Collaborations: R. Soliva (project manager), S. Mayolle (Ph.D. student), C. Wibberley (Total), G. Ballas, G. Milesi.

Grants :

• French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and TOTAL Grants, 2016-2018

Project : DAMAGE

Abstract of Mayolle et al., 2019 (Journal of Structural Geology)

A renewed interest in fault damage zones is aimed at better understanding stress perturbation around faults, earthquake ground motions and fluid flow in the upper crust. In this study, we analyse fault/fracture systems at the outcrop and map scale and define displacement - thickness (D-T) scaling of fault damage zones using scanlines, in carbonate rocks in France and Spain. We determine fault displacement and damage zone thickness perpendicular to fault planes and far from fault tips for 12 selected faults in four study sites. The data show a logarithmic decrease of fracture frequency from the fault cores. This decrease is characterized by local frequency peaks corresponding to variably-linked secondary fault segments and abandoned tips within the fault damage zone. D-T data comprised between 0 and 100 m of net fault displacement show a nearly linear scaling with very little scattering. Including two additional data for D > 100 m, the best fit corresponds better to a power law. We propose a new model based on fault segmentation and linkage to explain the linear scaling observed up to 100 m displacement, and we discuss the non-linear behaviour with respect to the role of mechanical layer thickness and the inhibition of the segmentation process down dip for large-scale faults.

In 2018, we extended the field investigations of damage processes to strike-slip faults in Croatia. In the frame of the Ph.D. project of Sylvain Mayolle, we also developed new analog models to study fault damage evolution, see Mayolle et al., (2021) in Geology.

Take a look to some field pictures in Spain, Croatia and France.

Find our related publications below and the publication list here.

• *Mayolle S., Soliva R., Dominguez S., Wibberley C., Caniven Y. (2021). Nonlinear fault damage zone scaling revealed through analog modeling. Geology, v49, https://doi.org/10.1130/G48760.1

• *Mayolle, S., Soliva , R., Caniven, Y.,, Wibberley, C.A.J, Ballas G., Milesi G., Dominguez S. (2019). Scaling of fault damage zones in carbonate rocks. Journal of Structural Geology, 124, 35-50. doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2019.03.007. pdf link

Experimental setup of the developed analog model devoted to the study of fault growth and fault damage processes (Mayolle et al., 2021).

Lapiaz in Croatia, May 2018.