Effect of Sliding Rate on the Activity of Acoustic Emission During Stable Sliding

--The mechanical and statistical characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) events during stable sliding are investigated through a laboratory experiment using a granite specimen with a pre-cut fault. Numerous AE events are found to be generated on the pre-cut fault, indicating that microscopically unstable fracture occurs during macroscopically stable sliding. The composite focal mechanism solution of AE events is determined from the first motion directions of P-waves. The determined mechanism is consistent with the double-couple one expected for the slip on the pre-cut fault. The source radii of large AE events are estimated to be about 10 mm from the widths of the first P-wave pulses. These indicate that the AE events are generated by shear fracture whose faulting area is a part of the pre-cut fault plane. The occurrence of AE events as a stochastic process approximately obeys the Poisson process, if the effect of mutually dependent events consti tuting clusters is corrected. The observed amplitude-frequency relation of AE events approximately follows a power law for a limited amplitude range. As the macroscopic sliding rate increases, the number of AE events per unit sliding distance decreases. This rate dependence of the AE activity is qualitatively consistent with the observation that the real area of contact between sliding surfaces decreases with an increase in the sliding rate as reported in the literature.     

Nonuniform and Unsteady Sliding of a Plate Boundary in a Great Earthquake Cycle: A Numerical Simulation Using a Laboratory-derived Friction Law

—A numerical study is conducted to simulate complicated sliding behavior and earthquake activity on a subducting plate boundary. A 2-D model of a uniform elastic half-space with a semi-infinite thrust fault is set up, and the frictional stress prescribed by a rate- and state-dependent friction law is assumed to act on the plate boundary fault. Spatial nonuniformity of friction parameters representing rate-dependence of friction and of slip-dependence of friction are introduced in the model to obtain complicated sliding behavior in the numerical simulation. Analogs of great earthquakes that break the entire seismogenic plate boundary repeatedly occur at a constant time interval. Smaller events of seismic or aseismic sliding occur during a great earthquake cycle. Regions of rate-strengthening of friction and of a large characteristic distance in slip-dependence of friction behave as barriers or asperities. Rupture propagation is often arrested in such a region and a great earthquake occurs later when the region is broken. The variety of earthquake activity observed in many regions along real plate boundaries may be explained by similar nonuniformity in friction parameters. Conversely, the friction parameters on plate boundaries might be estimated from comparison of theoretical simulations with observations of earthquake activity. Simulation results indicate that spatiotemporal variation in stress due to aseismic sliding may play an important part in generating earthquakes.     

A new direction finding technique for auroral VLF hiss based on the measurement of time differences of arrival at three spaced observing points

A newly developed direction finding (DF) technique for auroral hiss based on the measurement of time differences of wave arrival was carried out in 1978 at Syowa Station (geomag. lat. -70.4°), Antarctica and its two slave unmanned observing points located at about 20 km distances from Syowa. The auroral hiss signals (0.3–100 kHz) received at the two spaced points were transmitted to Syowa by a wide-band telemeter of 2 GHz. The arrival time difference of auroral hiss between Syowa and each spaced point was automatically determined by cross-correlating the waveforms of the received signals, and then the incident and azimuthal angles were measured with an accuracy of about 10°.It has been found that the new DF technique can determine localized exit regions at the ionospheric level which show rapid temporal movements. A comparison of the DF results with ground-based auroral data has shown that impulsive type auroral hiss with a wide-band frequency range has not emerged from the whole region of a bright aurora but from some localized regions of bright electron auroras at the ionospheric level, and that the arrival directions of auroral hiss change rapidly in accordance with the auroral movements.     

The Variation of Stresses due to Aseismic Sliding and its Effect on Seismic Activity

— Numerical simulation of recurring large interplate earthquakes in a subduction zone is conducted to explore the effects of aseismic sliding on the variation of stresses and the activity of small earthquakes. The frictional force obeying a rate- and state-dependent friction law is assumed to act on the plate interface in a 2-D model of uniform elastic half-space. The simulation results show that large earthquakes repeatedly occur at a constant time interval on a shallow part of the plate interface and that aseismic sliding migrates from the upper aseismic zone as well as from the lower aseismic zone into the central part of the seismogenic zone before the occurrence of a large interplate earthquake. This spatiotemporal variation of aseismic sliding significantly perturbs the stresses in the overriding plate and in the subducting oceanic plate, leading to the precursory seismic quiescence in the overriding plate and the activation of the intermediate-depth earthquakes of down-dip tension type. After the occurrence of a large interplate earthquake, the activity of the intermediate-depth earthquakes of down-dip compression type in the subducting slab is expected to increase and migrate downward. This is because the downward propagation of postseismic sliding causes the downward migration of compressional-stress increase in the down-dip direction of the plate interface. The simulation result further indicates that episodic events of aseismic sliding may occur when the spatial distributions of friction parameters are significantly nonuniform. The variation of stresses due to episodic sliding is expected to cause seismicity changes.     

