Rock Destruction and Dangerous Geodynamic Processes in the Earth: A Review

Investigations of rock destruction and metamorphic processes under different thermodynamic conditions are among the most critical global and seismological engineering problems. Solving the mentioned problems is only possible by carefully studying rock stability. It was considered earlier that some material’s destruction occurs when at least one stress tensor component reaches a critical value called “material durability”. However, the conducted analysis allowed us to conclude that such a notion is correct only for relatively short-term action and is unsuitable for prolonged stress to target. Instead of “durability”, we suggest using the notion of “longevity”. Based on detailed theoretical analysis, we propose a new physicalmathematical conception describing the destruction process as a phase transition. According to this viewpoint, the formation of a microfault (the occurrence of a space with maximum stress concentration) marks the beginning of a new phase. The development of such a new concept allows for the recognition of new relationships between the destruction process on one hand and time, strength, temperature, pressure, and rock crystal lattice characteristics on the other. It was discovered that the generation of microfaults results in the emission of a specific number of seismo-acoustic impulses. The intensity of the process destruction is determined by the number of impulses per time unit, and the oscillation frequency indicates the size of the forming microfaults. We propose that a worldwide change in geological rocks caused by various physical factors (metamorphism) be evaluated using the common approach by viewing the process as a phase transition. As a result, some conclusions from the rock destruction analysis may be transferred to metamorphic processes. The proposed concept allows for procedures for forecasting dangerous seismic events and monitoring the longevity of various surface and underground structures, such as buildings, mines, and reservoirs, as well as other artificial and natural structures.