Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hirono, T.
Right arrow Articles by Nakashima, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2003; v. 215; p. 107-115;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.215.01.10
© 2003 Geological Society of London

Direct imaging of fluid flow in fault-related rocks by X-ray CT

T. Hirono1, M. Takahashi2 & S. Nakashima1

1 Interactive Research Center of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152–8551, Japan t-hirono{at}spa.att.ne.jp
2 Rock Physics Team, Research Center for Deep Geological Environments, AIST, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan

Faults profoundly affect patterns and rates of fluid flow and solute transport in the geological environment. They may act as conduits, barriers or combined conduit-barrier systems. In order to elucidate the relationship between fluid flow properties and deformation mechanisms of fault-related rocks, we applied X-ray CT during laboratory permeameter measurements for direct imaging of fluid flow during permeability testing. A KI solution, which has high X-ray attenuation values, was used as a contrast medium for the advection imaging. Three-dimensional fluid flow distributions were measured for the studied fault-related rocks. Fault zones characterized by independent particulate flow as deformation mechanism act as conduits for fluid flow, whereas cataclastic fault zones act as barriers.