Numerical modeling of fluid flow in a fault zone: a case of study from Majella Mountain (Italy)

We present the preliminary results of a numerical model of fluid flow in a fault zone, based on field data acquired at the Majella Mountain, (Italy). The fault damage zone is described as a discretely fractured medium, and the fault core as a porous medium. Our model utilizes dfnWorks, a parallelized computational suite, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory to model the damage zone and characterizes its hydraulic parameters. We present results from the field investigations and the basic computational workflow, along with preliminary results of fluid flow simulations at the scale of the fault.