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Detailed Reference Information |
Renard, F., Schmittbuhl, J., Gratier, J., Meakin, P. and Merino, E. (2004). Three-dimensional roughness of stylolites in limestones. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JB002555. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Stylolites are dynamic roughly planar surfaces formed by pressure solution of blocks of rocks into each other. The three-dimensional geometry of 12 bedding-parallel stylolites in several limestones was measured using laser and mechanical profilometers, and statistical characteristics of the surfaces were calculated. All the stylolites analyzed turn out to have self-affine fractal roughness with a well-characterized crossover length scale separating two self-affine regimes. Strikingly, this characteristic length scale falls within a very narrow range for all the stylolites studied, regardless of the microstructure sizes. To explain the data, we propose a continuous phenomenological model that accounts for the development of the measured roughness from an initially flat surface. The model postulates that the complex interface morphology is the result of competition between the long-range elastic redistribution of local stress fluctuations, which roughen the surface, and surface tension forces along the interface, which smooth it. The model accounts for the geometrical variability of stylolite surfaces and predicts the dependence of the crossover length scale on the mechanical properties of the rock. |
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BACKGROUND DATA FILES |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Mineral Physics, Creep and deformation, Mineral Physics, Elasticity and anelasticity, Mineral Physics, Surfaces and interfaces, Mineralogy and Petrology, Sedimentary petrology, Physical Properties of Rocks, Microstructure, stylolite, surface roughness, elasticity, surface tension |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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