Access

News and Views

Nature 448, 756-757 (16 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/448756a; Published online 15 August 2007

Seismology: Talc at fault

Christopher Wibberley1

Top

The behaviour of the San Andreas fault varies along its length — it slips in some places and creeps in others. The discovery of the ultrasoft mineral talc in rocks from deep inside the fault could help to explain why.

Faults are puzzling beasts. The strength of faults, the largest of which are boundaries between Earth's tectonic plates, has been mired in controversy ever since plate tectonics properly arrived on the scene in the 1960s.

  1. Christopher Wibberley is at the Laboratoire de Géosciences Azur, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. (In October 2007 he will move to TOTAL Centre Scientifique et Technique Jean Feger, Avenue Larribau, F-64018 Pau Cedex, France.)
    Email: wibbs@geoazur.unice.fr
    (Email: christopher.wibberley@total.com)

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Seismology Do faults shimmy before they shake?

Nature Geoscience News and Views (01 May 2008)

Earth science Taking the temperature of slabs

Nature News and Views (06 Jan 2000)

See all 11 matches for News And Views