Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/K009656/1
Faulting and healing of the crust throughout the seismic cycle: From microscale physico-chemical processes to a global rheology
Fellowship Award
- Fellow:
- Dr N Brantut, University College London, Earth Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University College London, Earth Sciences
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Geohazards
- Properties Of Earth Materials
- Tectonic Processes
- Eng. Dynamics & Tribology
- Creep Deformation
- Fracture Mechanics
- Abstract:
- In the Earth's upper crust, geological deformation is primarily accommodated by fracturing and faulting. Fault motion can be catastrophic and generate earthquakes, but these are rather rare events in time: most faults in the crust are either very slowly moving (creeping) or completely locked between earthquakes. During this so-called interseismic period, fractures heal (i.e., they regain strength) and seal (i.e., they close paths for fluid flow) due to chemical lithification processes. The competition of healing and sealing processes with fracture growth conditions the location and timing of future earthquakes along faults. Hence, understanding how rocks heal and fracture, and the feedbacks between these processes, is an essential step towards a better knowledge of earthquake generation and the associated hazards. Despite the considerable attention this problem has received since the late 1970's, mostly through the development of phenomenological frictional constitutive laws, very little is known in terms of actual microscale mechanisms, from which the observed empirical macroscopic laws could arise. In particular, a unifying micromechanical framework encompassing fracture gowth, healing and sealing remains to be determined. Therefore, I propose to tackle this problem from a different point of view, by (1) identifying and quantifying experimentally the physico-chemical processes controlling ultra-slow deformation and fracture healing, and (2) theoretically input those processes into a rigorous micromechanical framework that can be used to extrapolate from the laboratory to field scale.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/K009656/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Research Fellowship
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- IRF
This fellowship award has a total value of £540,717
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £44,882 | £158,020 | £56,195 | £193,022 | £24,033 | £64,567 |
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