Géologie structurale
Mécanique des failles
Failles et écoulement des fluides
james.kirkpatrick [at] mcgill.ca
The hundreds of earthquakes that are felt around the world every week are a constant reminder that the Earth is a dynamic place. Appreciating and forecasting the hazard from earthquakes requires an understanding of the stresses that drive faults to fail and what happens to the rocks cut by a fault during slip. These aspects of fault mechanics can't be addressed directly through seismology. My research uses field observations of faults to investigate the earthquake source directly. What can we learn from the rocks themselves? The goal is to use high-resolution digital field data (ground-based LiDAR, differential GPS, structure-from-motion photogrammetry) combined with microstructural work (SEM, TEM, EBSD and microprobe) and statistical and numerical models to show how fault geometry, composition and fluid transport properties control faulting, and more broadly deformation throughout the brittle crust.
Thom, C. A., Kirkpatrick, J. D., 2023. A mechanism for transient creep in crustal shear zones. Geology.
Williams, R.T., Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2022. Are low‐frequency earthquake moments area‐or slip‐limited? A rock record examination. Geophysical Research Letters 49(2), e2021GL095759.
Young, E. M., Rowe, C., Kirkpatrick, J., 2022. Shear zone evolution and the path of earthquake rupture. Solid Earth 13, 1607-1629.
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Fagereng, Å., Shelly, D.R., 2021. Geological constraints on the mechanisms of slow earthquakes. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 2(4), 285-301.
Brodsky, E.E., Mori, J.J., Anderson, L., Chester, F.M., Conin, M., Dunham, E.M., Eguchi, N., Fulton, P.M., Hino, R., Hirose, T., Ikari, M.J., Ishikawa, T., Jeppson, T., Kano, Y., Kirkpatrick, J., Kodaira, S., Lin, W., Nakamura, Y., Rabinowitz, H.S., Regalla,C., Remitti, F., Rowe, C. et al., 2020. The State of Stress on the Fault Before, During, and After a Major Earthquake. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 48, 49-74.
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Edwards, J.H., Verdecchia, A., Kluesner, J.W., Harrington, R.M., Silver, E.A., 2020. Subduction megathrust heterogeneity characterized from 3D seismic data. Nature Geoscience 13, 369-374.
Rabinowitz, H.S., Savage, H.M., Polissar, P.J., Rowe, C.D., Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2020. Earthquake slip surfaces identified by biomarker thermal maturity within the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake fault zone. Nature Communications 11(1), 1-9.
Seyler, C.E., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Savage, H.M., Hirose, T., Faulkner, D.R., 2020. Rupture to the trench? Frictional properties and fracture energy of incoming sediments at the Cascadia subduction zone. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 546, 116413.
Dascher‐Cousineau, K., Kirkpatrick, J.D. and Cooke, M.L., 2018. Smoothing of Fault Slip Surfaces by Scale‐Invariant Wear. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (9), 7913-7930.
Edwards, J.H., Kluesner, J.W., Silver, E.A., Brodsky, E.E., Brothers, D.S., Bangs, N.L., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Wood, R., Okamoto, K., 2018. Corrugated megathrust revealed offshore from Costa Rica. Nature Geoscience 11, 197-202.
Hartman, S.M., Paterson, S.R., Holk, G.J. and Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2018. Structural and hydrothermal evolution of a strike-slip shear zone during a ductile-brittle transition, Sierra Nevada, CA. Journal of Structural Geology 113, 134-154.
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Shervais, K.A.H. and Ronayne, M.J., 2018. Spatial variation in the slip zone thickness of a seismogenic fault. Geophysical Research Letters 45 (15), 7542-7550.
