Alexandre Schubnel

Dilatancy, compaction, and failure mode in Solnhofen limestone

Failure mode is intimately related to porosity change, and whether deformation occurs in conjunction with dilatation or compaction has important implications on fluid transport processes. Laboratory studies on the inelastic and failure behavior of carbonate rocks have focused on the very porous and compact end-members. In this study, experiments were conducted on the Solnhofen limestone of intermediate porosity to investigate the interplay of dilatancy and shear compaction in controlling the brittle-ductile transition. Hydrostatic and triaxial compression experiments were conducted on nominally dry samples at confining pressures up to 435 MPa. Two conclusions can be drawn from our new data. First, shear-enhanced compaction can be appreciable in a relatively compact rock. The compactive yield behavior of Solnhofen limestone samples (with initial porosities as low as 3%) is phenomenologically similar to that of carbonate rocks, sandstone, and granular materials with porosities up to 40%. Second, compactive cataclastic flow is commonly observed to be a transient phenomenon, in that the failure mode evolves with increasing strain to dilatant cataclastic flow and ultimately shear localization. It is therefore inappropriate to view stress-induced compaction and dilatancy as mutually exclusive processes, especially when large strains are involved as in many geological settings. Several theoretical models were employed to interpret the micromechanics of the brittle-ductile transition. The laboratory data on the onset of shear-enhanced compaction are in reasonable agreement with Curran and Carrolls [1979] plastic pore collapse model. In the transitional regime, the Stroh [1957] model for microcrack nucleation due to dislocation pileup can be used to analyze the transition from shear-enhanced compaction to dilatant cataclastic flow. In the brittle faulting regime the wing crack model provides a consistent description of the effect of grain size on the onset of dilatancy and brittle faulting.

High Vp/Vs ratio: Saturated cracks or anisotropy effects?

[1] We measured Vp/Vs ratios of thermally cracked Westerly granite, thermally cracked Carrara marble and 4% porosity Fontainebleau sandstone, for an effective mean pressure ranging from 2 to 95 MPa. Samples were fluidsaturated alternatively with argon gas and water (5 MPa constant pore pressure). The experimental results show that at ultrasonic frequencies, Vp/Vs ratio of water saturated specimen never exceeded 2.15, even at effective mean pressure as low as 2 MPa, or for a lithology for which the Poisson’s ratio of minerals is as high as 0.3 (calcite). In order to check these results against theoretical models: we examine first a randomly oriented cracked medium (with dispersion but without anisotropy); and second a medium with horizontally aligned cracks (with anisotropy but without dispersion). The numerical results show that experimental data agree well with the first model: at high frequency, Vp/Vs ratios range from 1.6 to 1.8 in the dry case and from 1.6 to 2.2 in the saturated case. The second model predicts both Vp/Sv and Vp/Sh to vary from 1.2 to 3.5, depending on the raypath angle relative to the crack fabric. In addition, perpendicular to the crack fabric, a high Vp/Vs ratio is predicted in the absence of shear wave splitting. From these results, we argue the possibility that high Vp/Vs ratio (>2.2) as recently imaged by seismic tomography in subduction zones, may come from zones presenting important crack anisotropy. The cumulative effects of crack anisotropy and high pore fluid pressure are required to get Vp/Vs ratios above 2.2. Citation: Wang, X.-Q., A. Schubnel, J. Fortin, E. C. David, Y. Gueguen, and H.-K. Ge (2012), High Vp/Vs ratio: Saturated cracks or anisotropy effects?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L11307, doi:10.1029/2012GL051742.

Fast slip with inhibited temperature rise due to mineral dehydration: Evidence from experiments on gypsum

Anomalously low heat flow around active faults has been a recurrent subject of debate over past decades. We present a series of high-velocity friction experiments on gypsum rock cylinders showing that the temperature of the simulated fault plane is efficiently buffered due to large-scale endothermic dehydration reaction. The tests were performed at 1 MPa normal stress and a velocity of 1.3 m s −1 , while measuring the temperature close to the sliding surface and the relative humidity around the sample. The temperature close to the sliding surface is remarkably stable at ∼100 °C during the dehydration reaction of gypsum. Microstructural and X-ray diffraction investigations show that dehydration occurs at the very beginning of the test, and progresses into the bulk as slip increases. In the hottest parts of the sample, anhydrite crystal growth is observed. The half-thickness of the dehydrated layer ranges from 160 μm at 2 m slip to 5 mm at 68 m slip. Thermodynamic estimates of the energy needed for the dehydration to occur yield values ranging from 10% to 50% of the total mechanical work input. The temperature plateau is thus well explained by the energy sink due to the dehydration reaction and the phase change from liquid water into steam. We suggest that similar endothermic reactions can efficiently buffer the temperature of fault zones during an earthquake. This is a way to explain the low heat flow around active faults and the apparent scarcity of frictional melts in nature.

