Liu
Yajing
Liu
Yajing
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ArticleRole of fault gouge dilatancy on aseismic deformation transients(American Geophysical Union, 2010-10-16) Liu, Yajing ; Rubin, Allan M.In the vicinity of episodic aseismic transients in several subduction zones, the presence of interstitial fluids and near-lithostatic pore pressure has been proposed to interpret seismic observations of high P to S wave speed ratio and high Poisson's ratio. Under such conditions, fault stabilization by dilatancy-induced suction during increased shear strain rates becomes very efficient. We analyze the frictional and hydraulic conditions for spontaneous transients on a fluid-infiltrated fault including dilatancy and pore compaction in the framework of rate and state friction with a “membrane diffusion” approximation. In both a simplified spectral model and a 2-D Cascadia-like subduction fault model, the fault response is mainly controlled by three nondimensional parameters: (1) W/h*, the along-dip width of the high pore pressure, velocity-weakening fault relative to a characteristic nucleation size, (2) a drainage parameter U, the relative time scales for fluid diffusion and friction evolution, and (3) a dilatancy parameter E, the relative contributions to stress drop from dilatancy and friction evolution. The incorporation of dilatancy enables aseismic transients at much larger values of W/h* than is possible under conditions of constant pore pressure. An analytic estimate of the maximum slip velocity as a function of W/h*, E, and U is derived and agrees reasonably well with the simulation results. The dependence of the properties of modeled transients on the drainage parameter U is similar to that on the dilatancy parameter E. For U (E) less than 1, maximum velocity decreases, while recurrence period remains relatively constant. For U (E) greater than 1, maximum velocity approaches the steady state velocity, and recurrence period approaches the period at neutral stability. In the subduction fault model using gabbro gouge friction properties, the slip per episode and the recurrence period increase with W/h*, generally following the trend defined without dilatancy. The maximum velocity with dilatancy can be several orders of magnitude smaller than that without, in particular for larger values of E and values of W/h* near the no-dilatancy stability limit.
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ArticleFrictional behavior of oceanic transform faults and its influence on earthquake characteristics(American Geophysical Union, 2012-04-26) Liu, Yajing ; McGuire, Jeffrey J. ; Behn, Mark D.We use a three-dimensional strike-slip fault model in the framework of rate and state-dependent friction to investigate earthquake behavior and scaling relations on oceanic transform faults (OTFs). Gabbro friction data under hydrothermal conditions are mapped onto OTFs using temperatures from (1) a half-space cooling model, and (2) a thermal model that incorporates a visco-plastic rheology, non-Newtonian viscous flow and the effects of shear heating and hydrothermal circulation. Without introducing small-scale frictional heterogeneities on the fault, our model predicts that an OTF segment can transition between seismic and aseismic slip over many earthquake cycles, consistent with the multimode hypothesis for OTF ruptures. The average seismic coupling coefficient χ is strongly dependent on the ratio of seismogenic zone width W to earthquake nucleation size h*; χ increases by four orders of magnitude as W/h* increases from ∼1 to 2. Specifically, the average χ = 0.15 ± 0.05 derived from global OTF earthquake catalogs can be reached at W/h* ≈ 1.2–1.7. Further, in all simulations the area of the largest earthquake rupture is less than the total seismogenic area and we predict a deficiency of large earthquakes on long transforms, which is also consistent with observations. To match these observations over this narrow range of W/h* requires an increase in the characteristic slip distance dc as the seismogenic zone becomes wider and normal stress is higher on long transforms. Earthquake magnitude and distribution on the Gofar and Romanche transforms are better predicted by simulations using the visco-plastic model than the half-space cooling model.
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ArticleGeometrical effects of a subducted seamount on stopping megathrust ruptures(John Wiley & Sons, 2013-05-30) Yang, Hongfeng ; Liu, Yajing ; Lin, JianWe have numerically simulated dynamic ruptures along a “slip-weakening” megathrust fault with a subducted seamount of realistic geometry, demonstrating that seamounts can act as a barrier to earthquake ruptures. Such barrier effect is calculated to be stronger for increased seamount normal stress relative to the ambient level, for larger seamount height-to-width ratio, and for shorter seamount-to-nucleation distance. As the seamount height increases from 0 to 40% of its basal width, the required increase in the effective normal stress on the seamount to stop ruptures drops by as much as ~20%. We further demonstrate that when a seamount is subducted adjacent to the earthquake nucleation zone, coseismic ruptures can be stopped even if the seamount has a lower effective normal stress than the ambient level. These results indicate that subducted seamounts may stop earthquake ruptures for a wide range of seamount normal stress conditions, including the case of the thrust fault being lubricated by seamount-top fluid-rich sediments, as suggested from observations in the Japan and Sunda Trenches.
