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Solid Earth
An interactive open-access journal of the European Geosciences Union
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Volume 8, issue 5
Solid Earth, 8, 1071–1093, 2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1071-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1071-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue: Analysis of deformation microstructures and mechanisms on...
Solid Earth, 8, 1071–1093, 2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1071-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1071-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article 17 Oct 2017
Research article | 17 Oct 2017
The grain size(s) of Black Hills Quartzite deformed in the dislocation creep regime
Renée Heilbronner and Rüdiger Kilian
Related authors
Sina Marti, Holger Stünitz, Renée Heilbronner, Oliver Plümper, and Rüdiger Kilian
Solid Earth, 9, 985–1009, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, 2018
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Using rock deformation experiments we study how rocks deform at mid-crustal levels within mountain belts and along plate boundaries. For the studied material, fluid-assisted mass transport and grain sliding are the dominant deformation mechanisms when small amounts of water are present. Our results provide new data on the mechanical response of the earth's crust, and the wide range of presented microstructures will help to correlate observations from experiments and nature.
Rüdiger Kilian and Renée Heilbronner
Solid Earth, 8, 1095–1117, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1095-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1095-2017, 2017
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Quartz crystallographic preferred orientations (textures) are widely used to interpret conditions, kinematics or deformation mechanisms in deformed rocks. Textures of experimentally deformed quartzite were analyzed and we find that the finite texture is the result of two different texture-forming processes that depend on stress and strain but not directly on temperature. The findings help in the interpretation of deformation conditions from textures in naturally deformed rocks.
Sina Marti, Holger Stünitz, Renée Heilbronner, Oliver Plümper, and Rüdiger Kilian
Solid Earth, 9, 985–1009, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Using rock deformation experiments we study how rocks deform at mid-crustal levels within mountain belts and along plate boundaries. For the studied material, fluid-assisted mass transport and grain sliding are the dominant deformation mechanisms when small amounts of water are present. Our results provide new data on the mechanical response of the earth's crust, and the wide range of presented microstructures will help to correlate observations from experiments and nature.
Rüdiger Kilian and Renée Heilbronner
Solid Earth, 8, 1095–1117, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1095-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1095-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Quartz crystallographic preferred orientations (textures) are widely used to interpret conditions, kinematics or deformation mechanisms in deformed rocks. Textures of experimentally deformed quartzite were analyzed and we find that the finite texture is the result of two different texture-forming processes that depend on stress and strain but not directly on temperature. The findings help in the interpretation of deformation conditions from textures in naturally deformed rocks.
Related subject area
Structural geology
Structure and kinematics of an extensional growth fold, Hadahid Fault System, Suez Rift, Egypt
Throw variations and strain partitioning associated with fault-bend folding along normal faults
Resolved stress analysis, failure mode, and fault-controlled fluid conduits
An active tectonic field for CO2 storage management: the Hontomín onshore case study (Spain)
Evolution of structures and hydrothermal alteration in a Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal belt: Constraining paired deformation–fluid flow events in an Fe and Cu–Au prospective terrain in northern Sweden
Estimating the depth and evolution of intrusions at resurgent calderas: Los Humeros (Mexico)
Abutting faults: a case study of the evolution of strain at Courthouse branch point, Moab Fault, Utah
Fluid-mediated, brittle–ductile deformation at seismogenic depth – Part 2: Stress history and fluid pressure variations in a shear zone in a nuclear waste repository (Olkiluoto Island, Finland)
Control of pre-existing fabric in fracture formation, reactivation and vein emplacement under variable fluid pressure conditions: An example from Archean Greenstone belt, India
Extension and Inversion of Salt-Bearing Rift Systems
Fault zone architecture of a large plate-bounding strike-slip fault: a case study from the Alpine Fault, New Zealand
Precambrian faulting episodes and insights into the tectonothermal history of North Australia: Microstructural evidence and K–Ar, 40Ar–39Ar, and Rb–Sr dating of syntectonic illite from the intracratonic Millungera Basin
An automated fracture trace detection technique using the complex shearlet transform
A numerical sensitivity study of how permeability, porosity, geological structure, and hydraulic gradient control the lifetime of a geothermal reservoir
Actors, actions, and uncertainties: optimizing decision-making based on 3-D structural geological models
Diagenetic evolution of fault zones in Urgonian microporous carbonates, impact on reservoir properties (Provence – SE France)
Structure of massively dilatant faults in Iceland: lessons learned from high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle data
Fracturing and crystal plastic behaviour of garnet under seismic stress in the dry lower continental crust (Musgrave Ranges, Central Australia)
How can geologic decision-making under uncertainty be improved?