Elastic wave velocities and permeability of cracked rocks

Abstract Cracks play a major role in most rocks submitted to crustal conditions. Mechanically, cracks make the rock much more compliant. They also make it much easier for fluid to flow through any rock body. Relying on Fracture Mechanics and Statistical Physics, we introduce a few key concepts, which allow to understand and quantify how cracks do modify both the elastic and transport properties of rocks. The main different schemes, which can be used to derive the elastic effective moduli of a rock, are presented. It is shown from experimental results that an excellent approximation is the so-called non-interactive scheme. The main consequences of the existence of cracks on the elastic waves is the development of elastic anisotropy (due to the anisotropic distribution of crack orientations) and the dispersion effect (due to microscopic local fluid flow). At a larger scale, macroscopic fluid flow takes place through the crack network above the percolation threshold. Two macroscopic fluid flow regimes can be distinguished: the percolative regime close to the percolation threshold and the connected regime well above it. Experimental data on very different rock types show both of these behaviors.

From Sub-Rayleigh to Supershear Ruptures During Stick-Slip Experiments on Crustal Rocks

Sonic Boom from Below Seismic shear waves released by an earthquake typically far outpace motion along the fault surface. Occasionally, however, earthquakes along strike-slip faults appear to propagate so that the rupture velocity is faster than shear waves, creating a sort of sonic boom along the fault surface. Passelègue et al. (p. 1208) were able to reproduce and measure these so-called supershear ruptures in stick-slip experiments with two pieces of granite under high applied normal stress. Much like during a sonic boom when a plane travels faster than the speed of sound, the ruptures created a shock wave in the form of a Mach cone around the rupture front. Rupture fronts propagate faster than shear waves following experimental microearthquake nucleation. Supershear earthquake ruptures propagate faster than the shear wave velocity. Although there is evidence that this occurs in nature, it has not been experimentally demonstrated with the use of crustal rocks. We performed stick-slip experiments with Westerly granite under controlled upper-crustal stress conditions. Supershear ruptures systematically occur when the normal stress exceeds 43 megapascals (MPa) with resulting stress drops on the order of 3 to 25 MPa, comparable to the stress drops inferred by seismology for crustal earthquakes. In our experiments, the sub-Rayleigh–to–supershear transition length is a few centimeters at most, suggesting that the rupture of asperities along a fault may propagate locally at supershear velocities. In turn, these sudden accelerations and decelerations could play an important role in the generation of high-frequency radiation and the overall rupture-energy budget.

Deep-Focus Earthquake Analogs Recorded at High Pressure and Temperature in the Laboratory

Delineating Deep Faults Most large, damaging earthquakes initiate in Earths crust where friction and brittle fracture control the release of energy. Strong earthquakes can occur in the mantle too, but their rupture dynamics are difficult to determine because higher temperatures and pressures play a more important role. Ye et al. (p. 1380) analyzed seismic P waves generated by the 2013 Mw 8.3 Sea of Okhotsk earthquake—the largest deep earthquake recorded to date—and its associated aftershocks. The earthquake ruptured along a fault over 180-kilometer-long and structural heterogeneity resulted in a massive release of stress from the subducting slab. In a set of complementary laboratory deformation experiments, Schubnel et al. (p. 1377) simulated the nucleation of acoustic emission events that resemble deep earthquakes. These events are caused by an instantaneous phase transition from olivine to spinel, which would occur at the same depth and result in large stress releases observed for other deep earthquakes. Fractures generated by mineral phase transitions in the mantle produce acoustic emissions that resemble deep earthquakes. Phase transformations of metastable olivine might trigger deep-focus earthquakes (400 to 700 kilometers) in cold subducting lithosphere. To explore the feasibility of this mechanism, we performed laboratory deformation experiments on germanium olivine (Mg2GeO4) under differential stress at high pressure (P = 2 to 5 gigapascals) and within a narrow temperature range (T = 1000 to 1250 kelvin). We found that fractures nucleate at the onset of the olivine-to-spinel transition. These fractures propagate dynamically (at a nonnegligible fraction of the shear wave velocity) so that intense acoustic emissions are generated. Similar to deep-focus earthquakes, these acoustic emissions arise from pure shear sources and obey the Gutenberg-Richter law without following Omori’s law. Microstructural observations prove that dynamic weakening likely involves superplasticity of the nanocrystalline spinel reaction product at seismic strain rates.

