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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 316–320 (1 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo178

Slow slip and frictional transition at low|[nbsp]|temperature at the Hikurangi subduction|[nbsp]|zone

Robert McCaffrey , Laura M. Wallace & John Beavan

Shallow portions of faults exhibit brittle, stick–slip behaviour that gives way to more stable sliding with increasing depth, limiting the depths to which earthquake-inducing slip can occur. The increase of temperature with depth is often assumed to transform friction in the fault from velocity-weakening (unstable) to velocity-strengthening (stable), and to change conditions from brittle to ductile.