Overprinting translational domains in passive margin salt basins: insights from analogue modelling
Fault slip envelope: a new parametric investigation tool for fault slip based on geomechanics and 3-D fault geometry
2-D finite displacements and strain from particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) analysis of tectonic analogue models with TecPIV
Quantification of uncertainty in 3-D seismic interpretation: implications for deterministic and stochastic geomodeling and machine learning
The internal structure and composition of a plate-boundary-scale serpentinite shear zone: the Livingstone Fault, New Zealand
Deformation of intrasalt competent layers in different modes of salt tectonics
Uncertainty in fault seal parameters: implications for CO2 column height retention and storage capacity in geological CO2 storage projects
Fluid-mediated, brittle–ductile deformation at seismogenic depth – Part 1: Fluid record and deformation history of fault veins in a nuclear waste repository (Olkiluoto Island, Finland)
Experimental grain growth of quartz aggregates under wet conditions and its application to deformation in nature
A new methodology to train fracture network simulation using multiple-point statistics
How do we see fractures? Quantifying subjective bias in fracture data collection
Linked thick- to thin-skinned inversion in the central Kirthar Fold Belt of Pakistan
Comment on “Channel flow, tectonic overpressure, and exhumation of high-pressure rocks in the Greater Himalayas” by Marques et al. (2018)
The role of mechanical stratigraphy on the refraction of strike-slip faults
Tectono-thermal evolution of Oman's Mesozoic passive continental margin under the obducting Semail Ophiolite: a case study of Jebel Akhdar, Oman
Myrmekite and strain weakening in granitoid mylonites
Influence of basement heterogeneity on the architecture of low subsidence rate Paleozoic intracratonic basins (Reggane, Ahnet, Mouydir and Illizi basins, Hoggar Massif)
Multiscale porosity changes along the pro- and retrograde deformation path: an example from Alpine slates
Constraints on Alpine Fault (New Zealand) mylonitization temperatures and the geothermal gradient from Ti-in-quartz thermobarometry
Linking Alpine deformation in the Aar Massif basement and its cover units – the case of the Jungfrau–Eiger mountains (Central Alps, Switzerland)
Bimodal or quadrimodal? Statistical tests for the shape of fault patterns
Non-cylindrical parasitic folding and strain partitioning during the Pan-African Lufilian orogeny in the Chambishi–Nkana Basin, Central African Copperbelt
Syn-kinematic hydration reactions, grain size reduction, and dissolution–precipitation creep in experimentally deformed plagioclase–pyroxene mixtures
Neoproterozoic and post-Caledonian exhumation and shallow faulting in NW Finnmark from K–Ar dating and p∕T analysis of fault rocks
Inverted distribution of ductile deformation in the relatively “dry” middle crust across the Woodroffe Thrust, central Australia
Permeability and seismic velocity anisotropy across a ductile–brittle fault zone in crystalline rock
Pseudotachylyte as field evidence for lower-crustal earthquakes during the intracontinental Petermann Orogeny (Musgrave Block, Central Australia)
High stresses stored in fault zones: example of the Nojima fault (Japan)
Controls on fault zone structure and brittle fracturing in the foliated hanging wall of the Alpine Fault
Oblique reactivation of lithosphere-scale lineaments controls rift physiography – the upper-crustal expression of the Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone, offshore southern Norway
Monte Carlo simulation for uncertainty estimation on structural data in implicit 3-D geological modeling, a guide for disturbance distribution selection and parameterization
Christopher A.-L. Jackson, Paul S. Whipp, Robert L. Gawthorpe, and Matthew M. Lewis
Solid Earth, 11, 1027–1051, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-1027-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-1027-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Plate tectonics describes the creation, motion, and ultimate destruction of the Earth's continents and oceans. A key plate tectonic process is continental extension; this occurs when the Earth's plates are pulled apart to ultimately form a new ocean. Giant fractures (faults) accommodate plate stretching, although buckling (folding) is thought to be locally important. We use field data to understand how fracturing and buckling relate to each other, demonstrating they are spatially complex.
