Abstract
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 137-140 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 546 |
Early online date | 17 May 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2017 |
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Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault. / Sutherland, Rupert; Townend, John; Toy, Virginia G.; Upton, Phaedra; Coussens, Jamie; Allen, Michael ; Baratin, Laura-May; Barth, Nicolas; Becroft, Leeza; Boese, Carolin; Boles, Austin; Boulton, Carolyn; Broderick, Neil G. R.; Janku-Capova, Lucie; Carpenter, Brett M.; Celerier, Bernard; Chamberlain, Calum; Cooper, Alan; Coutts, Ashley; Cox, Simon C.; Craw, Lisa; Doan, Mai-Linh; Eccles, Jennifer; Faulkner, Dan; Grieve, Jason; Grochowski, Julia; Gulley, Anton; Hartog, Arthur; Howarth, Jamie; Jacobs, Katrina; Jeppson, Tamara; Kato, Naoki; Keys, Steven; Kirilova, Martina; Kometani, Yusuke; Langridge, Rob; Lin, Weiren; Little, Timothy; Lukacs, Adrienn; Mallyon, Deirdre; Mariani, Elisabetta; Massiot, Cecile; Mathewson, Loren; Melosh, Ben; Menzies, Catriona Dorothy; Moore, Jo; Morales, Luiz; Morgan, Chance; Mori, Hiroshi; Niemeijer, Andre; Nishikawa, Osamu; Prior, Dave; Sauer, Katrina; Savage, Martha; Schleicher, Anja M.; Schmitt, Doug R.; Shigematsu, Norio; Taylor-Offord, Sam; Teagle, Damon A. H.; Tobin, Harold; Valdez, Robert; Weaver, Konrad; Wiersberg, Thomas; Williams, Jack; Zimmer, Martin.
In: Nature, Vol. 546, 01.06.2017, p. 137-140.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Extreme hydrothermal conditions at an active plate-bounding fault
AU - Sutherland, Rupert
AU - Townend, John
AU - Toy, Virginia G.
AU - Upton, Phaedra
AU - Coussens, Jamie
AU - Allen, Michael
AU - Baratin, Laura-May
AU - Barth, Nicolas
AU - Becroft, Leeza
AU - Boese, Carolin
AU - Boles, Austin
AU - Boulton, Carolyn
AU - Broderick, Neil G. R.
AU - Janku-Capova, Lucie
AU - Carpenter, Brett M.
AU - Celerier, Bernard
AU - Chamberlain, Calum
AU - Cooper, Alan
AU - Coutts, Ashley
AU - Cox, Simon C.
AU - Craw, Lisa
AU - Doan, Mai-Linh
AU - Eccles, Jennifer
AU - Faulkner, Dan
AU - Grieve, Jason
AU - Grochowski, Julia
AU - Gulley, Anton
AU - Hartog, Arthur
AU - Howarth, Jamie
AU - Jacobs, Katrina
AU - Jeppson, Tamara
AU - Kato, Naoki
AU - Keys, Steven
AU - Kirilova, Martina
AU - Kometani, Yusuke
AU - Langridge, Rob
AU - Lin, Weiren
AU - Little, Timothy
AU - Lukacs, Adrienn
AU - Mallyon, Deirdre
AU - Mariani, Elisabetta
AU - Massiot, Cecile
AU - Mathewson, Loren
AU - Melosh, Ben
AU - Menzies, Catriona Dorothy
AU - Moore, Jo
AU - Morales, Luiz
AU - Morgan, Chance
AU - Mori, Hiroshi
AU - Niemeijer, Andre
AU - Nishikawa, Osamu
AU - Prior, Dave
AU - Sauer, Katrina
AU - Savage, Martha
AU - Schleicher, Anja M.
AU - Schmitt, Doug R.
AU - Shigematsu, Norio
AU - Taylor-Offord, Sam
AU - Teagle, Damon A. H.
AU - Tobin, Harold
AU - Valdez, Robert
AU - Weaver, Konrad
AU - Wiersberg, Thomas
AU - Williams, Jack
AU - Zimmer, Martin
N1 - We thank the Friend family for land access and the Westland community for support; Schlumberger for assistance with optical fibre technology; A. Benson, R. Conze, R. Marx, B. Pooley, A. Pyne and S. Yeo for engineering and site support; the CNRS University of Montpellier wireline logging group of P. Pezard, G. Henry, O. Nitsch and J. Paris; Arnold Contracting; Eco Drilling; and Webster Drilling. Funding was provided by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), the NZ Marsden Fund, GNS Science, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Otago, the NZ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, NERC grants NE/J022128/1 and NE/J024449/1, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VIDI grant 854.12.011 and the ERC starting grant SEISMIC 335915. ICDP provided expert review, staff training and technical guidance.
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2,3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4,5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.
AB - Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2,3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4,5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.
UR - https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/410547/
U2 - 10.1038/nature22355
DO - 10.1038/nature22355
M3 - Article
VL - 546
SP - 137
EP - 140
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
ER -