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Data Publication

Frictional properties of simulated shale-coal fault gouges: Implications for induced seismicity in source rocks below Europe’s largest gas field

Liu, Jinfeng | Hunfeld, Luuk Bernd | Niemeijer, André Rik | Spiers, Christopher James

YoDa Data Repository, Utrecht University, Netherlands

(2019)

We report 21 frictional sliding experiments performed on simulated fault gouges prepared from shale-coal mixtures. Our aim was to investigate the effects of local coal seam smearing on the frictional properties and induced seismogenic potential of faults cutting the Upper Carboniferous source rocks underlying the Groningen gas reservoir (Netherlands). We used shale/siltstone core recovered from beneath the Groningen reservoir plus Polish bituminous coal of similar age and origin to coals locally present in the Groningen source rocks. We performed friction experiments in velocity stepping, constant velocity, slide-hold-slide (SHS) and slide-unload-slide (SUS) modes, under near in-situ conditions of 100 degrees C and 40 MPa effective normal stress, employing sliding velocities of 0.1-100 µm/s and a variety of pore fluids. Samples with 0-50 volume % coal showed friction coefficients ~0.45, with minor slip weakening. Samples with ≥ 50 vol% coal showed marked slip-weakening from peak friction values of ~0.47 to ~0.3, regardless of experimental conditions, presumably reflecting strain localization in weak coal-rich shear bands, possibly accompanied by changes in coal molecular structure. However, re-sliding experiments (SUS) showed that slip-weakening is limited to small initial displacements (2-3 mm), and does not occur during slip reactivation. At (near) steady state, almost all experiments performed at in-situ stress, pore water pressure (15 MPa) and temperature conditions exhibited stable, velocity strengthening behaviour, regardless of coal content. By contrast, under dry and gas-saturated (CH4, Argon) conditions, or using water at 1 atm, 50:50 (vol%) shale-coal mixtures showed velocity-weakening and even stick-slip. Our results imply that faults in the Groningen Carboniferous shale-siltstone sequence are not prone to induce earthquake nucleation at in-situ conditions even when coal-bearing or coal-enriched by smearing. However, the mechanisms controlling coal friction remain unclear at the sliding velocities studied, and the evolution of coal friction at seismic slip velocities remains unknown. The data is provided in a folder with 21 subfolders for 21 experiments/samples. Detailed information about the files in these subfolders as well as information on how the data is processed is given in the explanatory file Liu-et-al-2019-Data-Description.pdf. Contact person is Dr. Jinfeng Liu - Sun Yat-Sen University- liujinf5@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Keywords


Originally assigned keywords
Natural Sciences Earth and related environmental sciences 15
rateandstate friction
frictional healing
coalrich shear bands
pore fluids effects
Groningen Carboniferous
slipweakening
Coal
Scanning Electrone Microscope
Optical Microscope
XRay Diffractometer
Triaxial
shale
SlideHoldSlide
RateState
Thermocouple
EPOS
multiscale laboratories
rock and melt physics properties

Corresponding MSL vocabulary keywords
frictional strength recovery
frictional strength recovery
coupled mechanical-chemical effects
coal
scanning electron microscope (SEM)
optical microscopy
x-ray diffractometer
X-ray diffraction
shale
reactivation friction coefficient
reactivation friction coefficient
thermometer

MSL enriched keywords
Measured property
friction - controlled slip rate
friction coefficient
frictional strength recovery
Measured property
friction - controlled slip rate
friction coefficient
frictional strength recovery
coupled mechanical-chemical effects
sedimentary rock
coal
Apparatus
electron microscopy
scanning electron microscope (SEM)
optical microscopy
equipment
x-ray diffractometer
Technique
imaging (3D)
computed tomography (CT)
X-ray diffraction
mudstone
shale
reactivation friction coefficient
reactivation friction coefficient
Ancillary equipment
measurement of temperature
thermometer
fault rock
fault gouge
Inferred deformation behavior
deformation behaviour
frictional deformation
antropogenic setting
gas field
Induced seismicity
subsurface energy production
hydrocarbon energy production
gas field
induced seismicity
siltstone
bituminous coal
simulated fault gouge
Apparatus
deformation testing
shear testing
rate and state friction (RSF) parameters
slip weakening parameters
strain
rate and state friction (RSF) parameters
strain
Phanerozoic
Paleozoic
Carboniferous
tectonic deformation structure
tectonic fault
measured property
carbon (C)
methane
Analyzed feature
deformation microstructure
generic deformation microstructure
shear band foliation

MSL original sub domains

rock and melt physics

MSL enriched sub domains i

rock and melt physics
analogue modelling of geologic processes
microscopy and tomography
geochemistry


Source publisher

YoDa Data Repository, Utrecht University, Netherlands


DOI

10.24416/UU01-KQZUPZ


Authors

Liu, Jinfeng

0000-0002-6444-9427

School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University;

Hunfeld, Luuk Bernd

0000-0001-9250-414X

Utrecht University;

Niemeijer, André Rik

0000-0003-3983-9308

Utrecht University;

Spiers, Christopher James

0000-0002-3436-8941

Utrecht University;


Contributers

Liu, Jinfeng

DataCollector

0000-0002-6444-9427

School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University;

Liu, Jinfeng

Researcher

0000-0002-6444-9427

School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University;

Hunfeld, Luuk Bernd

Researcher

0000-0001-9250-414X

Utrecht University;

Niemeijer, André Rik

Researcher

0000-0003-3983-9308

Utrecht University;

Spiers, Christopher James

Supervisor

0000-0002-3436-8941

Utrecht University;

Experimental rock deformation/HPT-Lab (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

HostingInstitution

Utrecht University;


References

Hunfeld, L. B., Niemeijer, A. R., & Spiers, C. J. (2017). Frictional Properties of Simulated Fault Gouges from the Seismogenic Groningen Gas Field Under In Situ P–T ‐Chemical Conditions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(11), 8969–8989. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jb014876

10.1002/2017JB014876

References


Citiation

Liu, J., Hunfeld, L. B., Niemeijer, A. R., & Spiers, C. J. (2019). Frictional properties of simulated shale-coal fault gouges: Implications for induced seismicity in source rocks below Europe’s largest gas field. Utrecht University. https://doi.org/10.24416/UU01-KQZUPZ


Geo location(s)

6.186293869032625, 53.08149440668108, 7.066298483624223, 53.49981708875441

The Carboniferous shale/siltstone samples were collected from core obtained from the SDM-1 well in the seismogenic centre of the Groningen field, Netherlands

15.384399613612231, 49.96072880335346, 21.53674470471674, 51.57806093491139

Coal samples were collected from Brzeszcze Mine (Seam 364), in the Upper Silesian Basin of Poland, Poland