Sheldon, Heather AMicklethwaite, Steven2015-12-100091-7613http://hdl.handle.net/1885/39410Mineral deposits are commonly hosted by small-displacement structures around jogs in major faults, but they are rarely hosted by the major fault itself. This relationship may be explained by time-dependent fracturing and healing in and around major faults and associated permeability evolution. A damage mechanics formulation is used here to explore the spatial-temporal evolution of damage in and around a fault following a fault-slip event. We show that regions of increased damage rate correspond to the location of mineral deposits and that these areas correspond to areas of aftershocks predicted by stress-transfer modeling. The fault itself enters a healing regime following the slip event; hence, it is expected to become less permeable than the fracture network outside the fault. Our results support the hypothesis that mineralization occurs in a fracture network associated with aftershocks; this may be due to the higher time-integrated permeability of the fracture network relative to the main fault.Keywords: Damage mechanics; Major faults; Mineralization; Mechanical permeability; Mineral resources; Structural geology; Tectonics; Mineralogy; aftershock; damage mechanics; fault slip; fracture network; mineral deposit; mineralization; permeability; temporal evol Aftershocks; Damage; Fault; Fluid; Mineralization; Permeability200710.1130/G23860A.12015-12-09