Bedrock temperature as a potential method for monitoring change in crustal stress: Theory, in situ measurement, and a case history

• Bedrock temperature can be used as an indicator of the state of crustal stress.
• Synchronous response distinguishes stress temperature from conduction temperature.
• Data of the Lushan earthquake verify our method of obtaining crustal stress state.
• Change in stress temperature appears before increases in seismic activities.

Experimental studies have confirmed that temperature is notably affected by rock deformation; therefore, change in crustal stress should be indicated by measurable changes in bedrock temperature. In this work, we investigated the possibility that the bedrock temperature might be used to explore the state of crustal stress. In situ measurement of bedrock temperature at three stations from 2011 to 2013 was used as the basis for the theoretical analysis of this approach. We began with theoretical analyses of temperature response to change in crustal stress, and of the effect of heat conduction. This allowed distinction between temperature changes produced by crustal stress (stress temperature) from temperature changes caused by conduction from the land surface (conduction temperature). Stress temperature has two properties (synchronous response and a high-frequency feature) that allow it to be distinguished from conduction temperature. The in situ measurements confirmed that apparently synchronous changes in the stress temperature of the bedrock occur and that there exist obvious short-term components of the in situ bedrock temperature, which agrees with theory. On 20 April 2013, an earthquake occurred 95 km away from the stations, fortuitously providing a case study by which to verify our method for obtaining the state of crustal stress using temperature. The results indicated that the level of local or regional seismic activity, representing the level of stress adjustment, largely accords with the stress temperature. This means that the bedrock temperature is a tool that might be applied to understand the state of stress during seismogenic tectonics. Therefore, it is possible to record changes in the state of crustal stress in a typical tectonic position by long-term observation of bedrock temperature. Hereby, the measurement of bedrock temperature has become a new tool for gaining insight into changes in the status of shallow crustal stress.