Geometric analysis and scaling relations of deformation bands in porous sandstone

Displacement, length and linkage of deformation bands have been studied in Jurassic sandstones in southeastern Utah. Isolated deformation bands with lengths (L) that span more than three orders of magnitude show similar displacement (D) profiles with more or less centrally located maxima and gently increasing gradient toward the tips. Soft- and hard-linked examples exhibit steeper displacement gradients near overlap zones and immature hard links, similar to previously described fault populations. The deformation band population shows power-law length and displacement distributions, but with lower exponents than commonly observed for populations of larger faults or small faults with distinct slip surfaces. Similarly, the D_max-L relationship of the deformation bands shows a well-defined exponent of ca 0.5, whereas the general disagreement for other fault populations is whether the exponent is 1 or 1.5. We suggest that this important difference in scaling law between deformation bands and other faults has to do with the lack of well-developed slip surfaces in deformation bands. During growth, deformation bands link to form zones of densely spaced bands, and a slip surface is eventually formed (when 100 m < L < 1 km). The growth and scaling relationship for the resulting populations of faults (slip surfaces) is expected to be similar to ‘ordinary’ fault populations. A change in the D_max-L scaling relationship at the point when zones of deformation bands develop slip surfaces is expected to be a general feature in porous sandstones where faults with slip surfaces develop from deformation bands. Down-scaling of ordinary fault populations into the size domain of deformation bands in porous sandstones is therefore potentially dangerous.