Kinetic effect of heating rate on the thermal maturity of carbonaceous material as an indicator of frictional heat during earthquakes

Abstract

Because the maximum temperature reached in the slip zone is significant information for understanding slip behaviors during an earthquake, the maturity of carbonaceous material (CM) is widely used as a proxy for detecting frictional heat recorded by fault rocks. The degree of maturation of CM is controlled not only by maximum temperature but also by the heating rate. Nevertheless, maximum slip zone temperature has been estimated previously by comparing the maturity of CM in natural fault rocks with that of synthetic products heated at rates of about 1 °C s−1, even though this rate is much lower than the actual heating rate during an earthquake. In this study, we investigated the kinetic effect of the heating rate on the CM maturation process by performing organochemical analyses of CM heated at slow (1 °C s−1) and fast (100 °C s−1) rates. The results clearly showed that a higher heating rate can inhibit the maturation reactions of CM; for example, extinction of aliphatic hydrocarbon chains occurred at 600 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C s−1 and at 900 °C at a heating rate of 100 °C s−1. However, shear-enhanced mechanochemical effects can also promote CM maturation reactions and may offset the effect of a high heating rate. We should thus consider simultaneously the effects of both heating rate and mechanochemistry on CM maturation to establish CM as a more rigorous proxy for frictional heat recorded by fault rocks and for estimating slip behaviors during earthquake.[Figure not available: see fulltext.].