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Earthquake slip weakening and asperities explained by thermal pressurization

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher A. J. Wibberley

    (Université de Nice - Sophia Antipolis)

  • Toshihiko Shimamoto

    (Kyoto University)

Abstract

Earthquakes: add hot water For the Earth's crust to release accumulated stress in the form of an earthquake, a fault must weaken and give way, otherwise the movement would quickly grind to a halt due to the surrounding pressure. This weakening is not really understood. Laboratory experiments simply don't match seismologists' estimates of the distance a fault must slip before it becomes very weak. A new study concludes that the missing ingredient is water. Geological studies and measurements show the slip zones to be narrow, impermeable structures. Water already in the fault zone can quickly become pressurized by frictional heating as the rocks start to move, catalysing large earthquakes from minor movements.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher A. J. Wibberley & Toshihiko Shimamoto, 2005. "Earthquake slip weakening and asperities explained by thermal pressurization," Nature, Nature, vol. 436(7051), pages 689-692, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:436:y:2005:i:7051:d:10.1038_nature03901
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03901
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    Cited by:

    1. Lu Yao & Shengli Ma & Giulio Di Toro, 2023. "Coseismic fault sealing and fluid pressurization during earthquakes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Arvanitakis, K. & Avlonitis, M. & Papadimitriou, E., 2018. "Introducing stochastic recurrence interval to classification algorithms for identifying asperity patterns," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 512(C), pages 566-577.
    3. Wei Feng & Lu Yao & Chiara Cornelio & Rodrigo Gomila & Shengli Ma & Chaoqun Yang & Luigi Germinario & Claudio Mazzoli & Giulio Di Toro, 2023. "Physical state of water controls friction of gabbro-built faults," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.

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