Deformation mechanism of rocks of the Ryoke metamorphic belt as deep process of the inland earthquakes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

To clarify the deep process of inland earthquakes, we studied the deformation mechanism of rocks that had deformed at the middle crustal depth. Based on results of the structural petrological analysis on rocks of the Ryoke metamorphic belt, an ancient metamorphosed accretionary complex, we revealed that the dominant deformation mechanism of quartzose rocks could be diffusion creep or grain-size-sensitive creep instead of dislocation creep. Since viscosity of rocks deformed by diffusion creep would be three orders magnitude smaller than by dislocation creep, crustal strength for the new crustal model proposed by this study would be weaker than that for the classical model with the crust deformed by dislocation creep. The results of the study provided the new insight on studies for seismogenic process and crustal rheology.