Deformation bands are the most common strain localization feature found in deformed porous sandstones and sediments, including Quaternary deposits, soft gravity slides and tectonically affected sandstones in hydrocarbon reservoirs and aquifers. They occur as various types of tabular deformation zones where grain reorganization occurs by grain sliding, rotation and/or fracture during overall dilation, shearing, and/or compaction. Deformation bands with a component of shear are most common and typically accommodate shear offsets of millimetres to centimetres. They can occur as single structures or cluster zones, and are the main deformation element of fault damage zones in porous rocks. Factors such as porosity, mineralogy, grain size and shape, lithification, state of stress and burial depth control the type of deformation band formed. Of the different types, phyllosilicate bands and most notably cataclastic deformation bands show the largest reduction in permeability, and thus have the greatest potential to influence fluid flow. Disaggregation bands, where non-cataclastic, granular flow is the dominant mechanism, show little influence on fluid flow unless assisted by chemical compaction or cementation.

[1] Numerical models of granular shear show lower friction and a greater tendency for stick slip than laboratory studies designed to investigate fault mechanics. Here we report on laboratory experiments designed to reproduce the conditions of numerical models and to test the role that grain characteristics play in controlling frictional behavior. Friction and microstructural data are compared for direct shear experiments on thin layers (2-3 mm) of angular quartz sand and spherical glass beads. We study the effect of grain shape, roughness, size distribution, and comminution. In a nonfracture loading regime, sliding friction for smooth spherical particles (m $ 0.45) is measurably lower than for angular particles (m $ 0.6). A narrow particle size distribution (PSD) of spherical beads (105-149 mm) exhibits unstable stick-slip behavior, whereas a wide PSD of spheres (1-800 mm) and the angular gouge display stable sliding. At higher stress, where grain fracture is promoted, initially spherical particles become stable with accumulated slip, and friction increases to the level observed for angular gouge. We find that frictional strength and stability of a granular shear zone are sensitive to grain shape, PSD, and their evolution. We suggest that a low friction translation mechanism, such as grain rolling, operates in gouge composed of smooth particles. Our results show that the first-order disparities between laboratory and numerical studies of granular shear can be explained by differences in grain characteristics and loading conditions. Since natural faults predominantly contain angular gouge, we find no evidence for a fault-weakening mechanism associated with the presence of gouge.

[1] We report on the topographic roughness measurements of five exhumed faults and thirteen surface earthquake ruptures over a large range of scales: from 50 mm to 50 km. We used three scanner devices (LiDAR, laser profilometer, white light interferometer), spanning complementary scale ranges from 50 mm to 10 m, to measure the 3-D topography of the same objects, i.e., five exhumed slip surfaces (Vuache-Sillingy, Bolu, Corona Heights, Dixie Valley, Magnola). A consistent geometrical property, i.e., self-affinity, emerges as the morphology of the slip surfaces shows at first order, a linear behavior on a log-log plot where axes are fault roughness and spatial length scale, covering five decades of length-scales. The observed fault roughness is scale dependent, with an anisotropic self-affine behavior described by four parameters: two power law exponents H, constant among all the faults studied but slightly anisotropic (H k = 0.58 AE 0.07 in the slip direction and H ? = 0.81 AE 0.04 perpendicular to it), and two pre-factors showing variability over the faults studied. For larger scales between 200 m and 50 km, we have analyzed the 2-D roughness of the surface rupture of thirteen major continental earthquakes. These ruptures show geometrical properties consistent with the slip-perpendicular behavior of the smaller-scale measurements. Our analysis suggests that the inherent non-alignment between the exposed traces and the along or normal slip direction results in sampling the slip-perpendicular geometry. Although a data gap exists between the scanned fault scarps and rupture traces, the measurements are consistent within the error bars with a single geometrical description, i.e., consistent dimensionality, over nine decades of length scales.

Abstract. During earthquake rupture, faults slip at velocities of cm/s to m/s. Fault friction at these velocities strongly influences dynamic rupture but is at present poorly constrained. We study friction of simulated fault gouge as a function of normal stress (•,, = 25 to 70 MPa) and load point velocity (V = 0.001 to 10 mm/s). Layers of granular quartz (3 mm thick) are sheared between rough surfaces in a direct shear apparatus at ambient conditions. For a constant •,,, we impose regular step changes in V throughout 20 mm net slip and monitor the frictional response. A striking observation at high velocity is a dramatic reduction in the instantaneous change in frictional strength for a step change in velocity (friction direct effect) with accumulated slip. Gouge layers dilate for a step increase in velocity, and the amount of dilation decreases with slip and is systematically greater at higher velocity. The steady state friction velocity dependence (a-b) evolves from strengthening to weakening with slip but is not significantly influenced by V or •,,. Measurements of dilation imply that an additional mechanism, such as grain rolling, operates at high velocity and that the active shear zone narrows with slip. Data from slow (gm/s) and fast (mm/s) tests indicate a similar displacement dependent textural evolution and comparable comminution rates. Our experiments produce a distinct shear localization fabric and velocity weakening behavior despite limited net displacements and negligible shear heating. Under these conditions we find no evidence for the strong velocity weakening or low friction values predicted by some theoretical models of dynamic rupture. Thus certain mechanisms for strong frictional weakening, such as grain rolling, can likely be ruled out for the conditions of our study.

Earthquakes occur along faults in response to plate tectonic movements, but paradoxically, are not widely recognized in the geological record, severely limiting our knowledge of earthquake physics and hampering accurate assessments of seismic hazard. Light-reflective (so-called mirror like) fault surfaces are widely observed geological features, especially in carbonate-bearing rocks of the shallow crust. Here we report on the occurrence of mirrorlike fault surfaces cutting dolostone gouges in the Italian Alps. Using friction experiments, we demonstrate that the mirror-like surfaces develop only at seismic slip rates (similar to 1 m/s) and for applied normal stresses and sliding displacements consistent with those estimated on the natural faults. Under these experimental conditions, the frictional power density dissipated in the samples is comparable to that estimated for natural earthquakes (1-10 MW/m(2)). Our results indicate that mirror-like surfaces in dolostone gouges are a signature of seismic faulting, and can be used to estimate power dissipation during ancient earthquake ruptures

Abstract. A central problem in explaining the apparent weakness of the San Andreas and other plate boundary faults has been identifying candidate fault zone materials that are both weak and capable of hosting earthquake-like unstable rupture. Our results demonstrate that smectite clay can be both weak and velocity weakening at low normal stress (<30 MPa). Our data are consistent with previous work, which has focused on higher normal stress conditions (50 MPa and greater) and found only velocity strengthening. If natural fault zones contain significant smectite, one key implication of our results is that localized zones of high pore pressure, which reduce effective normal stress, could be important in controlling potential sites of earthquake nucleation. Our experiments indicate that friction of smectite is complex, and depends upon both sliding velocity and normal stress. This complexity highlights the need for detailed experiments that reflect in-situ conditions for fault gouges.

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