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KEY TOPICS ON PHYSICS AND EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH’S INTERIOR: Ⅲ. OUTLINE OF MICROGEOPHYSICS

Chen Sheng-zao   

  1. Ottawa-Carleton Geosciences Center and Department of Earth Sciences, Carleion University, Ottawa, ONKIS 5B6, CANADA
  • Received:1998-06-20 Revised:1998-06-20 Online:1998-06-20 Published:1998-06-20

Abstract: Microgeophysics is a new branch of the Earth sciences, which is deliberated on a basis of microphysics, aimed at studying, by means of theoretical, experimental, numerical and computer’s modeling, the physical properties of the Earth s interior, geologic bodies and various rocks that make up the Earth. The areas covered in this context include rheology of the lithosphere and the mantle, predominated by multimicrophysics mechanisms, dynamic friction of rocks and the brittle-ductile transition in the crust, focal mechanisms concerning the mechanics of earthquakes and faulting, fluid-rock interactions, acoustic emissions/microseismic activity, theory of acousto-ultrasonics and geologic application, and so on. It is an important research direction in microgeophysics to establish an integrated, comprehensive, and parameterized model, coupling physics, chemistry, rock mechanics, and thermal science with dynamics, for unstable osmotic media. Its immediate effect on economics and societies will keep abreast of both environmental geophysics and environmental geochemistry, there appear to be certain uncertainties in understanding the Earth’s interior, some topics such as the movements of tectonic plates, the deep mantle wellings, and even microcracks and shear sliding of faults, may be also involved in the applications of fractal and chaotic theories. As an objective it must be a necessary step to combine the micro-with the macrogeophysical methods and keep them to be consistent in approaching a final solution to the problems in the area.