SEMINARIS DE LA FACULTAT DE GEOLOGIA I L'INSTITUT DE CIÈNCIES DE LA TERRA 'JAUME ALMERA'

Hora: 12:00
Lloc_ Sala d'actes de l'Institut de Ciències de la Terra Jaume Almera

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Dr.Christopher Kilburn (Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Regne Unit)

Volcanic eruptions and rapid, giant
landslides are results of abrupt changes in the local stability of Earth's
crust. Both are commonly preceded for at weeks or longer by measurable
accelerations in ground movement and crustal fracturing. A continuing goal
is to understand and to quantify the physical controls on precursory
behaviour and, as a result, to improve the reliability of short-term
forecasts of catastrophic geophysical events. Recent studies have
interpreted the precursors in terms of how populations of fractures grow
before they link together to form either a new pathway for magma to reach
the surface or a new failure plane along which the side of a mountain can
collapse. They reveal how fracturing depends on rock composition,
temperature and confining pressure, as well as the distribution of energy
among atoms.