Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution

Abstract

A quantitative assessment of how faults control the migration of geofluids is critical in many areas of geosciences. Here we integrated geological fieldwork, quantitative analysis of the fractures distribution and numerical modeling to build a geometrical representation of a fault zone and to characterize its hydraulic properties. Our target is a fault located in the Majella Mountain (Italy). We collected 21 scan lines across the fault profile in order to characterize its architecture. The numerical modeling of the fracture network of the damage zones and their hydraulic parameters was performed using both commercial (Move®) and open source software (dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN). Move® was used to build a representative model of the fault zone using fracture spacing as a proxy, and to model the hydraulic parameters of the different fault domains. dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN were employed to infer the hydraulic parameters of the damage zones of the fault and then upscale these properties to an equivalent continuum domain, suitable for fluid flow simulations through the whole fault zone. Our findings show how even in a relatively small area it is possible to describe changes in terms of hydraulic properties of a fault zone and to build models capable to represent thesemore » variations.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [1];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Rome (Italy)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
OSTI Identifier:
1739978
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-32302
Journal ID: ISSN 0191-8141
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Structural Geology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 135; Journal ID: ISSN 0191-8141
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; fractures; faults; fluid flow; discrete fracture networks; numerical modeling

Citation Formats

Romano, Valentina, Bigi, Sabina, Carnevale, Francesco, Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven, Karra, Satish, Valocchi, Albert J., Tartarello, Maria, and Battaglia, Maurizio. Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104036.
Copy to clipboard
Romano, Valentina, Bigi, Sabina, Carnevale, Francesco, Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven, Karra, Satish, Valocchi, Albert J., Tartarello, Maria, & Battaglia, Maurizio. Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104036
Copy to clipboard
Romano, Valentina, Bigi, Sabina, Carnevale, Francesco, Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven, Karra, Satish, Valocchi, Albert J., Tartarello, Maria, and Battaglia, Maurizio. Thu . "Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104036. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1739978.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1739978,
title = {Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution},
author = {Romano, Valentina and Bigi, Sabina and Carnevale, Francesco and Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven and Karra, Satish and Valocchi, Albert J. and Tartarello, Maria and Battaglia, Maurizio},
abstractNote = {A quantitative assessment of how faults control the migration of geofluids is critical in many areas of geosciences. Here we integrated geological fieldwork, quantitative analysis of the fractures distribution and numerical modeling to build a geometrical representation of a fault zone and to characterize its hydraulic properties. Our target is a fault located in the Majella Mountain (Italy). We collected 21 scan lines across the fault profile in order to characterize its architecture. The numerical modeling of the fracture network of the damage zones and their hydraulic parameters was performed using both commercial (Move®) and open source software (dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN). Move® was used to build a representative model of the fault zone using fracture spacing as a proxy, and to model the hydraulic parameters of the different fault domains. dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN were employed to infer the hydraulic parameters of the damage zones of the fault and then upscale these properties to an equivalent continuum domain, suitable for fluid flow simulations through the whole fault zone. Our findings show how even in a relatively small area it is possible to describe changes in terms of hydraulic properties of a fault zone and to build models capable to represent these variations.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104036},
journal = {Journal of Structural Geology},
number = ,
volume = 135,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104036
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Fluid flow properties of basin-bounding normal faults in platform carbonates, Fucino Basin, central Italy
journal, January 2008

  • Agosta, Fabrizio
  • Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol. 299, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1144/SP299.17

From fractures to flow: A field-based quantitative analysis of an outcropping carbonate reservoir
journal, July 2010

Oblique normal faulting along the northern edge of the Majella Anticline, central Italy: Inferences on hydrocarbon migration and accumulation
journal, July 2009

  • Agosta, Fabrizio; Alessandroni, Mauro; Tondi, Emanuele
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 31, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2009.03.012

Architecture and deformation mechanism of a basin-bounding normal fault in Mesozoic platform carbonates, central Italy
journal, August 2006

