Rupture propagation: zipper effect and void

Rupture propagation: zipper effect and void formation — Even if rupture begins at a point, stress concentration at a crack tip can allow rapid lengthening. This model proposes a north–south propagation of rupture that creates a long opening “slot” (a zipper-like opening) (LOCK → Derive → Gate).

Even if rupture begins at a point, stress concentration at a crack tip can allow rapid lengthening. This model proposes a north–south propagation of rupture that creates a long opening “slot” (a zipper-like opening) (LOCK → Derive → Gate).

Intuition

Even if rupture begins at a point, stress concentration at a crack tip can allow rapid lengthening. This model proposes a north–south propagation of rupture that creates a long opening “slot” (a zipper-like opening).

Order-of-magnitude: rupture speed and a time window

Let the rupture propagation speed be a fraction of the shear-wave speed cₛ (e.g., v_rupture≈ 0.9cₛ). With a representative cₛ ~ 3 km/s,

Interpretation. “Hours” is not a claimed exact value. It is an order-of-magnitude argument that the rupture propagation can, in principle, be short. If realistic physics forces rupture to be much slower, the credibility of the event-like rupture component (C1/AR-3) is reduced and should remain HOLD.

Definition of a void: not a perfect vacuum, but a “pressure deficit”

Immediately after rupture, if seawater/magma/sediment cannot fill the opening instantly, a transient “empty” or “low-density” region can appear. In this white paper, a Void does not have to be a perfect vacuum (P→ 0). It suffices to be a sufficiently lower pressure/density state than its surroundings. Accordingly, the key quantities are an effective pressure deficit Δ P and its duration and/or repetition timescale τ.

Physical realizations of a void: deficit, dilatancy, and unjamming (not a long-lived cavern)

A first objection is: “How can a vacuum cavity be maintained at depth? Wouldn't surrounding rock collapse immediately?” The answer in this framework is straightforward: a Void is not a large, long-lived vacuum cavern. It is a transient pressure-deficit state that can be realized by one (or a combination) of:

• (V0) Geometric opening. Immediately after rupture, the crack/opening itself provides an effective low-pressure boundary for a short time.
• (V1) Dilatancy-driven “low pressure” in a granular shear zone. If comminuted material (powder/gouge) transitions from a jammed to an unjammed state, porosity increases. Under undrained conditions, porosity increase can manifest as a pore-pressure drop, producing a suction component (Δ P<0) even without a literal cavern (qualitative).

Conceptual consistency with the VP frame. In the VP theory (IR-4) “full-packing” view, “empty space” is not treated as an independent degree of freedom; deficits/gaps/throats are structural quantities defined by arrangement and adjacency. A geological Void can be interpreted similarly: the claim is not “a vacuum exists,” but that contact and pore networks change abruptly, creating a deficit (low-pressure) state.

Verification point. If (V1) is correct, near Void edges (P2) one expects, together, (1) strong comminution/gouge formation, (2) microstructures consistent with fluidization, and (3) signatures of fluid transport (injection veins/hydrothermal alteration). If such co-signatures are systematically absent, the “Void as deficit” interpretation is weakened.