Abstract:
The project Eijsink works with aims to better understand frictional properties over the entire spectrum of fault sliding behavior, from ordinary earthquakes to slow slip events and stable sliding. This is done by studying the mechanics and mechanisms of slip behavior using laboratory shear experiments, with an emphasis on realistic plate rate shear velocities The first of two problems that Eijsink currently works on is focused on the Hikurangi subduction zone, which is prone to shallow slow slip events. Using the incoming sedimentary sequence that was sampled during a recent IODP cruise, the question Eijsink and her fellows try to answer is which of the lithologies hosts these slow slip events. The second, more fundamental problem she work on, is trying to find the link between the roughness of fault surfaces and the frictional behavior, a link that is suggested by empirical rate- and state- dependent friction laws. For this, laboratory shear experiments are combined with surface topography microscopy of the developed fault surface.