Analogue earthquakes and seismic cycles: experimental modelling across timescales
Earth deformation is a multi-scale process ranging from seconds (seismic deformation) to millions of years (tectonic deformation). Bridging short- and long-term deformation and developing seismotectonic models has been a challenge in experimental tectonics for more than a century. Since the form...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Solid Earth |
| Online Access: | http://www.solid-earth.net/8/597/2017/se-8-597-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Earth deformation is a multi-scale process ranging from
seconds (seismic deformation) to millions of years (tectonic deformation).
Bridging short- and long-term deformation and developing seismotectonic
models has been a challenge in experimental tectonics for more than a
century. Since the formulation of Reid's elastic rebound theory 100 years
ago, laboratory mechanical models combining frictional and elastic elements
have been used to study the dynamics of earthquakes. In the last decade,
with the advent of high-resolution monitoring techniques and new rock
analogue materials, laboratory earthquake experiments have evolved from simple
spring-slider models to scaled analogue models. This evolution was
accomplished by advances in seismology and geodesy along with relatively
frequent occurrences of large earthquakes in the past decade. This
coincidence has significantly increased the quality and quantity of relevant
observations in nature and triggered a new understanding of earthquake
dynamics. We review here the developments in analogue earthquake modelling
with a focus on those seismotectonic scale models that are directly
comparable to observational data on short to long timescales. We lay out the
basics of analogue modelling, namely scaling, materials and monitoring, as
applied in seismotectonic modelling. An overview of applications highlights
the contributions of analogue earthquake models in bridging timescales of
observations including earthquake statistics, rupture dynamics, ground
motion, and seismic-cycle deformation up to seismotectonic evolution. |
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| ISSN: | 1869-9510 1869-9529 |