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Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault

Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault
Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault
Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2, 3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4, 5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.
0028-0836
137–140
Sutherland, Rupert
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Sutherland, Rupert, Townend, John, Toy, Virginia, Upton, Phaedra, Coussens, Jamie, Allen, Michael, Baratin, Laura-may, Barth, Nicolas, Becroft, Leeza, Boese, Carolin, Boles, Austin, Boulton, Carolyn, Broderick, Neil G. R., Janku-capova, Lucie, Carpenter, Brett M., Célérier, Bernard, Chamberlain, Calum, Cooper, Alan, Coutts, Ashley, Cox, Simon, Craw, Lisa, Doan, Mai-linh, Eccles, Jennifer, Faulkner, Dan, Grieve, Jason, Grochowski, Julia, Gulley, Anton, Hartog, Arthur, Howarth, Jamie, Jacobs, Katrina, Jeppson, Tamara, Kato, Naoki, Keys, Steven, Kirilova, Martina, Kometani, Yusuke, Langridge, Rob, Lin, Weiren, Little, Timothy, Lukacs, Adrienn, Mallyon, Deirdre, Mariani, Elisabetta, Massiot, Cécile, Mathewson, Loren, Melosh, Ben, Menzies, Catriona, Moore, Jo, Morales, Luiz, Morgan, Chance, Mori, Hiroshi, Niemeijer, Andre, Nishikawa, Osamu, Prior, David, Sauer, Katrina, Savage, Martha, Schleicher, Anja, Schmitt, Douglas R., Shigematsu, Norio, Taylor-offord, Sam, Teagle, Damon, Tobin, Harold, Valdez, Robert, Weaver, Konrad, Wiersberg, Thomas, Williams, Jack, Woodman, Nicholas and Zimmer, Martin (2017) Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault. Nature, 546 (7656), 137–140. (doi:10.1038/nature22355).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2, 3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4, 5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.

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Sutherland_etal_2017_Nature_Accepted_Version - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 21 March 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 May 2017
Published date: 1 June 2017
Organisations: Geochemistry, Ocean and Earth Science, Infrastructure Group, Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 410547
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/410547
ISSN: 0028-0836
PURE UUID: 70c21b0a-3fe1-46ad-a8cc-05a6ad2c6da8
ORCID for Damon Teagle: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4416-8409
ORCID for Nicholas Woodman: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5571-0451

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Date deposited: 09 Jun 2017 09:04
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:22

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Contributors

Author: Rupert Sutherland
Author: John Townend
Author: Virginia Toy
Author: Phaedra Upton
Author: Jamie Coussens
Author: Michael Allen
Author: Laura-may Baratin
Author: Nicolas Barth
Author: Leeza Becroft
Author: Carolin Boese
Author: Austin Boles
Author: Carolyn Boulton
Author: Neil G. R. Broderick
Author: Lucie Janku-capova
Author: Brett M. Carpenter
Author: Bernard Célérier
Author: Calum Chamberlain
Author: Alan Cooper
Author: Ashley Coutts
Author: Simon Cox
Author: Lisa Craw
Author: Mai-linh Doan
Author: Jennifer Eccles
Author: Dan Faulkner
Author: Jason Grieve
Author: Julia Grochowski
Author: Anton Gulley
Author: Arthur Hartog
Author: Jamie Howarth
Author: Katrina Jacobs
Author: Tamara Jeppson
Author: Naoki Kato
Author: Steven Keys
Author: Martina Kirilova
Author: Yusuke Kometani
Author: Rob Langridge
Author: Weiren Lin
Author: Timothy Little
Author: Adrienn Lukacs
Author: Deirdre Mallyon
Author: Elisabetta Mariani
Author: Cécile Massiot
Author: Loren Mathewson
Author: Ben Melosh
Author: Catriona Menzies
Author: Jo Moore
Author: Luiz Morales
Author: Chance Morgan
Author: Hiroshi Mori
Author: Andre Niemeijer
Author: Osamu Nishikawa
Author: David Prior
Author: Katrina Sauer
Author: Martha Savage
Author: Anja Schleicher
Author: Douglas R. Schmitt
Author: Norio Shigematsu
Author: Sam Taylor-offord
Author: Damon Teagle ORCID iD
Author: Harold Tobin
Author: Robert Valdez
Author: Konrad Weaver
Author: Thomas Wiersberg
Author: Jack Williams
Author: Martin Zimmer

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