Fault rock analysis of the northern part of the Chelungpu Fault and its relation to earthquake faulting of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, Taiwan

Abstract   The 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan ( M _w = 7.6) produced a surface rupture along the north–south-striking Chelungpu thrust fault with pure dip-slip (east side up) and left lateral strike-slip displacements. Near-field strong-motion data for the northern part of the fault illustrate a distinct lack of the high-frequency seismic radiation associated with a large slip (10–15 m) and a rapid slip velocity (2–4 m/s), suggesting a smooth seismic slip associated with low dynamic frictional resistance on the fault. A drillhole was constructed at shallow depths in the possible fault zones of the northern part of the Chelungpu Fault, which may have slipped during the 1999 earthquake. One of the zones consists of a 20-cm-thick, unconsolidated fault breccia with a chaotic texture lacking both discrete slip surfaces (e.g. Riedel shears) and grain crushing. Other possible fault zones are marked by the narrow (less than a few centimeters) gouge zone in which clayey material intrudes into the damaged zone outside of the gouge zone. These characteristic fault rock textures suggest that the slip mechanisms at shallow levels during the earthquake involved either granular flow of initially unconsolidated material or slip localization under elevated pore pressure along the narrow clayey gouge zone. Because both mechanisms lead to low dynamic frictional resistance on the fault, the rapid seismic slip in the deep portions of the fault (i.e. the source region of strong-motion radiation) could have been accommodated by frictionless slip on the shallow portions of the fault. The combination of strong-motion data and fault rock analysis suggests that smooth slip associated with low dynamic friction occurred on both the deep and shallow portions of the fault, resulting in a large slip between the source region and the surface in the northern region.     

慢滑移及相关脉动和慢地震研究的历史和现状

观测表明,慢滑移事件通常发生在活动断裂带内,为发震层之下的短暂滑移,能够造成地表的瞬态运动。与慢滑移密切相关的慢地震能够发射出频率在一定范围内的脉动信号,但不造成灾害性事件。慢滑移和慢地震很可能是断裂带上形变能释放的基本方式,其观测有可能为人们更深入地了解断裂带的动力学过程提供基础和依据。本文重点介绍近10年来关于慢地震和慢滑移事件的研究历史和现状。目前对慢滑移引发的地表形变和慢地震发射的脉动信号特征有了深入细致的研究,开展了对慢滑移的数值模拟和慢地震定位的研究;但对慢地震和慢滑移发生的位置、两者的关系以及物理机制等方面还存在很多争论和问题。     

Slow slip generated by dehydration reaction coupled with slip-induced dilatancy and thermal pressurization

Sustained slow slip, which is a distinctive feature of slow slip events (SSEs), is investigated theoretically, assuming a fault embedded within a fluid-saturated 1D thermo-poro-elastic medium. The object of study is specifically SSEs occurring at the down-dip edge of seismogenic zone in hot subduction zones, where mineral dehydrations (antigorite, lawsonite, chlorite, and glaucophane) are expected to occur near locations where deep slow slip events are observed. In the modeling, we introduce dehydration reactions, coupled with slip-induced dilatancy and thermal pressurization, and slip evolution is assumed to interact with fluid pressure change through Coulomb’s frictional stress. Our calculations show that sustained slow slip events occur when the dehydration reaction is coupled with slip-induced dilatancy. Specifically, slow slip is favored by a low initial stress drop, an initial temperature of the medium close to that of the dehydration reaction equilibrium temperature, a low permeability, and overall negative volume change associated with the reaction (i.e., void space created by the reaction larger than the space occupied by the fluid released). Importantly, if we do not assume slip-induced dilatancy, slip is accelerated with time soon after the slip onset even if the dehydration reaction is assumed. This suggests that slow slip is sustained for a long time at hot subduction zones because dehydration reaction is coupled with slip-induced dilatancy. Such slip-induced dilatancy may occur at the down-dip edge of seismogenic zone at hot subduction zones because of repetitive occurrence of dehydration reaction there.     