Efstratios Delogkos, Muhammad Mudasar Saqab, John J. Walsh, Vincent Roche, and Conrad Childs
Solid Earth, 11, 935–945, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-935-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-935-2020, 2020
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Normal faults have irregular geometries on a range of scales. A quantitative model has been presented which illustrates the range of deformation arising from movement on fault surface irregularities, with fault-bend folding generating geometries reminiscent of normal drag and reverse drag. We show that fault throw can be subject to errors of up to ca. 50 % for realistic fault bend geometries (up to ca. 40°), even on otherwise sub-planar faults with constant displacement.
David A. Ferrill, Kevin J. Smart, and Alan P. Morris
Solid Earth, 11, 899–908, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-899-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-899-2020, 2020
Short summary
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This paper explores failure modes and deformation behavior of faults in the mechanically layered Eagle Ford Formation, an ultra-low permeability self-sourced oil and gas reservoir and aquitard in southwest Texas, USA. The role of dilation versus slip relates in predictable ways to mechanical stratigraphy, stress field, and dilation and slip tendency. We conclude that dilation tendency vs. slip tendency can be used to infer fault and fracture deformation modes and conduit versus seal behaviour.
Raúl Pérez-López, José F. Mediato, Miguel A. Rodríguez-Pascua, Jorge L. Giner-Robles, Adrià Ramos, Silvia Martín-Velázquez, Roberto Martínez-Orío, and Paula Fernández-Canteli
Solid Earth, 11, 719–739, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-719-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-719-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Long-term monitoring of CO2 of onshore storage has to consider thousands of years as a medium lifetime of the storage. In this wide time interval, the stress and strain properties of the reservoir change and earthquakes could occur. Therefore, we have to identify those fault sets which can be reactivated by changing the stress conditions. We need to know the role of active fault sets and model the changing conditions to prevent induced seismicity.
Joel B. H. Andersson, Tobias E. Bauer, and Edward P. Lynch
Solid Earth, 11, 547–578, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-547-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-547-2020, 2020
Short summary
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In this field-based study, geological structures and hydrothermal alterations in one of the least known geological terrains in Sweden are investigated. The area is located above the polar circle in northwestern Sweden that produces a significant portion of the iron and copper in the EU. A new tectonic model based on field evidence and microstructures is presented and it is shown that minerals typical for iron and copper–gold deposits can be linked to different phases of the structural evolution.
Stefano Urbani, Guido Giordano, Federico Lucci, Federico Rossetti, Valerio Acocella, and Gerardo Carrasco-Núñez
Solid Earth, 11, 527–545, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-527-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-527-2020, 2020
Short summary
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In Los Humeros, through field structural–geological mapping and analogue experiments, we show a discontinuous and small-scale (areal size
~ 1 km2) uplift of the caldera floor due to the emplacement of multiple shallow (< 1 km) magmatic bodies. These results allow for a better assessment of the subsurface structure of Los Humeros, with crucial implications for planning future geothermal exploration, which should account for the local geothermal gradient affected by such a shallow heat source.
Heijn van Gent and Janos L. Urai
Solid Earth, 11, 513–526, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-513-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-513-2020, 2020
Short summary
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Faults form due to stresses caused by crustal processes. As faults influence the stress field locally, fault interaction leads to local variations in the stress field, but this is difficult to observe directly.
We describe an outcrop of one fault abuting into another one. By careful measurement of structures in the overlapping deformation zones and separating them using published relative age data, we show a rotation in the local stress field resulting from the faults growing to each other
Francesca Prando, Luca Menegon, Mark Anderson, Barbara Marchesini, Jussi Mattila, and Giulio Viola
Solid Earth, 11, 489–511, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-489-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-489-2020, 2020
Sreyashi Bhowmick and Tridib Kumar Mondal
Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-30, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-30, 2020
Revised manuscript accepted for SE
Short summary
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We explore pre-existing fabric in metabasalts replete with a wide range of crisscross fractures/faults, hosting quartz veins of variable orientations and thicknesses in Chitradurga region, India. The fractures are identified as components of riedel shear system. We evaluate reactivation potential of fractures and conclude that episodic changes in fluid pressure conditions triggered fault-valve action, thereby, reactivating fabric as well as fractures, leading to vein emplacement in the region.
