Changes in surface loads, associated to hydrological flows or atmospheric pressure variations, are well know to influence the stress distribution in the crust and even trigger earthquakes. In this talk, I will consider the role of surface erosion as a driver of stress loading on faults and as a potential triggering mechanism for earthquakes. I will consider the role of natural erosion, associated to extreme geomorphological perturbations (e.g. such as during large storms), and anthropic erosion, in particular in large quarries. I will apply simple models to investigate field cases where erosion is suspected to have played a major role in impacting seismicity. Last, I will consider the role of natural and anthropic erosion in long-term fault dynamics and as an important, but largely neglected, factor for earthquake hazard analysis.
Associated references:
Steer, P., Simoes, M., Cattin, R., & Shyu, J. B. H. (2014). Erosion influences the seismicity of active thrust faults. Nature communications, 5(1), 1-7.
Jeandet Ribes, L., Cubas, N., Bhat, H. S., & Steer, P. (2020). The Impact of Large Erosional Events and Transient Normal Stress Changes on the Seismicity of Faults. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(22), e2020GL087631.
Steer, P., Jeandet, L., Cubas, N., Marc, O., Meunier, P., Simoes, M., ... & Hovius, N. (2020). Earthquake statistics changed by typhoon-driven erosion. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-11.