Fault Wear by Damage Evolution During Steady-State Slip

Slip along faults generates wear products such as gouge layers and cataclasite zones that range in thickness from sub-millimeter to tens of meters. The properties of these zones apparently control fault strength and slip stability. Here we present a new model of wear in a three-body configuration that utilizes the damage rheology approach and considers the process as a microfracturing or damage front propagating from the gouge zone into the solid rock. The derivations for steady-state conditions lead to a scaling relation for the damage front velocity considered as the wear-rate. The model predicts that the wear-rate is a function of the shear-stress and may vanish when the shear-stress drops below the microfracturing strength of the fault host rock. The simulated results successfully fit the measured friction and wear during shear experiments along faults made of carbonate and tonalite. The model is also valid for relatively large confining pressures, small damage-induced change of the bulk modulus and significant degradation of the shear modulus, which are assumed for seismogenic zones of earthquake faults. The presented formulation indicates that wear dynamics in brittle materials in general and in natural faults in particular can be understood by the concept of a “propagating damage front” and the evolution of a third-body layer.     

Research Development and Perspective on Slow Slip, Tremors, and Slow Earthquakes

Seismological and geodetic observations indicate that slow slip sometimes occurs in active fault zones beneath the seismogenic depth, and large slow slip can result in transient ground motion. Slow earthquakes, on the other hand, emit tremor-like signals within a narrow frequency band, and usually produce no catastrophic consequences. In general, slow slip and slow earthquakes probably correspond to deformation processes associated with releasing elastic energy in fault zones, and understanding their mechanisms may help improve our understanding of fault zone dynamic processes. This article reviews the research progress on slow slip and slow earthquakes over the last decade. Crustal motion and tremor activities associated with slow slip and slow earthquakes have been investigated extensively, mainly involving locating sources of slow slip and slow earthquakes and numerical modeling of their processes. In the meantime, debates have continued about slow slip and slow earthquakes, such as their origins, relationship, and mechanisms.     

断层泥的再生显微结构特征及其地震地质意义

三轴剪切摩擦实验后的断层泥与天然断层泥的再生显微结构特征研究表明，断层泥的显微结构特征与断层滑动方式之间有一定的关系，稳滑使断层泥变形均匀，产生低角度剪切（＜１４°）、布丁构造和颗粒碎裂流动。粘滑使断层泥局部发生强烈变形、高角度剪切（＞１４°）和碎粒出现随机裂纹等。断层泥的再生显微结构特征可用作鉴别古地震的存在     

红河和曲江断裂带断层泥的特征及其地震地质意义

活断层产物的研究近年来受到国内外地震地质学者的关注。笔者对地质、地震证据充分的活断层——红河断裂带和曲江断裂带的断层泥进行多种手段的分析研究。它们的显微构造、粒度分布,组构特征以及石英碎砾的SEM显微形貌等显示了活断层中的长期蠕滑研磨作用、地震过程的快速剪切运动以及活断层特定条件下的退变质作用和其他化学作用等成因特征。综合分析指出,红河断裂带南段可能是蠕滑运动为主的活断层,其北段和曲江断裂带则为粘滑运动为主的活断层     

THE GEOLOGICAL AND ROCK MECHANICAL DISTINCTION EVIDENCE BETWEEN STICK-SLIP AND CREEP IN HOST ROCK SEGMENTS OF FAULT

Paleo-seismic and fault activity are hard to distinguish in host rock areas compared with soft sedimentary segments of fault. However, fault frictional experiments could obtain the conditions of stable and unstable slide, as well as the microstructures of fault gouge, which offer some identification marks between stick-slip and creep of fault. We summarized geological and rock mechanical distinction evidence between stick-slip and creep in host rock segments of fault, and analyzed the physical mechanisms which controlled the behavior of stick-slip and creep. The chemical composition of fault gouge is most important to control stick-slip and creep. Gouge composed by weak minerals, such as clay mineral, has velocity weakening behavior, which causes stable slide of fault. Gouge with rock-forming minerals, such as calcite, quartz, feldspar, pyroxene, has stick-slip behavior under condition of focal depth. To the gouge with same chemical composition, the deformation mechanism controls the frictional slip. It is essential condition to stick slip for brittle fracture companied by dilatation, but creep is controlled by compaction and cataclasis as well as ductile shear with foliation and small fold. However, under fluid conditions, pressure solution which healed the fractures and caused strength recovery of fault, is the original reason of unstable slide, and also resulted in locking of fault with high pore pressure in core of fault zone. Contrast with that, rock-forming minerals altered to phyllosilicates in the gouges by fluid flow through degenerative reaction and hydrolysis reaction, which produced low friction fault and transformations to creep. The creep process progressively developed several wide shear zones including of R, Y, T, P shear plane that comprise gouge zones embedded into wide damage zones, which caused small earthquake distributed along wide fault zones with focal mechanism covered by normal fault, strike-slip fault and reverse fault. However, the stick-slip produced mirror-like slide surfaces with very narrow gouges along R shear plane and Y shear plane, which caused small earthquake distributed along narrow fault zones with single kind of focal mechanism.     

