Weíre still left with the apparent absense of evidence for shear heating, but to constrain the the effects of fault slip on our fission track thermochronometer, weíve constructed a numerical model.
First, we need some sort of simple model of rupture to figure out the amount of heat generated. To start off with, letís assume Byerleeís law holds such that we have a dry coefficient of friction of .7 and hydrostatic pore pressure.
Once generated, heat will be transported away from the fault by conduction and advection. Again, letís start off by just considering the purely conductive case and then calculate a time-temperature history. In other words, if Iím an apatite crystal at a certain distance away from the fault, what will my temperature be at different times.
Once we know that, we can calculate the eventual effect on the fission tracks and the fission track age.
