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Community-Driven Code Comparisons for Three-Dimensional Dynamic Modeling of Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS)
  • +16
  • Junle Jiang,
  • Brittany Erickson,
  • Valere Lambert,
  • Jean-Paul Ampuero,
  • Ryosuke Ando,
  • Sylvain Barbot,
  • Camilla Cattania,
  • Luca Dal Zilio,
  • Benchun Duan,
  • Eric M Dunham,
  • Alice-Agnes Gabriel,
  • Nadia Lapusta,
  • Duo Li,
  • Meng Li,
  • Dunyu Liu,
  • Yajing Liu,
  • So Ozawa,
  • Casper Pranger,
  • Ylona van Dinther
Junle Jiang
University of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Brittany Erickson
University of Oregon, University of Oregon
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Valere Lambert
California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology
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Jean-Paul Ampuero
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
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Ryosuke Ando
University of Tokyo, University of Tokyo
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Sylvain Barbot
University of Southern California, University of Southern California
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Camilla Cattania
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Luca Dal Zilio
ETH Zurich, ETH Zurich
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Benchun Duan
Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University
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Eric M Dunham
Stanford University, Stanford University
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Alice-Agnes Gabriel
LMU Munich, LMU Munich
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Nadia Lapusta
California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology
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Duo Li
LMU Munich, LMU Munich
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Meng Li
Utrecht University, Utrecht University
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Dunyu Liu
The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas at Austin
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Yajing Liu
McGill University, McGill University
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So Ozawa
University of Tokyo, University of Tokyo
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Casper Pranger
LMU Munich, LMU Munich
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Ylona van Dinther
Utrecht University, Utrecht University
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Abstract

Dynamic modeling of sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS) provides a self-consistent, physics-based framework to connect, interpret, and predict diverse geophysical observations across spatial and temporal scales. Amid growing applications of SEAS models, numerical code verification is essential to ensure reliable simulation results but is often infeasible due to the lack of analytical solutions. Here, we develop two benchmarks for three-dimensional (3D) SEAS problems to compare and verify numerical codes based on boundary-element, finite-element, and finite-difference methods, in a community initiative. Our benchmarks consider a planar vertical strike-slip fault obeying a rate- and state-dependent friction law, in a 3D homogeneous, linear elastic whole-space or half-space, where spontaneous earthquakes and slow slip arise due to tectonic-like loading. We use a suite of quasi-dynamic simulations from 10 modeling groups to assess the agreement during all phases of multiple seismic cycles. We find excellent quantitative agreement among simulated outputs for sufficiently large model domains and small grid spacings. However, discrepancies in rupture fronts of the initial event are influenced by the free surface and various computational factors. The recurrence intervals and nucleation phase of later earthquakes are particularly sensitive to numerical resolution and domain-size-dependent loading. Despite such variability, key properties of individual earthquakes, including rupture style, duration, total slip, peak slip rate, and stress drop, are comparable among even marginally resolved simulations. Our benchmark efforts offer a community-based example to improve numerical simulations and reveal sensitivities of model observables, which are important for advancing SEAS models to better understand earthquake system dynamics.
Mar 2022Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth volume 127 issue 3. 10.1029/2021JB023519