Characteristics of the lithology, fault-related rocks and fault zone structures in TCDP hole-A

Abstract

The main objective of the Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Drilling Project (TCDP) was to conduct an in-depth probe into a fault zone of recent major activity so as to gain a better understanding of and more insight into the physical, mechanical and chemical properties involved. By the end of 2004, with the completion of the drilling of Hole-A, cuttings from 0 to 431.34 m and cores from a 431.34- to 2003.26-m depth had been obtained. Stratigraphically, the Pliocene to Pleistocene Cholan Formation is found from the surface to a 1029-m depth and is predominantly composed of sandstone and sandstone-siltstone alternations with weak to intense bioturbation. The Pliocene Chinshui Formation is observed from a depth of 1029- to 1303-m and predominantly consists of siltstone with weak bioturbation. From 1303- to 1712-m down there is the late Miocene to early Pliocene Kueichulin Formation which is predominantly composed of massive sandstone with minor siltstone. Below 1712 m, the Formation again resembles the younger Cholan Formation with mollusca-rich, thick, layered shale and heavy bioturbated sandstone. Four types of fault-related rocks are identified in the cores. They are the fault breccia, gouges, foliated and non-foliated cataclasites and pseudotachylytes. At least six major fault zones are found in the cores: FZ1111, FZ1153, FZ1220, FZ1580, FZ1712, and FZ1812. Among these, FZ1111 most probably corresponds to the slip surface of the Chi-Chi earthquake, the Chelungpu fault, while FZ1712 very likely represents the Sanyi fault.