IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v9y2018i1d10.1038_s41467-018-04782-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of water in fault lubrication

Author

Listed:
  • Yijue Diao

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Rosa M. Espinosa-Marzal

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

The friction between two adjacent tectonic plates under shear loading may dictate seismic activities. To advance the understanding of mechanisms underlying fault strength, we investigate the frictional characteristics of calcite in an aqueous environment. By conducting single-asperity friction experiments using an atomic force microscope, here we show three pathways of energy dissipation with increasing contact stresses: viscous shear of a lubricious solution film at low normal stresses; shear-promoted thermally activated slip, similar to dry friction but influenced by the hydrated ions localized at the interface; and pressure-solution facilitated slip at sufficiently high stresses and slow sliding velocities, which leads to a prominent decrease in friction. It is also shown that the composition of the aqueous solution affects the frictional response. We use this nanoscale evidence to scrutinize the role of brines on fault behavior and argue that pressure solution provides a weakening mechanism of the fault strength at the level of single-asperity contacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yijue Diao & Rosa M. Espinosa-Marzal, 2018. "The role of water in fault lubrication," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04782-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04782-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04782-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-018-04782-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04782-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.