Deep nda underground forces explain the earthquake at the San Andres Fault

The melting forces from the rocks of the past seem to have triggered tremors in the infamous San Andres Fult area of ​​California, according to new research from the USC, helping to explain how earthquakes occur.

The study of the emerging field of seismological physics looks at Tumblor mechanics from top to bottom, focusing on underground rocks, friction and fluids. Parkfield, California. In the segment of the nearby San Rendress Fault, outside the underground excitation-ths depths, where earthquakes are usually monitored – it leads to instability that leads to a breakdown in the earthquake.

“Most earthquakes in California occur within the first 10 miles of the original crust, but some of the tremors on the San Andres Fult are very severe,” said Sylvain Barbot, an assistant professor of earth sciences at the USC Dornsiff College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “Why and how this happens is largely unknown. We show that a deep section of the San Andreas Fault often breaks and melts the host rocks, producing inconsistent seismic waves.” Appears in a newly published study Science progress. Barbot, the relevant author, collaborates with Lifeng Wang of the China Earthquake Administration in China.

The findings are significant because they help advance the long-term goal of how and where an earthquake is likely to occur, along with the forces that trigger the tambourines. Building codes, public policy and emergency preparedness in earthquake-prone areas such as California help provide a better scientific understanding. Findings can also be important in engineering applications where the temperature of rocks changes rapidly, such as through hydraulic fracturing.

Parkfield was chosen because it is one of the most visited epicenters in the world. San Andres cuts around the city of Fult, and is regularly flooded with significant earthquakes. U.S. According to the Geological Survey, magnitude earthquakes in 1857, 1881, 1901, 1922, 1934, 1966 and 2004 shook the Parkfield section of the fault at fairly regular intervals. In most depots, small tumblers occur every few months. So what is happening on Earth to explain the magnitude of the earthquake?

Using mathematical models and laboratory experiments with stones, the scientists conducted simulations based on evidence conducted from the San Rendress Fult section, conducted 36 miles down Parkfield and extending to 16 miles. They simulate the dynamics of fault activity for up to 300 years in 300 deep Earths to study the size of the crash and a wide range of behaviors.

Researchers have observed that, after the end of a large earthquake, the tectonic plates found at the fault line freeze in the go-along phase. For spelling, they protrude from each other, a slow slip causing a slight disruption to the surface.

But this harmony makes it difficult to boil the stomach. Gradually, motion in the bedrock, granite, and quartz portions of the Earth generates heat due to friction. As the heat intensifies, the barrier of the rocks begins to change. When friction pushes the temperature to 650 degrees Fahrenheit, the rock blocks grow less solid and more liquid. They start to slide more, produce more friction, more heat and more liquid, until they can slide over each other quickly – causing earthquakes.

“As we warm our hands together in cold weather, as they slide, the faults heat up. Large changes in temperature can cause defect movements,” Barbot said. “This can create a positive response that makes them slide more quickly, eventually producing an earthquake.”

This is a different way of looking at the San Andreas Fault. Scientists generally focus on the movement of the top of the Earth’s crust, and assume that its motion in turn revives rocks deep beneath. For this study, scientists looked down on the problem.

“It’s hard to predict,” Barbot added, so instead of just predicting an earthquake, we’ll try to explain the different types of motion that appear in the ground. ”