Changes in structural style of normal faults due to failure mode transition: First results from excavated scale models

The effects of failure mode transition from tensile to shear on structural style and fault zone architecture have long been recognized but are not well studied in 3D, although the two modes are both common in the upper crust of Earth and terrestrial planets, and are associated with large differences in transport properties. We present a simple method to study this in physical scale models of normal faults, using a cohesive powder embedded in cohesionless sand. By varying the overburden thickness, the failure mode changes from tensile to hybrid and finally to shear. Hardening and excavating the cohesive layer allows post mortem investigation of 3D structures at high resolution. We recognize two end member structural domains that differ strongly in their attributes. In the tensile domain faults are strongly dilatant with steep open fissures and sharp changes in strike at segment boundaries and branch points. In the shear domain fault dips are shallower and fault planes develop striations; map-view fault traces undulate with smaller changes in strike at branches. These attributes may be recognized in subsurface fault maps and could provide a way to better predict fault zone structure in the subsurface.