• (2 pts) Using the diagram below, show how the variables that govern if rock will be brittle or ductile change with depth in the Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (5 pts) In the chart for #7, draw a line that separates where rocks break from where rocks deform and label each area “brittle rock” and “ductile rock.” Label the line you drew as the “brittle-ductile transition.” Use this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle%E2%80%93ductile_transition_zone

 

 

• (1 pt) What geologic structures would not be found below the brittle-ductile transition? Put your answer on the chart in #7.

 

 

• (2 pts) Most earthquakes are caused by sudden motion along faults. Where in your drawing in #7 would most earthquakes originate? Label that area on your drawing “seismogenic” meaning “where earthquakes start or originate.” Label the other area “aseismic” meaning no earthquakes originate that area of the crust.

 

 

• (4 pts) Mix 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water in a bowl. It will be dry and crumbly at first but then it will make a sort of “dough” that holds together that is called “oobleck.” Stab it with your spoon, observe what happens, and describe what you observe. You can also watch this clip. The speed with which you force the oobleck to change shape is called the “strain rate.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brittle-Ductile Transition in the Crust

Read the following article and answer the questions that follow. Refer to your chart in question #7 to help you understand these concepts. Hyperlinks are underlined.

 

 

The Evolution of the Seismic-Aseismic Transition during the
Earthquake Cycle: Constraints from the Time-Dependent Depth
Distribution of Aftershocks

Frédérique Rolandone, Roland Bürgmann and Robert Nadeau

Introduction

We have demonstrated that aftershock distributions after several large earthquakes show an immediate deepening from pre-earthquake levels, followed by a time-dependent postseismic shallowing (Rolandone et al., 2002). We use these seismic data to constrain the depth variations with time of the seismic-aseismic transition throughout the earthquake cycle. Most studies of the seismic-aseismic transition have focused on the effect of temperature and/or rock composition and have shown that the maximum depth of seismic activity is well correlated with the spatial variations of these two parameters. However, little has been done to examine how the maximum depth of seismogenic faulting varies locally, at the scale of a fault segment, with time during the earthquake cycle.

The mechanical behavior of rocks in the crust is governed by frictional behavior and at greater depth by plastic flow. The coupling between the brittle and ductile layers and the depth extent and behavior of the transition zone between these two regimes is a fundamental question. Mechanical models of long-term deformation (Rolandone and Jaupart, 2002) suggest that the brittle-ductile transition is a wide zone where deformation is caused both by slip and ductile flow. Geologic observations (Sibson, 1986; Scholz, 1990; Trepmann and Stockhert, 2002) indicate that the depth of the seismic-aseismic transition varies with strain rate and therefore is also expected to change with time throughout the earthquake cycle. The maximum depth of seismogenic faulting is interpreted either as the transition from brittle faulting to plastic flow in the continental crust, or as the transition in the frictional sliding process from unstable to stable sliding. The seismic-aseismic transition therefore reflects a fault zone rheology transition or a more distributed transition from brittle to ductile deformation mechanisms.

Results

We investigate the time-dependent depth distribution of aftershocks in the Mojave Desert. We apply the double difference method of Waldhauser and Ellsworth (2000) to the region of the M 7.3 1992 Landers earthquake to relocate earthquakes. Time-dependent depth patterns of seismicity have been identified in only few previous studies (Doser and Kanamori, 1986; Schaff et al., 2002) and never quantified. This was mainly due to the problem of the accuracy of the hypocenter locations. Accurately resolving depth is the most challenging part of earthquake location. With new relocation techniques, we can investigate the time-dependent depth distribution of seismicity to reveal more intricate details in the patterns of deformation which take place during an earthquake cycle.

In this study, we focus on quantifying the temporal pattern of the deepest aftershocks. We calculate the d95%, the depth above which 95% of the earthquakes occur, and we also calculate the d5%, the average of the 5% of the deepest earthquakes for a constant number of events. We compare our results with the same statistics for the Hauksson relocations (catalog from Hauksson (2000) with a vertical error cutoff of 1.5 km). We specifically investigate (1) the deepening of the aftershocks relative to the background seismicity, (2) the time constant of the postseismic shallowing of the deepest earthquakes. Figure 18.1 shows the time-dependent depth distribution of seismicity for the Johnson Valley fault that ruptured in the 1992 Landers earthquake. Our analysis reveals a strong time-dependence of the depth of the deepest aftershocks. In the immediate postseismic period, the aftershocks are deeper than the background seismicity, followed by a time-dependent shallowing. Figure 18.2 shows the same data but in the form of histograms and relate them to the deepening of the brittle-ductile transition after the mainshock. The temporal variations of the depth of the brittle-ductile transition reflect the strain-rate changes at the base of the seismogenic zone.

