Coseismic fault sealing and fluid pressurization during earthquakes

Lu Yao (), Shengli Ma and Giulio Di Toro
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Lu Yao: Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Shengli Ma: Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Giulio Di Toro: Università di Padova

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Earthquakes occur because faults weaken with increasing slip and slip rate. Thermal pressurization (TP) of trapped pore fluids is deemed to be a widespread coseismic fault weakening mechanism. Yet, due to technical challenges, experimental evidence of TP is limited. Here, by exploiting a novel experimental configuration, we simulate seismic slip pulses (slip rate 2.0 m/s) on dolerite-built faults under pore fluid pressures up to 25 MPa. We measure transient sharp weakening, down to almost zero friction and concurrent with a spike in pore fluid pressure, which interrupts the exponential-decay slip weakening. The interpretation of mechanical and microstructural data plus numerical modeling suggests that wear and local melting processes in experimental faults generate ultra-fine materials to seal the pressurized pore water, causing transient TP spikes. Our work suggests that, with wear-induced sealing, TP may also occur in relatively permeable faults and could be quite common in nature.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36839-9

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