Micromechanics of Friction in a Detailed Study of Mg-rich Phyllosilicates

Phyllosilicate minerals commonly occur within faults, which may accommodate slip either aseismically via creep mechanisms or seismically in earthquakes. The Mg-rich phyllosilicates talc, saponite, sepiolite, and palygorskite have different crystallography and habits. Sepiolite and palygorskite are fibrous due to their discontinuous tetrahedral layers, while saponite and talc are platy due to the continuity of their TOT and water layers. Friction experiments were conducted in a triaxial apparatus under 95 MPa effective normal stress with water and argon as pore fluids. Results show a marked contrast between friction coefficients of fibrous phyllosilicates, 0.57 to 0.63 for argon experiments and 0.4 to 0.5 for water-saturated experiments, and platy Mg-rich phyllosilicates, as low as 0.22 for argon experiments and 0.04 for water-saturated experiments. During velocity steps (where sliding velocity is increased or decreased by one order of magnitude), the two mineral groups exhibit distinctly dissimilar behaviours. After the direct effect of the change in sliding rate, fibrous phyllosilicates show a rapid exponential decay towards a new friction coefficient (a positive b value). Meanwhile, the friction coefficient of the platy phyllosilicates has a more linear evolution (a zero, or negative b value). This effect could be related to a difference in the sliding strength of the contact asperities which would be much higher for crystal surfaces of fibrous minerals with an indented surface due to the silicon tetrahedra inversions. The fibre-shaped crystals may consequently require higher amounts of volumetric work against the normal stress (dilatancy). SEM and TEM observations of the deformed samples showed a well-developed network of R1 Riedel shears in the fibrous materials; planar phyllosilicates show a more homogeneous matrix and incipient development of P foliation. Planar phyllosilicate grains align on their basal planes facilitating intergranular sliding, in contrast, the fibrous phyllosilicates appear to form an interlocking grid-like network that may promote dilatancy during velocity steps. The contrasting strength of Mg-rich phyllosilicates and analysis of their microstructures imply that phyllosilicate habit strongly influences the micromechanics of frictional sliding.