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Constant dimensionality of fault roughness from the scale of micro‐fractures to the scale of continents
Author(s) -
Renard François,
Candela Thibault,
Bouchaud Elisabeth
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2012gl054143
Subject(s) - geology , fractal , breakup , fault plane , seismology , fractal dimension , slip (aerodynamics) , fault (geology) , power law , surface finish , fracture (geology) , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , materials science , physics , composite material , mathematical analysis , statistics , mathematics , thermodynamics
Many faults and fractures in various natural and man‐made materials share a remarkable common fractal property in their morphology. We report on the roughness of faults in rocks by analyzing the out‐of‐plane fluctuations of slip surfaces. They display a statistical power‐law relationship with a nearly constant fractal exponent from millimeter scale micro‐fractures in fault zones to coastlines measuring thousands of kilometers that have recorded continental breakup. A possible origin of this striking fractal relationship over 11 orders of magnitude of length scales is that all faulting processes in rocks share common characteristics that play a crucial role in the shaping of fault surfaces, such as the effects of elastic long‐range stress interactions and stress screening by mechanical heterogeneities during quasi‐static fracture growth.