseismic creep, the combination of grain growth, resulting in fault strengthening, and an increase in pore fluid pressure, reducing the effective fault strength, leads to new fractures and/or an unstable slip event. During unstable slip, nanograins and vesicular calcite form as a result of thermal decomposition and coated clasts form as a result of fluidization of the fault zone, and are then incorporated within ductilely deforming calcite during a new interval of aseismic creep.

The effect of complex fault rupture on the distribution of landslides triggered by the 12 January 2010, Haiti earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harp, Edwin L.; Jibson, Randall W.; Dart, Richard L.; Margottini, Claudio; Canuti, Paolo; Sassa, Kyoji

2013-01-01

The MW 7.0, 12 January 2010, Haiti earthquake triggered more than 7,000 landslides in the mountainous terrain south of Port-au-Prince over an area that extends approximately 50 km to the east and west from the epicenter and to the southern coast. Most of the triggered landslides were rock and soil slides from 25°–65° slopes within heavily fractured limestone and deeply weathered basalt and basaltic breccia. Landslide volumes ranged from tens of cubic meters to several thousand cubic meters. Rock slides in limestone typically were 2–5 m thick; slides within soils and weathered basalt typically were less than 1 m thick. Twenty to thirty larger landslides having volumes greater than 10,000 m3 were triggered by the earthquake; these included block slides and rotational slumps in limestone bedrock. Only a few landslides larger than 5,000 m3 occurred in the weathered basalt. The distribution of landslides is asymmetric with respect to the fault source and epicenter. Relatively few landslides were triggered north of the fault source on the hanging wall. The densest landslide concentrations lie south of the fault source and the Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden fault zone on the footwall. Numerous landslides also occurred along the south coast west of Jacmél. This asymmetric distribution of landsliding with respect to the fault source is unusual given the modeled displacement of the fault source as mainly thrust motion to the south on a plane dipping to the north at approximately 55°; landslide concentrations in other documented thrust earthquakes generally have been greatest on the hanging wall. This apparent inconsistency of the landslide distribution with respect to the fault model remains poorly understood given the lack of any strong-motion instruments within Haiti during the earthquake.

Constraints on Neogene deformation in the southern Terror Rift from calcite twinning analyses of veins within the ANDRILL MIS core, Victoria Land Basin, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsen, T. S.; Demosthenous, C.; Wilson, T. J.; Millan, C.

2009-12-01

The ANDRILL MIS (McMurdo Ice Shelf) Drilling Project obtained over 1200 meters of Neogene sedimentary and volcanic rocks in 2006/2007. Systematic fracture logging of the AND-1B core identified 1,475 natural fractures, i.e. pre-existing fractures in the rock intersected by coring. The most abundant natural fractures are normal faults and calcite veins; reverse faults, brecciated zones, and sedimentary intrusions are also present. In order to better understand Neogene deformation patterns within the southern Terror Rift, we have been conducting strain analyses on mechanically twinned calcite within healed fractures in the drill core. Twinning strains using all of the data from each sample studied to date range from 2% to 10%. The cleaned data (20% of the largest magnitude deviations removed) typically show ≤30% negative expected values, consistent with a single deformation episode or multiple ~coaxial deformation episodes. The majority of the samples record horizontal extension, similar to strain patterns expected in a normal fault regime and/or vertical sedimentary compaction in a continental rift system. The morphology, width, and intensity of twins in the samples suggest that twinning typically occurred at temperatures <170° C. Twinning intensities suggest differential stress magnitudes that caused the twinning ranged from 216 to 295 MPa.

IODP Expedition 340T: Borehole Logging at Atlantis Massif Oceanic Core Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackman, D.; Slagle, A.; Harding, A.; Guerin, G.; McCaig, A.

2013-03-01

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 340T returned to the 1.4-km-deep Hole U1309D at Atlantis Massif to carry out borehole logging including vertical seismic profiling (VSP). Seismic, resistivity, and temperature logs were obtained throughout the geologic section in the footwall of this oceanic core complex. Reliable downhole temperature measurements throughout and the first seismic coverage of the 800-1400 meters below seafloor (mbsf) portion of the section were obtained. Distinct changes in velocity, resistivity, and magnetic susceptibility characterize the boundaries of altered, olivine-rich troctolite intervals within the otherwise dominantly gabbroic se-quence. Some narrow fault zones also are associated with downhole resistivity or velocity excursions. Small deviations in temperature were measured in borehole fluid adjacent to known faults at 750 mbsf and 1100 mbsf. This suggests that flow of seawater remains active along these zones of faulting and rock alteration. Vertical seismic profile station coverage at zero offset now extends the full length of the hole, including the uppermost 150 mbsf, where detachment processes are expected to have left their strongest imprint. Analysis of wallrock properties, together with alteration and structural characteristics of the cores from Site U1309, highlights the likely interplay between lithology, structure, lithospheric hydration, and core complex evolution. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.15.04.2013

Geologic map of the Bonners Ferry 30' x 60' quadrangle, Idaho and Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Fred K.; Burmester, Russell F.

2003-01-01

This data set maps and describes the geology of the Bonners Ferry 30' x 60' quadrangle, Idaho and Montana. The bedrock geology of the Bonners Ferry quadrangle consists of sedimentary, metamorphic, and granitic rocks ranging in age from Middle Proterozoic to Eocene. Bedrock units include rocks of (1) the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup (2) the Middle Proterozoic Deer Trail Group, (3) the Late Proterozoic Windermere Group, (4) miogeoclinal or shelf facies lower Paleozoic rocks, and (5) Mesozoic and Tertiary granitic rocks. The Belt Supergroup, a thick sequence of argillite, siltite, quartzite, and impure carbonate rocks up to 9,000 m thick, occurs in two non-contiguous sequences in the quadrangle: (1) the Clark Fork-Eastport Sequence east of the Purcell trench and (2) the Newport Sequence in the hanging wall of the Newport Fault. Only the two lowest Belt formations of the Newport Sequence are found in the Bonners Ferry quadrangle, but these two units are part of a continuous section, which extends southwestward to the town of Newport. Belt Supergroup rocks of the Clark Fork-Eastport Sequence are separated from those of the Newport Sequence by the Newport Fault, Priest River Complex, and Purcell Trench Fault. Some formations of the Belt Supergroup show differences in thickness and (or) lithofacies from one sequence to the other that are greater than those predicted from an empirical depositional model for the distances currently separating the sequences. These anomalous thickness and facies differences suggest that there has been a net contraction along structures separating the sequences despite Eocene extension associated with emplacement of the Priest River Complex. In addition to these two Belt sequences, probable Belt rocks are present in the Priest River Complex as high metamorphic grade crystalline schist and gneiss. Northwest of the Newport Sequence of Belt Supergroup is the Deer Trail Group, a distinct Middle Proterozoic sequence of argillite, siltite, quartzite, and carbonate rocks lithostratigraphically similar to the Belt Supergroup, but separated from all Belt Supergroup rocks by the Jumpoff Joe Fault. Rocks of the Deer Trail Group are pervasively phyllitic and noticeably more deformed than rocks in the Belt Supergroup sequences. Lithostratigraphically the Deer Trail Group is equivalent to part of the upper part of the Belt Supergroup. Differences in lithostratigraphy and thickness between individual Deer Trail and Belt units and between the Deer Trail and Belt sequences as a whole indicate that they were probably much farther apart when they were deposited. The Windermere Group is a lithologically varied sequence of volcanic rocks and coarse-grained, mostly immature, clastic sedimentary rocks up to 8,000 m thick. It is characterized by extreme differences in thickness and lithofacies over short distances caused by syndepositional faulting associated with initial stages of continental rifting in the Late Proterozoic. Strata of the Windermere Group unconformably overlie only the Deer Trail Group, and are nowhere found in depositional contact with Belt Supergroup rocks. Paleozoic rocks in the Bonners Ferry quadrangle consist of a thin, fault-bounded remnant preserved within the Clark Fork-Eastport Belt Supergroup Sequence. Mesozoic granitic rocks underlie at least 50 percent of the Bonners Ferry quadrangle. They fall into two petrogenetic suites, hornblende-biotite plutons and muscovite-biotite (two-mica) plutons, most of which are Cretaceous in age. Both suites are represented in the mid-crustal Priest River Complex and in the higher level plutons that flank the complex; by far the majority of the Priest River Complex are Cretaceous, two-mica bodies. Tertiary rocks are restricted to a single small stock, numerous hypabyssal dikes that are too small to show at the scale of the map, and to cataclastic rocks related to the Newport Fault. Quaternary deposits include unconsolidated to poorl

Geological process of the slow earthquakes -A hypothesis from an ancient plate boundary fault rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitamura, Y.; Kimura, G.; Kawabata, K.

2012-12-01

We present an integrated model of the deformation along the subduction plate boundary from the trench to the seismogenic zone. Over years of field based research in the Shimanto Belt accretionary complex, southwest Japan, yielded breaking-through discoveries on plate boundary processes, for example, the first finding of pseudotachylyte in the accretionary prism (Ikesawa et al., 2003). Our aim here is to unveil the geological aspects of slow earthquakes and the related plate boundary processes. Studied tectonic mélanges in the Shimanto Belt are regarded as fossils of plate boundary fault zone in subduction zone. We traced material from different depths along subduction channel using samples from on-land outcrops and ocean drilling cores. As a result, a series of progressive deformation down to the down-dip limit of the seismogenic zone was revealed. Detailed geological survey and structural analyses enabled us to separate superimposed deformation events during subduction. Material involved in the plate boundary deformation is mainly an alternation of sand and mud. As they have different competency and are suffered by simple shear stress field, sandstones break apart in flowing mudstones. We distinguished several stages of these deformations in sandstones and recognized progress in the intensity of deformation with increment of underthrusting. It is also known that the studied Mugi mélange bears pseudotachylyte in its upper bounding fault. Our conclusion illustrates that the subduction channel around the depth of the seismogenic zone forms a thick plate boundary fault zone, where there is a clear segregation in deformation style: a fast and episodic slip at the upper boundary fault and a slow and continuous deformation within the zone. The former fast deformation corresponds to the plate boundary earthquakes and the latter to the slow earthquakes. We further examined numerically whether this plate boundary fault rock is capable of releasing seismic moment enough to fit the observed slow earthquakes. The shallow very low frequent earthquakes (VLFs) are chosen to be modeled and our estimation satisfies the natural data. We emphasize that the plate boundary is not a plane but a zone. Geological setting is a clue for differentiating slow and normal earthquakes. We propose to focus on the three-dimensional fault zone comprising numbers of microfaults as the source of slow earthquakes instead of planar plate boundary. Our results also make an impact on the study of seismic energy balance because we show a possibility to give an absolute value of them from geological approach, which could not have been achieved with seismology.

Fault current limiter

DOEpatents

Darmann, Francis Anthony

2013-10-08

A fault current limiter (FCL) includes a series of high permeability posts for collectively define a core for the FCL. A DC coil, for the purposes of saturating a portion of the high permeability posts, surrounds the complete structure outside of an enclosure in the form of a vessel. The vessel contains a dielectric insulation medium. AC coils, for transporting AC current, are wound on insulating formers and electrically interconnected to each other in a manner such that the senses of the magnetic field produced by each AC coil in the corresponding high permeability core are opposing. There are insulation barriers between phases to improve dielectric withstand properties of the dielectric medium.

Comprehensive analysis of Curie-point depths and lithospheric effective elastic thickness at Arctic Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Y.; Li, C. F.

2017-12-01

Arctic Ocean remains at the forefront of geological exploration. Here we investigate its deep geological structures and geodynamics on the basis of gravity, magnetic and bathymetric data. We estimate Curie-point depth and lithospheric effective elastic thickness to understand deep geothermal structures and Arctic lithospheric evolution. A fractal exponent of 3.0 for the 3D magnetization model is used in the Curie-point depth inversion. The result shows that Curie-point depths are between 5 and 50 km. Curie depths are mostly small near the active mid-ocean ridges, corresponding well to high heat flow and active shallow volcanism. Large curie depths are distributed mainly at continental marginal seas around the Arctic Ocean. We present a map of effective elastic thickness (Te) of the lithosphere using a multitaper coherence technique, and Te are between 5 and 110 km. Te primarily depends on geothermal gradient and composition, as well as structures in the lithosphere. We find that Te and Curie-point depths are often correlated. Large Te are distributed mainly at continental region and small Te are distributed at oceanic region. The Alpha-Mendeleyev Ridge (AMR) and The Svalbard Archipelago (SA) are symmetrical with the mid-ocean ridge. AMR and SA were formed before an early stage of Eurasian basin spreading, and they are considered as conjugate large igneous provinces, which show small Te and Curie-point depths. Novaya Zemlya region has large Curie-point depths and small Te. We consider that fault and fracture near the Novaya Zemlya orogenic belt cause small Te. A series of transform faults connect Arctic mid-ocean ridge with North Atlantic mid-ocean ridge. We can see large Te near transform faults, but small Curie-point depths. We consider that although temperature near transform faults is high, but mechanically the lithosphere near transform faults are strengthened.

