Open AccessField experiments were carried out using TRIBO, a specially designed testing stand including a concrete plate that can be moved at different rates. In our experiment, the plate served as an artificial allochtonous wing placed at the uneven surface of the segment of the Angarsky fault in Pribaikalie. Tribological effects of contact interaction of the uneven surfaces in the zone of sliding movements of the plate were recorded by strain gauges, linear displacement gauges and four Baikal-7HR seismic stations; such stations are commonly used for earthquake recording. The effect of shocks in initiation of seismic oscillation sources was studied with changes of the regimes of destruction of the uneven surfaces (underneath the base of the plate) which differ in size and strength. The study was focused on stages in the process of friction at preparation to transition from quasi-regular decelerated sliding movement of the plate to its breakaway and occurrence of a high-energy seismic impulse.
The applied method of large-scale modelling at natural objects in field provides new data that may prove useful for studies of mechanisms causing seismicity, identification of stages in occurrence of earthquakes in fault zones and interpretation of seismic monitoring data. Results of such physical tests can contribute to the development of methods aimed at forecasting of rock shocks and earthquakes and also for the development of new physical models showing formation of earthquake foci of various scales in tectonic faults.