Properties of the
lithosphere: the view
from the pressure
vessel
Dan Faulkner
Rock Deformation Laboratory
University of Liverpool
Rock deformation
• Study of the physical and mechanical
properties of Earth materials
– Experiments
– Microstructures
– Fieldwork
Value of experimental work
• No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it
is an observed phenomenon.
– John Archibald Wheeler
• No amount of experimentation can ever prove
me right; a single experiment can prove me
wrong.
– Albert Einstein
Historical development
• 1680: Denis Papin develops the first autoclave
• Von Karman (~1910) develops first ‘triaxial’ cell
• P.W. Bridgman further develops high-pressure
technology – higher pressures possible
• Francis Birch – application of high pressure to
Earth materials
• David Griggs – solid-medium apparatus
• Mervyn Paterson – gas-medium torsional
apparatus
Birch (1952)
Unwary readers should take warning that ordinary language undergoes modification
to a high-pressure form when applied to the interior of the Earth. A few examples of
equivalents follow:
High-pressure form
Ordinary meaning
Certain
Dubious
Undoubtedly
Perhaps
Positive proof
Vague suggestion
Unanswerable argument
Trivial objection
Pure iron
Uncertain mixture of all the elements
Lithospheric strength
The strength of the ocean and
continental lithosphere
determined from laboratory
experiments in the brittle and
plastic regime
Kohlstedt et al. 1995
Goetze and Evans 1979
Brace et al. 1980
Townend and Zoback, Geology, 2000
Earthquake rupture properties
Noda & Lapusta, 2013
Faulkner et al., 2011
Seismicity preceding eruptions
Burlini et al., 2007
Mantle anisotropy and rheology
San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth
Lockner et al., 2011
Challenges
• Scaling (in time and space)
• Fluid involvement in deformation
– Brittle crust
– Plastic lithosphere
• Localization
• Friction
• Physical properties
UK Rock Deformation Network
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University of Edinburgh
University of Liverpool
University College London
University of Plymouth
University of Oxford
University of Manchester
University of Leicester
British Geological Survey
University of Durham
Opportunities
• Drilling
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SAFOD
NanTroSeiZE
JFAST
DFDP
• Geodesy
• Seismology
• Industry
• Material developments
• Innovative new design
– HV apparatus
– High pressure apparatus
• New imaging techniques
Requirements
• New equipment
development
– DDia
– Earthquake studies
• Confined HV rig
• Rupture experiments
Large friction apparatus
– Larger – to address
scaling
– Microstructural
techniques
• New materials
– Drilling
• Closer collaboration with
seismology/geodesy
D-Dia