The analysis of seismic data to resolve the time-dependent depth distribution of the seismic-aseismic transition provides additional constraints on fault zone rheology, which are independent of geodetic data. Together with geodetic measurements, these seismological observations form the basis for developing more sophisticated models for the mechanical evolution of strike-slip shear zones during the earthquake cycle.

Figure 18.1: Time-dependent depth distribution of seismicity for the Johnson Valley fault. The red curve shows the statistics for the d5% and the green for the d95% (see text). The dashed lines show the same statistics for the Hauksson relocations and are in very good agreement with our results.

 

Figure 18.2: Histograms of the depth distribution of seismicity for different time periods. Overlaid is the strength of the brittle and ductile materials.

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center and an IGPP/LLNL grant.

References

Doser, D.I., and Kanamori H., Depth of seismicity in the Imperial Valley region (1977-1983) and its relationship to heat flow, crustal structure, and the October 15, 1979, earthquake. J. Geophys. Res., 91, 675-688, 1986.

Hauksson, E., Crustal structure and seismicity distribution adjacent to the Pacific and North America plate boundary in southern California, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 13,875-13,903, 2000.

Rolandone, F., and C. Jaupart, The distribution of slip rate and ductile deformation in a strike-slip shear zone, Geophys. J. Int., 148, 179-192, 2002.

Rolandone, F., R. Bürgmann and R.M. Nadeau, Time-dependent depth distribution of aftershocks: implications for fault mechanics and crustal rheology, Seism. Res. Lett., 73, 229, 2002.

Schaff, D.P., G.H.R. Bokelmann, G.C. Beroza, F. Waldhauser and W.L. Ellsworth, High resolution image of Calaveras Fault seismicity, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (B9), 2186, doi:10.1029/2001JB000633, 2002.

Scholz, C.H., Earthquakes and friction laws Nature, 391, 37-42, 1998.

Sibson, R.H., Earthquakes and rock deformation in crustal fault zone, Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci, 14, 149-175, 1986.

Trepmann, C.A., and B. Stockhert, Cataclastic deformation of garnet: a record of synseismic loading and postseismic creep, J. Struct. Geol., 24, 1845-1856, 2002.

Waldhauser, F., and W. L. Ellsworth, A double-difference earthquake location algorithm: method and application to the northern Hayward fault, California, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 90, 1353-1368, 2000.

 

QUESTIONS ON THE ARTICLE ABOVE:

• (1 pt) Define the term “hypocenter.”

 

 

 

 

 

• (1 pt) Define the term “aftershock.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (2 pts) Define the term “temporal” as it is used in this article (the word has multiple meanings) and explain what a temporal pattern would be.

 

 

 

 

 

• (3 pts) In your own words, what does the graph in Fig. 18.1 show (do not repeat the title of the graph)? What do the black dots on the graph represent?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (4 pts) What happened in 1992 that caused the number of black dots on the graph to increase suddenly? Give some details about this event that people would generally want to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (1 pt) What is the depth range of the black dots in Figure 18.1 before the sudden increase in 1992?

 

 

 

• (1 pt) What is the depth range of the black dots in Figure 18.1 after the sudden increase in 1992?

 

 

 

• (4 pts) What happens to the number of black dots between 1992 and 2001? What is an aftershock sequence? Is there an aftershock sequence shown in Fig. 18.1? If so, what was the main earthquake that caused this aftershock sequence?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (1 pt) What is the green line labeled as the d95% line showing? The text of the article explains this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (2 pts) What happens to the green line (d95%) right after the event in 1992? Then what happens to that line as the years move forward to 2001?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (4 pts) Refer back to the graph you labeled in question #7. Explain how it relates to the graph in Fig. 18.1 and the green d95% line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (4 pts) The authors interpret what happens to the green (and red) line after 1992 in this statement: “The temporal variations of the depth of the brittle-ductile transition reflect the strain-rate changes at the base of the seismogenic zone.” What do they mean by “strain rate changes?” What caused strain rate changes in the crust in 1992?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• (4 pts) The “oobleck” you observed and described in #11 relates to what the authors of the article think occurred in this area. Compare oobleck to how you think ductile rock might behave. Do earthquakes and aftershocks occur in oobleck? Does oobleck respond to strain rate changes rapidly or slowly? What about ductile rock in the crust—how long does it take to respond to strain rate changes (see Fig. 18.1)?

 

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