Abstract
Porosity and compression index systematically decrease and permeability
systematically increases with decreasing clay fraction over vertical
effective stresses ranging from 0 – 21 MPa in reconstituted mudstones
from offshore Japan. I use six sediment mixtures composed of varying
proportions of hemipelagic mudstone and silt-size silica resulting in
clay fractions ranging from 56% to 32% by mass. The hemipelagic
mudstone is from Site C0011 drilled seaward of the Nankai Trough,
offshore Japan, during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 322.
Uniaxial resedimentation and constant rate of strain consolidation
experiments on these sediment mixtures illuminate how the compression
and permeability behavior vary as a function of clay fraction and
stress. Backscattered electron microscope images show that as
compressible clay particles with small, elongated, and crescent-shaped
pores are being replaced by solid quartz grains, the matrix porosity
declines and large, jagged pore throats between silt grains are
preserved in compaction shadows. This results in reduced
compressibilities and increased permeabilities. I compare the behavior
of reconstituted samples with that of intact core and field measurements
and provide empirical compression and permeability models that describe
the evolution of porosity (void ratio) and permeability with vertical
effective stress and as a function of grain size. Characterizing the in
situ hydromechanical properties of subduction inputs is critical in
order to relate input sediments to those at frontal thrust regions and
understand the mechanics of accretionary prisms, plate boundary
earthquakes, and fault slip behavior at subduction zones.