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  4. On the stability of carbonate-bearing faults at the brittle-to-ductile transition
 
conference presentation

On the stability of carbonate-bearing faults at the brittle-to-ductile transition

Figura, Francesco  
•
Giorgetti, Carolina
•
Meyer, Gabriel  
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2022
EGU General Assembly 2022

The majority of the seismic events in the Mediterranean region are hosted in carbonate-bearing rocks at depths representative of the semi-brittle regime. Within this regime, both brittle behavior (i.e. deformation is localized on the fractures and on the faults) and ductile one (i.e. deformation is distributed and accommodated in the rock core) coexist. The influence of this interplay on the nucleation and propagation of seismic events is poorly studied. Up to now, most experimental work has been conducted far from in-situ conditions, mostly at room temperature and low confining pressure. Here we constrain the frictional behavior of faults in carbonate rocks under conditions relevant for their brittle-to-ductile transition. Velocity-step experiments are performed through the HighSTEPS (Strain, TEmperature, Pressure, Speed) biaxial apparatus installed at EPFL, investigating sliding velocities from 10-6 m/s to 10-2 m/s. Experiments are conducted under different values of confining pressure (Pc 15 MPa and Pc 50 MPa) and normal stress (σn 29 MPa and σn 95 MPa) on the experimental faults, keeping the ratio between them constant (around 2). The local strain field along the fault was measured with strain gauges. The collected data were modeled with rate-and-state friction laws (RSFLs) to define the rate and state parameters relate to the critical condition for fault stability. Moreover, microstructural observations of the post mortem sample were conducted at the SEM, to investigate the deformation mechanisms active during the experiments. These results shed light on the evolution of rate-and-state frictional parameters with depth, as well as their dependence on the strain partitioning between on-fault slip and bulk-accommodated deformation with increasing depth.

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Type
conference presentation
DOI
10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3971
Author(s)
Figura, Francesco  
Giorgetti, Carolina
Meyer, Gabriel  
Violay, Marie  
Date Issued

2022

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LEMR  
Event nameEvent placeEvent date
EGU General Assembly 2022

Vienna, Austria

May 23-27, 2022

Available on Infoscience
August 8, 2022
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/189824
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