Crustal structure of the northern margin of the eastern Tien Shan, China, and its tectonic implications for the 1906 M~7.7 Manas earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Chun-Yong; Yang, Zhu-En; Luo, Hai; Mooney, W.D.

2004-01-01

The Tien Shan orogenic belt is the most active intracontinental mountain belt in the world. We describe an 86-km-long N–S-trending deep seismic reflection profile (which passes through the southern Junggar basin) located on the northeastern Tien Shan piedmont. Two distinct anticlines beneath the northern margin of the Tien Shan are clearly imaged in the seismic section. In addition, we have imaged two detachment surfaces at depths of ∼7 and ∼16 km. The detachment surface at 16-km depth corresponds to the main detachment that converges with the steep angle reverse fault (the Junggar Southern Marginal Fault) on which the 1906 M~7.7 Manas earthquake occurred. A 12–14-km-thick sedimentary basin is imaged beneath the southern Junggar basin near Shihezi. The crust beneath the northern margin of the Tien Shan is 50–55-km thick, and decreases beneath the Junggar basin to 40–45-km thick. The crustal image of the deep seismic reflection profile is consistent with models derived from nearby seismic refraction data and Bouguer gravity anomalies in the same region. The faulting associated with the 1906 Manas earthquake also fits within the structural framework imaged by the seismic reflection profile. Present-day micro-seismicity shows a hypocentral depth-distribution between 5 and 35 km, with a peak at 20 km. We hypothesize that the 1906 Manas earthquake initiated at a depth of ∼20 km and propagated upwards, causing northward slip on the sub-horizontal detachments beneath the southern Junggar basin. Thus, in accord with regional geological mapping, the current shortening within the eastern Tien Shan is accommodated both by high-angle reverse faulting and detachment faulting that can be clearly imaged at depth in seismic reflection data.

New insight on the recent tectonic evolution and uplift of the southern Ecuadorian Andes from gravity and structural analysis of the Neogene-Quaternary intramontane basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamay, J.; Galindo-Zaldívar, J.; Ruano, P.; Soto, J.; Lamas, F.; Azañón, J. M.

2016-10-01

The sedimentary basins of Loja, Malacatos-Vilcabamba and Catamayo belong to the Neogene-Quaternary synorogenic intramontane basins of South Ecuador. They were formed during uplift of the Andes since Middle-Late Miocene as a result of the Nazca plate subduction beneath the South American continental margin. This E-W compressional tectonic event allowed for the development of NNE-SSW oriented folds and faults, determining the pattern and thickness of sedimentary infill. New gravity measurements in the sedimentary basins indicate negative Bouguer anomalies reaching up to -292 mGal related to thick continental crust and sedimentary infill. 2D gravity models along profiles orthogonal to N-S elongated basins determine their deep structure. Loja Basin is asymmetrical, with a thickness of sedimentary infill reaching more than 1200 m in the eastern part, which coincides with a zone of most intense compressive deformation. The tectonic structures include N-S, NW-SE and NE-SW oriented folds and associated east-facing reverse faults. The presence of liquefaction structures strongly suggests the occurrence of large earthquakes just after the sedimentation. The basin of Malacatos-Vilcabamba has some folds with N-S orientation. However, both Catamayo and Malacatos-Vilcabamba basins are essentially dominated by N-S to NW-SE normal faults, producing a strong asymmetry in the Catamayo Basin area. The initial stages of compression developed folds, reverse faults and the relief uplift determining the high altitude of the Loja Basin. As a consequence of the crustal thickening and in association with the dismantling of the top of the Andes Cordillera, extensional events favored the development of normal faults that mainly affect the basins of Catamayo and Malacatos-Vilcabamba. Gravity research helps to constrain the geometry of the Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary infill, shedding some light on its relationship with tectonic events and geodynamic processes during intramontane basin development.

Characteristics of crushed rocks observed in drilled cores in landslide bodies located in accretionary complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakizaka, Yasuhiko

2013-10-01

The recent development of high-quality boring, which uses foam surfactants, has made it possible to examine the detailed geological constitution and structure of landslide bodies. However, geological information related to landslides has not been obtained appropriately even from undisturbed high-quality drilled cores. Moreover, it has been difficult to distinguish between rocks crushed by landslide movement and the fault breccia in accretionary complexes. We examined the detailed geology of high-quality drilled cores of landslide bodies on the Shimanto Belt and the Chichibu Belt. The fault breccia near the landslide bodies was found to exhibit planar fabrics while the crushed breccias in the landslide bodies showed a random fabric. We discovered that classifying the degree of crushing and inspecting the planar fabrics of rocks are effective in the geological determination of landslide bodies.

Geologic map of the Paintbrush Canyon Area, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dickerson, R.P.; Drake, R.M. II

This geologic map is produced to support site characterization studies of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, site of a potential nuclear waste storage facility. The area encompassed by this map lies between Yucca Wash and Fortymile Canyon, northeast of Yucca Mountain. It is on the southern flank of the Timber Mountain caldera complex within the southwest Nevada volcanic field. Miocene tuffs and lavas of the Calico Hills Formation, the Paintbrush Group, and the Timber Mountain Group crop out in the area of this map. The source vents of the tuff cones and lava domes commonly are located beneath the thickest deposits ofmore » pyroclastic ejecta and lava flows. The rocks within the mapped area have been deformed by north- and northwest-striking, dominantly west-dipping normal faults and a few east-dipping normal faults. Faults commonly are characterized by well developed fault scarps, thick breccia zones, and hanging-wall grabens. Latest movement as preserved by slickensides on west-dipping fault scarps is oblique down towards the southwest. Two of these faults, the Paintbrush Canyon fault and the Bow Ridge fault, are major block-bounding faults here and to the south at Yucca Mountain. Offset of stratigraphic units across faults indicates that faulting occurred throughout the time these volcanic units were deposited.« less

Active faulting in apparently stable peninsular India: Rift inversion and a Holocene-age great earthquake on the Tapti Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Copley, Alex; Mitra, Supriyo; Sloan, R. Alastair; Gaonkar, Sharad; Reynolds, Kirsty

2014-08-01

We present observations of active faulting within peninsular India, far from the surrounding plate boundaries. Offset alluvial fan surfaces indicate one or more magnitude 7.6-8.4 thrust-faulting earthquakes on the Tapti Fault (Maharashtra, western India) during the Holocene. The high ratio of fault displacement to length on the alluvial fan offsets implies high stress-drop faulting, as has been observed elsewhere in the peninsula. The along-strike extent of the fan offsets is similar to the thickness of the seismogenic layer, suggesting a roughly equidimensional fault rupture. The subsiding footwall of the fault is likely to have been responsible for altering the continental-scale drainage pattern in central India and creating the large west flowing catchment of the Tapti river. A preexisting sedimentary basin in the uplifting hanging wall implies that the Tapti Fault was active as a normal fault during the Mesozoic and has been reactivated as a thrust, highlighting the role of preexisting structures in determining the rheology and deformation of the lithosphere. The slip sense of faults and earthquakes in India suggests that deformation south of the Ganges foreland basin is driven by the compressive force transmitted between India and the Tibetan Plateau. The along-strike continuation of faulting to the east of the Holocene ruptures we have studied represents a significant seismic hazard in central India.

High performance of PbSe/PbS core/shell quantum dot heterojunction solar cells: short circuit current enhancement without the loss of open circuit voltage by shell thickness control.

PubMed

Choi, Hyekyoung; Song, Jung Hoon; Jang, Jihoon; Mai, Xuan Dung; Kim, Sungwoo; Jeong, Sohee

2015-11-07

We fabricated heterojunction solar cells with PbSe/PbS core shell quantum dots and studied the precisely controlled PbS shell thickness dependency in terms of optical properties, electronic structure, and solar cell performances. When the PbS shell thickness increases, the short circuit current density (JSC) increases from 6.4 to 11.8 mA cm(-2) and the fill factor (FF) enhances from 30 to 49% while the open circuit voltage (VOC) remains unchanged at 0.46 V even with the decreased effective band gap. We found that the Fermi level and the valence band maximum level remain unchanged in both the PbSe core and PbSe/PbS core/shell with a less than 1 nm thick PbS shell as probed via ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). The PbS shell reduces their surface trap density as confirmed by relative quantum yield measurements. Consequently, PbS shell formation on the PbSe core mitigates the trade-off relationship between the open circuit voltage and the short circuit current density. Finally, under the optimized conditions, the PbSe core with a 0.9 nm thick shell yielded a power conversion efficiency of 6.5% under AM 1.5.

The West Beverly Hills Lineament and Beverly Hills High School: Ethical Issues in Geo-Hazard Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gath, Eldon; Gonzalez, Tania; Roe, Joe; Buchiarelli, Philip; Kenny, Miles

2014-05-01

Results of geotechnical studies for the Westside Subway were disclosed in a public hearing on Oct. 19, 2011, showing new "active faults" of the Santa Monica fault and the West Beverly Hills Lineament (WBHL), identified as a northern extension of the Newport-Inglewood fault. Presentations made spoke of the danger posed by these faults, the possibility of killing people, and how it was good news that these faults had been discovered now instead of later. The presentations were live and are now memorialized as YouTube videos, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omx2BTIpzAk and others). No faults had been physically exposed or observed by the study; the faults were all interpreted from cone penetrometer probes, supplemented by core borings and geophysical transects. Several of the WBHL faults traversed buildings of the Beverly Hills High School (BHHS), triggering the school district to geologically map and characterize these faults for future planning efforts, and to quantify risk to the students in the 1920's high school building. 5 exploratory trenches were excavated within the high school property, 12 cone penetrometers were pushed, and 26-cored borings were drilled. Geologic logging of the trenches and borings and interpretation of the CPT data failed to confirm the presence of the mapped WBHL faults, instead showing an unfaulted, 3° NE dipping sequence of mid-Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits conformably overlying an ~1 Ma marine sand. Using 14C, OSL, and soil pedology for stratigraphic dating, the BHHS site was cleared from fault rupture hazards and the WBHL was shown to be an erosional margin of Benedict Canyon, partially buttressed by 40-200 ka alluvial deposits from Benedict Wash. The consequence of the Westside Subway's active fault maps has been the unexpected expenditure of millions of dollars for emergency fault investigations at BHHS and several other private properties within a densely developed urban highrise environment. None of these studies have found any active faults where they had been interpreted, mapped, and published by the subway's consultants. Litigation is underway by the affected parties to recoup their geological expenditures and recover costs for lost business revenues. Even had the active fault map been correct, its public release was poorly managed. That the released active fault map has now been found to be badly in error poses more significant ethical issues about hazard communication and likely legal consequences.

Safe-Taipei a Program Project for Strong Motions, Active Faults, and Earthquakes in the Taipei Metropolitan Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jeen-Hwa

Strong collision between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates causes high seismicity in the Taiwan region, which is often attacked by large earthquakes. Several cities, including three mega-cities, i.e., Taipei, Taichung, and Kaoshung, have been constructed on western Taiwan, where is lying on thick sediments. These cities, with a high-population density, are usually a regional center of culture, economics, and politics. Historically, larger-sized earthquakes, e.g. the 1935 Hsingchu—Taichung earthquake and the 1999 Chi—Chi earthquake, often caused serious damage on the cities. Hence, urban seismology must be one of the main subjects of Taiwan's seismological community. Since 2005, a program project, sponsored by Academia Sinica, has been launched to investigate seismological problems in the Taipei Metropolitan Area. This program project is performed during the 2005—2007 period. The core research subjects are: (1) the deployment of the Taipei Down-hole Seismic Array; (2) the properties of earthquakes and active faults in the area; (3) the seismogenic-zone structures, including the 3-D velocity and Q structures, of the area; (4) the characteristics of strong-motions and sites affects; and (5) strong-motion prediction. In addition to academic goals, the results obtained from the program project will be useful for seismic hazard mitigation not only for the area but also for others.

Improvement of open and semi-open core wall system in tall buildings by closing of the core section in the last story

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheyroddin, A.; Abdollahzadeh, D.; Mastali, M.

