Characteristics of slow slip events explained by rate-strengthening
faults subject to periodic pore fluid pressure changes
Abstract
Geophysical observations indicate that temporal pore fluid pressure
changes correlate with slow slip events (SSEs) occurring along the
shallow portion of the Hikurangi margin and in different subduction
zones. These fluctuations in pore fluid pressure are attributed to fluid
migration before and during SSEs, which may modulate SSE occurrence. To
examine the effect of pore fluid pressure changes on SSE generation, we
develop numerical models in which periodic pore-pressure perturbations
are applied to a stably sliding, rate-strengthening fault. By varying
the physical characteristics of the pore-pressure perturbations
(amplitude, characteristic length and period), we find models that
reproduce shallow Hikurangi SSE properties (duration, magnitude, slip,
recurrence) and SSE moments and durations from different subduction
zones. The stress drops of modeled SSEs range from
~20-120 kPa while the amplitudes of pore-pressure
perturbations is several MPa, broadly consistent with those inferred
from observations. Our results indicate that large permeability values
of 10-14 to 10-10 m2 are needed to reproduce the observed SSE
properties. Such high values could be due to transient and localized
increases in fault zone permeability in the shear zone where SSEs occur.
Our results suggest that SSEs may arise on faults in rate-strengthening
frictional conditions subject to pore-pressure perturbations.