Journal Name:Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
The Earth’s electric field transient variations are
promising candidates of earthquake precursors. In order to
study the physical mechanisms of such precursory signals,
laboratory experiments of uniaxial compression were carried
out.
More specifically the behaviour of stressed marble samples
from Penteli Mountain was investigated. The samples
were subjected to a time-varying uniaxial compression at
both variable and constant stress rates. During the first set
of experiments weak electric currents were detected during
pressure variations. Such Piezo Stimulated Currents (PSC)
were detected while stress steps, both positive and negative
were applied, the maximum stress never being greater than
the elasticity limit. During the second set of experiments
stress was applied at a constant rate starting from zero-stress
and ending in fracture. In the region beyond the elastic limit
a PSC was detected which after reaching a peak suffered a
reversal in its polarity just before fracture.
In a third set of experiments the same procedure was applied
to previously structurally damaged samples taking care
not to fracture them.
In all cases the PSC followed the variation of stress and
moreover it was observed that a linear relationship existed
between the PSC maxima and the corresponding stress-rate
maxima. The mechanism responsible for the described phenomena
can be ascribed to the Moving Charged Dislocations
model.