Earthquakes produce carbon dioxide in crustal faults |
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| Authors: | Vincent Famin Satoru Nakashima Anne-Marie Boullier Koichiro Fujimoto Tetsuro Hirono |
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| Institution: | 1. Université Grenoble Alpes, ISTerre Grenoble, France;2. IFPEN, Rueil-Malmaison, France;3. CEREGE, UMR Aix-Marseille Université – CNRS - IRD – Collège de France, Technopole de l''Arbois, BP 80, 13 545 Aix-en-Provence, France;4. LSCE, Gif sur Yvette, France;5. KU-Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;6. CSIRO, Kensington, Australia;7. CNRS, ISTerre, Grenoble, France;8. BRGM, Orleans, France;1. University of New Mexico, Department of Earth & Planetary Science, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA;2. Utah State University, Department of Geology, 4505 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA;3. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Department of Earth & Environmental Science, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, USA;1. Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia;2. Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, and CNRS, 69007 Lyon, France |
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| Abstract: | Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microanalysis of pseudotachylytes (i.e. friction-induced melts produced by seismic slip) from the Nojima fault (Japan) reveals that earthquakes almost instantaneously expel 99 wt.% of the wall rock CO2 content. Carbon is exsolved because it is supersaturated in the friction melts. By extrapolation to a crustal-scale fault rupture, large events such as the M7.2 Kobe earthquake (1995) may yield a total production of 1.8 to 3.4 × 103 tons CO2 within a few seconds. This extraordinary release of CO2 can cause a flash fluid pressure increase in the fault plane, and therefore enhance earthquake slip or trigger aftershocks; it may also explain the anomalous discharge of carbon monitored in nearby fault springs after large earthquakes. Because carbon saturation in silicate melts is pressure-dependent, FTIR can be used as a new tool to constrain the maximum depth of pseudotachylyte formation in exhumed faults. |
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