Abstract
Fault reactivation is a common and important engineering geological phenomenon. However, the surface expressions and intensity of reactivated faults adjacent to open-pit mines can vary with the engineering geological conditions. In this study, several types of fault reactivation were identified and studied based on geological investigations conducted at an open-pit mine in China. Based on these studies, a comparatively simple physical simulation method was employed to analyze the causes of fault reactivation under self-weight stress conditions. For a steeply dipping fault which outcrops in the tensile zone of an excavated slope, the tensile stresses generated perpendicular to the fault surface usually result in normal fault-style movement, regardless of the orientation of the fault. For a steeply dipping fault which outcrops in the compressional zone of an excavated slope, an outward-dipping fault usually generates reverse fault-style movement, whereas an inward-dipping fault usually generates normal fault-style movement. For a low-angled and inward-dipping fault, reverse fault-style movement could be induced because of the self-weight body forces of the hanging wall slope. Flexural toppling failure of an excavated slope was simulated by a series of inward-dipping faults. The simulated scarp sizes and deflections of the reactivated faults increased along the excavated slope.
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Acknowledgments
The study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41002107, 41172271, and 41030750) and was a China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (Grant No. 2012M510542). Grateful appreciation is expressed for this support.
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Zhao, H., Ma, F., Xu, J. et al. Experimental investigations of fault reactivation induced by slope excavations in China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73, 891–901 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0569-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0569-1