Savage, H.M., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Mori, J.J., Brodsky, E.E., Ellsworth, W.L., Carpenter, B.M., Chen, X., Cappa, F., Kano, Y., 2017. Scientific Exploration of Induced SeisMicity and Stress (SEISMS). Scientific Drilling 23, 57-63. DOI: 10.5194/sd-23-57-2017
Compton, K.E., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Holk, G.J., 2017. Cyclical shear fracture and viscous flow during transitional ductile-brittle deformation in the Saddlebag Lake Shear Zone, California. Tectonophysics 708, 1-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.04.006
Shervais, K.A.H., Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2016. Smoothing and re-roughening processes: The geometric evolution of a single fault zone. Journal of Structural Geology 91, 130-143. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2016.09.004
Keren, T.T., Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2016. The damage is done: Low fault friction recorded in the damage zone of the shallow Japan Trench décollement. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 121 (5), 3804-3824. DOI: 10.1002/2015JB012311
Brodsky, E.E., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Candela, T., 2016. Constraints from fault roughness on the scale-dependent strength of rocks. Geology 44 (1), 19-22. DOI: 10.1130/G37206.1
Bose, S., Saha, P., Mori, J.J., Rowe, C., Ujiie, K., Chester, F.M., Conin, M., Regalla, C., Kameda, J., Toy, V., Kirkpatrick, J., Remitti, F., Moore, J.C., Wolfson-Schwehr, M., Nakamura, Y., Gupta, A., 2015. Deformation structures in the frontal prism near the Japan Trench: Insights from sandbox models. Journal of Geodynamics 89, 29-38. DOI: 10.1016/j.jog.2015.06.002
Rabinowitz, H.S., Savage, H.M., Plank, T., Polissar, P.J., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Rowe, C.D., 2015. Multiple major faults at the Japan Trench: Chemostratigraphy of the plate boundary at IODP Exp. 343: JFAST. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 423, 57-66. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.04.010
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Strasser, M., Kodaira, S., Sample, J., Mori, J., Saito, S., 2015. IODP workshop: Tracking the Tsunamigenic slips across and along the Japan Trench (JTRACK). Scientific Drilling 19, 27-32. DOI: 10.5194/sd-19-27-2015
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Rowe, C.D., Ujiie, K., Moore, J.C., Regalla, C., Remitti, F., Toy, V., Wolfson-Schwehr, M., Kameda, J., Bose, S., Chester, F.M., 2015.
Structure and lithology of the Japan Trench subduction plate boundary fault. Tectonics 34 (1), 53-69. DOI: 10.1002/2014TC003695
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Brodsky, E.E., 2014. Slickenline orientations as a record of fault rock rheology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 408, 24-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.09.040
Soden, A.M., Shipton, Z.K., Lunn, R.J., Pytharouli, S.I., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Do Nascimento, A.F., Bezerra, F.H.R., 2014. Brittle structures focused on subtle crustal heterogeneities: Implications for flow in fractured rocks. Journal of the Geological Society 171 (4), 509-524. DOI: 10.1144/jgs2013-051
Shervais, J., Evans, J., Toy, V., Kirkpatrick, J., Clarke, A., Eichelberger, J., 2014. Drilling to investigate processes in active tectonics and magmatism. Scientific Drilling 18, 19-33. DOI: 10.5194/sd-18-19-2014
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Rowe, C.D., White, J.C., Brodsky, E.E., 2013. Silica gel formation during fault slip: Evidence from the rock record. Geology 41 (9), 1015-1018. DOI: 10.1130/G34483.1
Shipton, Z.K., Soden, A.M., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Bright, A.M., Lunn, R.J., 2013. How Thick is a Fault? Fault Displacement-Thickness Scaling Revisited. Earthquakes: Radiated Energy and the Physics of Faulting, 193-198. DOI: 10.1029/170GM19
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Bezerra, F.H.R., Shipton, Z.K., Do Nascimento, A.F., Pytharouli, S.I., Lunn, R.J., Soden, A.M., 2013. Scale-dependent influence of pre-existing basement shear zones on rift faulting: A case study from NE Brazil. Journal of the Geological Society 170 (2), 237-247. DOI: 10.1144/jgs2012-043
