Motion along faults can occur in sudden earthquakes or through steady, aseismic creep. Rock samples retrieved by drilling deep into a creeping section of the San Andreas Fault show that clay minerals in fault rock promote creep behaviour.
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STEPHEN HICKMAN, USGS
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van der Pluijm, B. Natural fault lubricants. Nature Geosci 4, 217–218 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1126
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1126
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