Hydraulic properties variations response to seismic activity in the thick alluvial materials overlying an active fault: the Chihshang Fault (Taiwan)

The Chihshang Fault, one of the most active creeping faults in the world at a surface slip rate of 2-3 cm/yr, is located at plate suture between the Philippine Sea and the Eurasian plates in eastern Taiwan. Near the surface at the Chinyuan village, the Chihshang Fault propagates into the Holocene unconsolidated gravel layers. There, the Chihshang Fault displays a three-branch fault system with a diffused fault zone in the Chinyuan alluvial fan, which is composed of at least 100 m thick alluvial deposits. Outside of the Chinyuan fan, the Chihshang Fault exhibits a single fault system. In order to better understand whether the pore-fluid pressure variations within the alluvial gravels influences the near-surface seasonal locked behavior of the Chihshang Fault, we drilled four groundwater wells of depth of 30-100 m across the fault zone in the alluvial fan. Monitoring of natural pore pressure variations in piezometers, monthly slug experiments, and long duration pumping/injection experiments were carried out during 2007-2011. Together with the subsurface electrical resistivity imaging and core geological analysis, we identified a shallow aquifer layer that is deformed and truncated by the obliquely dipping fault zone. The results showed that the permeability within the fault zone is an order of magnitude less than that outside of the fault zone (i.e., the footwall and the hanging wall). This change in permeability may explain the 8-10 meter step of offset in groundwater level across the fault. In addition, repeated slug tests revealed that the permeability not only varied seasonally but also increased gradually by 20 fold in the hanging wall from 2007 to 2011. A dramatic jump in the permeability in the fault zone was observed from April to September 2008. This phenomenon is interpreted as a result of a cluster of low magnitude earthquakes occurred at the shallow crust, which may either have changed the static stress field along the fault, or cause dilatation that increases the porosity and permeability around the fault zone.