Stress corrosion theory of crack propagation with applications to geophysics

The theory of stress corrosion for slow crack propagation is reviewed in the light of classical Griffith theory of fracture. Experimental data for stress corrosion cracking for glasses, ceramics, and metals are reviewed. We suggest that stress corrosion cracking plays an important role in the intrusion of magmas and in the transport of magmas upward through the lithosphere. It is shown that the effect of decreasing temperature (at progressively...