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13 - Evolution of extension fractures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Agust Gudmundsson
Agust Gudmundsson
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London
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Summary

Aims

How do small extension fractures link to form larger fractures? More specifically, what main factors determine the path of an extension fracture? These topics are of great importance in understanding the development and maintenance of permeability in crustal rocks and reservoirs. The topic is also fundamental in understanding how volcanoes work. This follows because most volcanic eruptions are supplied with magma through dykes and inclined sheets, both of which are extension fractures. For assessing volcanic hazards and risks, we need to understand how dykes and sheets propagate to the surface, resulting in an eruption, or, alternatively, become arrested within layers or at layer contacts or other discontinuities. The main aims of this chapter are to present results on the:

  • General development of tension fractures.

  • General propagation and path-selection of hydrofractures.

  • Conditions for hydrofracture deflection and arrest.

  • Apertures of hydrofractures subject to constant fluid overpressure.

  • Apertures of hydrofractures subject to varying fluid overpressure.

  • Surface deformation related to arrested hydrofractures.

Development of tension fractures

Tension fractures develop in a similar way to hydrofractures. Most of the conclusions regarding hydrofracture propagation, deflection, and arrest, presented below, apply, with modifications, to tension fractures as well. The main differences are, first, that large tension fractures are restricted to shallow crustal depths, usually the uppermost 0.5–1 km of the crust (Chapters 7 and 8). Second, tension fractures are driven by external tensile stress, whereas hydrofractures are driven by internal fluid overpressure.

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Chapter
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Rock Fractures in Geological Processes , pp. 373 - 415
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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