Gas migration along fault systems and through the vadose zone in the Latera caldera (central Italy): Implications for CO2 geological storage
journal, July 2008

  • Annunziatellis, A.; Beaubien, S.; Bigi, S.
  • International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 2, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2008.02.003

Effect of mechanical interaction on the development of strike-slip faults with echelon patterns
journal, January 1990

Extensional faults in fine grained carbonates – analysis of fault core lithology and thickness–displacement relationships
journal, November 2010

Fault zone hydrogeology: introduction to the special issue
journal, November 2016

  • Bense, Victor Franciscus; Shipton, Zoe Kai; Kremer, Yannick
  • Geofluids, Vol. 16, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1111/gfl.12205

Controls on damage zone asymmetry of a normal fault zone: outcrop analyses of a segment of the Moab fault, SE Utah
journal, October 2005

Characterizing flow and transport in fractured geological media: A review
journal, August 2002

Dolomite Formation in Pelagic Limestone and Diatomite, Romanche Fracture Zone, Equatorial Atlantic
journal, November 2004

  • Bernoulli, D.; Gasperini, L.; Bonatti, E.
  • Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol. 74, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1306/040404740924

CO2 flow through a fractured rock volume: Insights from field data, 3D fractures representation and fluid flow modeling
journal, October 2013

The damage zone-fault core transition in carbonate rocks: implications for fault growth, structure and permeability
journal, November 2003

The Oligocene–Miocene stratigraphic evolution of the Majella carbonate platform (Central Apennines, Italy)
journal, March 2016

Fracturing and hydrothermal alteration in normal fault zones
journal, January 1994

  • Bruhn, Ronald L.; Parry, William T.; Yonkee, William A.
  • Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 142, Issue 3-4
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF00876057

Fault zone architecture and permeability structure
journal, January 1996

Reservoir Potential of Cretaceous Platform-Margin Breccias, Central Italian Apennines
journal, April 2002

Fault zone fabrics and geofluid properties as indicators of rock deformation modes
journal, November 2001

Implications for mechanical properties of brittle faults from observations of the Punchbowl fault zone, California
journal, January 1986

  • Chester, F. M.; Logan, J. M.
  • Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 124, Issue 1-2
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF00875720

Growth of vertically segmented normal faults
journal, December 1996

Fault zone fabric and fault weakness
journal, December 2009

  • Collettini, Cristiano; Niemeijer, André; Viti, Cecilia
  • Nature, Vol. 462, Issue 7275
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature08585

Derivation of equivalent pipe network analogues for three-dimensional discrete fracture networks by the boundary element method
journal, September 1999

  • Dershowitz, W. S.; Fidelibus, C.
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 35, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1029/1999WR900118

Probabilistic and statistical methods in engineering geology: Specific methods and examples part I: Exploration
journal, February 1983

  • Einstein, H. H.; Baecher, G. B.
  • Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 16, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF01030217

Permeability of fault-related rocks, and implications for hydraulic structure of fault zones
journal, November 1997

Dispersion on a Sphere
journal, May 1953

  • Fisher, R.
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 217, Issue 1130
  • DOI: 10.1098/rspa.1953.0064

Structure and content of the Moab Fault Zone, Utah, USA, and its implications for fault seal prediction
journal, January 1998

  • Foxford, K. A.; Walsh, J. J.; Watterson, J.
  • Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol. 147, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1998.147.01.06

Effects of internal structure and local stresses on fracture propagation, deflection, and arrest in fault zones
journal, November 2010

  • Gudmundsson, Agust; Simmenes, Trine H.; Larsen, Belinda
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 32, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2009.08.013

Evaluating the performance of parallel subsurface simulators: An illustrative example with PFLOTRAN: Evaluating the Parallel Performance of Pflotran
journal, January 2014

  • Hammond, G. E.; Lichtner, P. C.; Mills, R. T.
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 50, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/2012WR013483

