Home – Home – Jornals – Russian Geology and Geophysics 2004 number 6

Field data and physical modeling show an along-strike regularity as the most common feature of fracturing in crustal fault zones which include the major fault plane and all related subsidiary faults. Fault zones of different evolution stages, geometries, and stress environments are marked by chains of fracture density peaks spaced at roughly equal distances. This regularity, manifested at all fault pattern hierarchies, is especially prominent at the final evolution stage when a fault zone becomes divided along its strike into segments of the major plane, each containing a single large fault, joined at duplexes or accommodation zones. Spacing between fracture density peaks is greater at lower strain rates and in thicker and more viscous crust layers. The peaks are spaced less closely in strike-slip faults than in normal, reverse or thrust faults. The revealed regularity can be used for reference in seismic and metallogenic predictions, as the fracture pattern correlates with the distribution of fault-related earthquakes and mineral deposits.