Descrizione del progetto
Uno studio pioneristico sui fluidi idrotermali nelle faglie sismiche
I terremoti, a volte provocati dall’uomo, causano circa 50 000 vittime all’anno e miliardi di euro di danni. Tuttavia, la previsione probabilistica dei terremoti è messa in discussione dalla nostra scarsa conoscenza della fisica e della chimica dei terremoti. In effetti, i terremoti più dannosi sono il risultato di rotture che si nucleano e si propagano nella crosta terrestre lungo faglie spesso impregnate di fluidi caldi ricchi di acqua («fluidi idrotermali»). L’interazione chimica e fisica tra questi fluidi e i materiali rocciosi di scarsa comprensione controlla le prime fasi della nucleazione del terremoto. Il progetto FRICTION, finanziato dall’UE, si concentra sull’interazione dinamica tra i fluidi idrotermali e le zone di faglia nella crosta continentale. Lo studio delle antiche faglie sismiche, ora esposte in superficie, ed esperimenti dedicati che riproducono queste particolari condizioni idrotermali aiuteranno a quantificare il comportamento meccanico delle faglie in presenza di fluidi a profondità sismogeniche, anche per lo sfruttamento sicuro di bacini profondi per scopi energetici (campi geotermici, ecc.).
Obiettivo
With ca. 50.000 casualties per year and 330 billion USD of damage in this century, earthquakes are among the biggest geohazards on Earth. Earthquakes are natural, often human-induced, phenomena in which a vast amount of elastic strain energy stored in rocks is suddenly released. A large amount of research has been performed to investigate fault mechanisms during earthquakes whereas much less has been done to constrain the chemical-physical processes of fluid-rock interaction during the seismic cycle and how these processes enhance the healing of fault zones, the storage of elastic strain energy in the crust and the nucleation of new earthquakes.
The project FRICTION, building on the exciting results from a previous ERC project aimed to understand earthquakes mechanics from rupture nucleation and propagation to arrest, aims at investigating the feedback between seismic faulting, fluid-rock interaction, and tectonic loading in the processes of healing of fault zones and nucleation of earthquakes in the continental crust. FRICTION is innovative since it tackles a scientific topic which was so far overlooked with a multiscale interdisciplinary approach combining: high-detailed field structural characterization of exhumed ancient seismogenic fault zones, unprecedented rock deformation and fluid-rock interaction experiments under realistic hydrothermal and seismic conditions, both coupled with microstructural-petrophysical and chemical characterization of natural and experimental fault rocks.
This integrated approach will lead to building a wealth of novel datasets to quantify the strength, friction constitutive properties, and sliding behavior of faults at hydrothermal conditions in the continental crust. The research will be conducted at Università degli Studi di Padova, where the joint assets of an experienced supervisor and unique, ground-breaking equipment will guarantee the successful progress of the research and my professional growth as an independent researcher.
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
35122 Padova
Italia