Rehbinder effect in tectonophysics

Abstract

The modern concepts regarding a number of phenomena, joined together by a common name “Rehbinder effect” and consisting of a change in the mechanical properties of solids as a result of their reversible physicochemical interaction with the medium (physical adsorption, low-energy chemisorption, wetting), which leads to the decrease of their surface energy, are considered. The different manifestations of the effect, such as the strength reduction, the intergranular destruction, the facilitation of plastic flow, studied on the rocks (in the laboratory experiments and at the places of natural occurrence) and on model objects, are examined. Special attention is given to the analysis of thermodynamic, kinetic and structural factors, which determine the possibility, the form, and the degree of manifestation of the Rehbinder effect, and considerations about its place among other mechanisms of fluid-rock interaction are also formulated. The main conclusion, which follows from the consideration of data accumulated at the present time, is the high probability that the Rehbinder effect in many cases plays a determining role in reducing the macro-strength and increasing the deformability of rock massifs.