Printed circuits for studying rock mass permeability
journal, October 1980

  • Hudson, J. A.; La Pointe, P. R.
  • International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, Vol. 17, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1016/0148-9062(80)90812-8

Conforming Delaunay Triangulation of Stochastically Generated Three Dimensional Discrete Fracture Networks: A Feature Rejection Algorithm for Meshing Strategy
journal, January 2014

  • Hyman, Jeffrey D.; Gable, Carl W.; Painter, Scott L.
  • SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, Vol. 36, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1137/130942541

dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport
journal, November 2015

Fault damage zones
journal, March 2004

  • Kim, Young-Seog; Peacock, David C. P.; Sanderson, David J.
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 26, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2003.08.002

Fault and natural fracture control on upward fluid migration: insights from a shale gas play in the St. Lawrence Platform, Canada
journal, September 2018

Magnetic and sequence stratigraphy of redeposited Upper Cretaceous limestones in the Montagna della Maiella, Abruzzi, Italy
journal, July 1997

Porous media equivalents for networks of discontinuous fractures
journal, June 1982

  • Long, J. C. S.; Remer, J. S.; Wilson, C. R.
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 18, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1029/WR018i003p00645

Kinematic evolution and strain simulation, based on cross-section restoration, of the Maiella Mountain: an analogue for oil fields in the Apennines (Italy)
journal, January 2011

  • Masini, Massimiliano; Bigi, Sabina; Poblet, Josep
  • Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol. 349, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1144/SP349.2

Damage zone geometry around fault tips
journal, July 1995

Structural evolution and permeability of normal fault zones in highly porous carbonate rocks
journal, July 2006

  • Micarelli, L.; Benedicto, A.; Wibberley, C. A. J.
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2006.03.036

Permeability tensor for discontinuous rock masses
journal, December 1985

Permeability scaling properties of fault damage zones in siliclastic rocks
journal, September 2004

Structural architecture and Discrete Fracture Network modelling of layered fractured carbonates (Altamura Fm., Italy)
journal, October 2015

  • Panza, Elisa; Berto, Claudio; Luzi, Elisa
  • Italian Journal of Geosciences, Vol. 134, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.3301/IJG.2014.28

Propagation, interaction and linkage in normal fault systems
journal, July 2002

Development and distribution of bed-parallel compaction bands and pressure solution seams in carbonates (Bolognano Formation, Majella Mountain, Italy)
journal, April 2012

  • Rustichelli, Andrea; Tondi, Emanuele; Agosta, Fabrizio
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 37
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2012.01.007

The interaction of extensional and contractional deformations in the outer zones of the Central Apennines, Italy
journal, October 2002

Fault rocks and fault mechanisms
journal, March 1977

Structural permeability of fluid-driven fault-fracture meshes
journal, August 1996

Stress, fluid pressure and structural permeability in seismogenic crust, North Island, New Zealand
journal, August 2003

Coseismic recrystallization during shallow earthquake slip
journal, January 2013

  • Smith, S. A. F.; Di Toro, G.; Kim, S.
  • Geology, Vol. 41, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1130/G33588.1

The role of deformation bands, stylolites and sheared stylolites in fault development in carbonate grainstones of Majella Mountain, Italy
journal, March 2006

  • Tondi, Emanuele; Antonellini, Marco; Aydin, Atilla
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2005.12.001

Petrophysical properties of heavy oil-bearing carbonate rocks and their implications on petroleum system evolution: Insights from the Majella Massif
journal, January 2020

Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy of a Miocene warm-temperate carbonate ramp, Montagna della Maiella, Italy
journal, January 1999

Formation of segmented normal faults: a 3-D perspective
journal, August 2003

Fracture properties analysis and discrete fracture network modelling of faulted tight limestones, Murge Plateau, Italy
journal, October 2015

  • Zambrano, Miller; Tondi, Emanuele; korneva, Irina
  • Italian Journal of Geosciences, Vol. 135, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.3301/IJG.2014.42
    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: