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High‐velocity frictional strength of Longmenshan fault gouge and its comparison with an estimate of friction from the temperature anomaly in WFSD‐1 drill hole
Author(s) -
Togo Tetsuhiro,
Yao Lu,
Ma Shengli,
Shimamoto Toshihiko
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1002/2016jb012880
Subject(s) - fault gouge , geology , illite , fault (geology) , scientific drilling , slip (aerodynamics) , outcrop , drilling , shear (geology) , quartz , seismology , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , petrology , clay minerals , materials science , geochemistry , metallurgy , paleontology , physics , thermodynamics
This paper addresses the issue of whether high‐velocity friction experiments yield frictional strengths of fault materials that are consistent with the level of friction estimated from the postseismic temperature anomaly measured across a coseismic fault zone. Experiments were conducted on gouge (composed of quartz, dolomite, illite, albite, and other clay minerals), collected from a large outcrop of the Yingxiu‐Beichuan fault zone and from Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project hole‐1 drill cores in Hongkou, Sichuan Province, China. This fault is a major fault of the Longmenshan fault system that caused the 2008 M w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. All experiments revealed dramatic weakening at high velocities with peak friction coefficient μ p of 0.07~0.35 and steady state friction coefficient μ ss of 0.02~0.15 for wet gouge, as compared with μ p = 0.49~0.86 and μ ss = 0.12~0.21 for dry gouge. The average friction coefficients over a displacement of 5.5 m (coseismic displacement) extrapolated to the normal stress in the fault zones are 0.1~0.05 and 0.06~0.03 for dry and wet gouges, respectively. The average friction coefficients of dry and wet gouges are within the upper and lower bounds of friction coefficients estimated from the temperature profiles, and there are overall agreements between the two sets of data that are completely independent. Dry and wet gouges are characterized by highly sheared slip zones often forming overlapping slip‐zone structures and by broad shear zones, respectively. Wet gouge textures are perhaps closer to those of natural fault zone, but repeated slip experiments are needed to determine the textural evolution of wet gouge.