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We examine deformed crystalline bedrock in the upper parts of the active San Andreas and ancient San Gabriel Faults, southern California, to 1) determine the nature and origin of micro-scale composition and geochemistry of fault-related rocks, 2) constrain the extent of fluid-rock interactions, and 3) determine the interactions between alteration, mineralization, and deformation. We used drill cores from a 470 m long inclined borehole through the steep-dipping San Gabriel Fault and from seven inclined northeast-plunging boreholes across the San Andreas Fault zone to 150 m deep to show that narrow fault cores 10 cm to 5 m wide lie within 100s m wide damage zones. Petrographic, mineralogic, whole-rock geochemical analyses and synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence mapping of drill core and thin sections of rocks from the damage zone and narrow principal slip surfaces reveal evidence for the development of early fracture networks, with iron and other transition element mineralization and alteration along the fractures. Alteration includes clay $$\pm$$ chlorite development, carbonate, and zeolite mineralization in matrix and fractures and the mobility of trace and transition elements. Carbonate-zeolite mineralization filled fractures and are associated with element mobility through the crystalline rocks. Textural evidence for repeated shearing, alteration, vein formation, brittle deformation, fault slip, pressure solution, and faulted rock re-lithification indicates significant hydrothermal alteration occurred during shallow-level deformation in the fault zones. The rock assemblages show that hydrothermal conditions in active faults develop at very shallow levels where seismic energy, heat, and fluids are focused.
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Shallow Composition and Structure of the Upper Part of the Exhumed San Gabriel Fault, California: Implications for Fault Processes
Quantifying shallow fault zone structure and characteristics is critical for accurately modeling the complex mechanical behavior of earthquakes as energy moves within faults from depth. We examine macro- to microstructures, mineralogy, and properties from drill core analyses of fault-related rocks in the steeply plunging ALT-B2 geotechnical borehole (total depth of 493 m) across the San Gabriel Fault zone, California. We use macroscopic drill core and outcrop-sample analyses, core-based damage estimates, optical microscopy, and X-ray diffraction mineralogic analyses to determine the fault zone structure, deformation mechanisms, and alteration patterns of exhumed deformed rocks formed in a section of the fault that slipped 5-12 million years ago, with evidence for some Quaternary slip. The fault consists of two principal slip zones composed of cohesive cataclasite, ultracataclasite, and intact clay-rich, highly foliated gouge within upper and lower damage zones 60 m and 50 m thick. The upper 6.5 m thick principal slip zone separates Mendenhall Gneiss and Josephine Granodiorite, and a lower 11 m thick principal slip is enclosed within the Josephine Granodiorite. Microstructures record overprinted brittle fractures, cohesive cataclasites, veins, sheared clay-rich rocks, and folded foliated and carbonate-rich horizons in the damage zones. Carbonate veins are common in the lower fault zone, and alteration and mineralization assemblages consist of clays, epidote, calcite, zeolites, and chloritic minerals. These data show that shallow portions of the fault experienced fluid-rock interactions that led to alteration, mineralization, and brittle and semi-brittle deformation that led to the formation of damage zones and narrow principal slip zones that are continuous down-dip and along strike.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1824852
- PAR ID:
- 10497578
- Editor(s):
- Kavanaugh, J.
- Publisher / Repository:
- Tektonika
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Tektonika
- Volume:
- 1
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2976-548X
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Faults faulting geochemistry slip-localization damage zone core
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.55575/tektonika2023.1.2.30
