A laboratory nanoseismological study on deep-focus earthquake micromechanics.

ABSTRACT: Global earthquake occurring rate displays an exponential decay down to ~300 km and then peaks around 550 to 600 km before terminating abruptly near 700 km. How fractures initiate, nucleate, and propagate at these depths remains one of the greatest puzzles in earth science, as increasing pressure inhibits fracture propagation. We report nanoseismological analysis on high-resolution acoustic emission (AE) records obtained during ruptures triggered by partial transformation from olivine to spinel in Mg₂GeO₄, an analog to the dominant mineral (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄ olivine in the upper mantle, using state-of-the-art seismological techniques, in the laboratory. AEs' focal mechanisms, as well as their distribution in both space and time during deformation, are c

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5521995 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature