earthquakefocalmechanisms-serc（6页）.docVIP

Earthquake Focal Mechanisms GOAL: an understanding of how friction and elasticity conspire to control earthquake first motions and that the resulting focal mechanisms provide important information about how active strain is accommodated in the crust. NEED TO KNOW: how to visualize in 3-D using stereonets APPROACH: review two concepts from prior lectures/labs, 1 Friction 2 Elasticity and add the concepts of: 3 Seismic First Motions 4 Earthquake Locations NOTES: I. Friction The measure of resistance to sliding along a surface. (See Scholz, The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting, 1990, Cambridge University Press.) The adhesion theory of friction (Bowden Tabor, 1950s): N = pAr eqn. 1 where, N = normal load, p is the penetration hardness, a measure of the strength of the material, and Ar is the sum of all of the contact areas between the surfaces. To shear through the junctions created by contact areas the frictional force, F would be: F = sAr eqn. 2 where, s is the shear strength of the material. Combining equations 1 and 2: ?f = F/N = s/p eqn. 3 where ?f is the coefficient of sliding friction. Another way to think about this is: ?????s??n where ?s is the shear stress required to activate sliding and ?n is the normal stress acting on the surface. Real values are much greater. Why? More physical work is needed: 1 asperities plow through the adjacent rock 2 Ar probably increases with shearing 3 eqn. 1 essentially assumes that surfaces yield plastically, which is probably not correct, elastic properties probably dominate BUT, this theory captures the physical essence of friction. Tangible examples: 1 slide a cinder block down a hill on pavement 2 do the same, but with someone standing on it  II. Elasticity Deformation is elastic when it is recoverable. Simplest case is linear elasticity: ?n = E?n normal stress is proportional to the amount of extension, E = Young’s modulus, or ?s = 2??s shear stre