Fault core and damage zone fracture attributes vary along strike owing to interaction of fracture growth, quartz accumulation, and differing sandstone composition

Journal of Structural Geology

Volumn 68, Issue PA, 2014, Pages 207-226

  Laubach, S E ^a   Eichhubl, P ^a   Hargrove, P ^a,b   Ellis, M A ^a,c   Hooker, J N ^a,d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^b BP AMERICA INC   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Adhesive bond; Corridor; Diagenesis; Fracture; Scaling; Spacing

Indexed keywords

ADHESIVE BOND; CORRIDOR; DIAGENESIS; SCALING; SPACING;

FRACTURE;

DIAGENESIS; FAULTING; FRACTURE; QUARTZ; SANDSTONE; SLIP RATE; SPACING;

SCOTLAND; UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 84907691215     PISSN: 01918141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2014.08.007     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Ajdukiewicz J.M., Larese R.E. How clay grain coats inhibit quartz cement and preserve porosity in deeply buried sandstones: an experimental investigation. AAPG Bull. 2012, 96(11):2091-2119.
2. Anders M.H., Laubach S.E., Scholz C.H. Microfractures: a review. J. Struct. Geol. 2014, 10.1016/j.jsg.2014.05.011.
3. Beacom L.E., Holdsworth R.E., McCaffrey K.J.W., Anderson T.B. A quantitative study of the influence of pre-existing compositional and fabric heterogeneities upon fracture-zone development during basement reactivation. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 2001, vol. 186:195-211.
4. Becker S.P., Eichhubl P., Laubach S.E., Reed R.M., Lander R.H., Bodnar R.J. A 48 m.y. history of fracture opening, temperature, and fluid pressure: Cretaceous Travis Peak Formation, East Texas basin. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 2010, 122(7/8):1081-1093. 10.1130/B30067.1.
5. Bense V.F., Gleeson T., Loveless S.E., Bour O., Scibek J. Fault zone hydrogeology. Earth Sci. Rev. 2013, 127:171-192. 10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.09.008.
6. Bjørklykke K., Egeberg P.K. Quartz cementation in sedimentary basins. AAPG Bull. 1993, 77:1538-1548.
7. Boles J.R., Eichhubl P., Garven G., Chen J. Evolution of a hydrocarbon migration pathway along basin-bounding faults: evidence from fault cement. AAPG Bull. 2004, 88(7):947-970. 10.1306/02090403040.
8. Brantley S.L., Evans B., Hickman S.H., Crerar D.A. Healing of microcracks in quartz: implications for fluid flow. Geology 1990, 18(2):136-139.
9. Bruhn R.L., Parry W.T., Yonkee W.A., Thompson T. Fracturing and hydrothermal alteration in normal fault zones. Pure Appl. Geophys. 1994, 142:609-644.
10. Butler R.W.H. Cárn na Canaich. Geological Conservation Review Series 2009, vol. 34:722. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough, UK. J.R. Mendum, A.J. Barber, R.W.H. Butler, D. Flinn, K.M. Goodenough, M. Krabbendam, R.G. Park, A.D. Stewart (Eds.).
11. Caine J.S., Evans J.P., Forster C.B. Fault zone architecture and permeability structure. Geology 1996, 24(11):1025-1028.
12. Caputo R. Why joints are more abundant than faults: a conceptual model to estimate their ratio in layered carbonate rocks. J. Struct. Geol. 2010, 32(9):1257-1270. 10.1016/j.jsg.2009.05.011.
13. Chester F.M., Logan J.M. Implications for mechanical properties of brittle faults from observations of the Punchbowl fault zone, California. Pure Appl. Geophys. 1986, 124(1-2):79-106.
14. Childs C., Manzocchi T., Walsh J.J., Bonson C.G., Nicol A., Schopfer M.P.J. A geometric model of fault zone and fault rock thickness variations. J. Struct. Geol. 2009, 31(2):117-127. 10.1016/j.jsg.2008.08.009.
15. Cook J.E., Dunne W.M., Onasch C.A. Development of a dilatant damage zone along a thrust relay in a low-porosity quartz arenite. J. Struct. Geol. 2006, 28(5):776-792.
16. Crider J.G., Peacock D.C.P. Initiation of brittle faults in the upper crust: a review of field observations. J. Struct. Geol. 2004, 26(4):691-707.
17. De Joussineau G., Aydin A. The evolution of the damage zone with fault growth in sandstone and its multiscale characteristics. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 2007, 112(B12):B12401.
18. Eichhubl P., Davatzes N.C., Becker S.P. Structural and diagenetic control of fluid migration and cementation along the Moab Fault, Utah. AAPG Bull. 2009, 93(5):653-681.
19. Eichhubl P., D'Onfro P., Aydin A., Waters J., McCarty D.K. Structure, petrophysics, and diagenesis of shale entrained along a normal fault, Black Diamond Mines, California-implications for fault seal. AAPG Bull. 2005, 89(9):1113-1137.
20. Ellis M.A., Laubach S.E., Eichhubl P., Olson J.E., Hargrove P. Fracture development and diagenesis of Torridon Group Applecross Formation, near An Teallach, NW Scotland: millennia of brittle deformation resilience?. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 2012, 169(3):297-310. 10.1144/0016-76492011-086.
21. Elmore D.R., Burr R., Engel M., Parnell J. Paleomagnetic dating of fracturing using breccia veins in Durness group carbonates, NW Scotland. J. Struct. Geol. 2010, 32(12):1933-1942.
22. Evans J.P., Forster C.B., Goddard J.V. Permeability of fault-related rocks, and implications for hydraulic structure of fault zones. J. Struct. Geol. 1997, 19(11):1393-1404. 10.1016/S0191-8141(97)00057-6.
