Permeability and frictional properties of San Andreas Fault Gouges

The permeability of a San Andreas fault gouge is determined under confining pressures up to 220 bars; it decreases with pressure from 10 nanodarcy at 15 bars to 0.3 nanodarcy at 220 bars. These values are lower than the values determined by Morrow et al. (1981). Five different samples of fault gouge with significantly different grain‐size distributions were sheared between rock joints under confining pressures to determine the effects of grain size and constitution on the strength of the fault gouge. The strength of fault gouge clearly depends on its constitution and grain size distribution, with the coarser sandy fault gouge being stronger than the finer clayey gouge. Furthermore, the coarser gouge tends to strain harden after yielding, leading to greater strength. Thus, on the San Andreas fault, inhomogeneities in gouge materials may cause spatial variations in strength. Using the permeability determined above, we estimate that the excess pore pressure generated in the fault gouge samples during the experimental shear loading may be negligible.