Fault damage zones are the volumes of deformed wall rocks around a fault surface that result from the initiation, propagation, interaction, termination, and build-up of slip along the fault. They are divided into tip-, wall-, and linkage damage zones depending on their location along the fault. The pattern of deformation within a damage zone mainly depends on fault tip modes (mode II or III), the 3-D locations around a fault surface, and the evolutionary stage of the fault. The development of different structures within damage zones gives valuable information about fault initiation and termination, fault propagation and growth, and fluid flow.
Stalactites indicate fluid flow variation within a fault in that fluid flow is high in dilational jogs, variable along the main fault traces, and low in contractional jogs. Variation in ore fluid flow within faults is also important in controlling the position of ore shoots in structurally-controlled hydrothermal mineral deposits. Thus, the characteristics of fluid flow in fractured carbonate rocks can be related to patterns of damage around faults. Hence, the mapping of damage zones can be applied to the study of fracture-controlled fluid flow in the fields of petroleum geology, hydrogeology, and ore deposits.