Stimulated infrared emission from rocks: assessing a stress indicator

Abstract

To study the effect of stress-activated positive hole (p-hole) charge carriers on the infrared (IR) emission from rocks, we subjected a portion (10 vol.%) of a large (60307.5 cm 3 ) block of anorthosite, a nearly monomineralic (Ca-rich feldspar) igneous rock, to uniaxial deviatory stress up to failure. We measured the IR emission from a flat surface 40 cm from the stressed rock volume over the 800-1300 cm -1 (7.7-12.5 m) range. Upon loading, the intensity and spectrum of the IR emission change.