2014-09-01

Increasing number of tall buildings in urban population caused development of tall building structures. One of the main lateral load resistant systems is core wall system in high-rise buildings. Core wall system has two important behavioral aspects where the first aspect is related to reduce the lateral displacement by the core bending resistance and the second is governed by increasing of the torsional resistance and core warping of buildings. In this study, the effects of closed section core in the last story have been considered on the behavior of models. Regarding this, all analyses were performed by ETABS 9.2.v software (Wilson and Habibullah). Considering (a) drift and rotation of the core over height of buildings, (b) total and warping stress in the core body, (c) shear in beams due to warping stress, (d) effect of closing last story on period of models in various modes, (e) relative displacement between walls in the core system and (f) site effects in far and near field of fault by UBC97 spectra on base shear coefficient showed that the bimoment in open core is negative in the last quarter of building and it is similar to wall-frame structures. Furthermore, analytical results revealed that closed section core in the last story improves behavior of the last quarter of structure height, since closing of core section in the last story does not have significant effect on reducing base shear value in near and far field of active faults.

Kinematics of the 2015 San Ramon, California earthquake swarm: Implications for fault zone structure and driving mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Lian; Bürgmann, Roland; Shelly, David R.; Johnson, Christopher W.; Taira, Taka'aki

2018-05-01

Earthquake swarms represent a sudden increase in seismicity that may indicate a heterogeneous fault-zone, the involvement of crustal fluids and/or slow fault slip. Swarms sometimes precede major earthquake ruptures. An earthquake swarm occurred in October 2015 near San Ramon, California in an extensional right step-over region between the northern Calaveras Fault and the Concord-Mt. Diablo fault zone, which has hosted ten major swarms since 1970. The 2015 San Ramon swarm is examined here from 11 October through 18 November using template matching analysis. The relocated seismicity catalog contains ∼4000 events with magnitudes between - 0.2

The Devils Mountain Fault zone: An active Cascadia upper plate zone of deformation, Pacific Northwest of North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrie, J. Vaughn; Greene, H. Gary

2018-02-01

The Devils Mountain Fault Zone (DMFZ) extends east to west from Washington State to just south of Victoria, British Columbia, in the northern Strait of Juan de Fuca of Canada and the USA. Recently collected geophysical data were used to map this fault zone in detail, which show the main fault trace, and associated primary and secondary (conjugate) strands, and extensive northeast-southwest oriented folding that occurs within a 6 km wide deformation zone. The fault zone has been active in the Holocene as seen in the offset and disrupted upper Quaternary strata, seafloor displacement, and deformation within sediment cores taken close to the seafloor expression of the faults. Data suggest that the present DMFZ and the re-activated Leech River Fault may be part of the same fault system. Based on the length and previously estimated slip rates of the fault zone in Washington State, the DMFZ appears to have the potential of producing a strong earthquake, perhaps as large as magnitude 7.5 or greater, within 2 km of the city of Victoria.

Structural imaging of the East Beni Sueif Basin, north eastern Desert, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salem, E.; Sehim, A.

2017-12-01

The East Beni Sueif Basin is the only tested hydrocarbon-bearing basin on the eastern side of the Nile in Egypt. The basin is located around 150 km to the south of Cairo. This work introduces the first attempt of seismic interpretation and structural patterns of this basin, for which subsurface published works are lacking. Structural imaging of the area is achieved through interpretation of pre-stack time migration (PSTM) seismic cube and data sets of seven wells. The penetrated sedimentary section is represented by Albian-Middle Eocene sediments. The East Beni Sueif Basin is a type of the whole graben-system and is bounded by two NW-SE bounding faults. These faults had continued activity in an extensional regime associated with fault-propagating folds. The basin is traversed by a N75°E-trending fault system at basement level. This fault system separates the basin into two structural provinces. The Northwestern Province is deeper and shows more subsidence with a predominance of NW-trending longitudinal faults and N60·W oblique faults to the basin trend. The Southeastern Province is shallow and crossed by N14·W-trending faults which are slightly oblique to the basin axis. Albian time had witnessed the main extensional tectonic phase and resulted in major subsidence along basin-bounding faults associated with growth thickening of basal deposits. During Senonian time, the basin experienced a mild phase of transtensional tectonics, which formed negative-flower structures entrapping different folds along the N75°E and N60·W faults. The timing and style of these structures are similar to the Syrian-Arc structures in several Western Desert oil fields. The basin emerged during the Paleocene with scoured and eroded top Cretaceous sediments. Subsidence was resumed during the Early Eocene and resulted in 1500 m-thick carbonate sediments. Lastly, a mild extensional activity possibly occurred during the Oligocene-Miocene time. Despite the possible restricted potentiality of the source rock, the main hydrocarbon accumulation risk is attributed to retention in traps of long-span tectonic history. Reaching of main faults to surface through brittle carbonate cap rocks and limited thickness of the shale in the reservoir section risk hydrocarbon sealing. Buried structures of passive setting during the Tertiary show a minor trapping risk.

Geological and mechanical properties on the 3-D fault patch of the rapid creeping Chihshang Fault: a plate suture between Luzon arc and Eurasia in eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. C.; Mu, C. H.; Huang, W. J.; Liu, Z. Y. C.; Shirzaei, M.

2017-12-01

The 35-km-long Chihshang Fault is a rapidly creeping thrust at plate suture between the converging Philippine and Eurasian plates in eastern Taiwan. We combined geological investigation, geodetic data, seismological information, and a rate-dependant friction model, to illustrate the mechanical frictional properties and their variations along the strike and the depth (30-km-deep) of the fault. During the interseismic period, the Chihshang Fault is characterized by three different slip behaviours at different depths: 1) abundant micro-seismicity and semi-continuous rapid slip at the depth of 10-20 km seismogenic zone; 2) visco-elastic aseismic slip zone beneath 25 km; 3) seasonal locked/creep switch at depth of 0-2 km. Using elastic dislocation model, 1-D diffusion model, Coulomb stress criterion, and rate-dependent frictional law, we simulate the surface creep curves from the creep meters data. The result shows a rate-strengthening zone with positive frictional property (a-b) in the upper 500 meters of fault, which appears to be locked during the dry season. We tend to interpret it as a result of 300-500 m thick of unconsolidated gravels layers in the footwall of the Chihshang Fault. We also implement an inverse dynamic modeling scheme to estimate the frictional parameter () in depths by taking into account pre-seismic stress and coulomb stress changes associated with co- and post-seismic deformation of the 2003 Mw 6.5 Chengkung earthquake. Model parameters are determined from fitting the transient post-seismic geodetic signal measured at 12 continuous GPS stations. We apply a non-linear optimization algorithm, Genetic Algorithm (GA), to search for the optimum parameters. The optimum is 1.4 ×10-2 along the shallow part of the fault (0-10 km depth) and 1.2 × 10-2 in 22-28 km depth. The inferred frictional parameters are consistent with the laboratory measurements on clay rich fault zone gouges comparable to the Lichi mélange, considering the main rock composition of the Chihshang fault. Our results indicate a possibly strong influence from the surface cover of a few hundreds meter thick unconsolidated deposits (i.e., late Quaternary gravel) and the clay rich fault gouge (i.e. the Lichi Melange) on frictional properties.

Characterization of the Marcellus Shale based on computer-assisted correlation of wireline logs in Virginia and West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enomoto, Catherine B.; Olea, Ricardo A.; Coleman, James L.

2014-01-01

The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian basin extends from central Ohio on the west to eastern New York on the east, and from north-central New York on the north to northern Tennessee on the south. Its thickness ranges from 0 feet (ft) where it pinches out to the west to as much as 700 ft in its eastern extent. Within the Broadtop synclinorium, the thickness of the Marcellus Shale ranges from 250 to 565 ft. Although stratigraphic complexities have been documented, a significant range in thickness most likely is because of tectonic thickening from folds and thrust faults. Outcrop studies in the Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateaus provinces illustrate the challenges of interpreting the relation of third-order faults, folds, and “disturbed” zones to the regional tectonic framework. Recent field work within the Valley and Ridge province determined that significant faulting and intraformational deformation are present within the Marcellus Shale at the outcrop scale. In an attempt to determine if this scale of deformation is detectable with conventional wireline logs, petrophysical properties (primarily mineralogy and porosity) were measured by interpretation of gamma-ray and bulk-density logs. The results of performing a statistical correlation of wireline logs from nine wells indicated that there are discontinuities within the Millboro Shale (undifferentiated Marcellus Shale and Mahantango Formation) where there are significant thickness differences between wells. Also, some intervals likely contain mineralogy that makes these zones more prone to layer-shortening cleavage duplexes. The Correlator program proved to be a useful tool in a region of contractional deformation.

Geology and geophysics of the southern Raft River Valley geothermal area, Idaho, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, Paul L.; Mabey, Don R.; Zohdy, Adel A.R.; Ackermann, Hans D.; Hoover, Donald B.; Pierce, Kenneth L.; Oriel, Steven S.

1976-01-01

The Raft River valley, near the boundary of the Snake River plain with the Basin and Range province, is a north-trending late Cenozoic downwarp bounded by faults on the west, south, and east. Pleistocene alluvium and Miocene-Pliocene tuffaceous sediments, conglomerate, and felsic volcanic rocks aggregate 2 km in thickness. Large gravity, magnetic, and total field resistivity highs probably indicate a buried igneous mass that is too old to serve as a heat source. Differing seismic velocities relate to known or inferred structures and to a suspected shallow zone of warm water. Resistivity anomalies reflect differences of both composition and degree of alteration of Cenozoic rocks. Resistivity soundings show a 2 to 5 ohm·m unit with a thickness of 1 km beneath a large part of the valley, and the unit may indicate partly hot water and partly clayey sediments. Observed self-potential anomalies are believed to indicate zones where warm water rises toward the surface. Boiling wells at Bridge, Idaho are near the intersection of north-northeast normal faults which have moved as recently as the late (?) Pleistocene, and an east-northeast structure, probably a right-lateral fault. Deep circulation of ground water in this region of relatively high heat flow and upwelling along faults is the probable cause of the thermal anomaly.

TECTONIC VERSUS VOLCANIC ORIGIN OF THE SUMMIT DEPRESSION AT MEDICINE LAKE VOLCANO, CALIFORNIA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mark Leon Gwynn

Medicine Lake Volcano is a Quaternary shield volcano located in a tectonically complex and active zone at the transition between the Basin and Range Province and the Cascade Range of the Pacific Province. The volcano is topped by a 7x12 km elliptical depression surrounded by a discontinuous constructional ring of basaltic to rhyolitic lava flows. This thesis explores the possibility that the depression may have formed due to regional extension (rift basin) or dextral shear (pull-apart basin) rather than through caldera collapse and examines the relationship between regional tectonics and localized volcanism. Existing data consisting of temperature and magnetotelluric surveys,more » alteration mineral studies, and core logging were compiled and supplemented with additional core logging, field observations, and fault striae studies in paleomagnetically oriented core samples. These results were then synthesized with regional fault data from existing maps and databases. Faulting patterns near the caldera, extension directions derived from fault striae P and T axes, and three-dimensional temperature and alteration mineral models are consistent with slip across arcuate ring faults related to magma chamber deflation during flank eruptions and/or a pyroclastic eruption at about 180 ka. These results are not consistent with a rift or pull-apart basin. Limited subsidence can be attributed to the relatively small volume of ash-flow tuff released by the only known major pyroclastic eruption and is inconsistent with the observed topographic relief. The additional relief can be explained by constructional volcanism. Striae from unoriented and oriented core, augmented by striae measurements in outcrop suggest that Walker Lane dextral shear, which can be reasonably projected from the southeast, has probably propagated into the Medicine Lake area. Most volcanic vents across Medicine Lake Volcano strike north-south, suggesting they are controlled by crustal weakness related to Basin and Range extension. Interaction of dextral shear, Basin and Range extension, and the zone of crustal weakness expressed as the Mount Shasta-Medicine Lake volcanic highland controlled the location and initiation of Medicine Lake Volcano at about 500 ka.« less

Tectonic versus volcanic origin of the summit depression at Medicine Lake Volcano, California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mark Leon Gwynn

Medicine Lake Volcano is a Quaternary shield volcano located in a tectonically complex and active zone at the transition between the Basin and Range Province and the Cascade Range of the Pacific Province. The volcano is topped by a 7x12 km elliptical depression surrounded by a discontinuous constructional ring of basaltic to rhyolitic lava flows. This thesis explores the possibility that the depression may have formed due to regional extension (rift basin) or dextral shear (pull-apart basin) rather than through caldera collapse and examines the relationship between regional tectonics and localized volcanism. Existing data consisting of temperature and magnetotelluric surveys,more » alteration mineral studies, and core logging were compiled and supplemented with additional core logging, field observations, and fault striae studies in paleomagnetically oriented core samples. These results were then synthesized with regional fault data from existing maps and databases. Faulting patterns near the caldera, extension directions derived from fault striae P and T axes, and three-dimensional temperature and alteration mineral models are consistent with slip across arcuate ring faults related to magma chamber deflation during flank eruptions and/or a pyroclastic eruption at about 180 ka. These results are not consistent with a rift or pull-apart basin. Limited subsidence can be attributed to the relatively small volume of ash-flow tuff released by the only known major pyroclastic eruption and is inconsistent with the observed topographic relief. The additional relief can be explained by constructional volcanism. Striae from unoriented and oriented core, augmented by striae measurements in outcrop suggest that Walker Lane dextral shear, which can be reasonably projected from the southeast, has probably propagated into the Medicine Lake area. Most volcanic vents across Medicine Lake Volcano strike north-south, suggesting they are controlled by crustal weakness related to Basin and Range extension. Interaction of dextral shear, Basin and Range extension, and the zone of crustal weakness expressed as the Mount Shasta-Medicine Lake volcanic highland controlled the location and initiation of Medicine Lake Volcano at about 500 ka.« less

What are the control mechanisms of evenly-spaced parallel strike-slip faults? Insights from DEM modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonilla Sierra, V.; Donze, F. V.; Duriez, J.; Klinger, Y.; Scholtes, L.

