The thermo-electric effect of magnetite and the mechanism of geo-electric abnormalities during earthquakes

The thermo-electric coefficients of twenty-six magnetite samples, formed either by magmatism or metamorphism, were tested by the thermo-electric instrument BHET –06. Results showed that the coefficient is of a constant value of about −0.05 mV/°C. It is emphasized that because every magnetite grain was tested randomly, the coefficient is independent of the crystallographic direction. This fact means the thermal voltage generated from a single magnetite crystal can be accumulated, and as a result a new thermo-electric field can arise when a gradient thermal field exists and is active within the earth’s crust. Because magnetite is widespread in the earth’s crust (generally appearing more in the middle-lower crust), there is more-than-random probability that the additional thermo-electric field can be generated when certain thermal conditions are fulfilled. We, therefore, used the thermo-electric effect of magnetite to study the mechanism responsible for the presence of abnormal geo-electric fields during earthquake formation and occurrence, because gradient thermal fields always exist before earthquakes. The possible presence of additional thermo-electric fields was calculated under theoretical seismological conditions, using the following calculation formula: E = − 0.159 ( σ × Δ T × Φ × ρ 2 × [ ( h 2 − 2 x 2 ) cos α + 3 h x sin α ] / ρ 1 ( h 2 + x 2 ) 5 / 2 ) . In the above formula, σ is thermo-electric coefficient of magnetite, ΔT is the temperature difference acting on it, Φ is a sectional area on a block of magnetite vertically perpendicular to the direction of the thermal current, ρ1 and ρ2 are the respective resistivities of magnetite and the crust, and h, α, and x, respectively, h is the depth of embedded magnetite block. α means the angle created by the horizontal line and ligature of the two poles of magnetite block, and x is the distance from observation point to projective center point of the magnetite block on earth surface. According to simulations calculated with this formula, additional thermo-electric field intensity may reach as high as n to n × 102 mV/km. This field is strong enough to cause obvious anomalies in the background geo-electric field, and can be easy probed by earthquake monitoring equipment. Therefore, we hypothesize that geo-electric abnormalities which occur during earthquakes may be caused by the thermo-electric effect of magnetite.