Lab earthquakes confirm the theory of frictional slip pulses

Abstract

Large natural earthquakes are typically mediated by frictional pulse-like rupture, which features a finite slipping zone. Recently, a comprehensive two-dimensional theory of frictional slip pulses has been developed. It predicts that pulses are categorically unstable rupture modes, whose evolution is intrinsically slow. Unsteady pulses satisfy an equation of motion expressed in terms of discrete observables, which is inherently related to their steady-state counterparts. The theory also predicts a transition from decaying to slowly growing pulses. Here, we perform extensive lab earthquake experiments to test the theory. The experiments confirm the theoretical predictions for pulse-like lab earthquakes over a range of prestress levels, rupture nucleation conditions and small-scale fault roughness amplitudes. Specifically, the predicted time-dependent dynamics are tested in a plane defined by the evolving pulse size and peak slip rate, along with measurements of the dimensionless growth rate of pulses, demonstrating their intrinsically slow unsteady nature. The predicted transition between decaying and growing pulses is also experimentally demonstrated. These results constitute major progress in understanding a dominant earthquake rupture mode.