Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 10, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08238-y
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Funding
- NSERC Discovery Grants
- Wares Faculty Scholarship
- ERC CoG NOFEAR Grant [614705]
- NERC [NE/M004716/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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During earthquake propagation, geologic faults lose their strength, then strengthen as slip slows and stops. Many slip-weakening mechanisms are active in the upper-mid crust, but healing is not always well-explained. Here we show that the distinct structure and rate-dependent properties of amorphous nanopowder (not silica gel) formed by grinding of quartz can cause extreme strength loss at high slip rates. We propose a weakening and related strengthening mechanism that may act throughout the quartz-bearing continental crust. The action of two slip rate-dependent mechanisms offers a plausible explanation for the observed weakening: thermally-enhanced plasticity, and particulate flow aided by hydrodynamic lubrication. Rapid cooling of the particles causes rapid strengthening, and inter-particle bonds form at longer timescales. The timescales of these two processes correspond to the timescales of post-seismic healing observed in earthquakes. In natural faults, this nanopowder crystallizes to quartz over 10s-100s years, leaving veins which may be indistinguishable from common quartz veins.
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