Lin, W., Conin, M., Moore, J.C., Chester, F.M., Nakamura, Y., Mori, J.J., Anderson, L., Brodsky, E.E., Eguchi, N., Cook, B., Jeppson, T., Wolfson-Schwehr, M., Sanada, Y., Saito, S., Kido, Y., Hirose, T., Behrmann, J.H., Ikari, M., Ujiie, K., Rowe, C., Kirkpatrick, J., Bose, S., Regalla, C., Remitti, F., Toy, V., Fulton, P., Mishima, T., Yang, T., Sun, T., Ishikawa, T., Sample, J., Takai, K., Kameda, J., Toczko, S., Maeda, L., Kodaira, S., Hino, R., Saffer, D., 2013. Stress state in the largest displacement area of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Science 339 (6120), 687-690. DOI: 10.1126/science.1229379
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Rowe, C.D., 2013. Disappearing ink: How pseudotachylytes are lost from the rock record. Journal of Structural Geology 52 (1), 183-198. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2013.03.003
Chester, F.M., Rowe, C., Ujiie, K., Kirkpatrick, J., Regalla, C., Remitti, F., Moore, J.C., Toy, V., Wolfson-Schwehr, M., Bose, S., Kameda, J., Mori, J.J., Brodsky, E.E., Eguchi, N., Toczko, S., 2013. Structure and composition of the plate-boundary slip zone for the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Science 342 (6163), 1208-1211. DOI: 10.1126/science.1243719
Sherry, T.J., Rowe, C.D., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Brodsky, E.E., 2012. Emplacement and dewatering of the world's largest exposed sand injectite complex. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 13 (1), art. no. Q08008. DOI: 10.1029/2012GC004157
Rowe, C.D., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Brodsky, E.E., 2012. Fault rock injections record paleo-earthquakes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 335-336, 154-166. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.015
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Dobson, K.J., Mark, D.F., Shipton, Z.K., Brodsky, E.E., Stuart, F.M., 2012. The depth of pseudotachylyte formation from detailed thermochronology and constraints on coseismic stress drop variability. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 117 (6), art. no. B06406. DOI: 10.1029/2011JB008846
Pytharouli, S.I., Lunn, R.J., Shipton, Z.K., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Do Nascimento, A.F., 2011. Microseismicity illuminates open fractures in the shallow crust. Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2), art. no. L02402. DOI: 10.1029/2010GL045875
Moir, H., Lunn, R.J., Shipton, Z.K., Kirkpatrick, J.D., 2010. Simulating brittle fault evolution from networks of pre-existing joints within crystalline rock. Journal of Structural Geology 32 (11), 1742-1753. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2009.08.016
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Shipton, Z.K., Persano, C., 2009. Pseudotachylytes: Rarely generated, rarely preserved, or rarely reported? Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 99 (1), 382-388. DOI: 10.1785/0120080114
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Shipton, Z.K., 2009. Geologic evidence for multiple slip weakening mechanisms during seismic slip in crystalline rock. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 114 (12), art. no. B12401. DOI: 10.1029/2008JB006037
Kirkpatrick, J.D., Shipton, Z.K., Evans, J.P., Micklethwaite, S., Lim, S.J., McKillop, P., 2008. Strike-slip fault terminations at seismogenic depths: The structure and kinematics of the Glacier Lakes fault, Sierra Nevada United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 113 (4), art. no. B04304. DOI: 10.1029/2007JB005311
Shipton, Z.K., Soden, A.M., Kirkpatrick, J.D., Bright, A.M., Lunn, R.J., 2006. How thick is a fault? Fault displacement-thickness scaling revisited. Geophysical Monograph Series 170, 193-198. DOI: 10.1029/170GM19
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Codirection : William Minarik; Fiona Darbyshire
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill
Codirection : Christie Rowe
Sujet de recherche : Active transform faults on land and in the oceans