2016-12-01

At the very early stages of a pure strike-slip fault zone formation, shear displacement along a deep buried parent fault produces a characteristic set of "evenly-spaced" strike-slip faults at the surface, e.g. Southern San Andreas, North Anatolian, Central Asian, and Northern Tibetan fault systems. This mode III fracture propagation is initiated by the rotation of the local principal stress at the tip of the parent discontinuity, generating twisted fractures with a helicoidal shape. In sandbox or clay-cake experiments used to reproduce these structures, it has been observed that the spacing and possibly the characteristic length of the fractures appearing at the surface are proportional to the overburden thickness of the deformed layer. Based on a Discrete Element Method (YADE DEM-Open Source), we have investigated the conditions controlling the linear relationships between the spacing of the surface "evenly-spaced" strike-slip discontinuities and the thickness of the deformed layer. Increasing the basement displacement of the model, a diffused shear zone appears first at the tip of the basal parent discontinuity. From this mist zone, localized and strongly interacting shear fractures start to propagate. This interaction process can generate complex internal structures: some fractures will propagate faster than their neighbors, modifying their close surrounding stress environment. Some propagating fractures can stop growing and asymmetrical fracture sets can be observed. This resulting hierarchical bifurcation process leads to a set of "en echelon" discontinuities appearing at the surface (Figure 1). In a pure strike-slip mode, fracture spacing is proportional to the thickness, with a ratio and a bifurcation mode controlled by the cohesion value at the first order. Depending on the Poisson's ratio value, which mainly controls the orientation of the discontinuities, this ratio can be affected at a lower degree. In presence of mixed-mode (transpression or transtension), these linear relationships disappear. Figure 1: Effects of the cohesion C and the thickness T of the deformed layer on the surface discontinuity pattern (a) T = Tref and C = Cref (b) T = Tref and C= 10×Cref (c) T = 2×Tref and C = Cref (d) T = 2×Tref and 10×Cref. The color code corresponds to the instantaneous velocity in the Y direction.

Rupture dynamics with energy loss outside the slip zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andrews, D.J.

2005-01-01

Energy loss in a fault damage zone, outside the slip zone, contributes to the fracture energy that determines rupture velocity of an earthquake. A nonelastic two-dimensional dynamic calculation is done in which the slip zone is modeled as a fault plane and material off the fault is subject to a Coulomb yield condition. In a mode 2 crack-like solution in which an abrupt uniform drop of shear traction on the fault spreads from a point, Coulomb yielding occurs on the extensional side of the fault. Plastic strain is distributed with uniform magnitude along the fault, and it has a thickness normal to the fault proportional to propagation distance. Energy loss off the fault is also proportional to propagation distance, and it can become much larger than energy loss on the fault specified by the fault constitutive relation. The slip velocity function could be produced in an equivalent elastic problem by a slip-weakening friction law with breakdown slip Dc increasing with distance. Fracture energy G and equivalent Dc will be different in ruptures with different initiation points and stress drops, so they are not constitutive properties; they are determined by the dynamic solution that arrives at a particular point. Peak slip velocity is, however, a property of a fault location. Nonelastic response can be mimicked by imposing a limit on slip velocity on a fault in an elastic medium.

Fault and joint geometry at Raft River Geothermal Area, Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guth, L. R.; Bruhn, R. L.; Beck, S. L.

1981-07-01

Raft River geothermal reservoir is formed by fractures in sedimentary strata of the Miocene and Pliocene salt lake formation. The fracturing is most intense at the base of the salt lake formation, along a decollement that dips eastward at less than 50 on top of metamorphosed precambrian and lower paleozoic rocks. Core taken from less than 200 m above the decollement contains two sets of normal faults. The major set of faults dips between 500 and 700. These faults occur as conjugate pairs that are bisected by vertical extension fractures. The second set of faults dips 100 to 200 and may parallel part of the basal decollement or reflect the presence of listric normal faults in the upper plate. Surface joints form two suborthogonal sets that dip vertically. East-northeast-striking joints are most frequent on the limbs of the Jim Sage anticline, a large fold that is associated with the geothermal field.

Fault-tolerant building-block computer study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rennels, D. A.

1978-01-01

Ultra-reliable core computers are required for improving the reliability of complex military systems. Such computers can provide reliable fault diagnosis, failure circumvention, and, in some cases serve as an automated repairman for their host systems. A small set of building-block circuits which can be implemented as single very large integration devices, and which can be used with off-the-shelf microprocessors and memories to build self checking computer modules (SCCM) is described. Each SCCM is a microcomputer which is capable of detecting its own faults during normal operation and is described to communicate with other identical modules over one or more Mil Standard 1553A buses. Several SCCMs can be connected into a network with backup spares to provide fault-tolerant operation, i.e. automated recovery from faults. Alternative fault-tolerant SCCM configurations are discussed along with the cost and reliability associated with their implementation.

Faults simulations for three-dimensional reservoir-geomechanical models with the extended finite element method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prévost, Jean H.; Sukumar, N.

2016-01-01

Faults are geological entities with thicknesses several orders of magnitude smaller than the grid blocks typically used to discretize reservoir and/or over-under-burden geological formations. Introducing faults in a complex reservoir and/or geomechanical mesh therefore poses significant meshing difficulties. In this paper, we consider the strong-coupling of solid displacement and fluid pressure in a three-dimensional poro-mechanical (reservoir-geomechanical) model. We introduce faults in the mesh without meshing them explicitly, by using the extended finite element method (X-FEM) in which the nodes whose basis function support intersects the fault are enriched within the framework of partition of unity. For the geomechanics, the fault is treated as an internal displacement discontinuity that allows slipping to occur using a Mohr-Coulomb type criterion. For the reservoir, the fault is either an internal fluid flow conduit that allows fluid flow in the fault as well as to enter/leave the fault or is a barrier to flow (sealing fault). For internal fluid flow conduits, the continuous fluid pressure approximation admits a discontinuity in its normal derivative across the fault, whereas for an impermeable fault, the pressure approximation is discontinuous across the fault. Equal-order displacement and pressure approximations are used. Two- and three-dimensional benchmark computations are presented to verify the accuracy of the approach, and simulations are presented that reveal the influence of the rate of loading on the activation of faults.

Results and interpretation of exploratory drilling near the Picacho Fault, south-central Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holzer, Thomas L.

1978-01-01

Modern surface faulting along the Picacho fault, east of Picacho, Arizona, has been attributed to ground-water withdrawal. In September 1977, three exploratory test holes were drilled 5 km east of Picacho and across the Picacho fault to investigate subsurface conditions and the mechanism of the faulting. The holes were logged by conventional geophysical and geologic methods. Piezometers were set in each hole and have been monitored since September 1977. The drilling indicates that the unconsolidated alluvium beneath the surface fault is approximately 310 m thick. Drilling and piezometer data and an associated seismic refraction survey indicate that the modern faulting is coincident with a preexisting, high-angle, normal fault that offsets units within the alluvium as well as the underlying bedrock. Piezometer and neutron log data indicate that the preexisting fault behaves as a partial ground-water barrier. Monitoring of the piezometers indicates that the magnitude of the man-induced difference in water level across the preexisting fault is seasonal in nature, essentially disappearing during periods of water-level recovery. The magnitude of the seasonal difference in water level, however, appears to be sufficient to account for the modern fault offset by localized differential compaction caused by a difference in water level across the preexisting fault. In addition, repeated level surveys since September 1977 of bench marks across the surface fault and near the piezometers have indicated fault movement that corresponds to fluctuations of water level.

The cooling history and the depth of detachment faulting at the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoolmeesters, Nicole; Cheadle, Michael J.; John, Barbara E.; Reiners, Peter W.; Gee, Jeffrey; Grimes, Craig B.

2012-10-01

Oceanic core complexes (OCCs) are domal exposures of oceanic crust and mantle interpreted to be denuded to the seafloor by large slip oceanic detachment faults. We combine previously reported U-Pb zircon crystallization ages with (U-Th)/He zircon thermochronometry and multicomponent magnetic remanence data to determine the cooling history of the footwall to the Atlantis Massif OCC (30°N, MAR) and help establish cooling rates, as well as depths of detachment faulting and gabbro emplacement. We present nine new (U-Th)/He zircon ages for samples from IODP Hole U1309D ranging from 40 to 1415 m below seafloor. These data paired with U-Pb zircon ages and magnetic remanence data constrain cooling rates of gabbroic rocks from the upper 800 m of the central dome at Atlantis Massif as 2895 (+1276/-1162) °C Myr-1 (from ˜780°C to ˜250°C); the lower 600 m of the borehole cooled more slowly at mean rates of ˜500 (+125/-102) °C Myr-1(from ˜780°C to present-day temperatures). Rocks from the uppermost part of the hole also reveal a brief period of slow cooling at rates of ˜300°C Myr-1, possibly due to hydrothermal circulation to ˜4 km depth through the detachment fault zone. Assuming a fault slip rate of 20 mm/yr (from U-Pb zircon ages of surface samples) and a rolling hinge model for the sub-surface fault geometry, we predict that the 780°C isotherm lies at ˜7 km below the axial valley floor, likely corresponding both to the depth at which the semi-brittle detachment fault roots and the probable upper limit of significant gabbro emplacement.

Origin of a major cross-element zone: Moroccan Rif

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morley, C. K.

1987-08-01

Alpine age (Oligocene-Miocene) deformation in the western Mediterranean formed the Rif mountain belt of northern Morocco. A linear east-northeast-west-southwest trend of cross elements from Jebah (Mediterranean coast) to Arbaoua (near the Atlantic coast) extends through several thrust sheets in the western Rif. The cross elements are manifest as a lateral ramp, the northern limit of a large culmination, and they affect syntectonic turbidite sandstone distribution. Gravity anomalies indicate that the cross-element zone is coincident with a transition zone from normal thickness to thinner continental crust. It is suggested that an early Mesozoic strike-slip fault system related to rifting of North America from North Africa caused a strong east-northeast-west-southwest, basement block-fault trend to form on the normal thickness side of the thick-to-thin continental crustal transition zone. This trend later influenced the position of the Alpine age cross-element zone that traverses several different Mesozoic and Tertiary basins, inverted during the Alpine deformation.

Origin of a major cross-element zone: Moroccan Rif

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morley, C.K.

