Scientists at Duke University are studying earthquakes and have devised a "Proposed Melting Rocks" model that will foresee the initial movement of rock begins in several kinds of bedrock. Prior to developing this model for earthquakes, there was much guessing into what is happening under everyone's feet. Most earth sciences dealing with earthquake prediction is very imprecise to this date.
Most earthquakes are mechanical movements along the fault lines, they are common in the division of the earth's crustal tectonic plates. Whenever there are changes like heat and pressure on the plates, this initiates slippage as the inner pressure causes a movement and next is shaking felt on the top part of the crust called a quake or tremblor.
Hadrien Rattez who helped develop the model into a better model. It works by recreating how much friction is lessened when fault lines slipping increases, which results in the moving and shaking in the ground. Another is the seismic waves and shocks that come with a tremor too.
Building machines that simulate earthquakes are important for quake simulations that harvest data for scientists. What it does is recreate what happens inside a fault line, by using rocks to simulate actual conditions. It seems unimaginable that these machines can generate pressures up to 1450 pounds per square inch and speeds of one meter per second. The rock travels this fast and generates immense heat and pressure from the rubbing action of the faults. The Pacific tectonic plate is so fast that it moves at 0.00000000073 meters per second, the more zeros mean it goes mind-blinding fast.
What to remember about quakes is that one meter per second is so fast. The higher factor, it grinds more which is safer. If the friction hits "zero", no resistance and the layers slip, it's an earthquake.
The experiment has displayed several outcomes, here are the scientist's observations.
a. Rock surfaces when heating up, from shifting movement will start to gel, and melting will create less friction. When friction hits zero, the slipping plates will start the earth tremor. This model finally factors in this into the equation.
b. Rates and Veveakis use a model that computes the energy factor that is present in fault movements. Adding factors like extra heat, mineral disintegration, lubing of nanoparticles, and how the rock melts as the last part.
c. When all the factors from the simulations that estimate how friction lessens, and all the speeds that halite, silicate, and quartz move in a full-blown earthquake.
d. This earthquake model can be used for most instances a tremor develops, and some added data about quakes in general too. It might not be complete, though it predicts pressure and temperatures are indicators of an earthquake coming.
Developing the "Proposed Melting Rocks" model is the right step to predict earthquakes, how it works by adding factors like heat or pressure. Earthquake detection is no better, and earthquakes are a fact of living on earth and cannot be avoided.
Read: 'Melting rock' models predict mechanical origins of earthquakes
