Cataclasis and the Generation of Fault Gouge

Engelder, James T.

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1974)85<1515:catgof>2.0.co;2

Cited by 413 publications

(131 citation statements)

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“…Cataclasis involves grain fracturing and can reduce the porosity and the 318 permeability as well as increase the capillary threshold pressure of rocks 319 within fault zones (e.g., Antonellini and Aydin, 1994; Antonellini and Aydin, 320 1995; Borg et al, 1960;Engelder, 1974;Knipe, 1989). During the process of 321 cataclasis, the porosity and permeability are reduced because the cataclasis 322 results in the collapse of porosity and the reduction of grain size (Fisher and 323 (Fisher 427 and .…”

Section: Cataclasis 317mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of fault sealing behaviour and its evaluation in siliciclastic rocks

Pei

Paton

Knipe³

et al. 2015

Earth-Science Reviews

100

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8Faults can be either conduits or retarders for fluid flow. As the presence of 9 faults increases the risks for hydrocarbon exploration, the sealing behaviour 10 of a fault zone has been a focus for geological studies in the past 30 years. 11Due to the widespread occurrence of fault zones, either in extensional or 12 contractional regimes, knowledge about the fault sealing behaviour is of 13 great importance to a wide spectrum of disciplines in geosciences, for 14 instance, structural geology, geochemistry, petroleum geology, etc. 15Geologists have extensively study the sealing properties of a fault zone over 16 the last decades, ranging from fault zone architecture, fault seal types, fault 17 seal processes, fault rock classification, research methods and controlling 18 factors.

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Section: Cataclasis 317mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of fault sealing behaviour and its evaluation in siliciclastic rocks

Pei

Paton

Knipe³

et al. 2015

Earth-Science Reviews

100

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“…Engelder 1974;Aydin 1978;Chester & Logan 1986;Wallace & Morris 1986 around large faults, and are the products of fault propagation, displacement and linking processes operating during the life of the fault zone. It is important to recognize that the damage zone is the final product of the total history of strain accumulation in the volume around a large fault and should therefore be separated from fault process zones (Cowie & Scholz 1992) which develop at fault tips during propagation.…”

Section: Fault Zone Mapping Geometry and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faulting, fault sealing and fluid flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs: an introduction

1998

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Abstract:A predictive knowledge of fault zone structure and transmissibility can have an enormous impact on the economic viability of exploration targets and generate considerable benefits during reservoir management. Understanding the effects of faults and fractures on fluid flow behaviour and distribution within hydrocarbon provinces has therefore become a priority. To model fluid flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs, it is essential to gain a detailed insight into the evolution, structure and properties of faults and fractures. Generation of realistic flow models also requires calibration with data on the fluid distributions and flow rates from hydrocarbon fields. Most hydrocarbon geologists at one time or another have asked the question 'What is the behaviour of this fault?'. This question, as emphasized by the contributions to this volume, should more fundamentally be phrased; 'What is the geometry of this fault zone, what are the nature and petrophysical properties of any fault rocks developed and how are they distributed in the subsurface?'. An additional important question is 'What impact could the fault zone have on fluid flow through time?'. The properties and evolution of fault zones can be evaluated using the combined results of structural core and down-hole logging, microstructural and physical property characterization, together with analysis of faults from seismic and outcrop studies and well test data. Successful fault analysis depends upon the amalgamation of these data and incorporation into robust numerical flow models.

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“…One feature that many fault gouges have in common is that the grain size distribution follows a power law. In such cases, the presence of survivor (or relic) grains (ENGELDER, 1974;CLADOUHOS, 1999), i.e. large grains that appear to survive deformation almost intact and retain much of their original mass, is common.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking Up: Comminution Mechanisms in Sheared Simulated Fault Gouge

Mair

Abe

2011

Pure Appl. Geophys.

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Abstract-The microstructural state and evolution of fault gouge has important implications for the mechanical behaviour, and hence the seismic slip potential of faults. We use 3D discrete element (DEM) simulations to investigate the fragmentation processes operating in fault gouge during shear. Our granular fault gouge models consist of aggregate grains, each composed of several thousand spherical particles stuck together with breakable elastic bonds. The aggregate grains are confined between two blocks of solid material and sheared under a given normal stress. During shear, the grains can fragment in a somewhat realistic way leading to an evolution of grain size, grain shape and overall texture. The 'breaking up' of the fault gouge is driven by two distinct comminution mechanisms: grain abrasion and grain splitting. The relative importance of the two mechanisms depends on applied normal stress, boundary wall roughness and accumulated shear strain. If normal stress is sufficiently high, grain splitting contributes significantly to comminution, particularly in the initial stages of the simulations. In contrast, grain abrasion is the dominant mechanism operating in simulations carried out at lower normal stress and is also the main fragmentation mechanism during the later stages of all simulations. Rough boundaries promote relatively more grain splitting whereas smooth boundaries favor grain abrasion. Grain splitting (plus accompanying abrasion) appears to be an efficient mechanism for reducing the mean grain size of the gouge debris and leads rapidly to a power law size distribution with an exponent that increases with strain. Grain abrasion (acting alone) is an effective way to generate excess fine grains and leads to a bimodal distribution of grain sizes. We suggest that these two distinct mechanisms would operate at different stages of a fault's history. The resulting distributions in grain size and grain shape may significantly affect frictional strength and stability. Our results therefore have implications for the earthquake potential of seismically active faults with accumulations of gouge. They may also be relevant to the susceptibility of rockslides since non-cohesive basal shear zones will evolve in a similar way and potentially control the dynamics of the slide.

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Cataclasis and the Generation of Fault Gouge

Cited by 413 publications

References 0 publications

A review of fault sealing behaviour and its evaluation in siliciclastic rocks

A review of fault sealing behaviour and its evaluation in siliciclastic rocks

Faulting, fault sealing and fluid flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs: an introduction

Breaking Up: Comminution Mechanisms in Sheared Simulated Fault Gouge

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