MICROSTRUCTURAL FEATURES AND IMPLICATIONS OF FAULT GOUGE FROM THE FAULTS OF BEDROCK REGION IN THE CENTRAL-NORTHERN JIANGXI PROVINCE,CHINA

How to survey fault activity and determine seismogenic structures in a relatively stable and bedrock-distributed region is a challenging research work. Ruichang-Tonggu Fault and Yifeng-Jingdezhen Fault, distributed mainly at the pre-Cenozoic bedrock region, show the geological evidences of activity in the Quaternary and they are two important tectonic belts for the occurrence of moderate earthquakes in the central-northern Jiangxi Province. Fault gouge stripes can be found on the outcrop sections of the two faults. The imageries of the microstructures of fault gouge show abundant phenomena about the structural deformation, and it is clear that the fault gouge was formed by structural activity. As to the deformation modes, there are not only the Y-shears and R1-shears, which represent the localized-brittle deformation, but also the P-foliations, which reflect the ductile deformation in the microstructures of fault gouge. These features demonstrate that the micro-scale rapid deformation can exist in the seismogenic structure at the near-surface in the occurrence process of moderate earthquakes very possibly. The microstructures of soft material from the fault outcrop section at the southern segment of Hukou-Xingan Fault, which is inactive in the Quaternary, reflects that the soft material from the fault zone can also be the products of rainwater leaching and filling, or weathering in the later periods. Based on the macroscopic observation in the field, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the differences of structurally-formed or non-structurally formed soft gunk in the fault zones, however, their differences in the microstructure on the slices grinded indoor are obvious. The relatively stable bedrock areas in South China often are not only favorable for the siting of major projects, such as nuclear power plant in China, but also the economically-developed, densely populated, urban agglomeration areas. The study of microstructure of fault gouge provides a technical reference approach for the identification of fault activity and the determination of seismogenic structure of moderate-strong earthquakes in assessing the seismotectonic environment in these regions.     

Internal structures and high-velocity frictional properties of Longmenshan fault zone at Shenxigou activated during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

This paper reports internal structures of a wide fault zone at Shenxigou, Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, China, and high-velocity frictional properties of the fault gouge collected near the coseismic slip zone during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Vertical offset and horizontal displacement at the trench site were 2.8 m (NW side up) and 4.8 m (right-lateral), respectively. The fault zone formed in Triassic sandstone, siltstone, and shale about 500 m away from the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault, a major fault in the Longmenshan fault system. A trench survey across the coseismic fault, and observations of outcrops and drill cores down to a depth of 57 m revealed that the fault zone consists of fault gouge and fault breccia of about 0.5 and 250–300 m in widths, respectively, and that the fault strikes N62°E and dips 68° to NW. Quaternary conglomerates were recovered beneath the fault in the drilling, so that the fault moved at least 55 m along the coseismic slip zone, experiencing about 18 events of similar sizes. The fault core is composed of grayish gouge (GG) and blackish gouge (BG) with very complex slip-zone structures. BG contains low-crystalline graphite of about 30 %. High-velocity friction experiments were conducted at normal stresses of 0.6–2.1 MPa and slip rates of 0.1–2.1 m/s. Both GG and BG exhibit dramatic slip weakening at constant high slip rates that can be described as an exponential decay from peak friction coefficient μ _p to steady-state friction coefficient μ _ss over a slip-weakening distance D _c. Deformation of GG and BG is characterized by overlapped slip-zone structures and development of sharp slickenside surfaces, respectively. Comparison of our data with those reported for other outcrops indicates that the high-velocity frictional properties of the Longmenshan fault zones are quite uniform and the high-velocity weakening must have promoted dynamic rupture propagation during the Wenchuan earthquake.     

