The dynamics of the fluid flow within faults plays a critical role in the evolution of fault strength through the seismic cycle. The key processes that control how fluids affect fault slip behavior are the evolution of fault porosity and fluid recharge during slip that, in turn, determine dilational strengthening or compaction weakening. Despite the significance of these processes, high-fidelity lab measurements that include the evolution of porosity, fluid pressure and frictional properties are sparse. Here, we report such data for drained and undrained velocity-stepping experiments from 3 to 300 µm/s on natural fault gouges from the seismogenic zone of injection well 16A (2050 - 2070m) of the Utah FORGE EGS site. We conducted a suite of experiments under fixed normal stresses (44 MPa) and pore fluid pressures (13, 20, 27 MPa) corresponding to pore fluid factors between 0.3 and 0.65. We carefully monitor the volumetric strain and show that the dilatancy coefficient of the material ranged from 5 to 12 x 10-4, and showed minor sensitivity to fluid boundary conditions. In some cases, we see that larger slip velocities cause a transition from dilatancy strengthening to compaction weakening via fluid pressurization. Fluid pressure diffusion across the fault evolves during shear suggesting that permeability asymmetry, up to 4 orders-of-magnitude, is required to explain the interaction between fault stress, dilation and fluid diffusion. We posit that the spatial-temporal pattern of pore connectivity creates a spectrum of fault drainage conditions, ultimately controlling the mode of fault slip.

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.

As a particularly common minerals in granites, the presence of feldspar and altered feldspar-chlorite gouges at hydrothermal conditions have important implications in fault strength and reactivation. We present laboratory observations of frictional strength and stability of feldspar (K-feldspar and albite) and altered feldspar-chlorite gouges under conditions representative of deep geothermal reservoirs to evaluate the impact on fault stability. Velocity‐ stepping experiments are performed at a confining stress of 95 MPa, pore pressures of 35-90 MPa and temperatures of 120-400°C representative of in situ conditions for such reservoirs. Our experiment results show that the feldspar gouge is frictionally strong (μ~0.71) at all experimental temperatures (~120-400℃) but transits from velocity-strengthening to velocity-weakening at T>120°C. Increasing the pore pressure increases the friction coefficient (~0.70-0.87) and the gouge remains velocity weakening, but this weakening decreases as pore pressures increase. The presence of alteration-sourced chlorite leads to a transition from velocity weakening to velocity strengthening in the mixed gouge at experimental temperatures and pore pressures. As a ubiquitous mineral in reservoir rocks, feldspar is shown to potentially contribute to unstable sliding over ranges in temperature and pressure typical in deep hydrothermal reservoirs. These findings emphasize that feldspar minerals may increase the potential for injection-induced seismicity on pre-existing faults if devoid of chlorite alteration.

Pore fluids are ubiquitous throughout the lithosphere and are commonly cited as the cause of slow-slip and complex modes of tectonic faulting. We investigate the role of fluids for slow-slip and the frictional stability transition and find that the mode of fault slip is mainly unaffected by pore pressures. We shear samples at effective normal stress (σ’n) of 20 MPa and pore pressures Pp from 1 to 4 MPa. The lab fault zones are 3 mm thick and composed of quartz powder with median grain size of 10 µm. Fault permeability evolves from 10-17 to 10-19 m2 over shear strains up to 26. Under these conditions, dilatancy strengthening is minimal. Slow slip may arise from dilatancy strengthening at higher fluid pressures but for the conditions of our experiments slip rate-dependent changes in the critical rate of frictional weakening are sufficient to explain slow-slip and the stability transition to dynamic rupture.

We exploit nonlinear elastodynamic properties of fractured rock to probe the micro-scale mechanics of fractures and understand the relation between fluid transport and fracture aperture and area, stiffness proxy, under dynamic stressing. Experiments are conducted on rough, tensile-fractured Westerly granite specimen subject to triaxial stresses. Fracture permeability is measured from steady-state fluid flow with deionized water. Pore pressure oscillations are applied at amplitudes ranging from 0.2 to 1~MPa at 1~Hz frequency. During dynamic stressing we transmit acoustic signals through the fracture using an array of piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) to monitor the evolution of fracture interface properties. We examine the influence of fracture aperture and contact area by conducting measurements at effective normal stresses of 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20~MPa. Additionally, the evolution of contact area with stress is characterized using pressure sensitive film. These experiments are conducted separately with the same fracture and they map contact area at stresses from 9 to 21~MPa. The resulting ‘true’ area of contact measurements made for the entire fracture surface and within the calculated PZT sensor footprints, numerical modeling of Fresnel zone. We compare the elastodynamic response of the the fracture using the stress-induced changes ultrasonic wave velocities for a range of transmitter-receiver pairs to image spatial variations in contact properties, which is informed by fracture contact area measurements. These measurements of the nonlinear elasticity are related to the fluid-flow, permeability, in response to dynamic stressing and similar comparisons are made for the slow-dynamics, recovery, of the fracture interface following the stress perturbations.

Lower-viscosity fluids are commonly believed to be able to create more complex fractures in hydraulic fracturing, however, the mechanism remains stubbornly unclear. We use a new grain-scale model with accurate coupling of hydrodynamic forces to simulate the propagation of fluid-driven fracturing. The results clarify that fracturing fluid with a lower viscosity does not always create more complex fractures. The heterogeneity in the rock exerts the principal control on systematic evolution of fracture complexity. In homogeneous rock, low viscosity fluids result in low breakdown pressure, but viscosity exerts little influence on fracture complexity. However, in heterogeneous rock, lower viscosity can lead to more complex network of fracturing. A regime map shows the dependence of fracture complexity on the degree of rock heterogeneity where low viscosity fracturing fluid more readily permeates weak defects and creates complex fracture networks.