In-situ stress conditions at ODP Site 131-808

Shipboard laboratory index property data, shore-based consolidation tests, and in-situ stress and pore-pressure measurements are used in this study to constrain the stress conditions at ODP Site 808, Nankai Trough. Results of these tests are presented along with additional interpretations of porosity rebound and permeability. The sediment at Site 808 is highly affected by excess fluid pressures throughout the sediment column. Excess fluid pressure is severe below the major fault boundary, the décollement. The in-situ measurement of lateral stresses, which are shallow in the sediment section, confirms that the principal stress direction is rotated from a "normal" basin-type condition where the principal stress direction is vertical.

Stress tests of ODP Site 131-808 sediments

Sediments undergoing accretion in trench-forearc systems are subjected to conditions of large lateral thrusting. This stress regime controls the mechanism of faulting as well as the yield and strength properties of the sediment. Understanding them is therefore crucial for the construction of quantitative models of sediment dynamics in convergent margin settings. For this purpose triaxial and oedometer tests were performed on six whole-round core samples recovered from Site 808 from depths between 173 and 705 mbsf. Samples from five depth intervals were subjected to a triaxial test program that was primarily designed to define yield and strength behavior. Test specimens were cut parallel and normal to the core axis. Additional five oedometer tests with similarly prepared specimens were performed on samples from four depth intervals to evaluate the directional state and degree of sediment compaction. Test results show that the degree of sediment compaction is higher than expected from overburden. This overcompaction increases with depth. A well-developed mechanical anisotropy is evident in all samples tested, regardless of their depth and lithology. Values of yield limit, stiffness, and shear strength are up to 40% higher in the horizontal direction compared to the vertical direction. In addition the test data demonstrate that the axis of the volumetric yield loci have rotated into extensional stress field. This verifies that the mechanical state of sediment in the accretionary wedge is controlled by in-situ stress conditions of extensional nature. The coefficients of lateral stress inferred suggest that the extensional stress regime becomes increasingly effective with depth.