San Andreas Fault Zone mineralogy, geochemistry, and physical properties from SAFOD cuttings and core
No abstract available.
California↗
Geology topics
S. Tembe
Publications and source records attributed to S. Tembe.
Using drill cutting separates to estimate the strength of narrow shear zones at SAFOD
[1] A technique is presented for estimating frictional strength of narrow shear zones based on hand selection of drillhole cuttings separates. Tests were conducted on cuttings from the SAFOD scientific drillhole near Parkfield, California. Since cuttings are mixed with adjacent material as they travel up the drillhole, these fault-derived separates give a better representation of the frictional properties of narrow features than measurements from the bulk material alone. Cuttings from two shear zones (one an active trace of the San Andreas fault) contain a significant weight percent of clay-rich grains that exhibit deformation-induced slickensides. In addition, cuttings from the active SAF trace contain around 1% serpentine. Coefficients of friction for clay-rich and serpentine grains were 0.3–0.5 and 0.4–0.45, respectively. These values are around 0.12 lower than the friction coefficient of the corresponding bulk cuttings, providing an improved estimate of the frictional strength of the San Andreas fault.
Geophysical Research Letters↗
Frictional strength of cuttings and core from SAFOD drillhole phases 1 and 2
We investigated the frictional properties of drill cuttings and core obtained from 1.85-3.1 km true vertical depth in the SAFOD scientific borehole in central California. Triaxial frictional sliding experiments were conducted on samples from primary lithologic traits and significant shear zones, including the inferred active trace of the San Andreas fault. The samples were deformed at room temperature under constant effective normal stresses of 10, 40, and 80 MPa with axial shortening rates of 0.01-1.0 ??m s-1. The weakest samples were from shale, claystone, and siltstone units with friction coefficient ?? = 0.4-0.55. Stronger samples were from quartzo-feldspathic rocks with ?? ??? 0.6. Materials tested from two shear, zones at 2560 and 3067 m measured depth had ?? = 0.4-0.55 and velocity strengthening behavior consistent with fault creep at depths <4 km. The coefficient of friction for bulk samples from the inferred trace of the San Andreas fault was ???0.6. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
Geophysical Research Letters↗