From Fault Seal to Fault Leak: Effect of Mechanical Stratigraphy on the Evolution of Transport Processes in Fault Zones

Predictions of the transport properties of faults in layered sequences are usually based on geometry and lithology of the faulted sequence. Mechanical properties and fault resealing processes are used much less frequently. Based on laboratory, field and numerical studies we present a model, which takes into account these additional factors.

When the ratio of rock strength and in-situ mean effective stress is high enough to allow hybrid failure, dilatant fracture networks will form in that part of the sequence which meets this condition, dramatically increasing permeability along the fault, with possibility of along-fault fluid flow and vertical transport of fine grained sediment to form clay gouge in dilatant jogs. A key parameter here is the 3D connectivity of the dilatant fracture network.

In systems where fracturing is non-dilatant and the mechanical contrast between the layers is small, the fault zones are relatively simple in structure, with complexity concentrated in relay zones between segments at different scales. With increasing mechanical contrast between the layers (and the presence of preexisting fractures), patterns of localization and fault zone structure become increasingly complex.

Mechanical mixing in the fault gouge is a major process especially when one of the lithologies is highly permeable. Reworking of wall rocks composed of hard claystones produces a low-permeability clay gouge in critical state. Circulating supersaturated fluids in the fault zone produce vein networks, which reseal the fault zone, typically in a cyclic fashion.