Poromechanics of stick-slip frictional sliding and strength recovery on tectonic faults
Abstract
Pore fluids influence many aspects of tectonic faulting including frictional strength aseismic creep and effective stress during the seismic cycle. But, the role of pore fluid pressure during earthquake nucleation and dynamic rupture remains poorly understood. Here we report on the evolution of pore fluid pressure and porosity during laboratory stick-slip events as an analog for the seismic cycle. We sheared layers of simulated fault gouge consisting of glass beads in a double-direct shear configuration under true triaxial stresses using drained and undrained fluid conditions and effective normal stress of 5–10 MPa. Shear stress was applied via a constant displacement rate, which we varied in velocity step tests from 0.1 to 30 µm/s. Here, we observe net pore pressure increases, or compaction, during dynamic failure and pore pressure decreases, or dilation, during the interseismic period, depending on fluid boundary conditions. In some cases, a brief period of dilation is attendant with the onset of dynamic stick slip. Our data show that time-dependent strengthening and dynamic stress drop increase with effective normal stress and vary with fluid conditions. For undrained conditions, dilation and preseismic slip are directly related to pore fluid depressurization; they increase with effective normal stress and recurrence time.more »
- Authors:
-
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); La Sapienza Univ., Rome (Italy)
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome Italy
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); La Sapienza Univ., Rome (Italy); National Inst. of Geophysics and Vulcanology, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1374341
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1402306
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-16-22578
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9313
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396; EAR1045825; EAR1215856
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 120; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9313
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; Earth Sciences
Citation Formats
Scuderi, Marco M., Carpenter, Brett M., Johnson, Paul A., and Marone, Chris. Poromechanics of stick-slip frictional sliding and strength recovery on tectonic faults. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1002/2015JB011983.
Scuderi, Marco M., Carpenter, Brett M., Johnson, Paul A., & Marone, Chris. Poromechanics of stick-slip frictional sliding and strength recovery on tectonic faults. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB011983
Scuderi, Marco M., Carpenter, Brett M., Johnson, Paul A., and Marone, Chris. Thu .
"Poromechanics of stick-slip frictional sliding and strength recovery on tectonic faults". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB011983. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1374341.
@article{osti_1374341,
title = {Poromechanics of stick-slip frictional sliding and strength recovery on tectonic faults},
author = {Scuderi, Marco M. and Carpenter, Brett M. and Johnson, Paul A. and Marone, Chris},
abstractNote = {Pore fluids influence many aspects of tectonic faulting including frictional strength aseismic creep and effective stress during the seismic cycle. But, the role of pore fluid pressure during earthquake nucleation and dynamic rupture remains poorly understood. Here we report on the evolution of pore fluid pressure and porosity during laboratory stick-slip events as an analog for the seismic cycle. We sheared layers of simulated fault gouge consisting of glass beads in a double-direct shear configuration under true triaxial stresses using drained and undrained fluid conditions and effective normal stress of 5–10 MPa. Shear stress was applied via a constant displacement rate, which we varied in velocity step tests from 0.1 to 30 µm/s. Here, we observe net pore pressure increases, or compaction, during dynamic failure and pore pressure decreases, or dilation, during the interseismic period, depending on fluid boundary conditions. In some cases, a brief period of dilation is attendant with the onset of dynamic stick slip. Our data show that time-dependent strengthening and dynamic stress drop increase with effective normal stress and vary with fluid conditions. For undrained conditions, dilation and preseismic slip are directly related to pore fluid depressurization; they increase with effective normal stress and recurrence time. Microstructural observations confirm the role of water-activated contact growth and shear-driven elastoplastic processes at grain junctions. These results indicate that physicochemical processes acting at grain junctions together with fluid pressure changes dictate stick-slip stress drop and interseismic creep rates and thus play a key role in earthquake nucleation and rupture propagation.},
doi = {10.1002/2015JB011983},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth},
number = 10,
volume = 120,
place = {United States},
year = {2015},
month = {10}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Acoustic emission and microslip precursors to stick-slip failure in sheared granular material: AE AND MICROSLIP PRECURSORS
journal, November 2013
- Johnson, P. A.; Ferdowsi, B.; Kaproth, B. M.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 21
Detailed studies of frictional sliding of granite and implications for the earthquake mechanism
journal, November 1972
- Scholz, Christopher; Molnar, Peter; Johnson, Tracy
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 77, Issue 32
Fabric induced weakness of tectonic faults: FABRIC INDUCED WEAKNESS
journal, February 2010
- Niemeijer, André; Marone, Chris; Elsworth, Derek
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 3
Physicochemical processes of frictional healing: Effects of water on stick-slip stress drop and friction of granular fault gouge: AFFECT OF WATER ON STICK-SLIP FRICTION
journal, May 2014
- Scuderi, Marco M.; Carpenter, Brett M.; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 119, Issue 5
Experimental pressure solution in halite: the effect of grain/interphase boundary structure
journal, May 1991
- Hickman, Stephen H.; Evans, Brian
- Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 148, Issue 3
Controls on low-stress hydro-fracture dilatancy in thrust, wrench and normal fault terrains
journal, February 1981
- Sibson, Richard H.
