Development of shear localization in simulated quartz gouge: Effect of cumulative slip and gouge particle size

Frictional sliding experiments were conducted on two types of simulated quartz gouge (with median particle diameters 5 μm and 25 μm, respectively) at confining pressures ranging from 50 MPa to 190 MPa in a conventional triaxial configuration. To investigate the operative micromechanical processes, deformation texture developed in the gouge layer was studied in samples which had accumulated different amounts of frictional slip and undergone...