Tim P. Dooley and Michael R. Hudec
Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-3, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2020-3, 2020
Revised manuscript accepted for SE
Bernhard Schuck, Anja M. Schleicher, Christoph Janssen, Virginia G. Toy, and Georg Dresen
Solid Earth, 11, 95–124, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-95-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-95-2020, 2020
I. Tonguç Uysal, Claudio Delle Piane, Andrew Todd, and Horst Zwingmann
Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2019-182, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2019-182, 2020
Revised manuscript accepted for SE
Rahul Prabhakaran, Pierre-Olivier Bruna, Giovanni Bertotti, and David Smeulders
Solid Earth, 10, 2137–2166, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2137-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2137-2019, 2019
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This contribution describes a technique to automatically extract digitized fracture patterns from images of fractured rock. Digitizing fracture patterns, accurately and rapidly with minimal human intervention, is a desirable objective in fractured rock characterization. Our method can extract fractures at varying scales of rock discontinuities, and results are presented from three different outcrop settings. The method enables faster processing of copious amounts of fractured outcrop image data.
Johanna F. Bauer, Michael Krumbholz, Elco Luijendijk, and David C. Tanner
Solid Earth, 10, 2115–2135, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2115-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2115-2019, 2019
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We use a 4-D numerical sensitivity study to investigate which geological parameters exert a dominant control on the quality of a deep geothermal reservoir. We constrain how the variability of these parameters affects the economic potential of a reservoir. We show that the interplay of high permeability and hydraulic gradient is the dominant control on reservoir lifetime. Fracture anisotropy, typical for faults, leads to fluid channelling and thus restricts the exploitable volume significantly.
Fabian Antonio Stamm, Miguel de la Varga, and Florian Wellmann
Solid Earth, 10, 2015–2043, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2015-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-2015-2019, 2019
Irène Aubert, Philippe Leonide, Juliette Lamarche, and Roland Salardon
Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2019-153, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2019-153, 2019
Revised manuscript accepted for SE
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In carbonate rocks, fault zones influence the fluid flows and lead to important diagenetic processes modifying reservoir properties. The aim of this study is to identify the impact of 2 polyphase fault zones on fluid flows and reservoir properties during basin history. We determined petro-physic and diagenetic properties on 92 samples. This study highlight that fault zones acted as drain at their onset, and induced fault zone cementation, what has strongly altered local reservoir properties.
Christopher Weismüller, Janos L. Urai, Michael Kettermann, Christoph von Hagke, and Klaus Reicherter
Solid Earth, 10, 1757–1784, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1757-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1757-2019, 2019
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We use drones to study surface geometries of massively dilatant faults (MDFs) in Iceland, with apertures up to tens of meters at the surface. Based on throw, aperture and structures, we define three geometrically different endmembers of the surface expression of MDFs and show that they belong to one continuum. The transition between the endmembers is fluent and can change at one fault over short distances, implying less distinct control of deeper structures on surface geometries than expected.
Friedrich Hawemann, Neil Mancktelow, Sebastian Wex, Giorgio Pennacchioni, and Alfredo Camacho
Solid Earth, 10, 1635–1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1635-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1635-2019, 2019
Cristina G. Wilson, Clare E. Bond, and Thomas F. Shipley
Solid Earth, 10, 1469–1488, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1469-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1469-2019, 2019
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In this paper, we outline the key insights from decision-making research about how, when faced with uncertainty, humans constrain decisions through the use of heuristics (rules of thumb), making them vulnerable to systematic and suboptimal decision biases. We also review existing strategies to debias decision-making that have applicability in the geosciences, giving special attention to strategies that make use of information technology and artificial intelligence.
