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Science 26 June 1970:
Vol. 168. no. 3939, pp. 1573 - 1575
DOI: 10.1126/science.168.3939.1573
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Articles

California Earthquakes: Why Only Shallow Focus?

W. F. Brace 1 and J. D. Byerlee 2

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139
2 Office of Earthquake Research and Crustal Studies, U. S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025

Frictional sliding on sawcuts and faults in laboratory samples of granite and gabbro is markedly temperature-dependent. At pressures from 1 to 5 kilobars, stick-slip gave way to stable sliding as temperature was increased from 200 to 500 degrees Celsius. Increased temperature with depth could thus cause the abrupt disappearance of earthquakes noted at shallow depths in California.


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