1987-08-01

Alpine age (Oligocene-Miocene) deformation in the western Mediterranean formed the Rif mountain belt of northern Morocco. A linear east-northeast-west-southwest trend of cross elements from Jebah (Mediterranean coast) to Arbaoua (near the Atlantic coast) extends through several thrust sheets in the western Rif. The cross elements are manifest as a lateral ramp, the northern limit of a large culmination, and they affect syntectonic turbidite sandstone distribution. Gravity anomalies indicate that the cross-element zone is coincident with a transition zone from normal thickness to thinner continental crust. It is suggested that an early Mesozoic strike-slip fault system related to rifting of Northmore » America from North Africa caused a strong east-northeast-west-southwest, basement block-fault trend to form on the normal thickness side of the thick-to-thin continental crustal transition zone. This trend later influenced the position of the Alpine age cross-element zone that traverses several different Mesozoic and Tertiary basins, inverted during the Alpine deformation.« less

Fault kinematics and depocenter evolution of oil-bearing, continental successions of the Mina del Carmen Formation (Albian) in the Golfo San Jorge basin, Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paredes, José Matildo; Plazibat, Silvana; Crovetto, Carolina; Stein, Julián; Cayo, Eric; Schiuma, Ariel

2013-10-01

Up to 10% of the liquid hydrocarbons of the Golfo San Jorge basin come from the Mina del Carmen Formation (Albian), an ash-dominated fluvial succession preserved in a variably integrated channel network that evolved coeval to an extensional tectonic event, poorly analyzed up to date. Fault orientation, throw distribution and kinematics of fault populations affecting the Mina del Carmen Formation were investigated using a 3D seismic dataset in the Cerro Dragón field (Eastern Sector of the Golfo San Jorge basin). Thickness maps of the seismic sub-units that integrate the Mina del Carmen Formation, named MEC-A-MEC-C in ascending order, and mapping of fluvial channels performed applying geophysical tools of visualization were integrated to the kinematical analysis of 20 main normal faults of the field. The study provides examples of changes in fault throw patterns with time, associated with faults of different orientations. The "main synrift phase" is characterized by NE-SW striking (mean Az = 49°), basement-involved normal faults that attains its maximum throw on top of the volcanic basement; this set of faults was active during deposition of the Las Heras Group and Pozo D-129 formation. A "second synrift phase" is recognized by E-W striking normal faults (mean Az = 91°) that nucleated and propagated from the Albian Mina del Carmen Formation. Fault activity was localized during deposition of the MEC-A sub-unit, but generalized during deposition of MEC-B sub-unit, producing centripetal and partially isolated depocenters. Upward decreasing in fault activity is inferred by more gradual thickness variation of MEC-C and the overlying Lower Member of Bajo Barreal Formation, evidencing passive infilling of relief associated to fault boundaries, and conformation of wider depocenters with well integrated networks of channels of larger dimensions but random orientation. Lately, the Mina del Carmen Formation was affected by the downward propagation of E-W to ESE-WNW striking normal faults (mean Az = 98°) formed during the "third rifting phase", which occurs coeval with the deposition of the Upper Member of the Bajo Barreal Formation. The fault characteristics indicate a counterclockwise rotation of the stress field during the deposition of the Chubut Group of the Golfo San Jorge basin, likely associated to the rotation of Southern South America during the fragmentation of the Gondwana paleocontinent. Understanding the evolution of fault-controlled topography in continental basins allow to infer location and orientation of coeval fluvial systems, providing a more reliable scenario for location of producing oil wells.

High-resolution multi-channel seismic images of the Queen Charlotte Fault system offshore southeastern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, N. C.; Brothers, D. S.; Kluesner, J.; Balster-Gee, A.; Ten Brink, U. S.; Andrews, B. D.; Haeussler, P. J.; Watt, J. T.; Dartnell, P.; East, A. E.

2016-12-01

We present high-resolution multi-channel seismic (MCS) images of fault structure and sedimentary stratigraphy along the southeastern Alaska margin, where the northern Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF) cuts the shelf-edge and slope. The QCF is a dominantly strike slip system that forms the boundary between the Pacific (PA) and North American (NA) plates offshore western Canada and southeastern Alaska. The data were collected using a 64 channel, 200 m digital streamer and a 0.75-3 kJ sparker source aboard the R/V Norseman in August 2016. The survey was designed to cross a seafloor fault trace recently imaged by multibeam sonar (see adjacent poster by Brothers et al.) and to extend the subsurface information landward and seaward from the fault. Analysis of these MCS and multibeam data focus on addressing key questions that have significant implications for the kinematic and geodynamic history of the fault, including: Is the imaged surface fault in multibeam sonar the only recently-active fault trace? What is the shallow fault zone width and structure, is the internal structure of the recently-discovered pull-apart basin a dynamically developing structure? How does sediment thickness vary along the margin and how does this variation affect the fault expression? Can previous glacial sequences be identified in the stratigraphy?

Adaptive and technology-independent architecture for fault-tolerant distributed AAL solutions.

PubMed

Schmidt, Michael; Obermaisser, Roman

2018-04-01

Today's architectures for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) must cope with a variety of challenges like flawless sensor integration and time synchronization (e.g. for sensor data fusion) while abstracting from the underlying technologies at the same time. Furthermore, an architecture for AAL must be capable to manage distributed application scenarios in order to support elderly people in all situations of their everyday life. This encompasses not just life at home but in particular the mobility of elderly people (e.g. when going for a walk or having sports) as well. Within this paper we will introduce a novel architecture for distributed AAL solutions whose design follows a modern Microservices approach by providing small core services instead of a monolithic application framework. The architecture comprises core services for sensor integration, and service discovery while supporting several communication models (periodic, sporadic, streaming). We extend the state-of-the-art by introducing a fault-tolerance model for our architecture on the basis of a fault-hypothesis describing the fault-containment regions (FCRs) with their respective failure modes and failure rates in order to support safety-critical AAL applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The change in orientation of subsidiary shears near faults containing pore fluid under high pressure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Byerlee, J.

1992-01-01

Byerlee, J., 1992. The change in orientation of subsidiary shears near faults containing pore fluid under high pressure. In: T. Mikumo, K. Aki, M. Ohnaka, L.J. Ruff and P.K.P. Spudich (Editors), Earthquake Source Physics and Earthquake Precursors. Tectonophysics, 211: 295-303. The mechanical effects of a fault containing near-lithostatic fluid pressure in which fluid pressure decreases monotonically from the core of the fault zone to the adjacent country rock is considered. This fluid pressure distribution has mechanical implications for the orientation of subsidiary shears around a fault. Analysis shows that the maximum principal stress is oriented at a high angle to the fault in the country rock where the pore pressure is hydrostatic, and rotates to 45?? to the fault within the fault zone where the pore pressure is much higher. This analysis suggests that on the San Andreas fault, where heat flow constraints require that the coefficient of friction for slip on the fault be less than 0.1, the pore fluid pressure on the main fault is 85% of the lithostatic pressure. The observed geometry of the subsidiary shears in the creeping section of the San Andreas are broadly consistent with this model, with differences that may be due to the heterogeneous nature of the fault. ?? 1992.

Audio-frequency magnetotelluric imaging of the Hijima fault, Yamasaki fault system, southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, S.; Ogawa, Y.; Fuji-Ta, K.; Ujihara, N.; Inokuchi, H.; Oshiman, N.

2010-04-01

An audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) survey was undertaken at ten sites along a transect across the Hijima fault, a major segment of the Yamasaki fault system, Japan. The data were subjected to dimensionality analysis, following which two-dimensional inversions for the TE and TM modes were carried out. This model is characterized by (1) a clear resistivity boundary that coincides with the downward projection of the surface trace of the Hijima fault, (2) a resistive zone (>500 Ω m) that corresponds to Mesozoic sediment, and (3) shallow and deep two highly conductive zones (30-40 Ω m) along the fault. The shallow conductive zone is a common feature of the Yamasaki fault system, whereas the deep conductor is a newly discovered feature at depths of 800-1,800 m to the southwest of the fault. The conductor is truncated by the Hijima fault to the northeast, and its upper boundary is the resistive zone. Both conductors are interpreted to represent a combination of clay minerals and a fluid network within a fault-related fracture zone. In terms of the development of the fluid networks, the fault core of the Hijima fault and the highly resistive zone may play important roles as barriers to fluid flow on the northeast and upper sides of the conductive zones, respectively.

Consequences of Rift Propagation for Spreading in Thick Oceanic Crust in Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J. A.

2015-12-01

Iceland has long been considered a natural laboratory for processes related to seafloor spreading, including propagating rifts, migrating transforms and rotating microplates. The thick, hot, weak crust and subaerial processes of Iceland result in variations on the themes developed along more typical parts of the global MOR system. Compared to most other parts of the MOR, Icelandic rift zones and transform faults are wider and more complex. Rift zones are defined by overlapping arrays of volcanic/tectonic spreading segments as much as 50 km wide. The most active rift zones propagate N and S away from the Iceland hot spot causing migration of transform faults. A trail of crust deformed by bookshelf faulting forms in their wakes. Dead or dying transform strands are truncated along pseudofaults that define propagation rates close to the full spreading rate of ~20 mm/yr. Pseudofaults are blurred by spreading across wide rift zones and laterally extensive subaerial lava flows. Propagation, with decreasing spreading toward the propagator tips causes rotation of crustal blocks on both sides of the active rift zones. The blocks deform internally by the widespread reactivation of spreading-related faults and zones of weakness along dike margins. The sense of slip on these rift-parallel strike-slip faults is inconsistent with transform-fault deformation. These various deformation features as well as subaxial subsidence that accommodate the thickening of the volcanic upper crustal units are probably confined to the brittle, seismogenic, upper 10 km of the crust. At least beneath the active rift zones, the upper crust is probably decoupled from hot, mechanically weak middle and lower gabbroic crust resulting in a broad plate boundary zone between the diverging lithosphere plates. Similar processes may occur at other types of propagating spreading centers and magmatic rifts.

Geophysical Investigation of Avon Valley, West-Central Montana, using Gravity and Seismic Reflection Profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knatterud, L.; Mosolf, J.; Speece, M. A.; Zhou, X.

2014-12-01

The Avon Valley and adjacent mountains in west-central Montana lie within the Lewis and Clark Line, a major system of WNW-striking faults and folds that transect the more northerly structural grain of the northern Rockies and represent alternating episodes of transtensional and transpressional deformation. The northwest-trending valley has been previously interpreted as an extensional half graben filled with Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic deposits; however, little-to-no geophysical constraints on basin architecture or the thickness of Tertiary fill have been reported. A major northwest-striking fault with significant normal displacement clearly bounds the valley to the northeast, juxtaposing Tertiary sedimentary deposits against Proterozoic-Mesozoic units deformed by shortening structures and crosscut by Cretaceous granitic intrusions. Tertiary volcanic deposits unconformably overlying faulted and folded Phanerozoic-Proterozoic sequences in the eastern Garnet Range bound the valley to the southwest, but in the past no faults had been mapped along this margin. New mapping by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (MBMG) has identified a system of high-angle, northwest- and northeast-striking, oblique-slip faults along the southwest border of the Avon calling into question if the valley is a half, full, or asymmetrical graben. Geophysical data has recently been acquired by Montana Tech to help define the structural architecture of the Avon Valley and the thickness of its Tertiary fill. Gravity data and a short seismic reflection profile have been collected and a preliminary interpretation of these data indicates a half graben with a series of normal faults bounding the western side of the valley. Ongoing gravity data collection throughout 2014 should refine this interpretation by better defining the bedrock-Tertiary interface at depth.

Structural evolution of Grand Lake field, Cameron Parish, Louisiana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johanson, D.B.

Detailed analysis of sedimentary thicknesses at Grand Lake field has revealed that hydrocarbon accumulation was controlled by faulting that was related to diapiric uplift of shale. Grand Lake field is located in the northeastern corner of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. This area contains about 12,000 ft of Miocene and younger fluviodeltaic sediments. Structurally, the field is a northwest-trending anticline. Diapiric shale in the western part of the field may be salt related although, to date, no salt has been penetrated. A major down-to-the-south regional growth fault crosses the top of the structure, striking roughly northwest. Several down-to-the-north faults are antithetic tomore » this master fault. Second and third generation antithetic faults also are present in the field. Diapiric uplift in Grand Lake field was initiated in the early Miocene by an influx of relatively heavy deltaic sands onto undercompacted shales. The master fault in the field formed almost immediately after the onset of uplift, and movement was essentially uninterrupted until the Pliocene-Pleistocene.« less

Strain and vorticity analysis using small-scale faults and associated drag folds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez-Rivas, Enrique; Bons, Paul D.; Griera, Albert; Carreras, Jordi; Druguet, Elena; Evans, Lynn

2007-12-01

Small-scale faults with associated drag folds in brittle-ductile rocks can retain detailed information on the kinematics and amount of deformation the host rock experienced. Measured fault orientation ( α), drag angle ( β) and the ratio of the thickness of deflected layers at the fault ( L) and further away ( T) can be compared with α, β and L/ T values that are calculated with a simple analytical model. Using graphs or a numerical best-fit routine, one can then determine the kinematic vorticity number and initial fault orientation that best fits the data. The proposed method was successfully tested on both analogue experiments and numerical simulations with BASIL. Using this method, a kinematic vorticity number of one (dextral simple shear) and a minimum finite strain of 2.5-3.8 was obtained for a population of antithetic faults with associated drag folds in a case study area at Mas Rabassers de Dalt on Cap de Creus in the Variscan of the easternmost Pyrenees, Spain.

