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Interested in the microstructure of fault rocks? You should come and join our EGU session 'Fault rocks in the lab and in the field: microstructural constraints on fault strength and sliding stability', this year with Ashley Griffith as our invited speaker. Abstract submission deadline: 13 January See http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/egu2016/sessionprogramme Session number: TS1.2/EMRP4.15 Description: Technological advances in the recent years have made it possible to explore the sliding behaviour of fault rocks at high, i.e. seismic, slip velocities in the laboratory complementing studies at slow, i.e. nucleation, sliding velocities. At the same time advanced geo-monitoring has allowed us to observe natural sliding phenomena that cover a broad range of slip velocities and extend into parts of the lithosphere that were previously thought to flow aseismically, such as slow slip events and tremors. These new observations document the complexity of displacement accommodation along fault zones and call for a re-assessment of the simple seismic-aseismic classification. Furthermore, increased imaging possibilities show that local grain size reduction to nano-grains, disintegration into amorphous material and melting occurs in many natural fault rocks and in lab-produced gouges, under a wide range of slip velocities. The understanding of the underlying physical processes which lead to the production of nano-grains, amorphous materials and melts, together with their strain-rate sensitivity, are of crucial importance for better constraining the rheological behaviour of fault zones. Bridging the temporal and spatial gap between experimental and natural faults remains a challenge. We invite experimental, field and geophysical studies that address fault slip behaviour and its microstructural record. Key points to be addressed include: 1. Identification of markers for seismic slip in natural faults - any hope? 2. How to tackle the temporal, spatial and geometrical scaling of laboratory results to natural faults? We hope to see you in Vienna! On behalf of my co-conveners Matej Pec, André Niemeijer and Giulio di Toro, Kind regards, Anne Pluymakers ---------------------------------------------------------------- PGP, University of Oslo postboks 1048, Blindern 0316 Oslo, Norway [log in to unmask] FV434; +47 22856444 http://www.mn.uio.no/fysikk/english/research/groups/pgp/