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ArticleNumerical simulations on megathrust rupture stabilized under strong dilatancy strengthening in slow slip region(John Wiley & Sons, 2013-04-15) Liu, YajingEpisodic slow slip events (SSEs) typically involve a few millimeters to centimeters of slip over several days to months at depths near or further downdip of megathrust seismogenic zones. Despite its widespread presence in subduction margins, it remains unknown how SSEs interact with the seismogenic zone and affect megathrust ruptures. Here, I construct a 2-D thrust fault model governed by rate-state friction to investigate how fault dilatancy influences the amplitude and spatial distribution of‘ coseismic slip, afterslip, and SSEs. Model results illustrate that, under strong dilatancy and high pore pressure around the friction stability transition, coseismic rupture stops at the onset of SSEs. Modeled SSEs have lower velocities, longer recurrence intervals and durations, and larger slip amounts as dilatancy becomes stronger, demonstrating a transition from short-term to long-term type of SSE behavior. These results qualitatively explain the range of spatial distributions of SSEs and megathrust ruptures observed or inferred in natural subduction zones. Furthermore, the relative depths of SSEs and megathrust afterslip may serve as an indicator of dilatancy effectiveness.
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ArticleEffects of subducted seamounts on megathrust earthquake nucleation and rupture propagation(American Geophysical Union, 2012-12-19) Yang, Hongfeng ; Liu, Yajing ; Lin, JianSubducted seamounts have been linked to interplate earthquakes, but their specific effects on earthquake mechanism remain controversial. A key question is under what conditions a subducted seamount will generate or stop megathrust earthquakes. Here we show results from numerical experiments in the framework of rate- and state-dependent friction law in which a seamount is characterized as a patch of elevated effective normal stress on the thrust interface. We find that whether subducted seamounts generate or impede megathrust earthquakes depends critically on their relative locations to the earthquake nucleation zone defined by depth-variable friction parameters. A seamount may act as a rupture barrier and such barrier effect is most prominent when the seamount sits at an intermediate range of the seamount-to-trench distances (20–100% of the nucleation-zone-to-trench distance). Moreover, we observe that seamount-induced barriers can turn into asperities on which megathrust earthquakes can nucleate at shallow depths and rupture the entire seismogenic zone. These results suggest that a strong barrier patch may not necessarily reduce the maximum size of earthquakes. Instead, the barrier could experience large coseismic slip when it is ruptured.
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PreprintDynamic triggering of creep events in the Salton Trough, Southern California by regional M≥5.4M≥5.4 earthquakes constrained by geodetic observations and numerical simulations( 2015-06) Wei, Meng ; Liu, Yajing ; Kaneko, Yoshihiro ; McGuire, Jeffrey J. ; Bilham, RogerSince a regional earthquake in 1951, shallow creep events on strike-slip faults within the Salton Trough, Southern California have been triggered at least 10 times by M ≥ 5.4 earthquakes within 200 km. The high earthquake and creep activity and the long history of digital recording within the Salton Trough region provide a unique opportunity to study the mechanism of creep event triggering by nearby earthquakes. Here, we document the history of fault creep events on the Superstition Hills Fault based on data from creepmeters, InSAR, and field surveys since 1988. We focus on a subset of these creep events that were triggered by significant nearby earthquakes. We model these events by adding realistic static and dynamic perturbations to a theoretical fault model based on rate- and state-dependent friction. We find that the static stress changes from the causal earthquakes are less than 0.1 MPa and too small to instantaneously trigger creep events. In contrast, we can reproduce the characteristics of triggered slip with dynamic perturbations alone. The instantaneous triggering of creep events depends on the peak and the time-integrated amplitudes of the dynamic Coulomb stress change. Based on observations and simulations, the stress change amplitude required to trigger a creep event of 0.01 mm surface slip is about 0.6 MPa. This threshold is at least an order of magnitude larger than the reported triggering threshold of non-volcanic tremors (2-60 KPa) and earthquakes in geothermal fields (5 KPa) and near shale gas production sites (0.2-0.4 kPa), which may result from differences in effective normal stress, fault friction, the density of nucleation sites in these systems, or triggering mechanisms. We conclude that shallow frictional heterogeneity can explain both the spontaneous and dynamically triggered creep events on the Superstition Hills Fault.
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ArticleControls on mid‐ocean ridge normal fault seismicity across spreading rates from rate‐and‐state friction models(John Wiley & Sons, 2018-08-16) Mark, Hannah F. ; Behn, Mark D. ; Olive, Jean-Arthur ; Liu, YajingRecent seismic and geodetic observations have led to a growing realization that a significant amount of fault slip at plate boundaries occurs aseismically and that the amount of aseismic slip varies across tectonic settings. Seismic moment release rates measured along the fast‐spreading East Pacific Rise suggest that the majority of fault slip occurs aseismically. By contrast, at the slow‐spreading Mid‐Atlantic Ridge seismic slip may represent up to 60% of total fault displacement. In this study, we use rate‐and‐state friction models to quantify the seismic coupling coefficient, defined as the fraction of total fault slip that occurs seismically, on mid‐ocean ridge normal faults and investigate controls on fault behavior that might produce variations in coupling observed at oceanic spreading centers. We find that the seismic coupling coefficient scales with the ratio of the downdip width of the seismogenic area (W) to the critical earthquake nucleation size (h*). At mid‐ocean ridges, W is expected to increase with decreasing spreading rate. Thus, the relationship between seismic coupling and W/h* predicted from our models explains the first‐order variations in seismic coupling coefficient as a function of spreading rate.