Relationship between Earthquake-Induced Hydrologic Changes and Faults

Abstract

Hydraulic properties of fault zones are important to understanding the pore pressure development and fault stability. In this work, we examined the relationship between water level changes caused by the 2008 Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake and faults using four wells with the same lithology around the Three Gorges Dam, China. Two of the wells penetrating the fault damage zones recorded sustained water level changes, while the other two wells that are not penetrating any fault damage zones recorded transient water level changes. The phase shift and tidal factor calculated from water level, a proxy of permeability and storage coefficient, revealed that both the permeability and storage coefficient changed in the two wells penetrating the fault damage zones, while the other two wells not penetrating the fault damage zone did not show any change in permeability and storage coefficient. Thus, we tentatively suggest that faults may play an important controlling role on earthquake-induced hydrologic changes because the detrital or clogging components in the fractures may be more easily removed by seismic waves.

Long-Lasting Boiling-Wells: Geochemical Windows into the Tectonic Activity of the Maodong Fault (China)

“…The composition of groundwater affected by tectonic activity in fault zones or by earthquakes will be exceptional, and the injection of CO 2 is proposed as a main mechanism for the generation of the abnormalities [1][2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…Seismic activities along faults or fractures may disturb the original equilibrium state of the water-rock interaction in the crust, resulting in abnormal changes in the chemical composition of gas and water in the groundwater [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Long-term observations have shown that the composition of groundwater near the Earth's surface and the gas composition in the soil sensitively record the stress and strain state of the Earth's crust [7,8].…”