Zhiyuan Ge, Matthias Rosenau, Michael Warsitzka, and Rob L. Gawthorpe
Solid Earth, 10, 1283–1300, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1283-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1283-2019, 2019
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Salt basins are important as they bear abundant natural resources and record valuable geological information. However, some models of salt basin evolution do not fully reconcile with natural examples. Using state-of-the-art analogue modelling, we investigate how a relatively stable area, the translational domain, occurs and gets overprinted in salt basins. The results suggest that that variation of sediment deposition is the key factor for overprinting the translational domain.
Roger Soliva, Frantz Maerten, Laurent Maerten, and Jussi Mattila
Solid Earth, 10, 1141–1154, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1141-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1141-2019, 2019
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We propose innovative parametric modeling allowing for analysis of a very large number of fault-slip numerical simulations on 3-D discrete fault network. The approach allows for the first time producing failure envelopes of large rock volumes containing faults, using variations of geological conditions such as remote stresses, cohesion, friction, and fluid pressure. This tool helps to define the most conservative fault slip hazard case or to account for potential uncertainties in the input data.
David Boutelier, Christoph Schrank, and Klaus Regenauer-Lieb
Solid Earth, 10, 1123–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1123-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1123-2019, 2019
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Image correlation techniques have provided new ways to analyse the distribution in space and time of deformation in analogue models of tectonics. Here, we demonstrate how the correlation of successive time-lapse images of a deforming model allows calculating the finite displacements and finite strain tensor. We illustrate, using synthetic images, the ability of the algorithm to produce maps of the finite deformation.
Alexander Schaaf and Clare E. Bond
Solid Earth, 10, 1049–1061, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1049-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1049-2019, 2019
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Seismic reflection data allow us to infer subsurface structures such as horizon and fault surfaces. The interpretation of this indirect data source is inherently uncertainty, and our work takes a first look at the scope of uncertainties involved in the interpretation of 3-D seismic data. We show how uncertainties of fault interpretations can be related to data quality and discuss the implications for the 3-D modeling of subsurface structures derived from 3-D seismic data.
Matthew S. Tarling, Steven A. F. Smith, James M. Scott, Jeremy S. Rooney, Cecilia Viti, and Keith C. Gordon
Solid Earth, 10, 1025–1047, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1025-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1025-2019, 2019
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Shear zones dominated by hydrated mantle rocks (serpentinites) occur in many tectonic settings around the world. To better understand the internal structure, composition and possible mechanical behaviour of these shear zones, we performed a detailed field, petrological and microanalytical study of the Livingstone Fault in New Zealand. We propose a conceptual model to account for the main physical and chemical processes that control deformation in large serpentinite shear zones.
Mark G. Rowan, Janos L. Urai, J. Carl Fiduk, and Peter A. Kukla
Solid Earth, 10, 987–1013, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-987-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-987-2019, 2019
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Ancient evaporite sequences were deposited as interlayered rocksalt, other evaporites, and non-evaporite rocks that have enormous differences in strength. Whereas the ductile layers flow during deformation, strong layers are folded and/or torn apart, with the intrasalt deformation dependent on the mode and history of salt tectonics. This has important implications for accurately imaging and interpreting subsurface seismic data and for drilling wells through evaporite sequences.
Johannes M. Miocic, Gareth Johnson, and Clare E. Bond
Solid Earth, 10, 951–967, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-951-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-951-2019, 2019
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When carbon dioxide is introduced into the subsurface it will migrate upwards and can encounter faults, which, depending on their hydrogeological properties and composition, can form barriers or pathways for the migrating fluid. We analyse uncertainties associated with these properties in order to better understand the implications for the retention of CO2 in the subsurface. We show that faults that form seals for other fluids may not be seals for CO2, which has implications for storage sites.
Barbara Marchesini, Paolo Stefano Garofalo, Luca Menegon, Jussi Mattila, and Giulio Viola
Solid Earth, 10, 809–838, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-809-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-809-2019, 2019
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We documented the role of fluids in the initial embrittlement of the Svecofennian basement and subsequent strain localization and fault evolution at the brittle–ductile transition zone. We studied the fault rocks of a deeply exhumed fault system characterized by mixed brittle–ductile deformation. Results from fluid inclusions, mineral chemistry, and geothermometry of synkinematic minerals document the ingress of distinct fluid batches and fluid pressure oscillations.
