Origin of pulverized rocks during earthquake fault rupture

The origin of pulverized rocks (PR) in surface outcrops adjacent to the fault cores of the San Andreas and other major faults in Southern California is not clear, but their structural context indicates that they are clearly associated with faulting. An understanding of their origin might allow inferences to be drawn about the nature of dynamic slip on faults, including rupture mechanisms and their speed during earthquakes. In the present study, we use split Hopkinson bar recovery experiments to investigate whether PR can be produced under dynamic stress wave loading conditions in the laboratory and whether PR is diagnostic of any particular process of formation. The results of the study indicate that in Westerly granite for transition from sparse fracture to pervasive pulverization requires high strain rates in excess of 250/s and that the formation of PR may be inhibited at the larger burial depths. The constraint imposed by field observations of the relatively low strains (1–3%) in PR recovered from the field and the laboratory derived threshold for the critical strain rate (∼250/s and higher) together indicate that a dynamic supershear‐type rupture may be necessary for the origin of pulverized rocks at distances of tens of meters away from the fault plane as observed in the field for both large strike‐slip‐type and the relatively small dip‐slip‐type fault ruptures in nature. Key Points Origin of pulverized rocks Critical loading rate required for pulverization Supershear rupture may explain origin of PR at far away distances