Open AccessStrain melting, the wetting transition and seismic instabilities
Author(s) -
LomnitzAdler J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
geophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0952-4592
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1988.tb03432.x
Subject(s) - geology , shear (geology) , planar , creep , wetting , phase transition , fault (geology) , shear zone , materials science , seismology , tectonics , petrology , condensed matter physics , composite material , physics , computer graphics (images) , computer science
SUMMARY We develop a theory of seismic fracture utilizing the concepts of shear melting and the wetting transition. The basic mechanism involves the wetting of a pre‐existing planar defect by a melted phase of microscopic width, eliminating friction forces on thin, almost planar regions. For fault regions of finite thickness this mechanism results in an order‐of‐magnitude increase in the creep rate, sufficient to initiate a macroscopic melt in the fault region. This model can explain observations of low‐stress drops and small heat‐flow anomalies in the neighbourhood of superficial faults, the cutoff in seismicity with depth in the San Andreas system, and the non‐linear deformations observed near the fault trace.