Magma-driven multiple dike propagation and fracture toughness.pdfVIP

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 113, B03206, doi:10.1029/2006JB004761, 2008 Click Here for Full Article Magma-driven multiple dike propagation and fracture toughness of crustal rocks Z.-H. Jin1 and S. E. Johnson2 Received 18 September 2006; revised 17 April 2007; accepted 12 December 2007; published 8 March 2008. [1] Dike swarms consisting of tens to thousands of subparallel dikes are commonly observed at Earth’s surface, raising the possibility of simultaneous propagation of two or more dikes at various stages of a swarm’s development. The behavior of multiple propagating dikes differs from that of a single dike owing to the interacting stress fields associated with each dike. We analyze an array of parallel, periodically spaced dikes that grow simultaneously from an overpressured source into a semi-infinite, linear elastic host rock. To simplify the analysis, we assume steady state (constant velocity) magma flow and dike propagation. We use a perturbation method to analyze the coupled, nonlinear problem of multiple dike propagation and magma transport. The stress intensity factor at the dike tips and the opening displacements of the dike surfaces are calculated. The numerical results show that dike spacing has a profound effect on the behavior of dike propagation. The stress intensity factors at the tips of parallel dikes decrease with a decrease in dike spacing and are significantly smaller than that for a single dike with the same length. The reduced stress intensity factor indicates that, compared to a single dike, propagation of parallel dikes is more likely to be arrested under otherwise the same conditions. It also implies that fracture toughness of the host rock in a high confining pressure environment may not be as high as inferred from the propagation of a single dike. Our numerical results suggest fracture toughness values on the order of pffiffiffiffi 100 MPa m. The opening