- Nature, Vol. 289, Issue 5799
Nearly complete stress drop in the 2011 M w 9.0 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake
journal, July 2011
- Hasegawa, Akira; Yoshida, Keisuke; Okada, Tomomi
- Earth, Planets and Space, Vol. 63, Issue 7
Potential for earthquake triggering from transient deformations
journal, January 2008
- Savage, Heather M.; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue B5
A rheologic model for wet crust applied to strike-slip faults
journal, July 1995
- Chester, Frederick M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 100, Issue B7
Effect of boundary vibration on the frictional behavior of a dense sheared granular layer
journal, April 2014
- Ferdowsi, B.; Griffa, M.; Guyer, R. A.
- Acta Mechanica, Vol. 225, Issue 8
Injection-induced seismicity: Poroelastic and earthquake nucleation effects: INJECTION INDUCED SEISMICITY
journal, July 2015
- Segall, P.; Lu, S.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 120, Issue 7
Seismic evidence for overpressured subducted oceanic crust and megathrust fault sealing
journal, January 2009
- Audet, Pascal; Bostock, Michael G.; Christensen, Nikolas I.
- Nature, Vol. 457, Issue 7225
The Mechanical Coupling of Fluid-Filled Granular Material Under Shear
journal, June 2011
- Goren, L.; Aharonov, E.; Sparks, D.
- Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 168, Issue 12
Effects of acoustic waves on stick–slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes
journal, January 2008
- Johnson, Paul A.; Savage, Heather; Knuth, Matt
- Nature, Vol. 451, Issue 7174
Strength evolution of a reactive frictional interface is controlled by the dynamics of contacts and chemical effects
journal, August 2012
- Renard, François; Beauprêtre, Sophie; Voisin, Christophe
- Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 341-344
Effect of humidity on granular friction at room temperature: EFFECT OF HUMIDITY ON GRANULAR FRICTION
journal, November 2002
- Frye, Kevin M.; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 107, Issue B11
Role of Fluid Pressure in Mechanics of Overthrust Faulting
journal, January 1959
- King Hubbert, M.; Rubey, William W.
- Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 70, Issue 2
Numerical simulations of granular shear zones using the distinct element method: 1. Shear zone kinematics and the micromechanics of localization
journal, February 1999
- Morgan, Julia K.; Boettcher, Margaret S.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 104, Issue B2
Stick-slip motion in simulated granular layers: STICK-SLIP IN GRANULAR LAYERS
journal, September 2004
- Aharonov, Einat; Sparks, David
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 109, Issue B9
Postseismic pressure solution creep: Evidence and time-dependent change from dynamic indenting experiments: Postseismic pressure solution creep
journal, April 2014
- Gratier, Jean Pierre; Renard, François; Vial, Benjamin
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 119, Issue 4
Introduction to Special Section: Mechanical Involvement of Fluids in Faulting
journal, July 1995
- Hickman, Stephen; Sibson, Richard; Bruhn, Ronald
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 100, Issue B7
Quartz: Anomalous Weakness of Synthetic Crystals
journal, January 1965
- Griggs, D. T.; Blacic, J. D.
- Science, Vol. 147, Issue 3655
Specific heat capacity and thermal diffusivity and their temperature dependencies in a rock sample from adjacent to the Taiwan Chelungpu fault
journal, January 2010
- Hirono, Tetsuro; Hamada, Yohei
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue B5
Micromechanics of rock friction 2: Quantitative modeling of initial friction with contact theory
journal, January 1992
- Boitnott, G. N.; Biegel, R. L.; Scholz, C. H.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 97, Issue B6
Influence of time, temperature, confining pressure and fluid content on the experimental compaction of spherical grains
journal, August 2007
- Rossi, M.; Vidal, O.; Wunder, B.
- Tectonophysics, Vol. 441, Issue 1-4
Frictional ageing from interfacial bonding and the origins of rate and state friction
journal, November 2011
- Li, Qunyang; Tullis, Terry E.; Goldsby, David
- Nature, Vol. 480, Issue 7376
Nanocrystalline slip zones in calcite fault gouge show intense crystallographic preferred orientation: Crystal plasticity at sub-seismic slip rates at 18–150 °C
journal, August 2013
- Verberne, Berend A.; de Bresser, Johannes H. P.; Niemeijer, André R.
