Gouge stability controlled by temperature elevation and obsidian addition in basaltic faults and implications for moonquakes

Basalt is a major component of the earth and moon crust. Mineral composition and temperature influence frictional instability and thus the potential for seismicity on basaltic faults. We performed velocity-stepping shear experiments on basalt gouges at a confining pressure of 100 MPa, temperatures in the range 100-400°C and with varied obsidian contents of 0-100 wt.% under wet/dry conditions to investigate the frictional strength and stability of basaltic faults. We observe a transition from velocity-neutral to velocity-weakening behaviors with increasing obsidian content. The frictional stability response of the mixed obsidian/basalt gouges is characterized by a transition from velocity-strengthening to velocity-weakening at 200°C and another transition to velocity-strengthening at >300°C. Conversely, frictional strengths of the obsidian-bearing gouges are insensitive to temperature and wet/dry conditions. These results suggest that obsidian content dominates the potential seismic r..., , , # Data from: Gouge stability controlled by temperature elevation and obsidian addition in basaltic faults and implications for moonquakes

## Description of the data and file structure

 **Data S1: **The friction-displacement data for all shear experiments on simulated basalt, obsidian, basalt-obsidian mixed gouges.

**File lists (files found within DataS1.zip)**

Cao_et_al_2023_LC1.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC2.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC3.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC4.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC5.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC6.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC7.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC8.xlsx

Cao_et_al_2023_LC9.xlsx

**File description**

Cao_et_al_2023_LC1.xlsx** – The shear displacement (column 1) and coefficient of friction (column 2) data for Experiment LC1.**

Cao_et_al_2023_LC2.xlsx** – The shear displacement (column 1) and coefficient of friction (column 2) data for Experiment LC2.**

Cao_et_al_2023_LC3.xlsx** – The shear displacement (column 1) and coefficient of friction (column 2) data for Experiment LC3.**...