Abstract
WHILE making laboratory measurements of the electrical conductivity (σ) of rock samples subjected to temperatures, confining pressures, and pore fluid pressures thought to be appropriate to depths up to 15 km within the Earth, we have observed a hitherto unreported transient behaviour which is only revealed by the simultaneous application of pressure and temperature, and leads to an irreversible decrease in σ with time which could be due to compaction of the rock samples. We suggest that only after such a change has occurred is the condition of rocks collected near the Earth's surface more representative of those at depth in the crust.
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LEE, C., ROSS, R. & VINE, F. New transient effect observed in rock samples subjected to simulated upper crustal conditions. Nature 266, 44–45 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/266044a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/266044a0
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