Seismic events miss important kinematically governed grain scale mechanisms during shear failure of porous rock

Alexis Cartwright-Taylor (), Maria-Daphne Mangriotis, Ian G. Main, Ian B. Butler, Florian Fusseis, Martin Ling, Edward Andò, Andrew Curtis, Andrew F. Bell, Alyssa Crippen, Roberto E. Rizzo, Sina Marti, Derek. D. V. Leung and Oxana V. Magdysyuk
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Alexis Cartwright-Taylor: University of Edinburgh
Maria-Daphne Mangriotis: University of Edinburgh
Ian G. Main: University of Edinburgh
Ian B. Butler: University of Edinburgh
Florian Fusseis: University of Edinburgh
Martin Ling: Edinburgh Hacklab
Edward Andò: EPFL Center for Imaging, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Andrew Curtis: University of Edinburgh
Andrew F. Bell: University of Edinburgh
Alyssa Crippen: University of Edinburgh
Roberto E. Rizzo: University of Edinburgh
Sina Marti: University of Edinburgh
Derek. D. V. Leung: University of Edinburgh
Oxana V. Magdysyuk: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Catastrophic failure in brittle, porous materials initiates when smaller-scale fractures localise along an emergent fault zone in a transition from stable crack growth to dynamic rupture. Due to the rapid nature of this critical transition, the precise micro-mechanisms involved are poorly understood and difficult to image directly. Here, we observe these micro-mechanisms directly by controlling the microcracking rate to slow down the transition in a unique rock deformation experiment that combines acoustic monitoring (sound) with contemporaneous in-situ x-ray imaging (vision) of the microstructure. We find seismic amplitude is not always correlated with local imaged strain; large local strain often occurs with small acoustic emissions, and vice versa. Local strain is predominantly aseismic, explained in part by grain/crack rotation along an emergent shear zone, and the shear fracture energy calculated from local dilation and shear strain on the fault is half of that inferred from the bulk deformation.

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-33855-z

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33855-z

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