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arXiv · 2007.06412

The Impact of Large Erosional Events and Transient Normal Stress Changes on the Seismicity of Faults

L. Jeandet Ribes·N. Cubas·H. S. Bhat·P. Steer
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Abstract

The long-term erosion of steep landscapes is punctuated by dramatic erosional events that can remove significant amount of sediments within a time-scale shorter than a seismic cycle. However, the role of such large erosional events on seismicity is poorly understood. We use QDYN, a quasi-dynamic numerical model of earthquake cycles to investigate the effect of a large erosional event on seismicity. The progressive evacuation of landslide sediments is modelled by a transient normal stress decrease. We show that erosional events with a shorter duration compared with the duration of a seismic cycle can significantly increase the seismicity rate, even for small stress changes. Moreover, large erosional events with a shorter period compared with the earthquake nucleation time-scale can change earthquake size distribution by triggering more small events. Those results suggest that large erosional events can significantly affect seismicity, illustrating in turn the short-term impact of surface processes on tectonics.

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BibTeXRIS

L. Jeandet Ribes, N. Cubas, H. S. Bhat, P. Steer. 2020-07-13. The Impact of Large Erosional Events and Transient Normal Stress Changes on the Seismicity of Faults. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl087631

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