- Geology, Vol. 41, Issue 8
Effects of shear velocity oscillations on stick-slip behavior in laboratory experiments
journal, January 2007
- Savage, Heather M.; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue B2
Shear-induced dilatancy of fluid-saturated faults: Experiment and theory
journal, January 2009
- Samuelson, Jon; Elsworth, Derek; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue B12
An assessment of field evidence for ?Byerlee? friction
journal, January 1994
- Sibson, Richard H.
- Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 142, Issue 3-4
Multimechanism friction constitutive model for ultrafine quartz gouge at hypocentral conditions
journal, February 1992
- Chester, F. M.; Higgs, N. G.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 97, Issue B2
Stick-Slip as a Mechanism for Earthquakes
journal, August 1966
- Brace, W. F.; Byerlee, J. D.
- Science, Vol. 153, Issue 3739
Nucleation and arrest of dynamic slip on a pressurized fault: NUCLEATION ON PRESSURIZED FAULT
journal, October 2012
- Garagash, Dmitry I.; Germanovich, Leonid N.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 117, Issue B10
Does shear heating of pore fluid contribute to earthquake nucleation?
journal, January 2006
- Segall, Paul; Rice, James R.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 111, Issue B9
Healing of simulated fault gouges aided by pressure solution: Results from rock analogue experiments
journal, January 2008
- Niemeijer, André; Marone, Chris; Elsworth, Derek
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue B4
Fault healing inferred from time dependent variations in source properties of repeating earthquakes
journal, November 1995
- Marone, Chris; Vidale, John E.; Ellsworth, William L.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 22, Issue 22
Implications of fault-valve behaviour for rupture nucleation and recurrence
journal, September 1992
- Sibson, R. H.
- Tectonophysics, Vol. 211, Issue 1-4
Precursive pore pressure changes associated with premonitory slip during stick-slip sliding
journal, October 1980
- Teufel, L. W.
- Tectonophysics, Vol. 69, Issue 1-2
Three-dimensional discrete element modeling of triggered slip in sheared granular media
journal, April 2014
- Ferdowsi, Behrooz; Griffa, Michele; Guyer, Robert A.
- Physical Review E, Vol. 89, Issue 4
A Simple Stick-Slip and Creep-Slip Model for Repeating Earthquakes and its Implication for Microearthquakes at Parkfield
journal, December 2001
- Beeler, N. M.
- Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 91, Issue 6
Effects of dilatant hardening on the development of concentrated shear deformation in fissured rock masses
journal, January 1984
- Rudnicki, J. W.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 89, Issue B11
Frictional healing of quartz gouge under hydrothermal conditions: 1. Experimental evidence for solution transfer healing mechanism: QUARTZ HYDROTHERMAL HEALING
journal, July 2004
- Nakatani, Masao; Scholz, Christopher H.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 109, Issue B7
Fixed recurrence and slip models better predict earthquake behavior than the time- and slip-predictable models: 1. Repeating earthquakes: EARTHQUAKES ARE NOT TIME/SLIP PREDICTABLE
journal, February 2012
- Rubinstein, Justin L.; Ellsworth, William L.; Chen, Kate H.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 117, Issue B2
The apparent friction of granular fault gouge in sheared layers
journal, January 1994
- Scott, David R.; Marone, Chris J.; Sammis, Charles G.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 99, Issue B4
Earthquake stress drop and laboratory-inferred interseismic strength recovery
journal, December 2001
- Beeler, N. M.; Hickman, S. H.; Wong, T. -f.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 106, Issue B12
Conditions for the localization of deformation in pressure-sensitive dilatant materials
journal, December 1975
- Rudnicki, J. W.; Rice, J. R.
- Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 23, Issue 6
A fault constitutive relation accounting for thermal pressurization of pore fluid: FLUID PRESSURE DURING FAULTING
journal, December 2002
- Andrews, D. J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 107, Issue B12
Influence of grain characteristics on the friction of granular shear zones: GRAIN SHAPE INFLUENCE ON FRICTION
journal, October 2002
- Mair, Karen; Frye, Kevin M.; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 107, Issue B10
Fixed recurrence and slip models better predict earthquake behavior than the time- and slip-predictable models: 2. Laboratory earthquakes: LAB EARTHQUAKES ARE NOT TIME/SLIP-PREDICTABLE
journal, February 2012
- Rubinstein, Justin L.; Ellsworth, William L.; Beeler, Nicholas M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 117, Issue B2
Precursory and coseismic water-pressure variations in stick-slip experiments
journal, January 1976
- Sundaram, P. N.; Goodman, R. E.; Wang, Chi-Yuen
- Geology, Vol. 4, Issue 2
Numerical simulation of earthquake faults with gouge: Toward a comprehensive explanation for the heat flow paradox
journal, September 1998
- Mora, Peter; Place, David
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 103, Issue B9
On the origin and evolution of electrical signals during frictional stick slip in sheared granular material
journal, May 2014
- Leeman, J. R.; Scuderi, M. M.; Marone, C.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 119, Issue 5
Creep, compaction and the weak rheology of major faults
journal, October 1992
- Sleep, Norman H.; Blanpied, Michael L.
