Seismic precursory patterns before a cliff collapse and critical-point phenomena

TL;DR

This study analyzes seismic patterns before a cliff collapse, revealing power law acceleration in seismicity and energy, consistent with critical point phenomena, and suggests thermodynamic phase transition models may explain such failures.

Contribution

It provides the first seismic monitoring evidence of cliff collapse behavior consistent with critical point phenomena and phase transition models.

Findings

Seismicity rate accelerates following a power law before collapse.

Seismic energy increases as failure approaches.

Results align with critical point and phase transition theories.

Abstract

We analyse the statistical pattern of seismicity before a 1-2 103 m3 chalk cliff collapse on the Normandie ocean shore, Western France. We show that a power law acceleration of seismicity rate and energy in both 40 Hz-1.5 kHz and 2 Hz-10kHz frequency range, is defined on 3 order of magnitude, within 2 hours from the collapse time. Simultaneously, the average size of the seismic events increases toward the time to failure. These in-situ results are derived from the only station located within one rupture length distance from the rock fall rupture plane. They mimic the "critical point" like behavior recovered from physical and numerical experiments before brittle failures and tertiary creep failures. Our analysis of this first seismic monitoring data of a cliff collapse suggests that the thermodynamic phase transition models for failure may apply for cliff collapse.