Acoustic emission and microslip precursors to stick‐slip failure in sheared granular material

Johnson, P. A.; Ferdowsi, Behrooz; Kaproth, B. M.; Scuderi, M. M.; Griffa, Michele; Carmeliet, Jan; Guyer, R. A.; Bas, Pierre‐Yves Le; Trugman, Daniel T.; Marone, Chris

doi:10.1002/2013gl057848

Cited by 123 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The observation of slip transients at various speeds in such experiments may be equivalent to tremors and slow slip phenomena (Peng and Gomberg, 2010). Similar variability of slip styles can be simulated using spring-slider set-ups in which stiffness and shear velocity were varied for artificial and natural fault gouge (Leeman et al 2016;Kaproth and Marone, 2013) or using rice in a ring-shear tester set-up (Fig. 13).…”

Section: Seismic Versus Aseismic Faultingmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Rupture dynamics as observed in the subduction zone megathrust models of Corbi et al (2013): slip evolution of a cracklike analogue subduction megathrust earthquake propagating upwards and downwards in the seismogenic zone (modified from Corbi et al, 2013). man et al 2016;Kaproth and Marone, 2013). The deformable slider-spring set-up of Reber et al (2015) is used to study transients in the brittle-ductile regime.…”

Section: Seismic Versus Aseismic Faultingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analogue earthquakes and seismic cycles: experimental modelling across timescales

2017

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Abstract. Earth deformation is a multi-scale process ranging from seconds (seismic deformation) to millions of years (tectonic deformation). Bridging short-and long-term deformation and developing seismotectonic models has been a challenge in experimental tectonics for more than a century. Since the formulation of Reid's elastic rebound theory 100 years ago, laboratory mechanical models combining frictional and elastic elements have been used to study the dynamics of earthquakes. In the last decade, with the advent of high-resolution monitoring techniques and new rock analogue materials, laboratory earthquake experiments have evolved from simple spring-slider models to scaled analogue models. This evolution was accomplished by advances in seismology and geodesy along with relatively frequent occurrences of large earthquakes in the past decade. This coincidence has significantly increased the quality and quantity of relevant observations in nature and triggered a new understanding of earthquake dynamics. We review here the developments in analogue earthquake modelling with a focus on those seismotectonic scale models that are directly comparable to observational data on short to long timescales. We lay out the basics of analogue modelling, namely scaling, materials and monitoring, as applied in seismotectonic modelling. An overview of applications highlights the contributions of analogue earthquake models in bridging timescales of observations including earthquake statistics, rupture dynamics, ground motion, and seismic-cycle deformation up to seismotectonic evolution.

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Section: Seismic Versus Aseismic Faultingmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Seismic Versus Aseismic Faultingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analogue earthquakes and seismic cycles: experimental modelling across timescales

2017

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“…It has been assumed that both AEs and DSEs are in some sense small-scale versions of earthquakes and can provide insights into earthquake mechanics [e.g., Lei et al, 2003;Thompson et al, 2009;Johnson et al, 2013;Goebel et al, 2014aGoebel et al, , 2014b.…”

Section: 1002/2014jb011220mentioning

confidence: 99%

Preslip and cascade processes initiating laboratory stick slip

2014

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Recent modeling studies have explored whether earthquakes begin with a large aseismic nucleation process or initiate dynamically from the rapid growth of a smaller instability in a "cascade-up" process. To explore such a case in the laboratory, we study the initiation of dynamic rupture (stick slip) of a smooth saw-cut fault in a 76 mm diameter cylindrical granite laboratory sample at 40-120 MPa confining pressure. We use a high dynamic range recording system to directly compare the seismic waves radiated during the stick-slip event to those radiated from tiny (M À6) discrete seismic events, commonly known as acoustic emissions (AEs), that occur in the seconds prior to each large stick slip. The seismic moments, focal mechanisms, locations, and timing of the AEs all contribute to our understanding of their mechanics and provide us with information about the stick-slip nucleation process. In a sequence of 10 stick slips, the first few microseconds of the signals recorded from stick-slip instabilities are nearly indistinguishable from those of premonitory AEs. In this sense, it appears that each stick slip begins as an AE event that rapidly (~20 μs) grows about 2 orders of magnitude in linear dimension and ruptures the entire 150 mm length of the simulated fault. We also measure accelerating fault slip in the final seconds before stick slip. We estimate that this slip is at least 98% aseismic and that it both weakens the fault and produces AEs that will eventually cascade-up to initiate the larger dynamic rupture.

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“…Although stick-slip is generally considered an analog for earthquakes [7,18] in the framework of stable or unstable sliding, it has recently become evident that there is a spectrum of fault slip behaviors [32]. The discovery of slow earthquakes and non-volcanic tremor [5,14,16,30] has raised questions about the link between fault zone frictional properties, in situ conditions, and the underlying mechanisms of slow-slip [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stiffness evolution of granular layers and the origin of repetitive, slow, stick-slip frictional sliding

et al. 2015

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We demonstrate the frictional behaviors of steady state sliding, stick-slip, and repetitive, slow stick-slip sliding through a carefully-designed suite of laboratory experiments focused on exploring the role of loading system stiffness in controlling the frictional response to shear. We performed tests on sheared layers of baking flour, with three configurations of loading blocks made of steel and cast acrylic to achieve different stiffnesses. Slide-hold-slide and velocity step tests were conducted and analyzed in a rate-and-state friction framework. With compliant loading blocks, the material exhibits unstable stick-slip behavior with slow-slip events of duration up to 20 s. Slow-slip has been difficult to achieve in the lab and has only been observed for a narrow variety of boundary conditions and materials. Our results suggest that this behavior is strongly controlled by the stiffness of the system, the strain history of the sample, and shear fabric evolution. We describe a new suite of automated tools that greatly improve friction analysis and provide insight to the underlying mechanisms of slow stick-slip. We demonstrate that layer stiffness evolves with shear strain and modifies the mechanical behavior of stick-slip sliding. Our work suggests that slow earthquakes in tectonic fault zones may be linked to shear fabric development and associated changes in local stiffness, likely in combination with variations in frictional constitutive properties and effective stress. B John Leeman

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Acoustic emission and microslip precursors to stick‐slip failure in sheared granular material

Cited by 123 publications

References 25 publications

Analogue earthquakes and seismic cycles: experimental modelling across timescales

Analogue earthquakes and seismic cycles: experimental modelling across timescales

Preslip and cascade processes initiating laboratory stick slip

Stiffness evolution of granular layers and the origin of repetitive, slow, stick-slip frictional sliding

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