Junichi Fukuda, Hugues Raimbourg, Ichiko Shimizu, Kai Neufeld, and Holger Stünitz
Solid Earth, 10, 621–636, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-621-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-621-2019, 2019
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Grain size is a key factor for deformation. Quartz is one of the main constituents of the crust, but little is known about grain growth that can change grain size. We therefore experimentally determined grain growth laws for quartz. We discuss the importance of the grain size exponent, water fugacity exponent, and activation energy. Our results indicate that the contribution of grain growth to deformation may become important in lower-crustal conditions.
Pierre-Olivier Bruna, Julien Straubhaar, Rahul Prabhakaran, Giovanni Bertotti, Kevin Bisdom, Grégoire Mariethoz, and Marco Meda
Solid Earth, 10, 537–559, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-537-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-537-2019, 2019
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Natural fractures influence fluid flow in subsurface reservoirs. Our research presents a new methodology to predict the arrangement of these fractures in rocks. Contrary to the commonly used statistical models, our approach integrates more geology into the simulation process. The method is simply based on the drawing of images, can be applied to any type of rocks in various geological contexts, and is suited for fracture network prediction in water, geothermal, or hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Billy J. Andrews, Jennifer J. Roberts, Zoe K. Shipton, Sabina Bigi, M. Chiara Tartarello, and Gareth Johnson
Solid Earth, 10, 487–516, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-487-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-487-2019, 2019
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Rocks often contain fracture networks, which can strongly affect subsurface fluid flow and the strength of a rock mass. Through fieldwork and workshops we show that people report a different number of fractures from the same sample area of a fracture network. This variability results in significant differences in derived fracture statistics, which are often used as inputs for geological models. We suggest protocols to recognise, understand, and limit this effect on fracture data collection.
Ralph Hinsch, Chloé Asmar, Muhammad Nasim, Muhammad Asif Abbas, and Shaista Sultan
Solid Earth, 10, 425–446, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-425-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-425-2019, 2019
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We use surface and geophysical subsurface data to constrain the structure and evolution of the central Kirthar Fold Belt, a mountain belt on the western margin of the Indian Plate in Pakistan. It can be shown that the extension phase prior to the collision of India with Asia has a major impact on how the rocks deform today. The inherited structures in the crystalline basement reactivate in an opposite sense and complexly deform the sedimentary rocks that have deposited before collision.
John P. Platt
Solid Earth, 10, 357–361, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-357-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-357-2019, 2019
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The channel flow model proposed by Marques et al (2018) for the Himalayas has a geometry that would not generate any excess pressure. The excess pressure calculated by the authors, based on a different and highly improbable geometry, is so high that the overlying rocks would not be able to contain it: they would bend or break in such a way as to relieve the pressure. The conclusions drawn by the authors are therefore unwarranted and misleading.
Mirko Carlini, Giulio Viola, Jussi Mattila, and Luca Castellucci
Solid Earth, 10, 343–356, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-343-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-343-2019, 2019
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Physical properties of layered sedimentary rocks affect nucleation and propagation of discontinuities therein. Fractures developing through sedimentary sequences characterized by the alternation of strong and weak layers are strongly deviated along their track at layers’ boundaries, and depending on the layer they cross-cut, they show very thick (strong layers) or very thin (weak layers) infills of precipitated minerals, potentially representing pathways for ore deposits and oil/water resources.
Arne Grobe, Christoph von Hagke, Ralf Littke, István Dunkl, Franziska Wübbeler, Philippe Muchez, and Janos L. Urai
Solid Earth, 10, 149–175, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-149-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-149-2019, 2019
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The Mesozoic sequences of the Oman mountains experienced only weak post-obduction overprint and deformation, and thus they offer a unique natural laboratory to study obduction. We present a study of pressure and temperature evolution in the passive continental margin under the Oman Ophiolite using numerical basin models calibrated with thermal maturity data, fluid-inclusion thermometry, and low-temperature thermochronology.
