Hydrogen Release: New Indicator of Fault Activity

The hydrogen concentration in soil gas has been measured in the area around the Yamasaki Fault, one of the active faults in southwestern Japan. Degassing of a significant amount of hydrogen (up to more than 3 percent by volume) has been observed for sites along the fault zone. The hydrogen concentra...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 210; no. 4466; pp. 188 - 190
Main Authors Wakita, Hiroshi, Nakamura, Yuji, Kita, Itsuro, Fujii, Naoyuki, Notsu, Kenji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 10.10.1980
Subjects
Basement rocks
Degasification
Earthquakes
Fault zones
Geochemistry
Groundwater
Hydrogen
Methane
Soil air
Tectonics
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Summary:The hydrogen concentration in soil gas has been measured in the area around the Yamasaki Fault, one of the active faults in southwestern Japan. Degassing of a significant amount of hydrogen (up to more than 3 percent by volume) has been observed for sites along the fault zone. The hydrogen concentration in soil gas at sites away from the fault zone was about 0.5 part per million, almost the same as that found in the atmosphere. The spatial distribution of sites with high hydrogen concentrations is quite systematic. A hypothesis on the production of hydrogen by fault movements is postulated.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.210.4466.188