Pore pressure embrittlement in a volcanic edifice

Abstract

The failure mode of porous rock in compression—dilatant or compactant—is largely governed by the overlying lithostatic pressure and the pressure of pore fluids within the rock (Wong, Solid Earth 102:3009–3025, 1997), both of which are subject to change in space and time within a volcanic edifice. While lithostatic pressure will tend to increase monotonously with depth due to the progressive accumulation of erupted products, pore pressures are prone to fluctuations (during periods of volcanic unrest, for example). An increase in pore fluid pressure can result in rock fracture, even at depths where the lithostatic pressure would otherwise preclude such dilatant behaviour—a process termed pore fluid-induced embrittlement. We explore this phenomenon through a series of targeted triaxial experiments on typical edifice-forming andesites (from Volcan de Colima, Mexico). We first show that increasing pore pressure over a range of timescales (on the order of 1 min to 1 day) can culminate in brittle failure of otherwise intact rock. Irrespective of the pore pressure increase rate, we record comparable accelerations in acoustic emission and strain prior to macroscopic failure. We further show that oscillating pore fluid pressures can cause iterative and cumulative damage, ultimately resulting in brittle failure under relatively low effective mean stress conditions. We find that macroscopic failure occurs once a critical threshold of damage is surpassed, suggesting that only small increases in pore pressure may be necessary to trigger failure in previously damaged rocks. Finally, we observe that inelastic compaction of volcanic rock (as we may expect in much of the deep edifice) can be overprinted by shear fractures due to this mechanism of embrittlement. Pore fluid-induced embrittlement of edifice rock during volcanic unrest is anticipated to be highest closer to the conduit and, as a result, may assist in the development of a fractured halo zone surrounding the conduit, potentially explaining commonly observed near-conduit outgassing at many active volcanoes. Further, rock embrittlement at depth may create transient outgassing pathways by linking fracture networks near the edifice to larger-scale regional fault systems. Our experimental results affirm that pore pressure fluctuations associated with volcanic unrest may play a crucial role in dictating the evolution of a volcanic system.