Physicochemical processes of frictional healing: Effects of water on stick‐slip stress drop and friction of granular fault gouge

Understanding the micromechanical processes that dictate the evolution of fault strength during the seismic cycle is a fundamental problem in earthquake physics. We report on laboratory experiments that investigate the role of water during repetitive stick‐slip frictional sliding, with particular emphasis on the grain‐scale and atomic‐scale mechanisms of frictional restrengthening (healing). Our experiments are designed to test underlying...