Rock strength and fault rheology at the Nankai subduction zone: Insight from laboratory experiments

Abstract:

Understanding the wide spectrum of fault slip behaviors observed in continental and subduction faults zones requires investigation of absolute fault strength and fault rheology that are controlled by in-situ stress, strain, pressure, temperature, and chemical conditions. Because the deformation mode and strength of porous rocks are dependent on porosity and effective stress, rapid reduction of sediment porosity from 60-70% to less than 5% should strongly affect deformation style in the shallow portion of subduction zones. Here, we present the results of laboratory experimental studies on modern clay-rich sediments subducting at the Nankai Trough and rocks from the exhumed Shimanto accretionary complex near the Nobeoka thrust, which is an ancient out-of-sequence-thrust, to constrain porosity, rock strength and fault rheology in the Nankai subduction zone.

Based on uniaxial and triaxial experiments on mudstones, combined with seismic velocity data from geophysical surveys in the Nankai Trough, estimated porosity along the plate boundary decreases from ~40% at the trench, to ~5% at 50 km from the trench (~8 km depth). This porosity reduction is faster than that expected in a basinal environment, and can be attributed to the effects of horizontal tectonic loading. The phyllites and cataclasites (2-5% porosity) across the Nobeoka thrust fault deform brittlely with a peak strength of 80-90 MPa, followed by strain weakening to residual strengths of 40-60 MPa at effective pressure of 20 MPa and temperature of 250°C. At effective pressure of 120 MPa, on the other hand, they exhibit strain hardening and their strength at 10% strain reaches ~300 MPa. The extrapolation of a brittle-ductile transition for the Nankai mudstones as a function of porosity and confining stress is consistent with the behavior of the ancient prism samples, which serve as an analog for the mechanical behavior of rocks at seismogenic depth in the modern Nankai Trough. These results suggest that as the clay-rich sediments subduct, their deformation behavior will transit from ductile to brittle and their strength of the clay-rich sediments will increase but not as high as that of sandstones or carbonates.