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the role of Stress History on the EARthquake potential of faults

Projektbeschreibung

Unser Wissen über Erdbeben erschüttern

Tektonische seismische Ereignisse – Erdbeben – entstehen durch die plötzliche Freisetzung gespeicherter Energie (Verwerfungslast) entlang einer Verwerfungsebene. Diese Energie kann aufgrund von Kompression (Verstärkung der Last) oder Extension (Abschwächung der Last) an den Grenzen tektonischer Platten entstehen. Bei beiden Ereignissen verformt sich das die Verwerfungsebene umgebende Gestein, wenn sich Energie aufbaut, allerdings auf unterschiedliche Weise. Über die Abschwächung der Last ist weniger bekannt, weshalb im Rahmen des EU-finanzierten Projekts SHEAR eine Laboruntersuchung mithilfe von Verformungsgeräten und akustischen Verfahren durchgeführt wird. Die Integration der Ergebnisse in mikrophysikalische Modelle und Daten aus Feldstudien wird künftige Experimente in größerem Maßstab erleichtern. Letztendlich wird das Projekt zu einem besseren Verständnis der tektonischen Verwerfungsprozesse beitragen.

Ziel

The extent to which earthquake phenomena can be accurately assessed ultimately depends on how well the underlying physical processes are understood. Earthquake physics is primarily controlled by fault frictional properties and fluid pressure, which have been widely tested in laboratory rock deformation experiments. During the last 50 years, these experiments have provided fundamental contributions to our understanding of earthquake physics. However, in most experiments, the fault is loaded toward earthquake-slip under constant effective normal stress or via an increase in effective normal stress, i.e. load-strengthening. Nonetheless, numerous natural faults are affected by a reduction in effective normal stress during tectonic loading, i.e. load-weakening, and this condition is dominant in induced earthquakes due to fluid-injections in modern energy production. Further, along mature fault zones characterized by a thick damage zone and fault core, load-weakening likely promotes fault dilation, instead of compaction, with strong implications for fault hydro-mechanical behaviour. With SHEAR, I propose to fill this knowledge gap via laboratory experiments designed specifically to investigate the influence of loading path, and in particular the load-weakening path in fault physics, taking advantage of a world-class deformation apparatus. Laboratory results will be integrated with acoustic techniques to shed light on the physical processes at play and inform microphysical models that, coupled with field studies, will allow for the upscaling of experiments and provide a broader comprehensive picture of tectonic faulting. For the SHEAR action, the experience I acquired during my Post-Doc at EPFL (Switzerland) will be fundamental. The vibrant research environment in Sapienza will give me the possibility to acquire new scientific and transferable skills, ensuring me a competitive scientific profile to successfully apply for positions in academia, public and private sectors.

Finanzierungsplan

MSCA-PF - MSCA-PF

Koordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 172 750,08
Adresse
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
Italien

Auf der Karte ansehen

Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
Keine Daten