Structural and diagenetic control of fluid migration and cementation along the Moab fault, Utah

Eichhubl, Peter; Davatzes, Nicholas C.; Becker, Stephen

doi:10.1306/02180908080

Cited by 142 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Displacements along faults can result in a high fracture density around and between faults, creating a damage zone that has the potential to increase the fluid flow due to enhanced permeability. The key factors for the increase in fracture density are the change in mechanical rock properties, interactions between faults and a change in fault geometry (Bolas and Hermanrud, 2003;Gartrell et al, 2004;Leckenby et al, 2005;Eichhubl et al, 2009;Kim and Sanderson, 2010;Ziesch, 2016). The S H -wave reflection-seismic profiles carried out in this study identified a complex local and regional fault system with a dense fracture network, which enables the groundwater to circulate through the evaporites and therefore it enhances dissolution and subsidence due to an increase in permeability.…”

Section: Releasing Bendmentioning

confidence: 81%

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Wadas¹,

Tanner²,

Polom³

et al. 2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. In November 2010, a large sinkhole opened up in the urban area of Schmalkalden, Germany. To determine the key factors which benefited the development of this collapse structure and therefore the dissolution, we carried out several shear-wave reflection-seismic profiles around the sinkhole. In the seismic sections we see evidence of the Mesozoic tectonic movement in the form of a NW-SE striking, dextral strike-slip fault, known as the Heßleser Fault, which faulted and fractured the subsurface below the town. The strike-slip faulting created a zone of small blocks ( <100 m in size), around which steep-dipping normal faults, reverse faults and a dense fracture network serve as fluid pathways for the artesian-confined groundwater. The faults also acted as barriers for horizontal groundwater flow perpendicular to the fault planes. Instead groundwater flows along the faults which serve as conduits and forms cavities in the Permian deposits below ca. 60 m depth. Mass movements and the resulting cavities lead to the formation of sinkholes and dissolutioninduced depressions. Since the processes are still ongoing, the occurrence of a new sinkhole cannot be ruled out. This case study demonstrates how S-wave seismics can characterize a sinkhole and, together with geological information, can be used to study the processes that result in sinkhole formation, such as a near-surface fault zone located in soluble rocks. The more complex the fault geometry and interaction between faults, the more prone an area is to sinkhole occurrence.

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Section: Releasing Bendmentioning

confidence: 81%

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Wadas¹,

Tanner²,

Polom³

et al. 2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Fault zones in high-porosity siliciclastic rocks exhibit cataclastic fault cores with permeabilities reduced by up to 2-3 orders of magnitude (Balsamo and Storti 2010). Damage-zone permeability is influenced and governed by deformation-band networks, that display zones of reduced permeability (Rath et al 2011;Storti et al 2003), and fractures that enhance damage-zone permeability (Eichhubl et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogeological properties of fault zones in a karstified carbonate aquifer (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria)

2016

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This study presents a comparative, field-based hydrogeological characterization of exhumed, inactive fault zones in low-porosity Triassic dolostones and limestones of the Hochschwab massif, a carbonate unit of high economic importance supplying 60 % of the drinking water of Austria's capital, Vienna. Cataclastic rocks and sheared, strongly cemented breccias form low-permeability (<1 mD) domains along faults. Fractured rocks with fracture densities varying by a factor of 10 and fracture porosities varying by a factor of 3, and dilation breccias with average porosities >3 % and permeabilities >1,000 mD form high-permeability domains. With respect to fault-zone architecture and rock content, which is demonstrated to be different for dolostone and limestone, four types of faults are presented. Faults with single-stranded minor fault cores, faults with single-stranded permeable fault cores, and faults with multiple-stranded fault cores are seen as conduits. Faults with single-stranded impermeable fault cores are seen as conduit-barrier systems. Karstic carbonate dissolution occurs along fault cores in limestones and, to a lesser degree, dolostones and creates superposed highpermeability conduits. On a regional scale, faults of a particular deformation event have to be viewed as forming a network of flow conduits directing recharge more or less rapidly towards the water table and the springs. Sections of impermeable fault cores only very locally have the potential to create barriers.

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“…Diagenesis and cementation also exert a control on the mechanical and fluid flow properties of fault zones (Knipe, 1993;Eichhubl and Boles, 2000;Boles et al, 2004;Rawling et al, 2001;Eichhubl et al, 2009;Laubach et al, 2010). During diagenesis, the development of quartz cements may greatly increase the mechanical strength of sandstones through the formation of intergranular bonds (Dvorkin and Yin, 1995;Hiatt et al, 2007;Cook et al, 2011Cook et al, , 2015 that promote a transition from deformation band to transgranular fracture formation during faulting (Davatzes et al, 2003(Davatzes et al, , 2005Johansen et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental investigation of the role of microfracture surfaces in controlling quartz precipitation rate: Applications to fault zone diagenesis

Williams

Farver

Onasch

et al. 2015

Journal of Structural Geology

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Structural and diagenetic control of fluid migration and cementation along the Moab fault, Utah

Cited by 142 publications

References 68 publications

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Hydrogeological properties of fault zones in a karstified carbonate aquifer (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria)

An experimental investigation of the role of microfracture surfaces in controlling quartz precipitation rate: Applications to fault zone diagenesis

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