Koichiro Fujimoto

Micro FT-IR study of the hydration-layer during dissolution of silica glass

Abstract Hydrothermal hydration of silica glass was experimentally studied with pure water at temperatures of 400–500°C and pressures of 40–96 MPa. The dissolution of silica glass occurred at nearly constant rates based on the weight loss and the hydrated surface layers have optical anisotropy. The thickness of the hydration layer increased gradually during the initial stage of the reaction and reached a steady state thickness (0.1 mm) after tens of hours. Concentration-depth profiles of both OH and H 2 O species in the hydration layer were obtained using microscopic Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (micro FT-IR). The concentration of the OH group was 0.4–1.3 wt% and that of H 2 O was about one third of the OH group near the surface. These concentrations decreased exponentially from the surface of the silica glass inward, indicating diffusion-related processes. Overall reaction rates are interpreted to be determined by diffusion of water in the hydration layer. The diffusion coefficients are estimated to be 10 −15 −10 −14 m 2 /s and exhibit positive correlations with pressure and temperature. The activation energy was approximately 60 kJ/mol.

A new gas-medium, high-pressure and high-temperature deformation apparatus at AIST, Japan

In order to obtain information about the deformation and fluid-flow processes in seismogenic regions, we designed and constructed an original Japanese-type gas-medium deformation apparatus capable of achieving both high pressure and high temperature. The present apparatus can produce a basic environment in which the confining pressure reaches 200 MPa by argon gas, pore pressure reaches 200 MPa either by argon gas or water, and temperature reaches 800°C. We report a new gas-medium apparatus for rock deformation, presenting preliminary results as an example of test results.

Petrographic features of a high-temperature granite just newly solidified magma at the Kakkonda geothermal field, Japan

Abstract A 3729-m-deep geothermal research well, WD-1a, provides us with a unique opportunity to study initial petrographic features of a high-temperature granite just after solidification of magma. The well succeeded in collecting three spot-cores of the Kakkonda Granite that is a pluton emplaced at a shallow depth and regarded as a heat source of the active Kakkonda geothermal system. The core samples were collected at the present formation temperatures of 370, 410 and over 500°C. These samples are granodiorite to tonalite consisting mainly of plagioclase, quartz, hornblende, biotite and K-feldspar. A sample collected at a formation temperature of over 500°C possesses the following remarkable petrographic features compared to the other two samples. Interstitial spaces are not completely sealed. K-feldspar exhibits no perthite by the exsolution of albite lamella. Quartz includes glassy melt inclusions without devitrification. Hornblende is less intensively altered to actinolite, and biotite is not altered. This study directly confirmed that perthite in K-feldspar is a recrystallization texture formed at 410–500°C based on a comparison of the in situ temperatures of the samples. Chemical compositions of minerals were analyzed to compare temperatures determined from geothermometers in several publications to the in situ temperatures of the samples.

Development of the Hatagawa Fault Zone clarified by geological and geochronological studies

The occurrence of mylonite and cataclasite, mineral assemblages of cataclasite, and the K-Ar ages of surrounding granitic rocks and dikes were studied to examine the possibility that the Hatagawa Fault Zone (HFZ), NE Japan was experienced under the conditions of the brittle-plastic transition. The Hatagawa Fault Zone is divided into three structural settings: mylonite zones with a sinistral sense of shear and a maximum thickness of 1 km, a cataclasite zone with a maximum thickness of about 100 m, and locally and sporadically developed small-scale shear zones. Occurrence of epidote and chlorite, lack of montmorillonite in cataclasite, and the coexistence of cataclasite and limestone mylonite suggest that the cataclasite was deformed at temperatures higher than 220°C. Crush zones in the mylonite near the cataclasite zone were recognized in one outcrop; they have a structure concordant with the surrounding mylonite and some fragments in them are dragged plastically. Granodiorite porphyry dikes near the HFZ intruding into cataclasite and mylonite with a sinistral sense of shear exhibit no deformational features. K-Ar ages of hornblende from host granitic rocks and from one granodiorite porphyry dike are 126 ± 6 to 95.7 ± 4.8 and 98.1 ± 2.5 Ma, respectively. These indicate that the fault activity gradually changed from mylonitization to cataclasis within 28 m.y., and suggest that the HFZ underwent a brittle-plastic transition during its activity.

Water-rock interaction observed in the brittle-plastic transition zone

Rock alteration and geochemistry of the fault rocks are examined to infer the characteristics of the fluid phase related to the ancient fault activity. The Hatagawa Fault Zone, northeast Japan, is an exhumed seismogenic zone which is characterized by close association of brittlely and plastically deformed fault rocks mostly derived from Cretaceous granitoids. Epidote and chlorite are dominant alteration minerals in both rocks. However, calcite is characteristically developed in the cataclastic part only. Decrease in oxygen isotope ratio and existence of epidote and chlorite, even in weakly deformed granodiorite, is evidence of water-rock interaction. The water/rock ratio is interpreted to be relatively small and fluid chemistry is buffered by host rock chemistry in the mylonite. The occurrence of calcite in brittle structures is explained by changes in water chemistry during shear zone evolution. CO2-rich fluid was probably introduced during cataclastic deformation and increased CO2 concentration resulted in precipitation of calcite.

Growth of plastic shear zone and its duration inferred from theoretical consideration and observation of an ancient shear zone in the granitic crust

A new model for growth of plastic shear zone is proposed based on the basis of a theory of fluid dynamics coupled with a rheological constitutive function, and is applied to a natural shear zone. Mylonite, ultramylonite and other ductile fault rocks are well known to deform in a plastic flow regime. The rheological behavior of these kinds of rocks has been well documented as a non-linear viscous body, which is empirically described as , where : strain rate, τ: shear stress, Q: activation energy, R: universal gas constant, T: absolute temperature, and A and n are constants. Strain rate- and temperature-dependent viscosity is obtained by differentiating the equation, and simplified by substituting n = 1. Then, substitution of the equation into a diffusion equation, , derives an equation δ = 4[t/p · A exp(−Q/RT)]1/2, where δ: thickness of active layer of viscous deformation, ν: kinematic viscosity, and ρ: density. The duration of creep deformation along the ancient plastic shear zone (thickness: 0.076 m) is estimated to be around 760 s, in a temperature range from 300 to 500°C. This estimation is rather good agreement with intermittent creep during inter-seismic period, than steady state creep or co-seismic slip.