- Nature, Vol. 359, Issue 6397
Laboratory constraints on models of earthquake recurrence: Earthquake recurrence
journal, December 2014
- Beeler, N. M.; Tullis, Terry; Junger, Jenni
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 119, Issue 12
Direct observation of frictional contacts: New insights for state-dependent properties
journal, January 1994
- Dieterich, James H.; Kilgore, Brian D.
- Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 143, Issue 1-3
Frictional properties and slip stability of active faults within carbonate–evaporite sequences: The role of dolomite and anhydrite
journal, May 2013
- Scuderi, Marco M.; Niemeijer, André R.; Collettini, Cristiano
- Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 369-370
Microslips as precursors of large slip events in the stick-slip dynamics of sheared granular layers: A discrete element model analysis: 3-D DEM MODELING OF STICK SLIP
journal, August 2013
- Ferdowsi, B.; Griffa, M.; Guyer, R. A.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 16
Elevated pore pressure and anomalously low stress in regions of low frequency earthquakes along the Nankai Trough subduction megathrust: LOW STRESS AT LOW SEISMIC VELOCITY ZONE
journal, December 2012
- Kitajima, Hiroko; Saffer, Demian M.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 39, Issue 23
Influence of particle characteristics on granular friction
journal, January 2005
- Anthony, Jennifer L.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 110, Issue B8
Correction to “A thermal pressurization model for the spontaneous dynamic rupture propagation on a three-dimensional fault: 1. Methodological approach”: CORRECTION
journal, November 2006
- Bizzarri, A.; Cocco, M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 111, Issue B11
Fluid-assisted Healing Processes in Gouge-bearing Faults: Insights from Experiments on a Rock Analogue System
journal, September 2002
- Bos, B.; Spiers, C. J.
- Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 159, Issue 11-12
Laboratory-Derived Friction laws and Their Application to Seismic Faulting
journal, May 1998
- Marone, Chris
- Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 26, Issue 1
Influence of dilatancy on the frictional constitutive behavior of a saturated fault zone under a variety of drainage conditions
journal, January 2011
- Samuelson, Jon; Elsworth, Derek; Marone, Chris
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 116, Issue B10
Dilatant strengthening as a mechanism for slow slip events
journal, January 2010
- Segall, Paul; Rubin, Allan M.; Bradley, Andrew M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue B12
Works referencing / citing this record:
Spatial and temporal variations in creep rate along the El Pilar fault at the Caribbean‐South American plate boundary (Venezuela), from InSAR
journal, November 2016
- Pousse Beltran, Léa; Pathier, Erwan; Jouanne, François
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 121, Issue 11
On the micromechanics of slip events in sheared, fluid-saturated fault gouge: Stick-Slip Dynamics in Saturated Gouge
journal, June 2017
- Dorostkar, Omid; Guyer, Robert A.; Johnson, Paul A.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 12
On the role of fluids in stick-slip dynamics of saturated granular fault gouge using a coupled computational fluid dynamics-discrete element approach: STICK-SLIP IN SATURATED FAULT GOUGE
journal, May 2017
- Dorostkar, Omid; Guyer, Robert A.; Johnson, Paul A.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 122, Issue 5
Potential Energy as Metric for Understanding Stick–Slip Dynamics in Sheared Granular Fault Gouge: A Coupled CFD–DEM Study
journal, April 2018
- Dorostkar, Omid; Carmeliet, Jan
- Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 51, Issue 10
On the role of pore pressure in dynamic instabilities of saturated model granular materials
journal, June 2019
- Nguyên, T. T. T.; Doanh, T.; Le Bot, A.
- Granular Matter, Vol. 21, Issue 3
Delayed Weakening and Reactivation of Rate‐and‐State Faults Driven by Pressure Changes Due to Fluid Injection
journal, November 2019
- Andrés, Sandro; Santillán, David; Mosquera, Juan Carlos
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 11
The Physics of Changing Tectonic Regimes: Implications for the Temporal Evolution of Mantle Convection and the Thermal History of Venus
journal, January 2020
- Weller, Matthew B.; Kiefer, Walter S.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Vol. 125, Issue 1
Strength of shear bands in fluid-saturated rocks: a nonlinear effect of competition between dilation and fluid flow
journal, January 2018
- Shilko, Evgeny V.; Dimaki, Andrey V.; Psakhie, Sergey G.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Two sides of a fault: Grain-scale analysis of pore pressure control on fault slip
journal, February 2018
- Yang, Zhibing; Juanes, Ruben
- Physical Review E, Vol. 97, Issue 2