Bed-parallel compaction bands in aeolian sandstone: Their identification, characterization and implications

This study combines field observations and laboratory analyses to identify and characterize predominantly bed-parallel compaction bands in the aeolian Aztec Sandstone exposed in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. These bed-parallel compaction bands display morphological and geometrical characteristics of deformation bands of various modes previously described in the literature, such as positive relief, echelon geometry, “bridge” and “eye” structure, and zonal occurrence. Portions of some bands cross-cut sedimentary layers, thereby distinguishing themselves from depositional bedding. Laboratory image analyses of several samples collected from bed-parallel bands, using a computational rock physics algorithm, show that their porosities are less than half that of the host rock and their permeability is nearly one order of magnitude less. In addition, the study area includes compaction bands that have dip angles ranging from sub-horizontal to greater than 20°. Parts of these bands have even higher dip angles and show evidence for increasing intragranular fracturing and shearing as the band inclination increases. We attribute this variation to shear-enhanced compaction, a mechanism proposed earlier by experimental rock mechanists.One of the implications of the occurrence of localized compaction in the form of discrete bands parallel to flat-lying and low-angle bedding is that it provides an alternative or an additional mode to a vertically continuous compaction in loose or poorly cemented sediments. If pervasive, bed-parallel compaction bands with significantly lower porosity than that of the surrounding undeformed rock should result in a significant heterogeneity and vertical anisotropy in seismic velocities and hydraulic properties of granular rocks.