Stefano Aretusini

TS Tectonics and Structural Geology

The 2017 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Stefano Aretusini for the poster/PICO entitled:

Seismic slip on clay nano-foliation (Aretusini, S.; Plümper, O.; Spagnuolo, E.; Di Toro, G.)

Click here to download the poster/PICO file.

Stefano Aretusini is a PhD student in the University of Manchester, under the supervision of Prof. Giulio Di Toro. The PhD project, which title is “Frictional processes of clay-rich gouges at seismic slip rates” is funded from ERC consolidator grant 614705 NOFEAR. The main goal of the project is to improve the understanding of deformation processes active in smectite clay at seismic slip rates. The outcomes apply to smectite-rich fault cores (e.g. plate boundary mature faults and megathrust faults at low depth) and landslide decollements. The EGU 2017 PICO presents a microstructural analysis performed on simulated smectite-rich fault gouges deformed at seismic slip rates (0.01-1 m/s). Data is obtained with Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope. The analyses evidence the development of a similar foliation at all seismic slip rates, suggesting that the same deformation processes on smectite control mechanical behavior at seismic slip rates. Before this work, foliations were commonly considered as indicators of aseismic deformation in phyllosilicates-rich fault rocks.