Journal
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
Volume 124, Issue 5, Pages 4959-4983Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2018JB016294
Keywords
fault strength; post-seismic slip; slow slip; moment duration; surface displacement; self-similarity
Categories
Funding
- NSF [EAR-1653382, 1344993, EAR-1600087]
- Southern California Earthquake Center
- USGS [G17AC00047]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Earth Sciences [1344993] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We examine a simple mechanism for the spatiotemporal evolution of transient, slow slip. We consider the problem of slip on a fault that lies within an elastic continuum and whose strength is proportional to sliding rate. This rate dependence may correspond to a viscously deforming shear zone or the linearization of a nonlinear, rate-dependent fault strength. We examine the response of such a fault to external forcing, such as local increases in shear stress or pore fluid pressure. We show that the slip and slip rate are governed by a type of diffusion equation, the solution of which is found using a Green's function approach. We derive the long-time, self-similar asymptotic expansion for slip or slip rate, which depend on both time t and a similarity coordinate eta=x/t, where x denotes fault position. The similarity coordinate shows a departure from classical diffusion and is owed to the nonlocal nature of elastic interaction among points on an interface between elastic half-spaces. We demonstrate the solution and asymptotic analysis of several example problems. Following sudden impositions of loading, we show that slip rate ultimately decays as 1/t while spreading proportionally to t, implying both a logarithmic accumulation of displacement and a constant moment rate. We discuss the implication for models of postseismic slip as well as spontaneously emerging slow slip events.
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