Spatial distribution of deformation bands in damage zones of extensional faults in porous sandstones: Statistical analysis of field data

Abstract

The distribution of deformation bands in damage zones of extensional faults in porous sandstones has been analyzed using 106 outcrop scanlines along which the position and frequency of deformation bands have been recorded. The analysis reveals a non-linear relationship between damage zone width and fault throw, a logarithmic decrease in deformation band frequency away from the fault core, as well as a fractal spatial distribution associated with clustering of the deformation bands. Furthermore, damage zones appear wider in the hanging wall than in the footwall, although the deformation band density is similar on both sides. Statistical trends derived from the database imply that fault growth in porous sandstones can be considered as a scale invariant process. From an initial process zone, the damage zone grows by a constant balance between the development of new deformation bands in the existing damage zone and the creation of new bands outside. Moreover, as the width of the damage zone increases throughout the active lifetime of a fault, the distribution of the deformation bands in the damage zone remains self-similar. Hence band distribution and damage zone width for seismically mapped faults can be predicted from the relationships found in this paper.