Laboratory study of electromagnetic initiation of slip

Recently Russian seismologists reported the triggering effect of MHD soundings on microseismic activity in the Central Asia test area.The paper focuses on an experimental test of the possibility of triggering the mechanical instability of a system that is close to critical state by a series of elect...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: V. Chikhladze, Z. Tchelidze, M. Devidze, N. NoVaramashvili, T. Chelidze, T. Matcharashvili
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) 2002-06-01
Series:Annals of Geophysics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3532
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Summary:Recently Russian seismologists reported the triggering effect of MHD soundings on microseismic activity in the Central Asia test area.The paper focuses on an experimental test of the possibility of triggering the mechanical instability of a system that is close to critical state by a series of electromagnetic pulses.The mechanical system consisted of two pieces of rock;the upper piece can slip on the fixed supporting sample if the latter one is tilted up to the critical angle.In this state,the triggering of mechanical instability by some weak impact such as electrical pulse became more probable.The slope of support in the experiment is an analogue of tectonic stress in natural conditions.The preliminary experiments,carried out in a dry environment,at the humidity of atmosphere 30-50%,show that a strong EM-pulse induces sliding of a sample of rock (granite,basalt,labradorite)placed on the supporting sample which is inclined at the slope close to,but less than,the critical angle with a probability 0.07.
ISSN:1593-5213
2037-416X