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Surface deformation of westerly granite during creep
Author(s) -
Kurita K.,
Swanson P. L.,
Getting I. C.,
Spetzler H.
Publication year - 1983
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/gl010i001p00075
Subject(s) - creep , ridge , deformation (meteorology) , geology , surface (topology) , fracture (geology) , holography , interferometry , diffusion creep , materials science , geometry , optics , geotechnical engineering , composite material , physics , microstructure , paleontology , oceanography , mathematics , grain boundary
Holographic interferometry has been used to observe the surface deformation of Westerly granite during creep experiments at 50 MPa (500 bars) confining pressure. Interference fringes on the holograms produced by this technique constitute contour maps of the sample surface shape change between exposures. Several distinctive characteristics of the surface shape change have been observed. In general, surface deformation during primary and secondary creep, while highly inhomogeneous, is distributed fairly uniformly. No large scale pattern is seen in the surface shape changes. At approximately the onset of tertiary creep, surface displacements become more locallized. Eventually (∼85‐90% of time‐to‐failure) a distinct ridge is formed which exactly coincides with the location of the final fracture.