ALBERT

Description: Fault rock assemblages reflect interaction between deformation, stress, temperature, fluid, and chemical regimes on distinct spatial and temporal scales at various positions in the crust. Here we interpret measurements made in the hanging-wall of the Alpine Fault during the second stage of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-2). We present observational evidence for extensive fracturing and high hanging-wall hydraulic conductivity (∼10−9 to 10−7 m/s, corresponding to permeability of ∼10−16 to 10−14 m2) extending several hundred meters from the fault's principal slip zone. Mud losses, gas chemistry anomalies, and petrophysical data indicate that a subset of fractures intersected by the borehole are capable of transmitting fluid volumes of several cubic meters on time scales of hours. DFDP-2 observations and other data suggest that this hydrogeologically active portion of the fault zone in the hanging-wall is several kilometers wide in the uppermost crust. This finding is consistent with numerical models of earthquake rupture and off-fault damage. We conclude that the mechanically and hydrogeologically active part of the Alpine Fault is a more dynamic and extensive feature than commonly described in models based on exhumed faults. We propose that the hydrogeologically active damage zone of the Alpine Fault and other large active faults in areas of high topographic relief can be subdivided into an inner zone in which damage is controlled principally by earthquake rupture processes and an outer zone in which damage reflects coseismic shaking, strain accumulation and release on interseismic timescales, and inherited fracturing related to exhumation.

Description: These data are supplementary material to “Bedrock Geology of DFDP-2B, Central Alpine Fault, New Zealand” (Toy et al., 2017, http://doi.org/10.1080/00288306.2017.1375533). The data tables SF3 and SF4 are provided as well as Excel as well as CSV and PDF versions (in the zip folder). The table numbers below are referring to Toy et al. (2017): Toy_SF1.pdf (Data Description): Supplementary Data to “Bedrock Geology of DFDP-2B, Central Alpine Fault, New Zealand”, including supplementary methods, Information on reference frames and corrections, and protocols for thin section preparation and scanning electron microscopic analyses. Toy_SF2: Table S1. Time vs. depth during drilling, with lag dip corrections Toy_SF3: Table S2. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) data acquired using a TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA) and phases detected by mineral liberation analysis (MLA) Toy_SF4: Table S3. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) grain sizes

Description: Mean S-wave coda quality factors (mean-Qc) were estimated from active ultrasonic transmission (UT) measurements acquired during the STIMTEC project in the URL Reiche Zeche (Saxony, Germany). We used S-coda waves of 88 selected UT measurements carried out in 3 differently oriented boreholes (BH10, BH12, BH16) to estimate the spatial change of the coda quality factor in the targeted rock volume, an anisotropic metamorphic gneiss. We also analysed temporal variation in attenuation before and after hydraulic stimulations performed in two boreholes (BH10, BH17). We formed in total 8 UT groups (see data table "2022-004_Blanke-and-Boese_mean_UT_event_locations") from neighbouring UT measurements within different depths and from separated time intervals (see also Tab. 1 in Blanke et al. 2023), and compare mean-Qc estimates of centre frequencies ranging 3-21 kHz of octave-width frequency bands. Our results show a characteristic frequency-dependence and we find that mean-Qc estimates reveal temporal-variations of attenuation more significantly than those obtained from velocity measurements. The temporal variations are strongly connected to hydraulic stimulation activities resulting in a reduction of the coda quality factor where AE events occurred. Analysis of mean-Qc estimates after a temporal resting phase (with no activity in the rock volume) suggests that frequencies 〉 15 kHz indicate healing of small-scale fractures induced by injections. The study shows that coda analysis is a powerful tool for the detection of damage zones and for monitoring changes of the local fracture network within reservoirs important for exploitation or underground storage of gases and liquids.

Description: Between early 2018 and late 2019 the STIMTEC hydraulic stimulation experiment was performed at ca.~130 m below surface at the Reiche Zeche underground research laboratory in Freiberg, Saxony/Germany. The project aimed at gaining insight into the creation and growth of fractures in anisotropic and heterogeneous metamorphic gneiss, to develop and optimise hydraulic stimulation techniques and to control the associated induced seismicity under in situ conditions at the mine-scale. These aspects of failure and associated seismicity are important for the development of enhanced geothermal energy systems. A combined seismic network consisted of 12 single-component acoustic emission sensors (sensitivity 1-100 kHz) and three single-component Wilcoxon accelerometers (sensitivity 50 Hz-25 kHz) were installed in boreholes drilled into the test volume, surrounding the stimulation site (Figure 1). A stimulation borehole with 63 m length was drilled with 15° northward inclination. This data set of 314 active ultrasonic transmission (UT) measurements is supplementary to Boese et al. (2021), which introduces the STIMTEC experiment and its active measurement campaigns. This data set was used to derive an anisotropic velocity model for the STIMTEC rock volume. The active seismic data provided here are from six boreholes (BH09, BH10, BH12, BH15, BH16, BH17) as shown in Figure 1. of the associated data description. There are three tables provided as metadata that contain the STIMTEC sensor coordinates, event information of the 314 UT measurements and the UT picks. The UT measurements were recorded with a sampling rate of 1 MHz and results from an automatic stack of 1024 UT pulses generated by the ultrasonic transmitter and recorded by the STIMTEC sensors. The UT measurements are saved in binary file format (fsf file format). Fsf-files can be processed with FOCI software: https://www.induced.pl/software/foci. Each fsf file contains 32768 samples, which corresponds to 0.032768 seconds. All UT event files were manual inspected and phase arrivals identified. These are stored in the fsf-file header as well as in the table STIMTEC_UT_picks.csv.

