Search

Micro-cracking in the earthquake preparation zone is accompanied by the generation of acoustic emission (AE). Even low-intensity AE can essentially modify the underground fluid dynamics owing to the influence of high-frequency acoustic field on filtration process. Laboratory experiments show that acoustic impact on pour sample destroys a film with bounded water and results in a steep increase of its permeability up to 2 orders of magnitude. Impulsive acoustic fields also decrease the effective viscosity of the fluid. The occurrence in the crust under pressure of a region with distinct hydrodynamic and electrokinetic parameters will result in an appearance of anomalous telluric and magnetic fields on the surface above. This effect is estimated analytically using a simple model with an elliptic-shaped inhomogeneity. The suggested hypothesis about possible coupling between AE and geoelectrical anomalies needs observational verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]