Internal structure of Longmenshan fault zone at Hongkou outcrop,Sichuan, China,that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

This paper reports the internal structures of the Beichuan fault zone of Longmenshan fault system that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, at an outcrop in Hongkou, Sichuan province, China. Present work is a part of comprehensive project of Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, trying to understand deformation processes in Longmenshan fault zones and eventually to reproduce Wenchuan earthquake by modeling based on measured mechanical and transport properties. Outcrop studies could be integrated with those performed on samples recovered from fault zone drilling, during the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling (WFSD) Project, to understand along-fault and depth variation of fault zone properties. The hanging wall side of the fault zone consists of weakly-foliated, clayey fault gouge of about 1 m in width and of several fault breccia zones of 30–40 m in total width. We could not find any pseudotachylite at this outcrop. Displacement during the Wenchuan earthquake is highly localized within the fault gouge layer along narrower slipping-zones of about 10 to 20 mm in width. This is an important constraint for analyzing thermal pressurization, an important dynamic weakening mechanism of faults. Overlapping patterns of striations on slickenside surface suggest that seismic slip at a given time occurred in even narrower zone of a few to several millimeters, so that localization of deformation must have occurred within a slipping zone during coseismic fault motion. Fault breccia zones are bounded by thin black gouge layers containing amorphous carbon. Fault gouge contains illite and chlorite minerals, but not smectite. Clayey fault gouge next to coseismic slipping zone also contains amorphous carbon and small amounts of graphite. The structural observations and mineralogical data obtained from outcrop exposures of the fault zone of the Wenchuan earthquake can be compared with those obtained from the WFSD-1 and WFSD-2 boreholes, which have been drilled very close to the Hongkou outcrop. The presence of carbon and graphite, observed next to the slipping-zone, may affect the mechanical properties of the fault and also provide useful information about coseismic chemical changes.     

虹口八角庙-深溪沟炭质泥岩同震断层泥的X射线衍射分析结果

5.12汶川地震同震地表破裂带在虹口八角-深溪沟一带主要出露于三叠系须家河组的炭质泥岩中,同震断层泥在颜色、结构上与老断层泥和围岩类似。通过开挖探槽,系统采样,采用粉晶X射线衍射定量分析方法,研究了同震地表破裂带的围岩、断层角砾岩、老断层泥和新断层泥的矿物成分特征。同震断层泥的主要成分为石英和黏土矿物,含微量长石和白云石;断层泥的显著特征为高黏土矿物含量,从同震断层泥、老断层泥、角砾岩到围岩黏土矿物含量依次降低,黏土矿物以伊利石和伊蒙混层为主,含微量绿泥石和高岭石,矿物组成明显比地表破裂带北段同震断层泥简单。不同颜色的同震断层泥成分略有不同,黑色断层泥中伊利石含量明显高于白色断层泥;老断层泥中含有方解石和白云石,而同震断层泥不含方解石,只含微量白云石。同震断层泥中伊蒙混层高含量表明,在本次地震错动中有富含K的流体参与。     

Internal structures and high-velocity frictional properties of a bedding-parallel carbonate fault at Xiaojiaqiao outcrop activated by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