Geologic map of the Yucca Mountain region, Nye County, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Potter, Christopher J.; Dickerson, Robert P.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Drake II, Ronald M.; Taylor, Emily M.; Fridrich, Christopher J.; San Juan, Carma A.; Day, Warren C.

2002-01-01

Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nev., has been identified as a potential site for underground storage of high-level radioactive waste. This geologic map compilation, including all of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat, most of the Calico Hills, western Jackass Flats, Little Skull Mountain, the Striped Hills, the Skeleton Hills, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, portrays the geologic framework for a saturated-zone hydrologic flow model of the Yucca Mountain site. Key geologic features shown on the geologic map and accompanying cross sections include: (1) exposures of Proterozoic through Devonian strata inferred to have been deformed by regional thrust faulting and folding, in the Skeleton Hills, Striped Hills, and Amargosa Desert near Big Dune; (2) folded and thrust-faulted Devonian and Mississippian strata, unconformably overlain by Miocene tuffs and lavas and cut by complex Neogene fault patterns, in the Calico Hills; (3) the Claim Canyon caldera, a segment of which is exposed north of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat; (4) thick densely welded to nonwelded ash-flow sheets of the Miocene southwest Nevada volcanic field exposed in normal-fault-bounded blocks at Yucca Mountain; (5) upper Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic cinder cones and lava flows in Crater Flat and at southernmost Yucca Mountain; and (6) broad basins covered by Quaternary and upper Tertiary surficial deposits in Jackass Flats, Crater Flat, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, beneath which Neogene normal and strike-slip faults are inferred to be present on the basis of geophysical data and geologic map patterns. A regional thrust belt of late Paleozoic or Mesozoic age affected all pre-Tertiary rocks in the region; main thrust faults, not exposed in the map area, are interpreted to underlie the map area in an arcuate pattern, striking north, northeast, and east. The predominant vergence of thrust faults exposed elsewhere in the region, including the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts, was to the east, southeast, and south. The vertical to overturned strata of the Striped Hills are hypothesized to result from successive stacking of three south-vergent thrust ramps, the lowest of which is the Specter Range thrust. The CP thrust is interpreted as a north-vergent backthrust that may have been roughly contemporaneous with the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts. The southwest Nevada volcanic field consists predominantly of a series of silicic tuffs and lava flows ranging in age from 15 to 8 Ma. The map area is in the southwestern quadrant of the southwest Nevada volcanic field, just south of the Timber Mountain caldera complex. The Claim Canyon caldera, exposed in the northern part of the map area, contains thick deposits of the 12.7-Ma Tiva Canyon Tuff, along with widespread megabreccia deposits of similar age, and subordinate thick exposures of other 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group rocks. An irregular, blocky fault array, which affects parts of the caldera and much of the nearby area, includes several large-displacement, steeply dipping faults that strike radially to the caldera and bound south-dipping blocks of volcanic rock. South and southeast of the Claim Canyon caldera, in the area that includes Yucca Mountain, the Neogene fault pattern is dominated by closely spaced, north-northwest- to north-northeast-striking normal faults that lie within a north-trending graben. This 20- to 25-km-wide graben includes Crater Flat, Yucca Mountain, and Fortymile Wash, and is bounded on the east by the 'gravity fault' and on the west by the Bare Mountain fault. Both of these faults separate Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in their footwalls from Miocene volcanic rocks in their hanging walls. Stratigraphic and structural relations at Yucca Mountain demonstrate that block-bounding faults were active before and during eruption of the 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults continued unt

Seismic constraints and coulomb stress changes of a blind thrust fault system, 2: Northridge, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stein, Ross S.; Lin, Jian

2006-01-01

We review seismicity, surface faulting, and Coulomb stress changes associated with the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. All of the observed surface faulting is shallow, extending meters to tens of meters below the surface. Relocated aftershocks reveal no seismicity shallower than 2 km depth. Although many of the aftershocks lie along the thrust fault and its up-dip extension, there are also a significant number of aftershocks in the core of the gentle anticline above the thrust, and elsewhere on the up-thrown block. These aftershocks may be associated with secondary ramp thrusts or flexural slip faults at a depth of 2-4 km. The geological structures typically associated with a blind thrust fault, such as anticlinal uplift and an associated syncline, are obscured and complicated by surface thrust faults associated with the San Fernando fault that overly the Northridge structures. Thus the relationship of the geological structure and topography to the underlying thrust fault is much more complex for Northridge than it is for the 1983 Coalinga, California, earthquake. We show from a Coulomb stress analysis that secondary surface faulting, diffuse aftershocks, and triggered sequences of moderate-sized mainshocks, are expected features of moderate-sized blind thrust earthquakes.

The buried active faults in southeastern China as revealed by the relocated background seismicity and fault plane solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, A.; Wang, P.; Liu, F.

2017-12-01

The southeastern China in the mainland corresponds to the south China block, which is characterized by moderate historical seismicity and low stain rate. Most faults are buried under thick Quaternary deposits, so it is difficult to detect and locate them using the routine geological methods. Only a few have been identified to be active in late Quaternary, which leads to relatively high potentially seismic risk to this region due to the unexpected locations of the earthquakes. We performed both hypoDD and tomoDD for the background seismicity from 2000 to 2016 to investigate the buried faults. Some buried active faults are revealed by the relocated seismicity and the velocity structure, no geologically known faults corresponding to them and no surface active evidence ever observed. The geometries of the faults are obtained by analyzing the hypocentral distribution pattern and focal mechanism. The focal mechanism solutions indicate that all the revealed faults are dominated in strike-slip mechanisms, or with some thrust components. While the previous fault investigation and detection results show that most of the Quaternary faults in southeastern China are dominated by normal movement. It suggests that there may exist two fault systems in deep and shallow tectonic regimes. The revealed faults may construct the deep one that act as the seismogenic faults, and the normal faults at shallow cannot generate the destructive earthquakes. The variation in the Curie-point depths agrees well with the structure plane of the revealed active faults, suggesting that the faults may have changed the deep structure.

ROBUS-2: A Fault-Tolerant Broadcast Communication System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Pomales, Wilfredo; Malekpour, Mahyar R.; Miner, Paul S.

2005-01-01

The Reliable Optical Bus (ROBUS) is the core communication system of the Scalable Processor-Independent Design for Enhanced Reliability (SPIDER), a general-purpose fault-tolerant integrated modular architecture currently under development at NASA Langley Research Center. The ROBUS is a time-division multiple access (TDMA) broadcast communication system with medium access control by means of time-indexed communication schedule. ROBUS-2 is a developmental version of the ROBUS providing guaranteed fault-tolerant services to the attached processing elements (PEs), in the presence of a bounded number of faults. These services include message broadcast (Byzantine Agreement), dynamic communication schedule update, clock synchronization, and distributed diagnosis (group membership). The ROBUS also features fault-tolerant startup and restart capabilities. ROBUS-2 is tolerant to internal as well as PE faults, and incorporates a dynamic self-reconfiguration capability driven by the internal diagnostic system. This version of the ROBUS is intended for laboratory experimentation and demonstrations of the capability to reintegrate failed nodes, dynamically update the communication schedule, and tolerate and recover from correlated transient faults.

A mechanical model of the San Andreas fault and SAFOD Pilot Hole stress measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chery, J.; Zoback, M.D.; Hickman, S.

2004-01-01

Stress measurements made in the SAFOD pilot hole provide an opportunity to study the relation between crustal stress outside the fault zone and the stress state within it using an integrated mechanical model of a transform fault loaded in transpression. The results of this modeling indicate that only a fault model in which the effective friction is very low (<0.1) through the seismogenic thickness of the crust is capable of matching stress measurements made in both the far field and in the SAFOD pilot hole. The stress rotation measured with depth in the SAFOD pilot hole (???28??) appears to be a typical feature of a weak fault embedded in a strong crust and a weak upper mantle with laterally variable heat flow, although our best model predicts less rotation (15??) than observed. Stress magnitudes predicted by our model within the fault zone indicate low shear stress on planes parallel to the fault but a very anomalous mean stress, approximately twice the lithostatic stress. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

Continental and oceanic crustal structure of the Pampean flat slab region, western Argentina, using receiver function analysis: new high-resolution results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gans, Christine R.; Beck, Susan L.; Zandt, George; Gilbert, Hersh; Alvarado, Patricia; Anderson, Megan; Linkimer, Lepolt

2011-07-01

The Pampean flat slab of central Chile and Argentina (30°-32°S) has strongly influenced Cenozoic tectonics in western Argentina, which contains both the thick-skinned, basement-cored uplifts of the Sierras Pampeanas and the thin-skinned Andean Precordillera fold and thrust belt. In this region of South America, the Nazca Plate is subducting nearly horizontally beneath the South American Plate at ˜100 km depth. To gain a better understanding of the deeper structure of this region, including the transition from flat to 'normal' subduction to the south, three IRIS-PASSCAL arrays of broad-band seismic stations have been deployed in central Argentina. Using the dense SIEMBRA array, combined with the broader CHARGE and ESP arrays, the flat slab is imaged for the first time in 3-D detail using receiver function (RF) analysis. A distinct pair of RF arrivals consisting of a negative pulse that marks the top of the oceanic crust, followed by a positive pulse, which indicates the base of the oceanic crust, can be used to map the slab's structure. Depths to Moho and oceanic crustal thicknesses estimated from RF results provide new, more detailed regional maps. An improved depth to continental Moho map shows depths of more than 70 km in the main Cordillera and ˜50 km in the western Sierras Pampeanas, that shallow to ˜35 km in the eastern Sierras Pampeanas. Depth to Moho contours roughly follow terrane boundaries. Offshore, the hotspot seamount chain of the Juan Fernández Ridge (JFR) is thought to create overthickened oceanic crust, providing a mechanism for flat slab subduction. By comparing synthetic RFs, based on various structures, to the observed RF signal we determine that the thickness of the oceanic crust at the top of the slab averages at least ˜13-19 km, supporting the idea of a moderately overthickened crust to provide the additional buoyancy for the slab to remain flat. The overthickened region is broader than the area directly aligned with the path of the JFR, however, and indicates, along with the slab earthquake locations, that the flat slab area is wider than the JFR volcanic chain observed in the offshore bathymetry. Further, RFs indicate that the subducted oceanic crust in the region directly along the path of the subducted ridge is broken by trench-parallel faults. One explanation for these faults is that they are older structures within the oceanic crust that were created when the slab subducted. Alternatively, it is possible that faults formed recently from tectonic underplating caused by increased interplate coupling in the flat slab region.

Controls on fault zone structure and brittle fracturing in the foliated hanging wall of the Alpine Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Jack N.; Toy, Virginia G.; Massiot, Cécile; McNamara, David D.; Smith, Steven A. F.; Mills, Steven

2018-04-01

Three datasets are used to quantify fracture density, orientation, and fill in the foliated hanging wall of the Alpine Fault: (1) X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of drill core collected within 25 m of its principal slip zones (PSZs) during the first phase of the Deep Fault Drilling Project that were reoriented with respect to borehole televiewer images, (2) field measurements from creek sections up to 500 m from the PSZs, and (3) CT images of oriented drill core collected during the Amethyst Hydro Project at distances of ˜ 0.7-2 km from the PSZs. Results show that within 160 m of the PSZs in foliated cataclasites and ultramylonites, gouge-filled fractures exhibit a wide range of orientations. At these distances, fractures are interpreted to have formed at relatively high confining pressures and/or in rocks that had a weak mechanical anisotropy. Conversely, at distances greater than 160 m from the PSZs, fractures are typically open and subparallel to the mylonitic or schistose foliation, implying that fracturing occurred at low confining pressures and/or in rocks that were mechanically anisotropic. Fracture density is similar across the ˜ 500 m width of the field transects. By combining our datasets with measurements of permeability and seismic velocity around the Alpine Fault, we further develop the hierarchical model for hanging-wall damage structure that was proposed by Townend et al. (2017). The wider zone of foliation-parallel fractures represents an outer damage zone that forms at shallow depths. The distinct < 160 m wide interval of widely oriented gouge-filled fractures constitutes an inner damage zone. This zone is interpreted to extend towards the base of the seismogenic crust given that its width is comparable to (1) the Alpine Fault low-velocity zone detected by fault zone guided waves and (2) damage zones reported from other exhumed large-displacement faults. In summary, a narrow zone of fracturing at the base of the Alpine Fault's hanging-wall seismogenic crust is anticipated to widen at shallow depths, which is consistent with fault zone flower structure models.

