Rough Faults, Distributed Weakening, and Off-Fault Deformation

Abstract

We report systematic spatial variations of fault rocks along non-planar strike-slip faults 11 cross-cutting the Lake Edison Granodiorite, Sierra Nevada, California (Sierran wavy fault) and 12 Lobbia outcrops of the Adamello Batholith in the Italian Alps (Lobbia wavy fault). In the case of 13 the Sierran fault, pseudotachylyte formed at contractional fault bends, where it is found as thin 14 (1-2 mm) fault-parallel veins. Epidote and chlorite developed in the same seismic context as the 15 pseudotachylyte and are especially abundant in extensional fault bends. We argue that the 16 presence of fluids, as illustrated by this example, does not necessarily preclude the development 17 of frictional melt. In the case of the Lobbia fault, pseudotachylyte thickness varies along the 18 length of the fault, but the pseudotachylyte veins thicken and pool in extensional bends. We 19 conduct a quantitative analysis of fault roughness, microcrack distribution, stress, and friction 20 along the Lobbia fault. 21 Numerical modeling results show that opening in extensional bends and localized thermal 22 weakening in contractional bends counteract resistance encountered by fault waviness, resulting 23 in an overall weaker fault than suggested by the corresponding static friction coefficient. The 24 models also predict static stress redistribution around bends in the faults which are consistent 25 with distributions of microcracks, indicating significant elastic and inelastic strain energy is 26 dissipated into the wall rocks due to non-planar fault geometry. Together these observations suggest that damage and energy dissipation occurs along the entire non-planar fault during slip, 28 rather than being confined to the region close to the dynamically propagating crack tip.