This paper reports internal structures of a bedding-parallel fault in Permian limestone at Xiaojiaqiao outcrop that was moved by about 0.5 m during the 2008 M_W7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The fault is located about 3 km to the south from the middle part of Yingxiu-Beichuan fault, a major fault in the Longmenshan fault system that was moved during the earthquake. The outcrop is also located at Anxian transfer zone between the northern and central segments of Yingxiu-Beichuan fault where fault system is complex. Thus the fault is an example of subsidiary faults activated by Wenchuan earthquake. The fault has a strike of 243° or N63°E and a dip of 38°NW and is nearly optimally oriented for thrust motion, in contrast to high-angle coseismic faults at most places. Surface outcrop and two shallow drilling studies reveal that the fault zone is several centimeters wide at most and that the coseismic slip zone during Wenchuan earthquake is about 1 mm thick. Fault zone contains foliated cataclasite, fault breccia, black gouge and yellowish gouge. Many clasts of foliated cataclasite and black gouge contained in fault breccia indicate multiple slip events along this fault. But fossils on both sides of fault do not indicate clear age difference and overall displacement along this fault should not be large. We also report results from high-velocity friction experiments conducted on yellowish gouge from the fault zone using a rotary shear low to high-velocity frictional testing apparatus. Dry experiments at normal stresses of 0.4 to 1.8 MPa and at slip rates of 0.08 to 1.35 m/s reveal dramatic slip weakening from the peak friction coefficient of around 0.6 to very low steady-state friction coefficient of 0.1-0.2. Slip weakening parameters of this carbonate fault zone are similar to those of clayey fault gouge from Yingxiu-Beichuan fault at Hongkou outcrop and from Pingxi fault zone. Our experimental result will provide a condition for triggering movement of subsidiary faults or off-fault damage during a large earthquake.     

蒙脱石的脱水作用对断层摩擦本构行为的影响

利用高温双轴摩擦装置，研究了含蒙脱石的断层带在不同温度下摩擦滑动的速度依赖性，以期了解脱水作用对摩擦行为的影响。结果表明，断层带摩擦强度随温度而升高，而速度依赖性较为复杂，以１．４ｕ／ｓ为界，室温和１００℃时，低滑动速率下表现为微弱的速度弱化，高滑动速率下则表现为速度强化；２００℃时均为速度强化；３００℃时高滑动速率下仍为速度强化，但低滑动速率下转变为速度弱化；４００℃以上，均为明显的速度弱化。摩擦行为的变化与脱水过程及相应的断层物质变形方式的变化密切相关     

Alteration and mass transfer inferred from the Hirabayashi GSJ drill penetrating the Nojima Fault, Japan

Abstract Mineralogical and geochemical studies on the fault rocks from the Nojima–Hirabayashi borehole, south-west Japan, are performed to clarify the alteration and mass transfer in the Nojima Fault Zone at shallow depths. A complete sequence from the hornblende–biotite granodiorite protolith to the fault core can be observed without serious disorganization by surface weathering. The parts deeper than 426.2 m are in the fault zone where rocks have suffered fault-related deformation and alteration. Characteristic alteration minerals in the fault zone are smectite, zeolites (laumontite, stilbite), and carbonate minerals (calcite and siderite). It is inferred that laumontite veins formed at temperatures higher than approximately 100°C during the fault activity. A reverse component in the movement of the Nojima Fault influences the distribution of zeolites. Zeolite is the main sealing mineral in relatively deep parts, whereas carbonate is the main sealing mineral at shallower depths. Several shear zones are recognized in the fault zone. Intense alteration is localized in the gouge zones. Rock chemistry changes in a different manner between different shear zones in the fault zone. The main shear zone (MSZ), which corresponds to the core of the Nojima Fault, shows increased concentration of most elements except Si, Al, Na, and K. However, a lower shear zone (LSZ-2), which is characterized by intense alteration rather than cataclastic deformation, shows a decreased concentration of most elements including Ti and Zr. A simple volume change analysis based on Ti and Zr immobility, commonly used to examine the changes in fault rock chemistry, cannot account fully for the different behaviors of Ti and Zr among the two gouge zones.     