Interactions of fluid and gas movement and faulting in the Colorado Plateau, southeastern Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipton, Z. K.; Evans, J. P.; Kirschner, D.; Heath, J.; Williams, A.; Dockrill, B.

2002-12-01

The east-west and west-northwest striking Salt Wash and the Little Grand Wash normal faults in the Colorado Plateau of southeastern Utah emit large amounts of CO2 gas from abandon drill holes, springs and a hydrocarbon seep. The leakage of similar CO2 charged water has also occurred in the past as shown by large localized tufa deposits and horizontal veins along the fault traces. These deposits consist of thick tufa terraces and mound extending up to 50 meters from the fault damage zones. The faults cut a north plunging anticline of siltstones, shales, and sandstones, and the fault rocks are fine-grained with clay-rich gouge. The Little Grand Wash fault displaces these rocks approximately 290 m and the Salt Wash graben offsets rocks approximately 130 m; both faults extend at least to the top of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation, which contains thick salt horizons 1.5 - 2 km at depth. Well log, geologic surface and geochemical data indicate the CO2 reservoirs and sources have been cut by the faults at depth providing a conduit for the vertical migration of CO2 to the surface, but limited horizontal flow across the fault plane. Three- dimensional flow modals show how the faults damage zones permeability is adjacent to the faults and the leakage though the damage zones is localized near the regional anticlines fold axis. Analysis of the fluids emanating from the faults aims to locate the sources and determine the chemical evolutions of the fluids. δ2H and δ18O isotopic data show that the ground waters are meteoric and have not circulated deeply enough to experience an oxygen-isotope shift. δ13C data and PCO2 values indicate that the gas is external to the ground water systems (i.e., not from soil zone gas or dissolution of carbonate aquifer material alone). 3He/4He ratio 0.30 - 0.31 from springs and geysers indicate that the majority of the gas is crustally derived and contains a minimal component of mantle or magmatic gases. δ13C values of 4 to 5 per mil from the veins indicate the possible carbon sources of dissolution of isotopically heavy marine carbonates or the thermal decarbonization of carbonates. Thus, our conceptual model is that gases from 1.5 km or greater in the basin are migrate upwards along the faults and charge shallower ground water systems, where chemical exchange occurs during discharge at and near surface. The faults have been active since ~42 Ma, corresponding to the rapid uplift of the region. Fault-fluid interactions are likely trigged by salt movement at depth, and also in response to the modern state of stress, in which north-northeast extension of the area is caused by NNE-oriented σ 3, and that the faults may reflect a critcally stressed crust in the region.

The role of bed-parallel slip in the development of complex normal fault zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delogkos, Efstratios; Childs, Conrad; Manzocchi, Tom; Walsh, John J.; Pavlides, Spyros

2017-04-01

Normal faults exposed in Kardia lignite mine, Ptolemais Basin, NW Greece formed at the same time as bed-parallel slip-surfaces, so that while the normal faults grew they were intermittently offset by bed-parallel slip. Following offset by a bed-parallel slip-surface, further fault growth is accommodated by reactivation on one or both of the offset fault segments. Where one fault is reactivated the site of bed-parallel slip is a bypassed asperity. Where both faults are reactivated, they propagate past each other to form a volume between overlapping fault segments that displays many of the characteristics of relay zones, including elevated strains and transfer of displacement between segments. Unlike conventional relay zones, however, these structures contain either a repeated or a missing section of stratigraphy which has a thickness equal to the throw of the fault at the time of the bed-parallel slip event, and the displacement profiles along the relay-bounding fault segments have discrete steps at their intersections with bed-parallel slip-surfaces. With further increase in displacement, the overlapping fault segments connect to form a fault-bound lens. Conventional relay zones form during initial fault propagation, but with coeval bed-parallel slip, relay-like structures can form later in the growth of a fault. Geometrical restoration of cross-sections through selected faults shows that repeated bed-parallel slip events during fault growth can lead to complex internal fault zone structure that masks its origin. Bed-parallel slip, in this case, is attributed to flexural-slip arising from hanging-wall rollover associated with a basin-bounding fault outside the study area.

Electromagnetic exploration in high-salinity groundwater zones: case studies from volcanic and soft sedimentary sites in coastal Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Koichi; Kusano, Yukiko; Ochi, Ryota; Nishiyama, Nariaki; Tokunaga, Tomochika; Tanaka, Kazuhiro

2017-01-01

Estimating the spatial distribution of groundwater salinity in coastal plain regions is becoming increasingly important for site characterisation and the prediction of hydrogeological environmental conditions resulting from radioactive waste disposal and underground CO2 storage. In previous studies of the freshwater-saltwater interface, electromagnetic methods were used for sites characterised by unconsolidated deposits or Neocene soft sedimentary rocks. However, investigating the freshwater-saltwater interface in hard rock sites (e.g. igneous areas) is more complex, with the permeability of the rocks greatly influenced by fractures. In this study, we investigated the distribution of high-salinity groundwater at two volcanic rock sites and one sedimentary rock site, each characterised by different hydrogeological features. Our investigations included (1) applying the controlled source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) method and (2) conducting laboratory tests to measure the electrical properties of rock core samples. We interpreted the 2D resistivity sections by referring to previous data on geology and geochemistry of groundwater. At the Tokusa site, an area of inland volcanic rocks, low resistivity zones were detected along a fault running through volcanic rocks and shallow sediments. The results suggest that fluids rise through the Tokusa-Jifuku Fault to penetrate shallow sediments in a direction parallel to the river, and some fluids are diluted by rainwater. At the Oki site, a volcanic island on a continental shelf, four resistivity zones (in upward succession: low, high, low and high) were detected. The results suggest that these four zones were formed during a transgression-regression cycle caused by the last glacial period. At the Saijo site, located on a coastal plain composed of thick sediments, we observed a deep low resistivity zone, indicative of fossil seawater remnant from a transgression after the last glacial period. The current coastal plain formed in historical times, following which fresh water penetrated the upper parts of the fossil seawater zone to form a freshwater aquifer ~200 m in thickness.

Lake Qinghai Drilling Project: Evolution History of Lake Qinghai and East Asian Monsoon Changes since the Late Miocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Z.; Colman, S.

2007-12-01

As a closed continental lake on the north-east margin of the Tibetan Plateau, Lake Qinghai is sensitive to climate variations as well as the environmental effects of Plateau growth/uplift. Supported by Chinese funding agencies and ICDP, onshore and offshore lake cores were drilled in 2005. We compare our preliminary chronostratigraphic, sedimentologic, and geochemical results with climatic records from the Loess Plateau, South China Sea, Arctic and global oceans, and we discuss the evolution of Lake Qinghai at different time scales since the late Miocene. Lake Qinghai is shown to have intimate linkages with the warm/moist East Asian summer monsoon, the cold/dry East Asian winter monsoon, and the growth/uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Magnetostratigraphic studies of the onshore drill cores indicate that thick greenish clays were deposited during Late Miocene, suggesting the initial formation of the Qinghai Lake basin. Consistent with proxies from the Loess Plateau and the South China Sea, they imply summer-monsoon strengthening and inland intrusion. These changes may be related to a growth event of the Tibetan Plateau at 10-8 Ma, which led to the uplift of Qinghai Nanshan, formation of faulted lake basins, and enhanced summer monsoon circulation. From 6 to 4.6Ma eolian red clays in the core indicate lake basin dessication, as Loess Plateau dust flux increased with the strengthening of the winter monsoon and coincident with intense Arctic ice rafting at 6-5 Ma. From 4.6 to 3.5 Ma thick greenish clays were deposited as modern Lake Qinghai formed. Significantly increased fluxes of TOC, C/N and total sediment might be related to uplift of Qinghai Nanshan and basin subsidence at that time, and they are coeval with the increasing strength of East Asian monsoon during early Pliocene. At 3.5-2.6 Ma, continued strengthening of the East Asian summer monsoon, inland aridification, and increases in global ice volume suggest another growth event of the Tibetan Plateau. Shallow-water silty clays were deposited in the lake basin at this time. Since 2.6 Ma, deposition in the basin was characterized by shallow-water silty clays, intercalated with layers of loess- like material, eolian sand, gravel, and sand, indicating multiple lake expansion/dessication cycles, presumably at orbital frequencies, reflecting multiple migrations of the East Asian summer monsoon front driven by solar radiation and global ice volume changes over this region. Several previous studies of cores as much as 7m long from the depositional basins of Lake Qinghai have documented monsoon climate and environmental changes at the lake from the deglacial period through the Holocene, which are generally consistent with northern Hemisphere summer insolation and its seasonality changes. A wide variety of proxies have been used, and some cores have been studied at very high temporal resolution, especially for the last several hundred years. Results suggest that solar activity influences decadal regional temperatures, and that it is the East Asian summer monsoon as opposed to the Indian summer monsoon that acts as the dominate moisture source at the decadal scale within the local region. Offshore GLAD800 drill cores obtained in 2005 sampled fine-grained sediments before encountering thick units of sand. The fine-grained sections are 2-3 times longer than previous cores from similar sites. Paleolimnological proxy studies are underway on these cores to extend the young part of the paleoenvironmental record back to significantly before the last glacial maximum.

The correlation of 2D-resistivity and magnetic methods in fault verification at northern Sumatra, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamaruddin, Nur Aminuda; Saad, Rosli; Nordiana, M. M.; Azwin, I. N.

2015-04-01

The Great Sumatra Fault system was split into two sub-parallel lines or segments at the Northern Sumatra. This event is one of the impacts of powerful earthquakes that hit Sumatra Island especially one that occurred in 2004. These two sub-parallel segments known as Aceh and Seulimeum fault. The study is focused on the Seulimeum fault and two geophysical methods chosen aimed to compare and verified the result obtained respectively. 2-D resistivity method is a common geophysical method used in determination of near surface structures such as faults, cavities, voids and sinkholes. Meanwhile, the magnetic method often chosen to delineate subsurface structures, determine depth of magnetic source bodies and possibly sediment thickness. Three survey lines of resistivity method and randomly magnetic stations were carried out covering Krueng district. The resistivity data processed using Res2Dinv and result presented using Surfer software. The fault identified by the contrast of low and high resistivity value. Meanwhile, the magnetic data were presented in magnetic residual contour map and the extended fault system is suspected represent by the contrast value of the magnetic anomalies. Within suspected fault zone, the results of resistivity are tally with magnetic result.

Seismological evidence for a localized mushy zone at the Earth's inner core boundary.

PubMed

Tian, Dongdong; Wen, Lianxing

2017-08-01

Although existence of a mushy zone in the Earth's inner core has been hypothesized several decades ago, no seismic evidence has ever been reported. Based on waveform modeling of seismic compressional waves that are reflected off the Earth's inner core boundary, here we present seismic evidence for a localized 4-8 km thick zone across the inner core boundary beneath southwest Okhotsk Sea with seismic properties intermediate between those of the inner and outer core and of a mushy zone. Such a localized mushy zone is found to be surrounded by a sharp inner core boundary nearby. These seismic results suggest that, in the current thermo-compositional state of the Earth's core, the outer core composition is close to eutectic in most regions resulting in a sharp inner core boundary, but deviation from the eutectic composition exists in some localized regions resulting in a mushy zone with a thickness of 4-8 km.The existence of a mushy zone in the Earth's inner core has been suggested, but has remained unproven. Here, the authors have discovered a 4-8 km thick mushy zone at the inner core boundary beneath the Okhotsk Sea, indicating that there may be more localized mushy zones at the inner core boundary.

Foam Core Particleboards with Intumescent FRT Veneer: Cone Calorimeter Testing With Varying Adhesives, Surface Layer Thicknesses, and Processing Conditions

Treesearch

Mark A. Dietenberger; Johannes Welling; Ali Shalbafan

2014-01-01

Intumescent FRT Veneers adhered to the surface of foam core particleboard to provide adequate fire protection were evaluated by means of cone calorimeter tests (ASTM E1354). The foam core particleboards were prepared with variations in surface layer treatment, adhesives, surface layer thicknesses, and processing conditions. Ignitability, heat release rate profile, peak...

Stress induced near fault-zone breakout rotation: Two case studies in TCDP and JFAST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, H. Y.; Brodsky, E. E.; Moe, K.; Kinoshita, M.

