Gravity changes caused by crustal fluids invasion: A perspective from finite element modeling

Abstract

Gravity changes related to large earthquake preparation are reported in broad seismogenic source regions, and crustal fluids may change the gravity potential and trigger earthquakes. However, what is the major factors affecting crustal fluids movement in the upper 10 km of the continental crust and altering the gravity potential is still poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the gravity changes caused by invasion of crustal fluids into the depth of 6–10 km using finite element based numerical modeling. We conducted a series of numerical experiments to investigate the influences of permeability distribution, the fluid source, and the invasion depth on gravity changes. The sensitivity analysis and comparison results suggest that the invasion of high-pressure fluids increases fluid density and produces positive gravity changes within a decade. Fluid pressure is the key factor for the variations of fluid density, while temperature exerts a minor influence. Consistent with the dissipation of fluid pressure, the corresponding gravity changes are fast (>3 μGal/year) in the first 2–3 years of fluid invasion and become increasingly slow later. Therefore, the first few years are the more suitable time for monitoring the gravity changes caused by crustal fluids invasion. The fluid-related gravity changes are positively correlated to the porosity and permeability of rocks adjacent to the fluid source, the salinity and the scale of crustal fluids, and the initial temperatures, and are negatively correlated to the invasion depth. Transient invasion of crustal fluids can be detected by means of the high precision gravity observation under certain conditions subjected to the initial geological characteristics of the continental crust and the geochemical evolution of the fluid sources.