The California lithosphere is like creme brulee

Credit: Pixabay / CC0 Public Domain

Decades after two major earthquakes shook the Mojave Desert in California, the discovery of new displacement features after the earthquake prompted KAUST researchers to update the existing model for this earthquake-prone region. Their findings support the thin “crème brlée” model in which strength resides in the upper cortex, while the lower cortex appears to be softer over time than previously thought.

To understand how the Earth’s lithosphere, which is made up of the crust and upper mantle, behaves in earthquake cycles (before, during and after earthquakes) over time, scientists must determine how the force is distributed in the lithosphere.

“By force we mean how much force the rocks can withstand over time,” says Shaozhu Liu, a postdoctoral researcher who worked on the project with Sigurjón Jónsson of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, along with researchers from California. “We are interested in rheology – how rocks behave and ‘flow’ when forces are applied to them.”

The occurrence of earthquakes, the development of fault areas, and the resulting topography are dictated by how the lithosphere rocks respond to the forces.

“Given that the majority of lithosphere rocks lie several kilometers below the surface, we cannot directly notice how it responds,” Liu says. “Building rheological models based on observations collected at the surface is the best alternative.”

After the Mojave earthquake, earthquake-induced displacement at the surface was studied extensively. Previous models preferred a strong shell (both top and bottom shell) and a low viscosity top coat. However, the displacements identified recently after the earthquake lasted longer than expected, indicating that physical processes in the lower cortex were more energetic than previously thought.

“Building on our work on these displacement features in 2015, our current study sought to elucidate the predominant processes that might produce such features,” Liu says.

Their findings indicate that after about two years of continuous slipping over and below the original faults, the following decades saw the viscosity elastic loosening induced by earthquakes as the dominant physical process in the cortex and mantle. The team showed that the viscosity of the lower shell is about five times less than previously thought and marginally higher than that of the upper mantle; This means that the underlying crust appears to be weaker than expected, which supports the “Creme Brulee” pattern of thin skin for the area.

“Revisiting well-researched sites has the potential to provide new insights into lithosphere rheology,” says Jónsson. “This knowledge will assist in regional risk assessments for densely populated earthquake-prone areas such as California.”

Seismic data produce a deeper knowledge of the earthquake. More information: Shaozhuo Liu et al. A thin, creamy brlée rheological structure of the eastern shear region in California, Geology (2020). DOI: 10.1130 / G47729.1 provided by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

The quote: Dessert-like desert: California lithosphere is like Crème Brûlée (2020, November 27) Retrieved November 28, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-11-dessert-like-californian-lithosphere-resembles- crme. programming language

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