[1] The strength and permeability of fault zones must be quantified in order to accurately predict crustal strength and subsurface fluid migration. To this end, we performed experiments on mixtures of fine-grained quartz and kaolinite incremented at 10 wt% intervals between the two end-member components (analogues for natural fault gouge) in order to establish their strength and fluid flow properties during hydrostatic and shear loading. Hydrostatically compacted samples exhibited permeability reduction on increasing effective pressures from 5 MPa to 50 MPa, with the rate of reduction displaying strong dependency on the synthetic fault gouge composition. The permeability decreases continuously with increasing kaolinite content. Porosity exhibits a distinct minimum that evolves with increasing effective pressure according to the relative compaction of the quartz and kaolinite end-members. Porosity evolution with increasing clay content is predicted satisfactorily by a simple ideal packing model. At the highest effective pressure (50 MPa), permeability reduced log-linearly over 4 orders of magnitude with increasing clay content. Mechanically, sheared gouge samples showed a continuous reduction in frictional strength with increasing clay fraction. Permeability decreased further on shear loading after initial hydrostatic compaction to 50 MPa. This was most evident for the pure quartz end-member, with two orders of magnitude additional reduction, whereas the clayrich samples were reduced only tenfold, mostly before a shear strain of 5. Variation of permeability with both clay content and shear deformation may be adequately described by previously published empirical predictors for fault zone permeability. Clay content has the largest effect on permeability, and shear deformation affects permeability of quartzrich gouges more than clay-rich gouges.Citation: Crawford, B. R., D. R. Faulkner, and E. H. Rutter (2008), Strength, porosity, and permeability development during hydrostatic and shear loading of synthetic quartz-clay fault gouge,

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The use of hydraulic fracturing to recover shale gas has focused attention on the fundamental fracture properties of gas‐bearing shales, but there remains a paucity of available experimental data on their mechanical and physical properties. Such shales are strongly anisotropic, so that their fracture propagation trajectories depend on the interaction between their anisotropic mechanical properties and the anisotropic in situ stress field in the shallow crust. Here we report fracture toughness measurements on Mancos shale determined in all three principal fracture orientations: Divider, Short Transverse, and Arrester, using a modified short‐rod methodology. Experimental results for a range of other sedimentary and carbonate rocks are also reported for comparison purposes. Significant anisotropy is observed in shale fracture toughness measurements at ambient conditions, with values, as high as 0.72 MPa m1/2 where the crack plane is normal to the bedding, and values as low as 0.21 MPa m1/2 where the crack plane is parallel to the bedding. For cracks propagating nonparallel to bedding, we observe a tendency for deviation toward the bedding‐parallel orientation. Applying a maximum energy release rate criterion, we determined the conditions under which such deviations are more or less likely to occur under more generalized mixed‐mode loading conditions. We find for Mancos shale that the fracture should deviate toward the plane with lowest toughness regardless of the loading conditions.