Fault zones often display a complex internal structure and microstructure which result from various deformation processes and mechanisms overprinting pre-existing structures formed earlier in the fault zone history and also features inherited from the host rocks . This fault architecture constantly evolves with time due to slip accumulation, fault development and fault interaction with surrounding features. In their simplest form, faults consist of a single zone of intense deformation which, macroscopically, includes a main slip surface surrounded by fault rocks produced by brecciation and/or cataclasis. More generally, the fault architecture is made up of an inner fault core comprised of multiple slip surfaces and a range of fault rocks, which are irregularly distributed as spatially discontinuous sheets and lenses, encompassed by less-deformed regions of fault damage.
Brecciation, cataclasis and damage processes such as host rock fracturing, fragmentation and minor faulting profoundly change the mechanical behavior of fault zones over time. The presence of fluids within the fault zones can also play a major role affecting heat and mass transport, healing processes and overall fault strength. This session focuses on the field and laboratory characterization of the aforementioned faulting processes, and on modeling of these processes. Contributions on fault slip distribution, interplay and scaling laws among different fault components are also welcome in order to address fault evolution at all scales, from single specimens to regional tectonic lineaments. Modeling approaches of thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in fault zone context are also appropriate.
We invite field geologists, laboratory experimentalists, computer modelers and theoreticians to present their work in this multi-disciplinary scientific session.