Arterial faults and their role in mineralizing systems

• Main Author: Richard H. Sibson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-11-01
• Series: Geoscience Frontiers
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987119300386

In quartzo-feldspathic continental crust with moderate-to-high heat flow, seismic activity extends to depths of 10–20 km, bounded by isotherms in the 350–450 °C range. Fluid overpressuring above hydrostatic in seismogenic crust, is heterogeneous but tends to develop in the lower seismogenic zone (basal seismogenic zone reservoir = b.s.z. reservoir) where the transition between hydrostatically pressured and overpressured crust is likely an irregular, time-dependent, 3-D interface with overpressuring concentrated around active faults and their ductile shear zone roots.The term Arterial Fault is applied to fault structures that root in portions of the crust where pore fluids are overpressured (i.e. at > hydrostatic pressure) and serve as feeders for such fluids and their contained solutes into overlying parts of the crust. While arterial flow may occur on any type of fault, it is most likely to be associated with reverse faults in areas of horizontal compression where fluid overpressuring is most easily sustained. Frictional stability and flow permeability of faults are both affected by the state of stress on the fault (shear stress, τ; normal stress, σn), the level of pore-fluid pressure, Pf, and episodes of fault slip, allowing for a complex interplay between fault movement and fluid flow. For seismically active faults the time dependence of permeability is critical, leading to fault-valve behaviour whereby overpressures accumulate at depth during interseismic intervals with fluid discharged along enhanced fault-fracture permeability following each rupture event. Patterns of mineralization also suggest that flow along faults is non-uniform, concentrating along tortuous pathways within the fault surface.Equivalent hydrostatic head above ground level for near-lithostatic overpressures at depth (<1.65× depth of zone) provides a measure of arterial potential. Settings for arterial faults include fault systems developed in compacting sedimentary basins, faults penetrating zones of active plutonic intrusion that encounter overpressured fluids exsolved from magma, together with those derived from contact metamorphism of fluid-rich wallrocks, and/or from regional devolatilisation accompanying prograde metamorphism. Specially significant are active faults within accretionary prisms rooted into overpressured subduction interfaces, and steep reverse faults activated by high overpressures from b.s.z. reservoirs during compressional inversion. Keywords: Fault conduits, Fluid overpressures, Arterial potential, Valve action, Mineralization