High pore pressure, or its absence, in the San Andreas Fault

Abstract

Research Article| November 01, 2011 High pore pressure, or its absence, in the San Andreas Fault Chi-yuen Wang Chi-yuen Wang Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California−Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Chi-yuen Wang Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California−Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 29 Mar 2011 Revision Received: 10 Jun 2011 Accepted: 20 Jun 2011 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2011 Geological Society of America Geology (2011) 39 (11): 1047–1050. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32294.1 Article history Received: 29 Mar 2011 Revision Received: 10 Jun 2011 Accepted: 20 Jun 2011 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Chi-yuen Wang; High pore pressure, or its absence, in the San Andreas Fault. Geology 2011;; 39 (11): 1047–1050. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G32294.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract High pore pressure in the San Andreas fault (California) was hypothesized to explain the prevailing weakness of the fault and may have major implications on the mechanics of earthquakes. However, no evidence of high pore pressure was found in the latest drilling into the San Andreas fault (SAFOD: San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) in central California (Zoback et al., 2010). If widely applicable, this result would impact our understanding of earthquake mechanisms on this and other active faults around the world. Here, however, I show that the available evidence from the latest SAFOD drilling may not be sufficient to reject the high pore-pressure hypothesis, and that definite knowledge of pore pressure in the fault zone may require long-term monitoring at the SAFOD site. The inference may also be useful for interpreting results from drilling projects on other active faults. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.