Mathematical Modeling of Fault Zone Dynamics

Numerical Modeling of Frictional Melting Dynamics Constrained by Surface Micro-Roughness

(Awarded High Honor in Senior Thesis with research grade A+, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, 2019 – 2021)

Research background. A) biotite and quartz/feldspar grain elevation relative to the mean surface elevation. Biotite is comparatively scare. B) the density distribution of the elevation / distance to the mean surface elevation, for biotite (blue) and quartz/feldspar (orange). C) Equations and a schematic representing the physical system. Equations from the top to bottom are: heat diffusion with a source from frictional dissipation, heat diffusion, Stefan Condition (energy conservation), and Couette flow with the inertial term ignored.

Pseudotachylyte is a solidified frictional melt commonly generated in fault zone. It is the fossil of ancient seismic events and provides valuable thermal and mechanical information critical to the study of dynamic shear zone processes. I use surface micro-roughness data from X-ray computed tomography, numerical model, and inversion method to search for the optimal seismic slip kinematics that can produce the melt.

EGU General Assembly 2021 Abstract