EVOLUTION OF PORE PRESSURE AND FLUID FLOW REGIMES DURING VISCO-ELASTIC SINGLE-LAYER BUCKLE FOLDING

Pore pressure and fluid flow during the deformational history of geologic structures are directly influenced by tectonic deformation events such as buckle folding. In this contribution, 2D plane strain Finite Element analysis is used to study the influence of different permeability distributions on the pore pressure field and associated flow regimes during the evolution of visco-elastic single layer buckle folds. The buckling induced fluid flow regimes indicate that flow directions and their magnitudes vary significantly throughout the deformation history and as a function of the stratigraphic permeability distribution. The modelling results suggest that the volumetric strain and the permeability distribution are the main drivers for fluid flow with different factors dominating at different stages of fold development.