Description: In 2018 and 2019, we performed STIMulation tests with characterising periodic pumping tests and high-resolution seismic monitoring for improving prognosis models and real-time monitoring TEChnologies for the creation of hydraulic conduits in crystalline rocks (STIMTEC). The STIMTEC underground research laboratory is located at 130 m depth in the Reiche Zeche mine in Freiberg, Germany. The experiment was designed to investigate the rock damage resulting from hydraulic stimulation and to link seismic activity and enhancement of hydraulic properties in strongly foliated metamorphic gneiss. We present results from active and passive seismic monitoring prior to and during hydraulic stimulations. We characterise the structural anisotropy and heterogeneity of the reservoir rocks at the STIMTEC site and the induced high-frequency (〉1 kHz) acoustic emission (AE) activity, associated with brittle deformation at the centimetre-to-decimetre scale. We derived the best velocity model per recording station from over 300 active ultrasonic transmission measurements for high-accuracy AE event location. The average P-wave anisotropy is 12 %, in agreement with values derived from laboratory tests on core material. We use a 16-station seismic monitoring network comprising AE sensors, accelerometers, one broadband sensor and one AE hydrophone. All instrumentation was removable, providing us with the flexibility to use existing boreholes for multiple purposes. This approach also allowed for optimising the (near)-real-time passive monitoring system during the experiment. To locate AE events, we tested the effect of different velocity models and inferred their location accuracy. Based on the known active ultrasonic transmission measurement points, we obtained an average relocation error of 0.26±0.06 m where the AE events occurred using a transverse isotropic velocity model per station. The uncertainty resulting from using a simplified velocity model increased to 0.5–2.6 m, depending on whether anisotropy was considered or not. Structural heterogeneity overprints anisotropy of the host rock and has a significant influence on velocity and attenuation, with up to 4 % and up to 50 % decrease on velocity and wave amplitude, respectively. Significant variations in seismic responses to stimulation were observed ranging from abundant AE events (several thousand per stimulated interval) to no activity with breakdown pressure values ranging between 6.4 and 15.6 MPa. Low-frequency seismic signals with varying amplitudes were observed for all stimulated intervals that are more correlated with the injection flow rate rather than the pressure curve. We discuss the observations from STIMTEC in context of similar experiments performed in underground research facilities to highlight the effect of small-scale rock, stress and structural heterogeneity and/or anisotropy observed at the decametre scale. The reservoir complexity at this scale supports our conclusion that field-scale experiments benefit from high-sensitivity, wide-bandwidth instrumentation and flexible monitoring approaches to adapt to unexpected challenges during all stages of the experiment.

Description: In 2020 and 2021 the STIMTEC-X hydraulic stimulation experiment was performed at ca.~130 m below surface at the Reiche Zeche underground research laboratory in Freiberg, Saxony/Germany. The project temporally followed the STIMTEC experiment at the same site and aimed at understanding the stress heterogeneity of the anisotropic and metamorphic gneiss rock mass. The STIMTEC-X experiment applied the hydraulic stimulation technique in several boreholes at the mine-scale. Complementary to the stimulations, there were active seismic ultrasonic transmission data acquired before the stimulations. We use a seismic monitoring network consisting of six single-component acoustic emission (AE) sensors (sensitivity 1-60 kHz), six hydrophone-like AE sensors (sensitivity 1-40 kHz) and four to twelve single-component Wilcoxon accelerometers (sensitivity 50 Hz-25 kHz). The AE sensors and remained stationary in sub-horizontal and upwards reaching boreholes, the accelerometers were mostly installed along the tunnel walls with one accelerometer in a shallow borehole in each tunnel, and the hydrophone-like AE sensors were installed in the down-going water filled boreholes, but repositioned for each measurement campaign (Figure 1). This data set of 120 active ultrasonic transmission (UT) measurements is supplementary to Boese et al. (2022, in review), which introduces some of the active measurement campaigns of the STIMTEC-X experiment in detail. The whole data set togetter with the “Ultrasonic transmission measurements from six boreholes from the STIMTEC experiment, Reiche Zeche Mine, Freiberg (Saxony, Germany)” [https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.2.2021.002] was used to evaluate performance measures such as sensitivity and frequency bandwith, coupling, placement and polarity of the hydrophone-like AE sensor compared to AE sensors. The active seismic data provided here are from seven boreholes (BH01, BH05, BH06, BH10, BH14, BH18, BH19) as shown in Figure 1. There are nine tables provided as metadata of which seven contain the STIMTEC-X sensor coordinates for each measurement campaign, the event information of all the 120 UT measurements and the UT picks. The UT measurements were recorded with a sampling rate of 1 MHz and results from an automatic stack of 1024 UT pulses generated by the ultrasonic transmitter and recorded by the STIMTEC-X sensors. The UT measurements are saved in binary file format (fsf file format). Fsf-files can be processed with FOCI software: https://www.induced.pl/software/foci. Each fsf file contains 32768 samples, which corresponds to 0.032768 seconds. All UT event files were manual inspected and phase arrivals identified. These are stored in the fsf-file header as well as in the table STIMTECX_UT_picks.csv.