Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6973
pubmed:dateCreated
2004-1-29
pubmed:abstractText
An important unsolved problem in earthquake mechanics is to determine the resistance to slip on faults in the Earth's crust during earthquakes. Knowledge of coseismic slip resistance is critical for understanding the magnitude of shear-stress reduction and hence the near-fault acceleration that can occur during earthquakes, which affects the amount of damage that earthquakes are capable of causing. In particular, a long-unresolved problem is the apparently low strength of major faults, which may be caused by low coseismic frictional resistance. The frictional properties of rocks at slip velocities up to 3 mm s(-1) and for slip displacements characteristic of large earthquakes have been recently simulated under laboratory conditions. Here we report data on quartz rocks that indicate an extraordinary progressive decrease in frictional resistance with increasing slip velocity above 1 mm s(-1). This reduction extrapolates to zero friction at seismic slip rates of approximately 1 m s(-1), and appears to be due to the formation of a thin layer of silica gel on the fault surface: it may explain the low strength of major faults during earthquakes.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:status
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1476-4687
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
29
pubmed:volume
427
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
436-9
pubmed:year
2004
pubmed:articleTitle
Friction falls towards zero in quartz rock as slip velocity approaches seismic rates.
pubmed:affiliation
Dipartimento di Geologia, Paleontologia e Geofisica, Universita' di Padova, Padova, 35137, Italy.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article