Coupled beHaviour undErstaNdIng of fauLts : from the Laboratory to the fiEld

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Marco Bohnhoff; Professor Dr. Fabrice Cotton, since 12/2022
• Subject Area: Geophysics ; Geology
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 490778782

The understanding of the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of fault zones in naturally fractured reservoirs is of fundamental importance for a variety of societal and economic reasons, such as the sustainable energy transition for the safe use of natural resources. The idea here is to carry out a thermally controlled in situ fluid injection experiment in one of the faults accessible from the Tournemire underground research laboratory in Southern France. A heating system will be installed around the injection and enable a precise and controlled incremental increase the thermal load. In addition, an important monitoring system will be installed to measure the seismic and aseismic events as well as temperature evolution. A series of laboratory experiments will be conducted to understand the chemical and structural evolution occurring within fault zones during thermal and hydraulic loading.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Pierre Dick; Dr. Alexandre Dimanov; Dr. Jerome Fortin
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Jan Henninges; Grzegorz Kwiatek, Ph.D.; Dr. Stefan Lüth; Dr. Anja Schleicher; Professor Dr. Serge A. Shapiro
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Audrey Bonnelye, Ph.D., until 12/2022