Introduction to Special Section: Mechanical Involvement of Fluids in Faulting

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that fluids are intimately linked to a variety of faulting processes. These include the long term structural and compositional evolution of fault zones; fault creep; and the nucleation, propagation, arrest, and recurrence of earthquake ruptures. Besides the widely recognized physical role of fluid pressures in controlling the strength of crustal fault zones, it is also apparent that fluids can exert mechanical influence through a variety of chemical effects.The United States Geological Survey sponsored a Conference on the Mechanical Effects of Fluids in Faulting under the auspices of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program at Fish Camp, California, from June 6 to 10, 1993. The purpose of the conference was to draw together and to evaluate the disparate evidence for the involvement of fluids in faulting; to establish communication on the importance of fluids in the mechanics of faulting between the different disciplines concerned with fault zone processes; and to help define future critical investigations, experiments, and observational procedures for evaluating the role of fluids in faulting. This conference drew together a diverse group of 45 scientists, with expertise in electrical and magnetic methods, geochemistry, hydrology, ore deposits, rock mechanics, seismology, and structural geology. Some of the outstanding questions addressed at this workshop included the following:1. What are fluid pressures at different levels within seismically active fault zones? Do they remain hydrostatic throughout the full depth extent of the seismogenic regime, or are they generally superhydrostatic at depths in excess of a few kilometers?2. Are fluid pressures at depth within fault zones constant through an earthquake cycle, or are they time‐dependent? What is the spatial variability in fluid pressures?3. What is the role of crustal fluids in the overall process of stress accumulation, release, and transfer during the earthquake cycle? Through what mechanisms might fluid pressure act to control the processes of rupture nucleation, propagation, and arrest?4. What is the chemical role of fluids in facilitating fault creep, including their role in aiding solid‐state creep and brittle fracture processes and in facilitating solution‐transport deformation mechanisms?5. What are the chemical effects of aqueous fluids on constitutive response, fractional stability, and long‐term fault strength?6. What are the compositions and physical properties of faultfluids at different crustal levels?7. What are the mechanisms by which porosity and permeability are either created or destroyed in the middle to lower crust? What factors control the rates of these processes? How should these effects be incorporated into models of time‐dependent fluid transport in fault zones?8. What roles do faults play in distributing fluids in the crust and in altering pressure domains? In other words, when and by what mechanisms do faults aid in or inhibit fluid migration? What are the typical fluid/rock ratios, flow rates, and discharges for fault zones acting as fluid conduits?9. Are fluids present in the subseismogenic crust, and by what transformation and/or transport processes are they incorporated into the shallower seismogenic portions of faults?