Architecture and Petrophysics of Active Faults in Platform Carbonates, Italy

We illustrate two case studies of active normal and strike-slip faults in platform carbonates.The architecture of both normal and strike-slip faults were characterized in detail in the field, and the porosity, permeability, and capillary pressure of samples collected from both core and damage zones measured in the laboratory. The host rocks are Mesozoic platform carbonates with low porosity and permeability. In general, the results of our analyses showed that the fractured carbonate host rocks of the damage zones have a higher secondary porosity relative to the fault rocks of the cores.