3D and 4D Architecture of Fluid Flow in Fault and Shear Zone Networks During Crustal Deformation

Using an exceptionally well-exposed area of the European Alps as a natural laboratory, structural, geochemical and geochronological techniques will be applied to determine the 3D distribution, style and intensity of fluid-rock interaction among elements of a shear network formed near the base of the continental seismogenic regime. The field and laboratory studies will be integrated with numerical modelling to (1) evaluate key factors governing the evolution of fluid flow paths during the progressive growth of shear networks; and (2) develop models for feedbacks between fluid flow, reaction and partitioning of displacement among component structures of 3D shear networks during crustal deformation.