Equilibrium (reversible) and nonequilibrium (permanent) fracture in rock: equilibrium statistical mechanics theory and experiments, and physical/intuitive analysis of common nonequilibrium fracture modes

Macroscopic equilibrium statistical mechanics is first used to interpret and predict thermally driven microfracture in rock. Application of the theoretical framework to three heating and cooling experiments, performed on granite and reported between 1989 and 2017, provides strong evidence that the temperature-, pressure- and volume-dependent average microfracture population within a given rock volume can be treated as an equilibrium thermodynamic variable.  This observation, in turn, suggests that thermoelastic microfracture, in rock and similar granular solids, can be predicted and interpreted using standard, process- and history-independent equilibrium thermodynamics.  In order to place equilibrium rock fracture and healing in context, we then consider nonreversible, permanent, i.e., nonequilibrium fracture. Here, pictorial, physical, and quantitative analyses of several common, thermally driven rock fracture processes are presented, including: a) terrestrial thermal exfoliation of single grains from diurnally heated rock surfaces, b) non-terrestrial thermal exfoliation of thin, near surface rock layers, as recently observed, e.g., on Bennu, c) terrestrial and non-terrestrial thermally-driven through cracking, and d) initiation of c).  We show how the form of the continuum momentum and energy conservation equations for thermoelastic materials – here, rock- provides a powerful, intuitive framework for quickly visualizing and roughly predicting the fracture/weathering processes in a) through d).