Abstract
After an historical review of the first laboratory experiments on the behavior of serpentine (1960s) under the high-pressure, high-temperature conditions of subduction zones, and on the appearance of fractures at the time of dehydration, as well as the recording of acoustic emissions at the time of dehydration (early 1990s), we have successively presented the advances in instrumentation that have recently made it possible to study these phenomena more precisely from an experimental point of view. We have now succeeded in detecting and characterizing the sources of acoustic emissions, and in locating them in time and space, while mapping the dehydration products of rock subjected to high pressure and temperature in multi-lume cells. Current research tends to suggest that the production of a " earthquake" by rock dehydration involves several stages, with dehydration causing mechanical instability in the surrounding rock, rather than being the direct cause of rupture. Seismology now highlights the complexity of rupture in intermediate and deep earthquakes. Current research is moving towards a more direct comparison between seismic and laboratory observations, made possible by the rapid evolution of techniques in both fields.
