On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity
Abstract We numerically investigate the role of plastic strain accumulation on the mechanical response of a planar strike‐slip fault. Our models show that fault‐zone strength significantly impacts the ensuing sequence of earthquakes. Weaker fault zones accumulating more plastic strain promote more c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL108060 |
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| author | Mohamed Abdelmeguid Md Shumon Mia Ahmed Elbanna |
| author_facet | Mohamed Abdelmeguid Md Shumon Mia Ahmed Elbanna |
| author_sort | Mohamed Abdelmeguid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We numerically investigate the role of plastic strain accumulation on the mechanical response of a planar strike‐slip fault. Our models show that fault‐zone strength significantly impacts the ensuing sequence of earthquakes. Weaker fault zones accumulating more plastic strain promote more complexity in the seismicity pattern through aperiodic earthquake occurrences and intermittent episodes of rupture and arrest. However, if the fault zone strength is high enough, the overall earthquake sequence is characterized by periodic fault‐spanning events. We find that both the fault normal stress and the fault geometric profile evolve throughout the earthquake sequence, suggesting a self‐roughening mechanism. Despite the significant impact of plasticity on the fault response, the width of the plastically deforming region in the fault zone is small compared to the fault length. Our results suggest a rich behavior in dynamically evolving fault zones and support the need for further high‐resolution studies of the highly non‐linear near‐fault region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f1cddaf6dd9944d4913fe946bdaeb879 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-f1cddaf6dd9944d4913fe946bdaeb8792025-08-20T03:10:25ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-07-015114n/an/a10.1029/2023GL108060On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone ComplexityMohamed Abdelmeguid0Md Shumon Mia1Ahmed Elbanna2Graduate Aerospace Laboratories California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USAAbstract We numerically investigate the role of plastic strain accumulation on the mechanical response of a planar strike‐slip fault. Our models show that fault‐zone strength significantly impacts the ensuing sequence of earthquakes. Weaker fault zones accumulating more plastic strain promote more complexity in the seismicity pattern through aperiodic earthquake occurrences and intermittent episodes of rupture and arrest. However, if the fault zone strength is high enough, the overall earthquake sequence is characterized by periodic fault‐spanning events. We find that both the fault normal stress and the fault geometric profile evolve throughout the earthquake sequence, suggesting a self‐roughening mechanism. Despite the significant impact of plasticity on the fault response, the width of the plastically deforming region in the fault zone is small compared to the fault length. Our results suggest a rich behavior in dynamically evolving fault zones and support the need for further high‐resolution studies of the highly non‐linear near‐fault region.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL108060frictionplasticitysequence of earthquakes and aseismic slipdelocalizationfault zone evolution |
| spellingShingle | Mohamed Abdelmeguid Md Shumon Mia Ahmed Elbanna On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity Geophysical Research Letters friction plasticity sequence of earthquakes and aseismic slip delocalization fault zone evolution |
| title | On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity |
| title_full | On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity |
| title_fullStr | On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity |
| title_short | On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity |
| title_sort | on the interplay between distributed bulk plasticity and local fault slip in evolving fault zone complexity |
| topic | friction plasticity sequence of earthquakes and aseismic slip delocalization fault zone evolution |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL108060 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mohamedabdelmeguid ontheinterplaybetweendistributedbulkplasticityandlocalfaultslipinevolvingfaultzonecomplexity AT mdshumonmia ontheinterplaybetweendistributedbulkplasticityandlocalfaultslipinevolvingfaultzonecomplexity AT ahmedelbanna ontheinterplaybetweendistributedbulkplasticityandlocalfaultslipinevolvingfaultzonecomplexity |