Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1141-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1141-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Multiscale porosity changes along the pro- and retrograde deformation path: an example from Alpine slates
Ismay Vénice Akker
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3012,
Switzerland
Josef Kaufmann
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing
and Research, Dübendorf, 8600, Switzerland
Guillaume Desbois
Structural Geology,
Tectonics and Geomechanics, Energy and Mineral Resources Group, RWTH Aachen
University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
Jop Klaver
Structural Geology, Tectonics
and Geomechanics, Energy and Mineral Resources Group, RWTH Aachen University,
52056 Aachen, Germany
Map Microstructures and Pores GmbH, 52056 Aachen,
Germany
Janos L. Urai
Structural Geology,
Tectonics and Geomechanics, Energy and Mineral Resources Group, RWTH Aachen
University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
Alfons Berger
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3012,
Switzerland
Marco Herwegh
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3012,
Switzerland
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Solid Earth, 16, 1181–1204, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1181-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1181-2025, 2025
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Natalia Nevskaya, Alfons Berger, Holger Stünitz, Markus Ohl, Oliver Plümper, and Marco Herwegh
Solid Earth, 16, 1205–1226, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1205-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1205-2025, 2025
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James Gilgannon and Marco Herwegh
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Carbonates can control how strong the Earth's crust is in places. They are often described in simple terms as calcite or dolomite, but they are more complicated. At the atomistic level different amounts of elements, like magnesium and calcium, are incorporated at different temperatures and at the microscopic level carbonates can have different internal structures which leads to differences in strength. We review 50 years of experimental data to provide new equations that describe this strength.
Sandro Truttmann, Tobias Diehl, Marco Herwegh, and Stefan Wiemer
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Our study investigates the statistical relationship between geological fractures and earthquakes in the southwestern Swiss Alps. We analyze how the fracture size and earthquake rupture are related and find differences in how fractures at different depths rupture seismically. While shallow fractures tend to rupture only partially, deeper fractures are more likely to rupture along their entire length, potentially resulting in larger earthquakes.
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Eur. J. Mineral., 36, 879–898, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-879-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-879-2024, 2024
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We used U–Pb dating and Pb–Sr–O–H isotopes of hydrothermal epidote to characterize fluid circulation in the Aar Massif (central Swiss Alps). Our data support the hypothesis that Permian fluids exploited syn-rift extensional faults. In the Miocene during the Alpine orogeny, fluid sources were meteoric, sedimentary, and/or metamorphic water. Likely, Miocene shear zones were exploited for fluid circulation, with implications for the Sr isotope budget of the granitoids.
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We analysed Zechstein salt with microscopes and observed specific microstructures that indicate much faster deformation in rock salt with fine halite grains when compared to salt with larger grains. This is important because people build large cavities in the subsurface salt for energy storage or want to deposit radioactive waste inside it. When engineers and scientists use grain-size data and equations that include this mechanism, it will help to make better predictions in geological models.
Trudy M. Wassenaar, Cees W. Passchier, Nora Groschopf, Anna Jantschke, Regina Mertz-Kraus, and Janos L. Urai
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-32, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-32, 2023
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Marbles in the desert areas of Namibia and Oman were found to be consumed from inside the rock mass by microbiological activity of a thus far unknown nature that created bands of parallel tubules. These bands formed along fractures in the rock and only surfaced after erosion made them visible. We consider this a new niche for life that has so far not been described. These life forms may have an unknown impact on the global carbon cycle.
Veronica Peverelli, Alfons Berger, Martin Wille, Thomas Pettke, Pierre Lanari, Igor Maria Villa, and Marco Herwegh
Solid Earth, 13, 1803–1821, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1803-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1803-2022, 2022
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This work studies the interplay of epidote dissolution–precipitation and quartz dynamic recrystallization during viscous granular flow in a deforming epidote–quartz vein. Pb and Sr isotope data indicate that epidote dissolution–precipitation is mediated by internal/recycled fluids with an additional external fluid component. Microstructures and geochemical data show that the epidote material is redistributed and chemically homogenized within the deforming vein via a dynamic granular fluid pump.
Sivaji Lahiri, Kitty L. Milliken, Peter Vrolijk, Guillaume Desbois, and Janos L. Urai
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Understanding the mechanism of mechanical compaction is important. Previous studies on mechanical compaction were mostly done by performing experiments. Studies on natural rocks are rare due to compositional heterogeneity of the sedimentary succession with depth. Due to remarkable similarity in composition and grain size, the Sumatra subduction complex provides a unique opportunity to study the micromechanism of mechanical compaction on natural samples.
Manuel D. Menzel, Janos L. Urai, Estibalitz Ukar, Thierry Decrausaz, and Marguerite Godard
Solid Earth, 13, 1191–1218, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1191-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1191-2022, 2022
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Mantle rocks can bind large quantities of carbon by reaction with CO2, but this capacity requires fluid pathways not to be clogged by carbonate. We studied mantle rocks from Oman to understand the mechanisms allowing their transformation into carbonate and quartz. Using advanced imaging techniques, we show that abundant veins were essential fluid pathways driving the reaction. Our results show that tectonic stress was important for fracture opening and a key ingredient for carbon fixation.
Lisa Winhausen, Kavan Khaledi, Mohammadreza Jalali, Janos L. Urai, and Florian Amann
Solid Earth, 13, 901–915, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-901-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-901-2022, 2022
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Triaxial compression tests at different effective stresses allow for analysing the deformation behaviour of Opalinus Clay, the potential host rock for nuclear waste in Switzerland. We conducted microstructural investigations of the deformed samples to relate the bulk hydro-mechanical behaviour to the processes on the microscale. Results show a transition from brittle- to more ductile-dominated deformation. We propose a non-linear failure envelop associated with the failure mode transition.
Rahul Prabhakaran, Giovanni Bertotti, Janos Urai, and David Smeulders
Solid Earth, 12, 2159–2209, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2159-2021, 2021
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Rock fractures are organized as networks with spatially varying arrangements. Due to networks' influence on bulk rock behaviour, it is important to quantify network spatial variation. We utilize an approach where fracture networks are treated as spatial graphs. By combining graph similarity measures with clustering techniques, spatial clusters within large-scale fracture networks are identified and organized hierarchically. The method is validated on a dataset with nearly 300 000 fractures.
Lisa Winhausen, Jop Klaver, Joyce Schmatz, Guillaume Desbois, Janos L. Urai, Florian Amann, and Christophe Nussbaum
Solid Earth, 12, 2109–2126, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2109-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2109-2021, 2021
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An experimentally deformed sample of Opalinus Clay (OPA), which is being considered as host rock for nuclear waste in Switzerland, was studied by electron microscopy to image deformation microstructures. Deformation localised by forming micrometre-thick fractures. Deformation zones show dilatant micro-cracking, granular flow and bending grains, and pore collapse. Our model, with three different stages of damage accumulation, illustrates microstructural deformation in a compressed OPA sample.
Marta Adamuszek, Dan M. Tămaş, Jessica Barabasch, and Janos L. Urai
Solid Earth, 12, 2041–2065, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2041-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2041-2021, 2021
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We analyse folded multilayer sequences in the Ocnele Mari salt mine (Romania) to gain insight into the long-term rheological behaviour of rock salt. Our results indicate the large role of even a small number of impurities in the rock salt for its effective mechanical behaviour. We demonstrate how the development of folds that occur at various scales can be used to constrain the viscosity ratio in the deformed multilayer sequence.
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Short summary
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.
We studied porosity changes of slates from eastern Switzerland, which were deposited in an ocean...