2014-12-01

Within the past decade, two successful rapid-response drilling projects have measured breakouts within the nearfault of a recently ruptured fault. Breakout observation is the direct way to detect the far and near filed stress orientation in drilling. Here we compare those data. In 2006, ICDP performed an inland drilling project to penetrate Chelungpu fault plane in central of Taiwan, which had recently slipped in 1999 Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake. This drilling project succeeded in full coring and collecting comprehensive logging data in the borehole. The resistivity images run by Formation Micro Imager (FMI) indicated that a breakout rotation in the vicinity of the fault (1111mbf). Leak-off tests on site constrained the magnitude of minimum horizontal principal stress. Here we use these data to determine the stress variation in the fault plane in our breakout dislocation model. Based on the amount of breakout azimuth, rotation and fault geometry, the stress drop can be estimated in this model. In 2012, IODP initiated a rapid drilling project after the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan Trench. Due to the deep-water depth, only a real-time resistivity image recorded by Logging While Drilling (LWD) and few core samples are recovered by this expedition. However, the breakout azimuth occurred near the plate boundary (820mbsf) represents the stress disturbance after the dramatic slip comparing to TCDP case. In this research, we are attempting to discuss the possible effect factors and reconstruct the geo-mechanical models to interpret the breakout distribution observed from logging data and the stress state after these huge earthquakes.

IODP Expedition 338: NanTroSEIZE Stage 3: NanTroSEIZE plate boundary deep riser 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, G. F.; Kanagawa, K.; Strasser, M.; Dugan, B.; Maeda, L.; Toczko, S.

2014-01-01

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along a subduction megathrust, with objectives that include characterizing fault slip, strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout an active plate boundary system. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 338 was planned to extend and case riser Hole C0002F from 856 to 3600 meters below the seafloor (m b.s.f.). Riser operations extended the hole to 2005.5 m b.s.f., collecting logging-while-drilling (LWD) and measurement-while-drilling, mud gas, and cuttings data. Results reveal two lithologic units within the inner wedge of the accretionary prism that are separated by a prominent fault zone at ~ 1640 m b.s.f. Due to damage to the riser during unfavorable winds and strong currents, riser operations were suspended, and Hole C0002F left for re-entry during future riser drilling operations. Contingency riserless operations included coring at the forearc basin site (C0002) and at two slope basin sites (C0021 and C0022), and LWD at one input site (C0012) and at three slope basin sites (C0018, C0021 and C0022). Cores and logs from these sites comprehensively characterize the alteration stage of the oceanic basement input to the subduction zone, the early stage of Kumano Basin evolution, gas hydrates in the forearc basin, and recent activity of the shallow megasplay fault zone system and associated submarine landslides.

Geophysical Survey of Proposed Construction Site with Possible Faulting, East San Francisco Bay Hills, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galvin, J. L.; Deqiang, C.; Abimbola, A.; Shuler, S.; Hayashi, K.; Fox, J.; Craig, M. S.; Strayer, L. M.; Drumm, P.

2015-12-01

We conducted a geophysical study at a site proposed for a new dorm building prior to trenching planned as part of a separate fault investigation study. The study area was located on the south side of the CSU East Bay campus, roughly 100 - 300 m SSE of the current dorm complex. In addition to its proximity to the Hayward Fault, several smaller faults have been previously mapped within the proposed location, including the East and West Dibblee Faults. These faults are thought to represent contacts between the Leona Rhyolite and the Knoxville Formation. Data acquisition included seismic, resistivity, and GPS data collected in an effort to develop a better understanding of the geological and structural profile of this area, including the location of lithologic contacts, faults, and the thickness of soil and fill. Geophysical profiles were collected over the locations of future trenches. The survey included geophysical lines that were located coincident with two planned trenching sites, which were chosen to intersect mapped faults. Survey positions were recorded using differential GPS. Seismic refraction and MASW (multichannel analysis of surface waves) surveys were performed over two of the planned trench sites using a 48-channel seismographic system with 4.5 Hz geophones and a 10-lb sledgehammer. For one of the lines, geophones were spaced every 3 m with a total spread length of 141 m and a shot spacing of 9 m. For the second line, geophones were spaced every 4 m with a total spread length of 188 m. Shots were taken every 12 m. Resistivity surveys were also performed along one of the line locations using both a capacitively-coupled dipole (CCD) system and 48-electrode system. Geospatial data for the survey area were compiled, including 0.3 m color orthoimagery and vector line files for geologic unit boundaries and presumed fault locations. The products of this study will include the geophysical response of geologic formations, location of unit contacts and faults, thickness of soil and fill, shear wave velocity (VS and VS30). The results of this study will enable improved seismic hazard assessment of the site and will contribute to a better understanding of the overall geologic profile of this area.

Determination of accuracy of winding deformation method using kNN based classifier used for 3 MVA transformer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Mustafa Wasir; Baishya, Manash Jyoti; Sharma, Sasanka Sekhor; Hazarika, Manash

2018-04-01

This paper presents a detecting system on power transformer in transformer winding, core and on load tap changer (OLTC). Accuracy of winding deformation is determined using kNN based classifier. Winding deformation in power transformer can be measured using sweep frequency response analysis (SFRA), which can enhance the diagnosis accuracy to a large degree. It is suggested that in the results minor deformation faults can be detected at frequency range of 1 mHz to 2 MHz. The values of RCL parameters are changed when faults occur and hence frequency response of the winding will change accordingly. The SFRA data of tested transformer is compared with reference trace. The difference between two graphs indicate faults in the transformer. The deformation between 1 mHz to 1kHz gives winding deformation, 1 kHz to 100 kHz gives core deformation and 100 kHz to 2 MHz gives OLTC deformation.

Using a network of core samples to explore hydroclimatic proxy relationships within the sediments of an alpine, glacier-fed lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodder, Kyle; Suchan, Jared

2015-04-01

Spatial and temporal variability of recent lacustrine sedimentation rates are examined for glacier-fed Mud Lake, in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia. Clastic varve sequences in alpine, glacier-fed environments have been linked elsewhere with temperature (summer, annual), precipitation (autumn, total snowpack), and runoff (glacial, floods), and the use of varved sediments as hydroclimatic proxies is well-developed from single, but rarely multiple, core samples. In this study, a network of sediment cores (n=63) were extracted using a dense grid-sampling scheme within the 2.5 km2 distal lake basin to assess varve thickness spatially, and through time. A radioisotope profile, sediment traps and repeated coring among multiple years were used to calibrate varve-years with calendar years. Measurements of varve thickness, and sub-annual laminae thickness, were collated among cores and spanned the period 1919 - 2013 AD. The resulting five-dimensional dataset (easting, northing, depth, varve/sub-laminae thickness, time) provides a unique opportunity to explore lacustrine sedimentation. Two clear trends emerge: a general down-lake trend in thickness among most years, which is punctuated by atypical years in which thicker varves appeared in only specific portions of the lake. In the latter case, thick varves appeared either (a) along the north (right-hand) side of the lake where inflow 'hugs' the shoreline, or (b) in the deepest, distal portion of the basin. In both cases, however, atypical varves of type (a) or (b) only punctuate the general down-lake trend in thickness that develops during most years. The clear implication is that sedimentation patterns, and rates, can (but do not always) differ between years and between points in Mud Lake: there is no 'single optimum' site for a core sample. To illustrate the potential consequences on hydroclimate proxy/inference, we show how the statistical relationships between hydroclimatic records and varve thickness vary spatially. Our hydroclimatic dataset includes homogenized local climatic data available from the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) since 1929 (temperature, precipitation, snow course), and discharge data from a river into which Mud Lake drains available from the Water Survey of Canada (WSC) since 1915. Our results show that varve records from different positions within the same lake reveal statistical relationships of markedly differing strength, and differing type, with the same hydroclimatic dataset. We conclude that (1) varve thickness is a key indicator in a hydroclimatic proxy context, but an adjunct consideration should include (2) how varve thickness varies spatially within the basin; varve thickness at a single site is an inconsistent indicator of basin-wide thickness in some years. Our findings do not complicate the use of varved sediments as hydroclimatic proxies, but highlight that a core network can yield potentially greater insight into a range of hydroclimatic processes in comparison with one, or few, core samples.

Geology of the region of Guadalajara, Mexico, and its relationships with processes of subsidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez-Plascencia, C.; Delgado-Argote, L. A.; Nuñez-Cornu, F. J.; Sanchez, J. J.

2008-12-01

The city of Guadalajara, Mexico, began an accelerated urban growth in early 1950. During a span of 25 years a large number of gullies were artificially filled, with the aim of incorporating new areas for urbanization, particularly in the areas north and west of the city. These gullies originally formed a complex dendritic-type system, whose evolution may be associated with faults or fracture zones whose current identification are only possible based on escarpments along the Canyon of the Rio Grande de Santiago (CRGS), north of Guadalajara. Reports of affectations documented in the 80's described subsidence in buildings and infrastructure, a process that has been continued during 2008. We present the results of work done in the CRGS, which is a tectonic erosive-depression with an average depth of 500 m and exhibits a sequence of volcanic and sedimentary deposits with rapid lateral facies changes. The stratigraphic column spans a 15 km-long section along the Matatlán-Arcediano road, and, from top to bottom contains: 1) Unconsolidated pumice and tuffs with an average thickness of 12 m; 2) basaltic lavas with average thickness of 60 m; 3) the San Gaspar ignimbrite; 4) fluvial- sedimentary deposits with a thickness of approximately 20 meters that include both sub-rounded and angular volcanic clasts, with sizes up to 0.15 m; 5) a thick sequence of ignimbrites and dacitic lavas. At a depth of 1200 m.a.s.l. in the town of Arcediano, the basal sequence is composed of dacites and andesites with interbedded pumice-rich ignimbrites with 10-20 m thickness. The Rio Grande de Santiago talweg to 1018 m.a.s.l. (apparently the base of the sequence) is formed by andesite lava. In the area of San Gaspar we identified oblique-normal left-lateral faults in lavas, with a strike 191° and a dip 89°. In the Colimilla dam, 1297 m.a.s.l., we observed normal faulting (strike 267° and dip 81°), with 20-30 m jumps with reference to a unit of tephra of 3-10 m thickness. The lavas in this site present deformation, the main shear being parallel to the Rio Verde. At the site of the San Gaspar river the faults have a strike of 285° and a dip of 83v and affect ignimbrites that overlie dacitic lavas. In the area of the Arcediano bridge the normal faulting has a strike 188v and dip of 75° in andesites, and in the pumice-rich ignimbrites a shear direction with strike of 92° and dip of 84° that is parallel to the Rio Verde. During the past two years we identified approximately 1100 cases of sinking with varying magnitude in the urban area of Guadalajara. Some of these can be grouped to form alignments that are oriented with the faults identified in the CRGS region. The process of subsidence can be controlled by structures that affect the pumice sequence laying under the city of Guadalajara, facilitating the movement of groundwater through areas of weakness, removing tuffs and pumice and creating voids that later collapse, affecting buildings and infrastructure in the city.

A Simplified Model for Multiphase Leakage through Faults with Applications for CO2 Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, F. E.; Doster, F.

2017-12-01

In the context of geological CO2 storage, faults in the subsurface could affect storage security by acting as high permeability pathways which allow CO2 to flow upwards and away from the storage formation. To assess the likelihood of leakage through faults and the impacts faults might have on storage security numerical models are required. However, faults are complex geological features, usually consisting of a fault core surrounded by a highly fractured damage zone. A direct representation of these in a numerical model would require very fine grid resolution and would be computationally expensive. Here, we present the development of a reduced complexity model for fault flow using the vertically integrated formulation. This model captures the main features of the flow but does not require us to resolve the vertical dimension, nor the fault in the horizontal dimension, explicitly. It is thus less computationally expensive than full resolution models. Consequently, we can quickly model many realisations for parameter uncertainty studies of CO2 injection into faulted reservoirs. We develop the model based on explicitly simulating local 3D representations of faults for characteristic scenarios using the Matlab Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST). We have assessed the impact of variables such as fault geometry, porosity and permeability on multiphase leakage rates.

S-velocity structure in Cimandiri fault zone derived from neighbourhood inversion of teleseismic receiver functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syuhada; Anggono, T.; Febriani, F.; Ramdhan, M.

2018-03-01

The availability information about realistic velocity earth model in the fault zone is crucial in order to quantify seismic hazard analysis, such as ground motion modelling, determination of earthquake locations and focal mechanism. In this report, we use teleseismic receiver function to invert the S-velocity model beneath a seismic station located in the Cimandiri fault zone using neighbourhood algorithm inversion method. The result suggests the crustal thickness beneath the station is about 32-38 km. Furthermore, low velocity layers with high Vp/Vs exists in the lower crust, which may indicate the presence of hot material ascending from the subducted slab.