Alberto Ceccato, Luca Menegon, Giorgio Pennacchioni, and Luiz Fernando Grafulha Morales
Solid Earth, 9, 1399–1419, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1399-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1399-2018, 2018
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Metamorphic fine-grained reaction products make continental crust rocks weaker. Microstructural processes related to the transformation of strong K-feldspar into weak aggregates of plagioclase and quartz during crustal deformation have been investigated through electron microscopy. Rheological calculations show that the occurrence of even small amounts of weak aggregates, whose deformation is mainly diffusion-assisted, would lead to a decrease in rock viscosity of several orders of magnitude.
Paul Perron, Michel Guiraud, Emmanuelle Vennin, Isabelle Moretti, Éric Portier, Laetitia Le Pourhiet, and Moussa Konaté
Solid Earth, 9, 1239–1275, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1239-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1239-2018, 2018
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In this paper we present an original multidisciplinary workflow involving various tools (e.g., seismic profiles, satellite images, well logs) and techniques (e.g., photogeology, seismic interpretation, well correlation, geophysics, geochronology, backstripping) as a basis for discussing the potential factors controlling the tectono-stratigraphic architecture within the Palaeozoic intracratonic basins of the Saharan Platform using the Reggane, Ahnet, Mouydir and Illizi basins as examples.
Ismay Vénice Akker, Josef Kaufmann, Guillaume Desbois, Jop Klaver, Janos L. Urai, Alfons Berger, and Marco Herwegh
Solid Earth, 9, 1141–1156, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1141-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1141-2018, 2018
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We studied porosity changes of slates from eastern Switzerland, which were deposited in an ocean in front of the emerging Alps during the Cenozoic. The Alpine collision between the European and African plates brought the rocks from this basin to today’s position in the Alps. From the basin to the surface, the porosity first decreased down to a small number of round cavities (<1 vol%) to microfractures, and once at the surface, the porosity increased again due to the formation of macro-fractures.
Steven B. Kidder, Virginia G. Toy, David J. Prior, Timothy A. Little, Ashfaq Khan, and Colin MacRae
Solid Earth, 9, 1123–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1123-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1123-2018, 2018
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By quantifying trace concentrations of titanium in quartz (a known geologic “thermometer”), we constrain the temperature profile for the deep crust along the Alpine Fault. We show there is a sharp change from fairly uniform temperatures at deep levels to a very steep gradient in temperature in the upper kilometers of the crust.
David Mair, Alessandro Lechmann, Marco Herwegh, Lukas Nibourel, and Fritz Schlunegger
Solid Earth, 9, 1099–1122, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1099-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1099-2018, 2018
David Healy and Peter Jupp
Solid Earth, 9, 1051–1060, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1051-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1051-2018, 2018
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Fault patterns formed in response to a single tectonic event often display significant variation in their orientations. This variation could be
noiseon underlying conjugate (or bimodal) fault patterns or it could be intrinsic
signalfrom an underlying polymodal (e.g. quadrimodal) pattern. We present new statistical tests and open source R code to calculate the probability of a fault pattern having two (bimodal, or conjugate) or four (quadrimodal) clusters based on their orientations.
Koen Torremans, Philippe Muchez, and Manuel Sintubin
Solid Earth, 9, 1011–1033, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1011-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1011-2018, 2018
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A major mountain building event, called the Lufilian orogeny, deformed the rocks that host copper and cobalt ore in the world-class Central African Copperbelt. Key field evidence in this study shows that a single pulse of deformation caused a set of complexly interacting folds and faults. The specific composition and layering in the rock package has a major influence on how the rock sequence was folded.
Sina Marti, Holger Stünitz, Renée Heilbronner, Oliver Plümper, and Rüdiger Kilian
Solid Earth, 9, 985–1009, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-985-2018, 2018
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Using rock deformation experiments we study how rocks deform at mid-crustal levels within mountain belts and along plate boundaries. For the studied material, fluid-assisted mass transport and grain sliding are the dominant deformation mechanisms when small amounts of water are present. Our results provide new data on the mechanical response of the earth's crust, and the wide range of presented microstructures will help to correlate observations from experiments and nature.
