Some questions of geomechanics of the faults in the continental crust

We present the results of laboratory experiments on studying the formation of different slip modes on the interfaces in a rock massif such as aseismic creep, stick-slip, and periodic slow-slip events. It is shown that the way of releasing the accumulated elastic energy is determined by the mesoscale...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Izvestiya. Physics of the solid earth 2014-05, Vol.50 (3), p.355-366
Main Authors: Kocharyan, G. G., Ostapchuk, A. A., Markov, V. K., Pavlov, D. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Continental crust
Deformation
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earthquakes
Faults
Fracture mechanics
Fracture toughness
Geomechanics
Geophysics/Geodesy
Mechanics
Plate tectonics
Regularity
Rock
Rock deformation
Seismology
Vibration
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Summary:We present the results of laboratory experiments on studying the formation of different slip modes on the interfaces in a rock massif such as aseismic creep, stick-slip, and periodic slow-slip events. It is shown that the way of releasing the accumulated elastic energy is determined by the mesoscale structure of the gouge rather than by its macroscopic strength characteristics. The evolution of the stress chains which are formed and broken during the displacement on the fracture, as well as the length and number of these chains, completely determines the regularities of the deformation. The role of these load-bearing elements in nature can be played, e.g., by the “contact spots,” which determine the regularities of stress concentration near the interblock boundary. We consider the effects of low-amplitude vibrations on stressed fractures. It is shown that, depending on the mode of deformation, the vibration impact can either reduce or boost the amplitude of separate events and the fraction of energy that is released dynamically. In the conclusion of the paper, we discuss the possibility of using the shear strength of the fault zone as a geomechanical parameter controlling the mode of deformation.
ISSN:1069-3513
1555-6506
DOI:10.1134/S1069351314030021