Jr. Henderson et B. Maillot, THE INFLUENCE OF FLUID-FLOW IN FAULT ZONES ON PATTERNS OF SEISMICITY - A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION, J GEO R-SOL, 102(B2), 1997, pp. 2915-2924
We present a coupled two-dimensional model of the fluid flow within a
tabular fault zone and frictional failure of the fault, incorporating
the effects of compaction and dilatancy. The model fault zone is loade
d externally, resulting in a constant shear traction along the fault a
nd a constant normal stress tau(n) across it. Nonuniform compaction of
the fault material leads to fluid pressure gradients and fluid flow.
Frictional failure of element i is triggered when the fluid pressure i
s sufficiently high that the shear stress exceeds a critical level tau
(c)(i) = mu(i)(tau(n) - P-f(i)), where mu(i) is the frictional coeffic
ient and P-f(i) is the fluid pressure. Failure of a fault element resu
lts in an increase in element porosity and a decrease in fluid pressur
e. We model the diffusion of fluid pressure using a lattice Bhatnagar-
Gross-Krook technique, and frictional failure is simulated by a simple
cellular automaton type model; We show that the failure history of th
e fault is critically dependent on the ratio of the fluid diffusivity
of the fault material to the compaction rate. For high diffusivities a
power law distribution of failure sizes is observed, but at low diffu
sivities a non-power law distribution results. High diffusivities prom
ote a cyclic failure history, whereas at low diffusivities the failure
occurs at a constant level. Clusters of failed fault elements may be
identified with seismic events, and therefore our results place bounds
on the range of fault parameters which are permitted in a situation i
n which seismicity is observed to follow a Gutenberg-Richter distribut
ion.