2006/03/31 by Friedemann Freund, F. Freund, D. Sornette +1 · 4 citations
Computer Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Battery (electricity) #Crust #Earthquake Detection and Analysis #Geology #Geophysics #Ion #Mechanism (biology) #Percolation (cognitive psychology) #Physics #Seismology and Earthquake Studies #Stress (linguistics) #Thermodynamics #earthquake and tectonic studies #physics.gen-ph #physics.geo-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2006.05.032
published as Tectonophysics 431, 33-47 (2007) · 17 pages with 3 figures, extended discussion with 1 added figure and 162 references. The new version provides both a synthesis of two theories and a review of the field
arxiv created 2006/05/07 · openalex publication_date 2006/12/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We propose a mechanism for the low frequency electromagnetic emissions and other electromagnetic phenomena which have been associated with earthquakes. The mechanism combines the critical earthquake concept and the concept of crust acting as a charging electric battery under increasing stress. The electric charges are released by activation of dormant charge carriers in the oxygen anion sublattice, called peroxy bonds or positive hole pairs (PHP), where a PHP represents an O3X/OO\backslash YO3 with X,Y = Si4+, Al3+..., i.e. an O- in a matrix of O2- of silicates. We propose that PHP are activated by plastic deformations during the slow cooperative build-up of stress and the increasingly correlated damage culminating in a large ``critical'' earthquake. Recent laboratory experiments indeed show that stressed rocks form electric batteries which can release their charge when a conducting path closes the equivalent electric circuit. We conjecture that the intermittent and erratic occurrences of EM signals are a consequence of the progressive build-up of the battery charges in the Earth crust and their erratic release when crack networks are percolating throughout the stressed rock volumes, providing a conductive pathway for the battery currents to discharge. EM signals are thus expected close to the rupture, either slightly before or after, that is, when percolation is most favored.