Fault Mechanics and Transport Properties of Rocks, Volume 51 (International Geophysics)

This festschrift, compiled from the symposium held in honor of W.F. Brace, is a timely overview of fault mechanics and transport properties of rock. State-of-the-art research is presented by internationally recognized experts, who highlight developments in this contemporary area of study subsequent to Bill Brace's pioneering work.

Key Features
* The strength of brittle rocks
* The effects of stress and stress-induced damage on physical properties of rock
* Permeability and fluid flow in rocks
* The strength of rocks and tectonic processes

The twenty-one papers in this volume revolve around William F. Brace's pioneering work which has defined many important research areas and opened questions which are still being investigated.
The contributions on the themes of fault mechanics are transport properties in rocks are divided into four topics in which Brace's work had fundamental impact:
* brittle failure of crustal rocks
* permeability and flow
* facture characterization and physical properties of rocks.
* implications of rock mechanics on crustal tectonics.
The five papers discussing brittle failure contain new insight into the micromechanics of failure and the strength of intact and granular rocks. Papers in the section on permeability and fluid flow summarize novel laboratory techniques to understand the transport melts, water and two phase fluids in rocks at high temperature and pressure and the rate at which they change. Work in section III reports innovative methods to characterize fractures in the laboratory and in the field. In the final portion of the book, ground-breaking ideas are proposed to interpret field measurements of stress and heat flow with laboratory data on the strength of rocks.