Laboratory Insights on Slow Slip

Abstract:

An entire suite of slow slip events (episodic tremor and slip, silent earthquakes, low frequency earthquakes, very low frequency earthquakes, tsunami earthquakes) has now been documented in a number of settings, including subduction zones, transform faults, glaciers, and landslides. Furthermore, observations increasingly demonstrate that slow slip phenomena can happen anywhere in or near the seismogenic zone. Despite prolific work that has documented interesting phenomena in a variety of locations, we still do not fully understand the underlying mechanics of slow slip. Given the wide range of depths, temperatures, fluid pressures and mineral composition that exist in these various settings, a single mechanism for the generation of transitional slip behavior seems unlikely. Laboratory experiments provide insight into conditions that give rise to changes in frictional stability from stick-slip to stable sliding. I will summarize insights from lab experiments and offer new insights on stability transitions in carbonate rocks, which are present in many low- to mid-latitude subduction zones.