Stable sliding preceding stick-slip on fault surfaces in granite at high pressure

Summary The distance of stable sliding before sudden slip on fault surfaces in granite decreases rapidly as the confining pressure is increased. At a pressure of 6 kb the amount of stable creep is very small or absent. Two orders of magnitude change in strain rate has no effect on the distance of stable sliding. Our results suggest that in the earth, fault creep should predominate in the shallow crust but in the deep crustal layer most of the stresses are probably relieved by sudden earthquake type of motion. Below the crust high temperature would promote stable-slip so in this region creep would once more predominate.