Jean-Baptiste P. Koehl, Steffen G. Bergh, and Klaus Wemmer
Solid Earth, 9, 923–951, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-923-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-923-2018, 2018
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We dated the formation of large faults in order to constrain the tectonic and exhumation history of the Barents Sea and northern Norway. Some of the dated faults formed apprx. 1 Ga and are much older than expected. However, most dated faults were active during two periods of extension: 375–325 and 315–265 Ma. The study of minerals along these cracks shows that exposed rocks in Finnmark were exhumed from deep (> 10 km) to shallow depth (< 3.5 km) during the two periods of extension.
Sebastian Wex, Neil S. Mancktelow, Friedrich Hawemann, Alfredo Camacho, and Giorgio Pennacchioni
Solid Earth, 9, 859–878, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-859-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-859-2018, 2018
Quinn C. Wenning, Claudio Madonna, Antoine de Haller, and Jean-Pierre Burg
Solid Earth, 9, 683–698, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-683-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-683-2018, 2018
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We measured the elastic and fluid flow properties in a ductile-brittle shear zone. The results suggest that although brittle deformation has persisted in the recent fault evolution, precursory ductile microstructure continues to control the petrophysical properties outside the fault core. The results are a glimpse into the evolutionary path of a shear zone during the ductile to brittle transition and are insightful for geothermal energy and geologic waste disposal exploitation and usage.
Friedrich Hawemann, Neil S. Mancktelow, Sebastian Wex, Alfredo Camacho, and Giorgio Pennacchioni
Solid Earth, 9, 629–648, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-629-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-629-2018, 2018
Anne-Marie Boullier, Odile Robach, Benoît Ildefonse, Fabrice Barou, David Mainprice, Tomoyuki Ohtani, and Koichiro Fujimoto
Solid Earth, 9, 505–529, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-505-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-505-2018, 2018
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The paper describes microstructures in granitic rocks located 50 m away from the Nojima fault in Japan. Although macroscopically undeformed, the sample displays evidence for intense dynamic damage at the microscopic scale. Elastic strain and high residual stresses stored in quartz grains suggest that they were produced by propagating rupture fronts associated with M6 to M7 earthquakes and contributed to the widening of the damaged fault zone along the Nojima fault during the Paleocene.
Jack N. Williams, Virginia G. Toy, Cécile Massiot, David D. McNamara, Steven A. F. Smith, and Steven Mills
Solid Earth, 9, 469–489, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-469-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-469-2018, 2018
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We present new data on the orientation of fractures, their fill, and their density around the Alpine Fault, a plate boundary fault on the South Island of New Zealand. Fractures < 160 m of the fault are filled and show a range of orientations, whilst fractures at greater distances (< 500 m) are open and parallel to the rock's mechanical weakness. We interpret the latter fracture set to reflect near-surface processes, whilst the latter are potentially linked to deep-seated Alpine Fault seismicity.
Thomas B. Phillips, Christopher A.-L. Jackson, Rebecca E. Bell, and Oliver B. Duffy
Solid Earth, 9, 403–429, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-403-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-403-2018, 2018
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We use seismic reflection data and quantitative fault analyses to examine how a sub-crustal lineament, the Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone, is expressed within upper-crustal rift systems off the shore of southern Norway. We document repeated reactivation of upper-crustal faults, displaying both sinistral and dextral oblique activity, which we link to underlying lineament and regional tectonics. We show how sub-crustal lineaments influence rift evolution and offer insights into past tectonic events.
Evren Pakyuz-Charrier, Mark Lindsay, Vitaliy Ogarko, Jeremie Giraud, and Mark Jessell
Solid Earth, 9, 385–402, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-385-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-385-2018, 2018
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MCUE is a method that produces probabilistic 3-D geological models by sampling from distributions that represent the uncertainty of the initial input dataset. This process generates numerous plausible datasets used to produce a range of statistically plausible 3-D models which are combined into a single probabilistic model. In this paper, improvements to distribution selection and parameterization for input uncertainty are proposed.
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Short summary
The crystallographic texture of experimentally sheared samples of dynamically recrystallized quartzite have been reanalyzed using EBSD. Detailed grain size analysis reveals that the recrystallized grain size depends not only on stress, as assumed in the recrystallized quartz piezometer of Stipp and Tullis (2003), but also on texture, grain-scale deformation intensity, and the kinematic framework of axial versus general shear experiments.
The crystallographic texture of experimentally sheared samples of dynamically recrystallized...
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