Experimental study of the evolution of fault gouge in layered sand–clay sequences

This study focuses on clay smear processes during fault gouge evolution in sand-clay sequences at depths up to 2 km. A clay-rich fault gouge can dramatically lower the fault’s permeability, and prediction of this process is therefore relevant in groundwater modelling and hydrocarbon geology (Fulljames et al. 1997, Yielding et al 1997, van der Zee et al. 2003, 2005). We constructed an ‘underwater’ sand-