Near-field modifications of stress induced by dyke injection at shallow depth

The deformation and stress fields accompanying dyke injection in rift zones are described in terms of a vertical crack opening in response to internal overpressure, in plane-strain configuration. Previous numerical computations of the displacement field induced by shallow dykes are found to be affected, in some cases, by significant distortion, mainly due to the limited extension of the computational domain, difficulties in handling the singularities in the proximity of the free surface and an incorrect choice of the reference frame; in particular, it is found that no subsidence can be ascribed to the mere opening of a tensile crack in a homogeneous, elastic half-space. If analytical constant-dislocation models are employed, surface displacements compare reasonably well with crack-model solutions if the upper tip is not too shallow; however, constant dislocation solutions present unphysical singularities along the tips, which distort significantly the near-field stress pattern with respect to crack solutions. If the principal stress axes are computed from crack models, a broad region is found on both sides of the dyke where the induced stress has a nearly vertical intermediate axis while the compressive axis is normal to the dyke plane. Strike-slip earthquakes are expected to prevail in this region. Above the upper crack tip, a small region is present where the tensile stress is dominant and the intermediate stress is still vertical. In the proximity of the free surface, typically within a few tens of metres of it, induced tensile stresses are greater than the lithostatic pressure: open fissures might then develop in cohesionless soil or pre-faulted rock. The induced pressure in the host rock is found to be negative (suction) in the proximity of the ground surface and positive at greater depth: fluid flow within the aquifers can be significantly altered by this induced overpressure and by the anisotropic modification of the pre-existing permeability. According to the modified Coulomb failure criterion, in the short term the shallower region, characterized by suction, is strengthened, while the deeper, pressurized region is weakened. These results can explain in a straightforward way the abundance of strike-slip focal mechanisms in volcanic areas, the switch between tensional and compressional axes inferred from focal mechanisms of earthquakes in connection with a dyke injection episode on Mount Etna, en echelon fracture systems observed at Piton de la Fournaise above the feeding dyke and precursory geochemical anomalies.