Abstract
Slip complexity of earthquake faults is studied based on an N-degree-of-freedom dynamical spring-slider system in the presence of slip-law-type, velocity- and state-dependent friction. Simulation results based on such a friction law show that slip complexity depends on the inhomogeneous distribution of the breaking strengths (including its pattern and degree) along the fault and nonlinear velocity- and state-dependent friction. However, for the given model parameters the former is more important than the latter in controlling slip complexity. Frictional effects obviously appear only when the distribution of the breaking strengths is inhomogeneous. In addition, the stiffness ratio, defined as the ratio of the coil spring strength, Kc, to the leaf spring strength, Kl, is also a factor in controlling slip complexity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beeler, N. M. and T. E. Tullis, Self-healing slip pulses in dynamic rupture models due to velocity-dependent strength, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 86, 1130–1148, 1996.
Burridge, R. and L. Knopoff, Model and theoretical seismicity, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 57, 341–371, 1967.
Carlson, J. M., Time intervals between characteristic earthquakes and correlation with smaller events: An analysis based on a mechanical model of fault, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 4255–4267, 1991.
Carlson, J. and J. S. Langer, Mechanical model of an earthquake fault, Phys. Rev. A, 40, 6470–6484, 1989.
Carlson, J. M., J. S. Langer, B. E. Shaw, and C. Tang, Intrinsic properties of a Burridge-Knopoff model of an earthquake fault, Phys. Rev. A, 44, 884–897, 1991.
Cochard, A. and R. Madariaga, Dynamic faulting under rate-dependent friction, Pure Appl. Geophys., 142, 419–445, 1994.
Cochard, A. and R. Madariaga, Complexity of seismicity due to highly rate-dependent friction, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 25,321–25,336, 1996.
Das, S. and K. Aki, Fault planes with barriers: a versatile earthquake model, J. Geophys. Res., 82, 5658–5670, 1977.
Dieterich, J. H., Modeling of rock friction 1. Experimental results and constitutive equations, J. Geophys. Res., 84, 2161–2168, 1979.
Kanamori, H., Mechanics of Earthquake, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 22, 207–237, 1994.
Kanamori, H. and G. Stewart, Seismological aspects of the Guatemala earthquake of February 4, 1976, J. Geophys. Res., 83, 3427–3434, 1978.
Knopoff, L., The organization of seismicity on fault networks, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 93, 3830–3837, 1996.
Marone, C., Laboratory-derived friction laws and their application to seismic faulting, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 26, 643–696, 1998.
Press, W. H., B. P. Flannery, S. A. Teukolsky, and W. T. Vetterling, Numerical Recipes, 818 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1986.
Rice, J. R., Fault stress states, pore pressure distributions, and the weakness of the San Andreas Fault, in Fault Mechanics and Transport Properties of Rocks, pp. 475–503, Academic Press, 1992.
Rice, J. R., Spatio-temporal complexity of slip on a fault, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 9885–9907, 1993.
Ruina, A. L., Slip instability and state variable friction laws, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 10,359–10,370, 1983.
Saupe, D., Algorithms for random fractals, Chapter 2, in The Science of Fractal Images, edited by H. O. Peitgen and D. Saupe, pp. 71–136, Springer Verlag, New York, 1988.
Scholz, C. H., The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting, 439 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1990.
Shaw, B. E., Complexity in a spatially uniform continuum fault model, Geophys. Res. Lett., 21, 1983–1986, 1994.
Wang, J. H., Effect of seismic coupling on the scaling of seismicity, Geophys. J. Int., 121, 475–488, 1995.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, JH., Hwang, RD. One-dimensional dynamic simulations of slip complexity of earthquake faults. Earth Planet Sp 53, 91–100 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352366
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352366