Mechanisms of Stress- and Fluid-Pressure-Driven Fault Reactivation in
Gonghe Granite: Implications for Injection-induced Earthquakes
Abstract
We explore the impacts of stress- and fluid-pressure-driven frictional
slip on variably roughened faults in Gonghe granite (Qinghai Province,
China). Slip is on an inclined fault under simple triaxial stresses with
concurrent fluid throughflow allowing fault permeability to be measured
both pre- and post-reactivation. Under stress-drive, smooth faults are
first slip-weakening and transition to slip-strengthening with rough
faults slip-strengthening, alone. A friction criterion accommodating a
change in friction coefficient and fault angle is able to fit the data
of stable-slip and stick-slip. Under fluid-pressure-drive, excess pore
pressures must be significantly larger than average pore pressures
suggested by the stress-drive-derived failure criterion. This
overpressure is conditioned by the heterogeneity of the pore pressure
distribution in radial flow on the fault and related to the change in
permeability. Fault roughness impacts both the coefficient of friction
and the permeability and therefore exerts important controls in
fluid-injection-induced earthquakes. The results potentially improve our
ability to assess and mitigate the risk of injection-induced earthquakes
in EGS.