Laboratory measurements anomalous 0.1–0.5 Hz streaming potential under geochemical changes: Implications for electrotelluric precursors to earthquakes

Abstract

Streaming potentials resulting from flow of various salt solutions in rock were measured on saturated sediments (Fontainebleau sandstones). The streaming potential Δ V was found to be proportional to the driving pore pressure Δ P . Pulses of amplitude 15–40 mV in the frequency range of 0.1 to 0.5 Hz were observed when the conductivity of the injected water was decreased and the fluid flow rate was relatively low, corresponding to a Darcian velocity of 17 to 30 cm/h. The amplitudes of these pulses are 47% to 133% of the corresponding steady components of the Δ V values. Such geochemically induced effects may possibly be responsible for the frequency signals from 0.1 to 0.5 Hz that were sometimes observed before an earthquake.