Fault zone architecture and fluid flow: Insights from field data and numerical modeling

Caine, Jonathan Saul; Forster, Craig B.

doi:10.1029/gm113p0101

Cited by 121 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Adopting the classification of architectural styles and permeability structures of fault zones proposed by Caine et al [1996] and Caine and Forster [1999] this segment of the West fault is best described as a ''distributed deformation zone,'' which is characterized by ''well-developed discrete slip surfaces and associated fracture networks,'' while a well-developed fault core cataclasite is missing.…”

Section: Internal Fault Architecture and Conductivity Image Of The Wementioning

confidence: 99%

“…[54] In a predominant strike-slip regime, the damage elements (shear fractures, reactivated shear planes, extension fractures) interlink parallel to the subvertically oriented intermediate stress axis s 2 and thereby form a ''tubular component,'' which enhances vertical permeability [Sibson, 1996;Caine and Forster, 1999]. As the FZC of the WF is confined to shallow depth and fluids involved in the alteration processes are of meteoric origin, it is reasonable to expect the WF to act as a sink for fluids (Figure 13).…”

Section: West Fault As Fluid Conduitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Correlation of electrical conductivity and structural damage at a major strike‐slip fault in northern Chile

2004

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[1] Large-scale strike-slip fault zones are often imaged as electrically conductive structures in the brittle crust. However, the relationship of conductivity and internal architecture of the fault zone remains largely unclear. This paper presents results of a study designed to compare the record of structural deformation across a fault zone with its electrical conductivity image. Two high-resolution magnetotelluric profiles trend perpendicularly across the West fault, a branch of the Precordilleran fault system in northern Chile. The magnetotelluric and geomagnetic response functions in the frequency range from 1000 Hz to 0.1 Hz clearly image a fault zone conductor (FZC) about 350 m wide and 1500 m deep, trending along the surface trace of the fault. The position of the FZC and its geometric properties (width, dip) correlate with a region of intense fluid alteration and the orientation of fault-related damage elements (minor faults, fractures). According to estimates of fluid salinity and rock porosity, the conductivity anomaly results from meteoric water penetrating into a permeable zone. This suggests that the increase in electrical conductivity is causally related to a mesh of minor faults and fractures, acting as a pathway for fluids. The FZC reflects the central and most fractured part of the damage zone. In view of similar published magnetotelluric studies, we infer a dependency of a fault's state of activity and the characteristics of the FZC such as its conductance, width, and depth extent. Ongoing deformation is the controlling factor for maintaining a permeable and electrically conductive fracture network.

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Section: Internal Fault Architecture and Conductivity Image Of The Wementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: West Fault As Fluid Conduitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlation of electrical conductivity and structural damage at a major strike‐slip fault in northern Chile

2004

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“…Recent studies have shown that fluids can play an integral role in the structural development of orogenic belts (Jackson & Pollard 1988;Vrolijk & Myers 1990;Axen 1992;Sibson 1996;Koons et al 1998;Caine & Forster 1999). For example, in a classic study of the relationship between fluids and fault generation, Rubey & Hubbert (1959, 1965 showed that the presence of fluids could significantly facilitate faulting by reducing effective normal stress along the upper plate of the fault surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid flow and the Heart Mountain fault: a stable isotopic, fluid inclusion, and geochronologic study

et al. 2003

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Numerous studies have proposed that movement along the 3400-km 2 low-angle (<38) Heart Mountain detachment fault of north-western Wyoming and south-western Montana was facilitated by the presence of lubricating fluids. A recent stable isotope study suggested that the fluids along the Heart Mountain fault originated from large hydrothermal systems associated with Eocene intrusive centers. Herein, we present results from a combined stable isotope, fluid inclusion, and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology study of the relationship between shallow crustal fluids from Eocene intrusive centers in the New World Mining district and fluids associated with the Heart Mountain fault. Our results suggest that: (i) Eocene intrusive bodies within the New World Mining District focused hydrothermal fluids along specific units and structures from the ore deposit centers along the Heart Mountain fault detachment surface; (ii) hydrothermal waters were focused along the Heart Mountain fault from the breakaway region near Silvergate, Montana toward Heart Mountain in Cody, Wyoming; and (iii) hydrothermal activity along the Heart Mountain fault occurred at the same time as emplacement of the Eocene intrusives, between 50.1 and 48.1 Ma. These data, taken together, suggest that the hydrothermal activity generated by intrusion of Eocene rhyodacites and dacites provided the source of fluids found along the Heart Mountain fault plane.

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“…These elements are an impermeable core zone that has accommodated most of the fault slip and a highly permeable damage zone that brackets the core zone (Goodwin et al, 1999;Caine and Forster, 1999;Evans et al, 1997;Forster and Evans, 1991). In contrast, the single primary element for faults in rocks of low strength is typically an impermeable deformation band (Goodwin et al, 1999;Antonelli et al, 1999).…”

Section: B231 Architecture and Mineralization Of Faultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Flow Model of Corrective Action Units 101 and 102: Central and Western Pahute Mesa, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 0

Ruskauff¹

2006

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Fault zone architecture and fluid flow: Insights from field data and numerical modeling

Cited by 121 publications

References 52 publications

Correlation of electrical conductivity and structural damage at a major strike‐slip fault in northern Chile

Correlation of electrical conductivity and structural damage at a major strike‐slip fault in northern Chile

Fluid flow and the Heart Mountain fault: a stable isotopic, fluid inclusion, and geochronologic study

Groundwater Flow Model of Corrective Action Units 101 and 102: Central and Western Pahute Mesa, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 0

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