Fracturing and Porosity Channeling in Fluid Overpressure Zones in the Shallow Earth’s Crust

Figure 8

The final porosity pattern for 6 faulted horizontal layers with different Young’s moduli. Young’s modulus is in GPa, and time is in hours. The developing patterns are quite similar for different Young’s moduli, and they all connect across the fault and have a semihorizontal orientation. All simulations show a compacted zone in the hanging and the footwall of the fault. The softer layers (Young’s modulus below 40 GPa) show high porosity within the fault that extends into the host rock.