EGS XXVI General Assembly, Nice, France, March 2001

SE18. The Corinth Rift Laboratory (co-sponsored by GI):

Event Information

European academic and private laboratories as well as oil companies are joined their efforts with the help of the EEC, to investigate fault mechanics and their relation with fluid flow and earthquakes. Continuous monitoring of strain, seismicity, fluid pressure and geochemistry will be carried out at the surface and at various depths in the boreholes intersecting active faults. This laboratory is centred on the south shore of the Corinth rift near the city of Aigion. This rift is the most seismically active zone of the EU and the faster area of continental break-up (1.5 cm/yr.). The studied faults affect cretaceous carbonate rocks similar to the ones that are the reservoirs of various Hydrocarbon fields in south Italy as well as in the Middle East. The seismogenic zone starts around 5.5 km depth and the project is to drill it in about 4 years. The wells will be drilled in 2001 after a seismic survey to well define the location; permanent surface array started April 2000, geological fieldwork started in June 2000, geochemical monitoring began by September 2000. This session will be an opportunity to present the collected data to the European scientific community as well as to discuss more fundamental issue on fluid flow/fracture/fault, earthquake and deformation.

Preliminary List of Solicited Speakers

Co-Sponsorship