Diagenetic controls on the evolution of fault-zone architecture and permeability structure: Implications for episodicity of fault-zone fluid transport in extensional basins

Williams, Randolph T.; Goodwin, Laurel B.; Mozley, Peter S.

doi:10.1130/b31443.1

Cited by 34 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…This comparison shows no correlation between the timing of vein formation and glacial/interglacial cycles. This result is consistent with previous work showing that calcite in the Loma Blanca fault zone was controlled by upward migrating, endogenic fluids rather than shallow, meteorically derived fluids (20,29).…”

supporting

confidence: 93%

“…Collectively, the distribution, orientation, and microstructure of the veins suggest they record failure in response to coseismic fluid overpressure during dynamic rupture across the relay ( Fig. 2A) (20). Vein sealing thus records precipitation of calcite during postseismic fluid migration.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…1, "South Fracture Zone") (20). Sand injectites in this area record early, coseismic fluid overpressure and/or liquefaction, which occurred during ground shaking before lithification.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Vein samples obtained from the South Fracture Zone of the Loma Blanca fault (Fig. 1) had undergone previous microstructural and stable isotope analyses (20). We resampled these veins for U-Th geochronology using the scheme shown in Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reading a 400,000-year record of earthquake frequency for an intraplate fault

Williams

Goodwin

Sharp

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Our understanding of the frequency of large earthquakes at timescales longer than instrumental and historical records is based mostly on paleoseismic studies of fast-moving plate-boundary faults. Similar study of intraplate faults has been limited until now, because intraplate earthquake recurrence intervals are generally long (10s to 100s of thousands of years) relative to conventional paleoseismic records determined by trenching. Long-term variations in the earthquake recurrence intervals of intraplate faults therefore are poorly understood. Longer paleoseismic records for intraplate faults are required both to better quantify their earthquake recurrence intervals and to test competing models of earthquake frequency (e.g., time-dependent, time-independent, and clustered). We present the results of U-Th dating of calcite veins in the Loma Blanca normal fault zone, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, United States, that constrain earthquake recurrence intervals over much of the past ∼550 ka-the longest direct record of seismic frequency documented for any fault to date. The 13 distinct seismic events delineated by this effort demonstrate that for >400 ka, the Loma Blanca fault produced periodic large earthquakes, consistent with a time-dependent model of earthquake recurrence. However, this time-dependent series was interrupted by a cluster of earthquakes at ∼430 ka. The carbon isotope composition of calcite formed during this seismic cluster records rapid degassing of CO 2 , suggesting an interval of anomalous fluid source. In concert with U-Th dates recording decreased recurrence intervals, we infer seismicity during this interval records faultvalve behavior. These data provide insight into the long-term seismic behavior of the Loma Blanca fault and, by inference, other intraplate faults.earthquake | fault | geochronology | seismic | hazard R ecent increases in the rate of seismicity associated with subsurface wastewater injection have generated substantial interest in the seismic cycles of intraplate faults (1-4). Unfortunately, increasing seismicity in the continental interior has outpaced our understanding of the processes that govern natural earthquake recurrence on these faults. The seismic cycles of plate boundary faults are much better known, although the exact nature of their earthquake recurrence distributions remains much debated (5, 6). At the heart of this debate lies a fundamental question: Are seismogenic faults ever controlled by a stress-renewal process that can be approximated by elastic rebound theory? The latter states that stress buildup will be accommodated elastically until shear stress on the fault reaches a threshold value that will allow failure.If seismogenic faults are governed by a renewal process, then elastic rebound theory predicts that earthquakes will be produced quasiperiodically (7) (i.e., occur at regular intervals and therefore be "time-dependent") with steady tectonic loading. However, an alternative view posits that spatial and temporal variations in fault strength and/or mechan...

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supporting

confidence: 93%

mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…1, "South Fracture Zone") (20). Sand injectites in this area record early, coseismic fluid overpressure and/or liquefaction, which occurred during ground shaking before lithification.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reading a 400,000-year record of earthquake frequency for an intraplate fault

Williams

Goodwin

Sharp

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Among these are the slower precipitation rates on euhedral crystal faces compared with fresh fracture surfaces, which are crystallographically rough, a phenomenon that can be inferred from cement distribution in fractures (Laubach, 1988;Urai et al, 1991) and replicated in the laboratory (Lander et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2017). In the case of quartz, for example, experimental data indicate that growth rates increase by around a factor of 20 along the same crystallographic orientation on fractured surfaces compared to euhedral faces (Lander et al, 2008;Lander & Laubach, 2015;Williams et al, 2017). Similar observations have been reported from studies in which fractures in quartz are healed in the laboratory to produce synthetic fluid inclusions (Bodnar & Sterner, 1987;Sterner & Bodnar, 1984).…”

Section: Diagenesis and Mechanical Property Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Chemistry in Fracture Pattern Development and Opportunities to Advance Interpretations of Geological Materials

Laubach

Lander²,

Criscenti

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

228

106

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Fracture pattern development has been a challenging area of research in the Earth sciences for more than 100 years. Much has been learned about the spatial and temporal complexity inherent to these systems, but severe challenges remain. Future advances will require new approaches. Chemical processes play a larger role in opening‐mode fracture pattern development than has hitherto been appreciated. This review examines relationships between mechanical and geochemical processes that influence the fracture patterns recorded in natural settings. For fractures formed in diagenetic settings (~50 to 200 °C), we review evidence of chemical reactions in fractures and show how a chemical perspective helps solve problems in fracture analysis. We also outline impediments to subsurface pattern measurement and interpretation, assess implications of discoveries in fracture history reconstruction for process‐based models, review models of fracture cementation and chemically assisted fracture growth, and discuss promising paths for future work. To accurately predict the mechanical and fluid flow properties of fracture systems, a processes‐based approach is needed. Progress is possible using observational, experimental, and modeling approaches that view fracture patterns and properties as the result of coupled mechanical and chemical processes. A critical area is reconstructing patterns through time. Such data sets are essential for developing and testing predictive models. Other topics that need work include models of crystal growth and dissolution rates under geological conditions, cement mechanical effects, and subcritical crack propagation. Advances in machine learning and 3‐D imaging present opportunities for a mechanistic understanding of fracture formation and development, enabling prediction of spatial and temporal complexity over geologic timescales. Geophysical research with a chemical perspective is needed to correctly identify and interpret fractures from geophysical measurements during site characterization and monitoring of subsurface engineering activities.

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