Islands of chaos in a sea of periodic earthquakes

Gauriau, Judith; Barbot, Sylvain; Dolan, James F.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118274

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The rupture propagation style, source properties, and recurrence patterns of earthquakes are determined predominantly by the rheological properties of faults (Kaneko et al, 2010;Liang et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2012;Michel et al, 2017;Qiu et al, 2016;Veedu & Barbot, 2016). In principle, constitutive friction laws calibrated to experimental data provide an effective means of scaling up laboratory results to realistic crustal conditions and form the foundation of numerical simulations of fault dynamics, explaining natural observations or predicting new fault behaviors (e.g., Barbot, 2019a;Gauriau et al, 2023;Lapusta et al, 2000;Liu & Rice, 2005;Rice & Ruina, 1983;Ruina, 1983;Q. Shi et al, 2020;P.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constitutive Behavior of Rocks During the Seismic Cycle

Barbot

2023

AGU Advances

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Establishing a constitutive law for fault friction is a crucial objective of earthquake science. However, the complex frictional behavior of natural and synthetic gouges in laboratory experiments eludes explanations. Here, we present a constitutive framework that elucidates the rate, state, and temperature dependence of fault friction under the relevant sliding velocities and temperatures of the brittle lithosphere during seismic cycles. The competition between healing mechanisms, such as viscoelastic collapse, pressure‐solution creep, and crack sealing, explains the low‐temperature stability transition from steady‐state velocity‐strengthening to velocity‐weakening as a function of slip‐rate and temperature. In addition, capturing the transition from cataclastic flow to semi‐brittle creep accounts for the stabilization of fault slip at elevated temperatures. We calibrate the model using extensive laboratory data on synthetic albite and granite gouge, and on natural samples from the Alpine Fault and the Mugi Mélange in the Shimanto accretionary complex in Japan. The constitutive model consistently explains the evolving frictional response of fault gouge from room temperature to 600°C for sliding velocities ranging from nanometers to millimeters per second. The frictional response of faults can be uniquely determined by the in situ lithology and the prevailing hydrothermal conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constitutive Behavior of Rocks During the Seismic Cycle

Barbot

2023

AGU Advances

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“…If this is generally true, then low-CoCo faults may release much of, and perhaps almost all, of the shear stress accumulated since the previous event during each rupture. It is worth noting, however, that even at the Hokuri Creek site on the low-CoCo Alpine fault (Berryman et al, 2012), which is characterized by quasi-periodic earthquake recurrence, the 24event record cannot be fit precisely with either time-or slip-predictable models (Shimazaki and Nakata, 1980), and may best be explained by an underlying chaotic behavior (Gauriau et al, 2023).…”

Section: …On Low-coco Faultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of geodetic slip-deficit and geologic fault slip rates reveals that variability of elastic strain accumulation and release rates on strike-slip faults is controlled by the relative structural complexity of plate-boundary fault systems

Gauriau,

Dolan

2024

Seismica

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Comparison of geodetic slip-deficit rates with geologic fault slip rates on major strike-slip faults reveals marked differences in patterns of elastic strain accumulation on tectonically isolated faults relative to faults that are embedded within more complex plate-boundary fault systems. Specifically, we show that faults that extend through tectonically complex systems characterized by multiple, mechanically complementary faults (that is, different faults that are all accommodating the same deformation field), which we refer to as high-Coefficient of Complexity (or high-CoCo) faults, exhibit ratios between geodetic and geologic rates that vary and that depend on the displacement scales over which the geologic slip rates are averaged. This indicates that elastic strain accumulation rates on these faults change significantly through time, which in turn suggests that the rates of ductile shear beneath the seismogenic portion of faults also vary through time. This is consistent with models in which mechanically complementary faults trade off slip in time and space in response to varying mechanical and stress conditions on the different component faults. In marked contrast, structurally isolated (or low-CoCo) faults exhibit geologic slip rates that are similar to geodetic slip-deficit rates, regardless of the displacement and time scales over which the slip rates are averaged. Such faults experience relatively constant geologic fault slip rates as well as constant strain accumulation rate (aside from brief, rapid post-seismic intervals). This suggests that low-CoCo faultsd "keep up" with the rate imposed by the relative plate-boundary condition, since they are the only structures in their respective plate-boundary zone that can effectively accommodate the imposed steady plate motion. We hypothesize that the discrepancies between the small-displacement average geologic slip rates and geodetic slip-deficit rates may provide a means of assessing a switch of modes for some high-CoCo faults, transitioning from a slow mode to a faster mode, or vice versa. If so, the differences between geologic slip rates and geodetic slip-deficit rates on high-CoCo faults may indicate changes in a fault's behavior that could be used to refine next-generation probabilistic seismic hazard assessments.

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“…Wang & Barbot, 2020). The evolving properties of fault zones are central to numerical models of seismicity (Barbot, 2018(Barbot, , 2019b(Barbot, , 2020(Barbot, , 2021Gauriau et al, 2023;Julve et al, 2023;Nie & Barbot, 2021;P. Shi et al, 2022;Veedu et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Virtually all aspects of the earthquake phenomenon are regulated by the frictional properties of faults, including the nucleation, rupture style, and recurrence patterns of seismic events (Kirkpatrick et al., 2021; Leeman et al., 2018; Marone et al., 1991; Nie & Barbot, 2022; Sathiakumar & Barbot, 2021; Scholz, 1998; Q. Shi et al., 2020; B. Wang & Barbot, 2023; L. Wang & Barbot, 2020). The evolving properties of fault zones are central to numerical models of seismicity (Barbot, 2018, 2019b, 2020, 2021; Gauriau et al., 2023; Julve et al., 2023; Nie & Barbot, 2021; P. Shi et al., 2022; Veedu et al., 2020). Yet, the physical origin of friction remains elusive and the complex evolution of frictional resistance during the seismic cycle is poorly known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient and Steady‐State Friction in Non‐Isobaric Conditions

Barbot

2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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The frictional properties of faults control the initiation and propagation of earthquakes and the associated hazards. Although the ambient temperature and instantaneous slip velocity controls on friction in isobaric conditions are increasingly well understood, the role of normal stress on steady‐state and transient frictional behaviors remains elusive. The friction coefficient of rocks exhibits a strong dependence on normal stress at typical crustal depths. Furthermore, rapid changes in normal stress cause a direct effect on friction followed by an evolutionary response. Here, we derive a constitutive friction law that consistently explains the yield strength of rocks from atmospheric pressure to gigapascals while capturing the transient behavior following perturbations in normal stress. The model explains the frictional strength of a variety of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks and the slip‐dependent response upon normal stress steps of Westerly granite bare contact and synthetic gouges made of quartz and a mixture of quartz and smectite. The nonlinear normal stress dependence of the frictional resistance may originate from the distribution of asperities that control the real area of contact. The direct and transient effects may be important for induced seismicity by hydraulic fracturing or for naturally occurring normal stress perturbations within fault zones in the brittle crust.

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Islands of chaos in a sea of periodic earthquakes

Cited by 9 publications

References 56 publications

Constitutive Behavior of Rocks During the Seismic Cycle

Constitutive Behavior of Rocks During the Seismic Cycle

Comparison of geodetic slip-deficit and geologic fault slip rates reveals that variability of elastic strain accumulation and release rates on strike-slip faults is controlled by the relative structural complexity of plate-boundary fault systems

Transient and Steady‐State Friction in Non‐Isobaric Conditions

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