Dipole Model of Electric Pulse Generation Caused by the Relaxation Processes in the Earth's Crust

Study of electric and magnetic (EM) signals in the Earth's crust is of interest from a viewpoint of both establishing mechanisms and conditions for generation of geophysical fields and interpreting physical and mechanical characteristics of a hierarchically structured medium. In a previously developed model [1] it was proposed that generation of electromagnetic impulses in the Earth's crust with low water content was a result of a quasi independent displacement of a structural block being relaxed in constrained conditions. A transient electric current system generated on an active side of the structural block due to electric polarization of an inter-block gap content was considered as a source of EM radiation. In a new numerical model we use a set of Hertz's dipoles distributed over the active surface. Time dependence of the dipole moments was defined by displacement of the structural unit. To estimate EM signals the full system of Maxwell equations in a conductive medium was solved. The results of numerical simulations were compared with electric field records in a surface layer of the Earth's crust in the area of influence of the tectonically active Kurai structure (Gornyi Altai) [2]. The amplitudes of electric fields at a distance of 50-100 linear block sizes obtained in numerical simulations are in good agreement with the instrumental observations, which proves the validity of our model for the estimation of electric effects in the low moisture rock medium.