Damage and recovery of calcite rocks deformed in the cataclastic regime

Abstract Compressional and shear wave velocities have been measured during the experimental deformation of Carrara marble and Solnhofen limestone in the cataclastic regime, both in dry and wet conditions at room temperature. Measurements were performed under hydrostatic conditions (up to 260 MPa confining pressure and 10 MPa pore pressure) during triaxial loading (at the constant strain rate of 10−5s−1) as well as during differential stress relaxation. During a full cycle, our results show that the seismic velocities first increase as effective mean stress increases. However, when the stress onset of cataclastic deformation was reached, elastic velocities showed rapid decrease due to stress-induced damage in the rock. During stress relaxation tests we observed an increase of elastic velocities with time, which suggested a fast ‘recovery’ of the microstructure. A substantial and rapid drop in the velocities occurred when reloading, suggesting that the previous ‘recovery’ was only transient. Subsequent relaxation tests showed other marked increases in velocities. These experimental results suggests that during the deformation of low-porosity calcite-rich rocks, dilatant (crack opening and frictional sliding) and compaction micro-mechanism (pore closure) compete. Evolutions of elastic properties (mainly sensitive to crack density) and macroscopic volumetric strain (more sensitive to porosity) are therefore not systematically correlated and depend on the strain rate, the solid stress conditions and the pore pressure.

Dynamic weakening and amorphization in serpentinite during laboratory earthquakes

The mechanical properties of serpentinites are key factors in our understanding of the dynamics of earthquake ruptures in subduction zones, especially intermediate-depth earthquakes. Here, we performed shear rupture experiments on natural antigorite serpentinite, which showed that friction reaches near-zero values during spontaneous dynamic rupture propagation. Rapid coseismic slip (>1 m/s), although it occurs over short distances (<1 mm), induces significant overheating of microscale asperities along the sliding surface, sufficient to produce surface amorphization and likely some melting. Antigorite dehydration occurs in the fault walls, which leaves a partially amorphized material. The water generated potentially contributes to the production of a low-viscosity pressurized melt, explaining the near-zero dynamic friction levels observed in some events. The rapid and dramatic dynamic weakening in serpentinite might be a key process facilitating the propagation of earthquakes at intermediate depths in subduction zones.

Dynamic rupture processes inferred from laboratory microearthquakes

We report macroscopic stick-slip events in saw-cut Westerly granite samples deformed under controlled upper crustal stress conditions in the laboratory. Experiments were conducted under triaxial loading (σ1>σ2=σ3) at confining pressures (σ3) ranging from 10 to 100 MPa. A high frequency acoustic monitoring array recorded particle acceleration during macroscopic stick-slip events allowing us to estimate rupture speed. In addition, we record the stress drop dynamically and we show that the dynamic stress drop measured locally close to the fault plane, is almost total in the breakdown zone (for normal stress > 75 MPa), while the friction f recovers to values of f > 0.4 within only a few hundred microseconds. Enhanced dynamic weakening is observed to be linked to the melting of asperities which can be well explained by flash heating theory in agreement with our post-mortem microstructural analysis. Relationships between initial state of stress, rupture velocities, stress drop and energy budget suggest that at high normal stress (leading to supershear rupture velocities), the rupture processes are more dissipative. Our observations question the current dichotomy between the fracture energy and the frictional energy in terms of rupture processes. A power law scaling of the fracture energy with final slip is observed over eight orders of magnitude in slip, from a few microns to tens of meters.

Role of void space geometry in permeability evolution in crustal rocks at elevated pressure

A key consequence of the presence of void space within rock is their significant influence upon fluid transport properties. In this study, we measure changes in elastic wave velocities (P and S) contemporaneously with changes in permeability and porosity at elevated pressure for three rock types with widely different void space geometries: a high-porosity sandstone (Bentheim), a tight sandstone (Crab Orchard), and a microcracked granodiorite (Takidani). Laboratory data are then used with the permeability models of Gueguen and Dienes and Kozeny-Carman to investigate the characteristics that different void space geometries impart to measured permeabilities. Using the Kachanov effective medium theory, elastic wave velocities are inverted, permitting the recovery of crack density evolution with increasing effective pressure. The crack densities are then used as input to the microcrack permeability model of Gueguen and Dienes. The classic Kozeny-Carman approach of Walsh and Brace is also applied to the measured permeability data via a least squares fit in order to extract tortuosity data. We successfully predict the evolution of permeability with increasing effective pressure, as directly measured in experiments, and report the contrast between permeability changes observed in rock where microcracks or equant pores dominate the microstructure. Additionally, we show how these properties are affected by anisotropy of the rock types via the measured anisotropic fabrics in each rock. The combined experimental and modeling results illustrate the importance of understanding the details of how rock microstructure changes in response to an external stimulus in predicting the simultaneous evolution of different rock physical properties.