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Damage and permeability around faults: Implications for mineralization

¹ Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Exploration and Mining, P.O. Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
² Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

Mineral deposits are commonly hosted by small-displacement structures around jogs in major faults, but they are rarely hosted by the major fault itself. This relationship may be explained by time-dependent fracturing and healing in and around major faults and associated permeability evolution. A damage mechanics formulation is used here to explore the spatial-temporal evolution of damage in and around a fault following a fault-slip event. We show that regions of increased damage rate correspond to the location of mineral deposits and that these areas correspond to areas of aftershocks predicted by stress-transfer modeling. The fault itself enters a healing regime following the slip event; hence, it is expected to become less permeable than the fracture network outside the fault. Our results support the hypothesis that mineralization occurs in a fracture network associated with aftershocks; this may be due to the higher time-integrated permeability of the fracture network relative to the main fault.

Key Words: fault • aftershocks • fluid • mineralization • permeability • damage

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. Kurz, J. Imber, C. A. J. Wibberley, R. E. Holdsworth, and C. Collettini The internal structure of fault zones: fluid flow and mechanical properties Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2008; 299(1): 1 - 3. [Full Text] [PDF]