Evolution of Stress Fields and Faulting in Seismic Zones

—Measurements indicate that stress magnitudes in the crust are normally limited by the frictional equilibrium on pre-existing, optimally oriented faults. Fault zones where these limitations are frequently reached are referred to as seismic zones. Fault zones in the crust concentrate stresses because their material properties are different from those of the host rock. Most fault zones are spatially relatively stable structures, however the associated seismicity in these zones is quite variable in space and time. Here we propose that this variability is attributable to stress-concentration zones that migrate and expand through the fault zone. We suggest that following a large earthquake and the associated stress relaxation, shear stresses of a magnitude sufficient to produce earthquakes occur only in those small parts of the seismic zone that, because of material properties and boundary conditions, encourage concentration of shear stress. During the earthquake cycle, the conditions for seismogenic fault slip migrate from these stress-concentration regions throughout the entire seismic zone. Thus, while the stress-concentration regions continue to produce small slips and small earthquakes throughout the seismic cycle, the conditions for slip and earthquakes are gradually reached in larger parts of, and eventually the whole, seismogenic layer of the seismic zone. Prior to the propagation of an earthquake fracture that gives rise to a large earthquake, the stress conditions in the zone along the whole potential rupture plane must be essentially similar. This follows because if they were not, then, on entering crustal parts where the state of stress was unfavourable to this type of faulting, the fault propagation would be arrested. The proposed necessary homogenisation of the stress field in a seismic zone as a precursor to large earthquakes implies that by monitoring the state of stress in a seismic zone, its large earthquakes may possibly be forecasted. We test the model on data from Iceland and demonstrate that it broadly explains the historical, as well as the current, patterns of seismogenic faulting in the South Iceland Seismic Zone.     

断层泥在孕震过程中的作用

本文用粘弹性理论,探讨了老断层失稳扩展型地震的孕育过程中,断层泥的作用问题.得到了如下结果:即使区域背景场和扰动场保持不变,断层局部应力场仍会因断层泥的蠕变而变化.其中切向应力分量σ0_ηη(t),在其它所有分量都缓慢衰减的同时缓慢增大.一旦这个应力分量在断层尖端附近的极大值点,积累至大于岩石的断裂强度,断层的失稳扩展便会从这点发生.与空腔断层相比,断层泥使σ0_ηη(t)的突变过程变成了缓慢渐近过程,并使σ0_ηη(t)的渐近值有所降低,因而会推迟和减少地震的发生.文中还讨论了断层失稳扩展方向等问题.      

利用InSAR技术研究2003年西藏班戈MS6.1地震发震构造

2003年7月7日发生在西藏与青海交界处的班戈M_S6.1地震, 由于缺乏余震分布等可靠资料, 其发震构造及其活动性质等问题一直认识不清。 几家机构利用远场波动资料给出的震源机制解差异很大。 本文利用ENVISAT卫星ASAR数据和D-InSAR技术, 计算获得了该地震LOS方向的同震形变场图像, 并以此为约束反演获得了该地震的断层几何参数和同震滑动分布。 结果表明, 班戈M_S6.1地震的发震构造为控制唐古拉山西边界的波涛湖—土门断裂, 其发震断层为走向161°的高角度右旋斜滑正断层, 破裂长度约10 km, 滑动量主要集中在3~7 km深度范围, 最大滑动量0.26 m, 矩震级M_W5.6。     

Distribution of fault rocks in the fracture zone of the Nojima Fault at a depth of 1140 m: Observations from the Hirabayashi NIED drill core

Abstract Characteristics of deformation and alteration of the 1140 m deep fracture zone of the Nojima Fault are described based on mesoscopic (to the naked eye) and microscopic (by both optical and scanning electron microscopes) observations of the Hirabayashi National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) drill core. Three types of fault rocks; that is, fault breccia, fault gouge and cataclasite, appear in the central part of the fault zone and two types of weakly deformed and/or altered rocks; that is, weakly deformed and altered granodiorite and altered granodiorite, are located in the outside of the central part of the fault zone (damaged zone). Cataclasite appears occasionally in the damaged zone. Six distinct, thin foliated fault gouge zones, which dip to the south-east, appear clearly in the very central part of the fracture zone. Slickenlines plunging to the north-east are observed on the surface of the newest gouge. Based on the observations of XZ thin sections, these slickenlines and the newest gouge have the same kinematics as the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake (Kobe earthquake), which was dextral-reverse slip. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the freeze-dried fault gouge show that a large amount of void space is maintained locally, which might play an important role as a path for fluid migration and the existence of either heterogeneity of pore fluid pressure or strain localization.