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Fractal research of fault gouge

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Acta Seismologica Sinica

Abstract

The process and result of fractal research of natural fault gouge collected from the active fault zone at northern edge of Western Qinling Mt. by using optical and electronic microscope technics were introduced in this paper. The fractal dimension of this fault gouge isD=2.594±0.122 (2 D planeD=1.594±0.122), and its upper limit of fractal dimension occurs at grain size at 9.6–19.2 mm. The study result shows that this gouge is fractal, and its characteristic displacement parameter of stick-slip friction can be determined by upper limit of fractal dimension. The feature of protolith which affect fractality and the significance of gouge fractal to seismic fault changes are also discussed in the paper.

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This research is supported by the Chinese Joint Seismological Science Foundation.

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Shao, SM., Zou, JC. Fractal research of fault gouge. Acta Seismologica Sinica 9, 485–491 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02650984

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02650984

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