News

Fluids and tiny minerals play a big role in subduction zones  

MEFISTO is being used to examine the effects of fluid flow and ductile layers on seismicity in low-angle normal faults in the Apennines. Code updates to come! See: Anthony, K., Hooker, J.N., and Riegel, H., Numerical modeling of epidetachment faults in the hanging-wall of the Altotiberina low-angle normal fault, Italy, (AGU Fall 2021 abstract T55B-0074). 

The team’s latest work uses MEFISTO to look at the record of seismicity along the Aleutian margin. The skinny is that feedbacks between earthquake ruptures, cementation, and fluid pressure and flow account for observed clustering in the size, spacing, and timing of earthquakes! https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/doi/10.1130/G48741.1/598765/How-cementation-and-fluid-flow-influence-slip

MEFISTO has been updated to version 2. This version includes a fix to the bulk permeability calculation between neighboring cells, using the harmonic mean.

MEFISTO will feature in two presentations at the American Geophysical Union annual Fall meeting, 2020. Check it out! https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/708570 https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/712263

The User Manual for MEFISTO V1 is now available. This contains a full introduction and the entire code, which may be copied and pasted into a Matlab script. Get in Contact if you have questions!

Output of MEFISTO can be saved in stored frames using the frame_int variable. This records conditions on the subduction interface every <frame_int> steps (“int” meaning “interval”). So use a smaller number for a higher frame rate. You can then make animations by contouring the “frame” variables (loc_frame for cell location, fluid_pressure_frame, etc.). Below are two […]

Welcome to MEFISTO! Have a look around, get cracking on some subduction zone models, and get in touch!