THE FLUID GEOCHEMICAL VARIATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WUSU MUD VOLCANOES BEFORE THE JINGHE EARTHQUAKE OF MS6.6 ON AUGUST 9, 2017

Mud volcano is a conical sedimentary body formed by high-pressure mud and gas-dominated fluid migrated to the surface through faults and other channels deep underground, which looks like a volcanic cone formed by magma-volcanism. As a product of crustal movement, mud volcano can bring a large amount of valuable information from deep to the surface when erupting. Therefore, mud volcano is called "god-given borehole" with a depth of 7~12km. Mud volcanoes are the result of upthrust of trapped gases released by the pressure in the stratum and also the channel for the upward migration of gases in the earth. The submarine mud volcano is one of the signs of hydrate and the living evidence of hydrate. The Wusu mud volcanoes are located in the northern Tianshan tectonic belt. Since the mud volcamoes locate in the active part of the tectonic belt and are well connected to the underground, their active degree has a good correlation with the seismicity. The earthquake cases studies based on the 7a long real-time macroscopic monitoring data and the more than 3a long geochemical monitoring data of the Wusu mud volcanoes show that in the earthquake cases of M_S ≥ 5.0 within the range of 300km around the Wusu mud volcanoes, the abnormal mud gushing quantity obviously increased by macroscopic monitoring before 9 out of 13 earthquakes. The geochemical microcosmic monitoring data showed obvious abnormal changes before 3 out of 6 earthquakes. The anomalous duration from the emergence of the anomaly to the occurrence of the earthquake is mainly of the mid-term(6~12 months). Before the Jinghe M_S6.6 earthquake on August 9, 2017, the Wusu mud volcanoes spewed violently and the chemical components showed an obvious high value anomaly. In January 2017, there was a significant increase in the amount of mud spewing in Aiqigou No.1mud volcano and Baiyanggou No.1mud volcano, and one month before the earthquake, there was the phenomenon that mud gushing amount of Aiqigou No.2 mud volcano gradually increased and the volcano was from dormant to active. There were obvious high values appearing before the earthquake in F^-and SO₄^2- in the Aiqigou No.1mud volcano and in F^-, CO₃^2-, SO₄^2-, Rn(gas), CH₄, Ar and N₂ in Baiyanggou(No.1 and 2)mud volcanoes. The values of F^-, CO₃^2-, SO₄^2-, Ar and N₂ showed short-term anomalies, while CH₄ and Rn(gas)showed medium term anomalies. Giggenbach triangular diagram (Na-K-Mg) indicates that the water-rock reaction of Baiyanggou mud volcanoes is complete and little disturbed by the outside. The water-rock reaction of the Aiqigou mud volcanoes is still ongoing, which can explain why the precursor anomaly of the chemical components of the Baiyanggou mud volcanoes is more obvious than that of the Aiqigou mud volcanoes. The geothermal reservoir temperature of the study area is estimated by using a cationic (Na-K, K-Mg, Na-K-Ca) geothermometer. The geothermal reservoir temperature of the Wusu mud volcanoes is about 70℃, and the circulation depth is about 3km. In the process of earthquake preparation, the mud carries deep chemical components to the ground surface due to the effect of compression stress(the result of focal mechanism)or the concentration of regional tectonic stress with earthquake preparation; Or the rock strata in or near the seismogenic area are deformed, the depth of liquid circulation will increase, and the water-rock reaction will be accelerated, which will increase the concentration of some ionic components, and the squeezing process will cause a large number of mud to gush out of the ground, carrying geochemical components. Therefore, the gushing quantity and some chemical components of the mud volcanoes were obviously abnormal before the earthquake.