23. Fall A., Eichhubl P., Cumella S.P., Bodnar R.J., Laubach S.E., Becker S.P. Testing the basin-centered gas accumulation model using fluid inclusion observations: southern Piceance Basin, Colorado. AAPG Bull. 2012, 96(12):2297-2318. 10.1306/05171211149.
24. Faulkner D.R., Jackson C.A.L., Lunn R.J., Schlische R.W., Shipton Z.K., Wibberley C.A.J., Withjack M.O. Review of recent developments concerning the structure, mechanics and fluid flow properties of fault zones. J. Struct. Geol. 2010, 32(11):1557-1575. 10.1016/j.jsg.2010.06.009.
25. Ferrill D.A., Smart K.J., Necsoiu M. Displacement-length scaling for single-event fault ruptures: insights from Newberry Springs fault zone and implications for fault zone structure. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 2008, vol. 299:113-122. 10.1144/SP299.7. C.A.J. Wibberley, W. Kurz, J. Imber, C. Collettini (Eds.).
26. Fisher D.M., Brantley S.L. The role of silica redistribution in the evolution of slip instabilities along subduction interfaces: constraints from the Kodiak Accretionary Complex, Alaska. J. Struct. Geol. 2014, 10.1016/j.jsg.2014.03.010.
27. Fisher D.M., Brantley S.L. Models of quartz overgrowth and vein formation: deformation and episodic fluid flow in an ancient subduction zone. J. Geophys. Res. 1992, 97:20043-20061.
28. Fisher Q.J., Casey M., Harris S.D., Knipe R.J. Fluid flow properties of faults in sandstone: the importance of temperature history. Geology 2003, 31:965-968.
29. Fisher Q.J., Knipe R.J. Fault sealing processes in siliciclastic sediments. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 1998, vol. 147:117-134. 10.1144/GSL.SP.1998.147.01.08.
30. Fisher Q.J., Knipe R.J. The permeability of faults within siliciclastic petroleum reservoirs of the North Sea and Norwegian Continental Shelf. Mar. Petrol. Geol. 2001, 18:1063-1081.
31. Foxford K.A., Walsh J.J., Watterson J., Garden I.R., Guscott S.C., Burley S.D. Structure and content of the Moab Fault Zone, Utah, USA, and its implications for fault seal prediction. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 1998, vol. 147:87-103.
32. Gomez L.A., Laubach S.E. Rapid digital quantification of microfracture populations. J. Struct. Geol. 2006, 28:408-420.
33. Goodenough K.M., Krabbendam M., Bradwell T., Finlayson A., Leslie A.G. Digital surface models and the landscape: interaction between bedrock and glacial geology in the Ullapool area. Scott. J. Geol. 2009, 45:99-105.
34. Hall A., Bishop P. Timing, mechanisms and implications for petroleum exploration, Scotland's denudation history: an integrated view of erosion and sedimentation at an uplifted margin. Geological Society, Special Publication 2002, vol. 196:271-290. A.G. Dore, J.A. Cartwright, M.S. Stoker, J.P. Turner, N. White (Eds.).
35. Heald M.T., Larese R.E. Influence of coatings on quartz cementation. J. Sediment. Petrol. 1974, 44:1269-1274.
36. Hesthammer J., Bjørkum P.A., Watts L. The effect of temperature on sealing capacity of faults in sandstone reservoirs: examples from the Gullfaks and Gullfaks Sør fields, North Sea. AAPG Bull. 2002, 86:1733-1751.
37. Hilgers C., Koehn D., Bons P.D., Urai J.L. Development of crystal morphology during uniaxial growth in a progressively widening vein: II. Numerical simulations of the evolution of antitaxial fibrous veins. J. Struct. Geol. 2001, 23:873-885.
38. Hippler S.J. Deformation microstructures and diagenesis in sandstone adjacent to an extensional fault: implications for the flow and entrapment of hydrocarbons. AAPG Bull. 1993, 77(4):625-637.
39. Holdsworth R.E., Butler C.A., Roberts A.M. The recognition of reactivation during continental deformation. J. Geol. Soc. 1997, 154(1):73-78.
40. Holdsworth R.E., Stewart M., Imber J., Strachan R.A. The structure and rheological evolution of reactivated continental fault zones: a review and case study. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 2001, vol. 184:115-137.
41. Holford S.P., Green P.F., Hillis R.R., Underhill J.R., Stoker M.S., Duddy I.R. Multiple post-Caledonian exhumation episodes across NW Scotland revealed by apatite fission-track analysis. J. Geol. Soc. 2010, 167:675-694.
42. Holland M., Urai J.L. Evolution of anastomosing crack-seal vein networks in limestones: insight from an exhumed high-pressure cell, Jabal Shams, Oman Mountains. J. Struct. Geol. 2010, 32(9):1279-1290. 10.1016/j.jsg.2009.04.011.
43. Hooker J.N., Gomez L.A., Laubach S.E., Gale J.F.W., Marrett R. Effects of diagenesis (cement precipitation) during fracture opening on fracture aperture-size scaling in carbonate rocks. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 2012, vol. 370:187-206. 10.1144/SP370.9. J. Garland, J.E. Neilson, S.E. Laubach, K.J. Whidden (Eds.).
44. Hooker J.N., Laubach S.E., Gomez L., Marrett R., Eichhubl P., Diaz-Tushman K., Pinzon E. Fracture size, frequency, and strain in the Cambrian Eriboll Formation sandstones, NW Scotland. Scott. J. Geol. 2011, 47(1):45-56.
45. Hooker J.N., Laubach S.E., Marrett R. A universal power-law scaling exponent for fracture apertures in sandstone. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 2014, 126(9--10):1340-1362. 10.1130/B30945.1.