Datafiles are from a suite of frictional velocity step experiments on clay-bearing fault gouges, at elevated temperatures up to 180°C. The aim was to test if varying temperature reduces the stability of clay-rich faults, measured by the rate and state friction parameter (a-b). Data were collected in the Rock Deformation Laboratory at the University of Liverpool between Oct 2021 to May 2022 by Dr. Isabel Ashman, as part of her NERC EAO DTP studentship. The datafiles are text files of both the raw voltage and calibrated measurements from triaxial deformation experiments. The stability of synthetic kaolinite clay-bearing fault gouges was found to decrease systematically with elevated temperatures commensurate with those found at typical earthquake depths. In materials containing 25-50% clay, the stability of slip decreased with increasing temperature so that the gouges displayed unstable slip at temperatures between 100 and 180°C. At room temperature the same materials showed stable slip and velocity strengthening characteristics. The reduction in stability with increasing temperature coincides with a greater degree of compaction observed in the gouge microstructure and is inferred to result from progressive loss of water adsorbed on the clay surfaces. These results indicate that clay-bearing fault rocks can nucleate unstable slip at conditions common to the clay-bearing brittle crust; a result that adds to the observations of mature clay-bearing faults in nature that can nucleate and propagate earthquakes.