Outline of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (Ant-Plane) designed for Antarctic research

As part of the Ant-Plane project for summertime scientific research and logistics in the coastal region of Antarctica, we developed six types of small autonomous UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, similar to drones; we term these vehicles ‘Ant-Planes’) based on four types of airframe. In test flights, Ant-Plane 2 cruised within 20 m accuracy along a straight course during calm weather at Sakurajima Volcano, Kyushu, Japan. During a period of strong winds (22 m/s) at Mt. Chokai, Akita Prefecture, Japan, Ant-Plane 2 maintained its course during a straight flight but deviated when turning leeward. An onboard 3-axis magneto-resistant magnetometer (400 g) recorded variations in the magnetic field to an accuracy of 10 nT during periods of calm wind, but strong magnetic noise was observed during high winds, especially head winds. Ant-Plane 4-1 achieved a continuous flight of 500 km, with a maximum flight altitude of 5690 m. The Ant-Plane can be used for various types of Antarctic research as a basic platform for airborne surveys, but further development of the techniques employed in takeoff and landing are required, as well as ready adjustment of the engine and the development of small onboard instruments with greater reliability.     

Effect of fault bend on the rupture propagation process of stick-slip

An experimental study of stick-slip is performed to examine the effect of a fault bend on the dynamic rupture propagation process. A granite sample used in the experiment has a pre-cut fault that is artificially bent by an angle of 5.6° at the center of the fault along strike, and accordingly the fault consists of two fault segments. The rupture propagation process during stick-slip instability is investigated by analyzing the records of shear strain and relative displacement measured with strain gauge sensors together with the hypocenters of AE (acoustic emission) events detected with piezoelectric transducers. The observed rupture propagation process of typical stick-slip events is as follows. (1) The dynamic rupture started on a fault segment is stopped near the fault bend. (2) The rupture propagation is restarted near the bend on the other fault segment 10.8 ms to 3.5 s after the stop of the first rupture. The delay time of the second rupture decreases with an increase in the slip amount of the first rupture or a decrease in the normal stress acting on the fault segment where the second rupture started. (3) The restarted rupture is not arrested by the presence of a fault bend, and slip occurs over the entire fault. We theoretically analyze the stress concentration near the fault bend to find that the normal stress produced by the preceding slip near the fault bend plays an important part in controlling the rupture propagation. A numerical simulation based on a rate- and state-dependent friction law is performed to interpret physically the retarded rupture in the experiment. The observed time interval of 10.8 ms to 3.5 s between the first rupture and the second is explained by the numerical simulation, suggesting that the rate- and state-dependence of rock friction is a possible mechanism for the retarded rupture on the fault.     

Microfracture processes in the breakdown zone during dynamic shear rupture inferred from laboratory observation of near-fault high-frequency strong motion

High-frequency velocities are measured during stick-slip motion in the immediate vicinity of a fault in a granite sample to reveal the microscopic process taking place in the breakdown zone defined in the slip-weakening model. It is found that 1) the onset time of the observed strong motion approximately coincides with the local rupture onset time, 2) the observed near-fault high-frequency strong-motion duration is approximately proportional to the local breakdown time, and 3) the power spectra of strong motions exhibit significant amplitudes at frequencies above the value off _max, wheref _max is a cut-off frequency relevant to rupturing the breakdown zone. These observations suggest that the high-frequency motion would be due to the incoherent brittle microfracture whose characteristic scale is much shorter than the breakdown zone size. We present a stochastic fault model to synthesize the near-fault high-frequency velocity waveforms. In the model, a number of small circular subfaults are distributed randomly on the fault and the rupture onset time of an individual subfault is assumed to be random. The main features of the observed velocity waveforms are well explained by this numerical modeling. It is concluded that approximately half of the total energy of high-frequency elastic waves observed at a point is radiated from the propagating breakdown zone. We emphasize the importance of the observation of near-fault high-frequency strong motions for large shallow earthquakes.     

Possible Mechanism of Precursory Seismic Quiescence: Regional Stress Relaxation due to Preseismic Sliding

—We propose a new model to physically explain the seismic quiescence precursory to a large interplate earthquake. A numerical simulation is performed to quantitatively examine possible stress changes prior to a great interplate earthquake in a subduction zone. In the present study, the frictional force following a laboratory-derived friction law, in which the friction coefficient is dependent on slip rate and slip history, is assumed to act on a dip-slip fault plane of infinite width in a uniform elastic half-space. The values of friction parameters are determined so that the result of numerical simulation may explain some properties of great interplate earthquakes in subduction zones, such as the recurrence interval and the seismic coupling coefficient. The result of simulation reveals that significant quasi-stable sliding occurs prior to a great earthquake and, accordingly, stresses are changed on and around the plate boundary. In a relatively wide area of the overriding continental plate, the compres sional horizontal-stress perpendicular to the trench axis is decreased for a few years before the occurrence of a great earthquake. This decrease in regional compressional stress may account for the appearance of seismic quiescence prior to a great interplate earthquake.