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Science 11 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5826, pp. 878 - 881
DOI: 10.1126/science.1139763
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Reports

Ultralow Friction of Carbonate Faults Caused by Thermal Decomposition

Raehee Han,1* Toshihiko Shimamoto,2{dagger} Takehiro Hirose,2{ddagger} Jin-Han Ree,1 Jun-ichi Ando3

High-velocity weakening of faults may drive fault motion during large earthquakes. Experiments on simulated faults in Carrara marble at slip rates up to 1.3 meters per second demonstrate that thermal decomposition of calcite due to frictional heating induces pronounced fault weakening with steady-state friction coefficients as low as 0.06. Decomposition produces particles of tens of nanometers in size, and the ultralow friction appears to be associated with the flash heating on an ultrafine decomposition product. Thus, thermal decomposition may be an important process for the dynamic weakening of faults.

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, South Korea.
2 Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 734-8526, Japan.

{ddagger} Present address: Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00143 Rome, Italy.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rhhan{at}korea.ac.kr

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