Geology topics

L.G. Baise

Publications and source records attributed to L.G. Baise.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2012

Spatial correlation of shear-wave velocity within San Francisco Bay Sediments

Sediment properties are spatially variable at all scales, and this variability at smaller scales influences high frequency ground motions. We show that surface shear-wave velocity is highly correlated within San Francisco Bay Area sediments using shear-wave velocity measurements from 210 seismic cone penetration tests. We use this correlation to estimate the surface sediment velocity structure using geostatistics. We find that the variance of the estimated shear-wave velocity is reduced using ordinary kriging, and that including this velocity structure in 2D ground motion simulations of a moderate sized earthquake improves the accuracy of the synthetics. Copyright ASCE 2006.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2012

A case study of alternative site response explanatory variables in Parkfield, California

The combination of densely-spaced strong-motion stations in Parkfield, California, and spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) profiles provides an ideal dataset for assessing the accuracy of different site response explanatory variables. We judge accuracy in terms of spatial coverage and correlation with observations. The performance of the alternative models is period-dependent, but generally we observe that: (1) where a profile is available, the square-root-of-impedance method outperforms V S30 (average S-wave velocity to 30 m depth), and (2) where a profile is unavailable, the topographic-slope method outperforms surficial geology. The fundamental site frequency is a valuable site response explanatory variable, though less valuable than V S30 . However, given the expense and difficulty of obtaining reliable estimates of V S30 and the relative ease with which the fundamental site frequency can be computed, the fundamental site frequency may prove to be a valuable site response explanatory variable for many applications.

California↗

USGS2011

Multiscale site-response mapping: A case study of Parkfield, California

The scale of previously proposed methods for mapping site-response ranges from global coverage down to individual urban regions. Typically, spatial coverage and accuracy are inversely related.We use the densely spaced strong-motion stations in Parkfield, California, to estimate the accuracy of different site-response mapping methods and demonstrate a method for integrating multiple site-response estimates from the site to the global scale. This method is simply a weighted mean of a suite of different estimates, where the weights are the inverse of the variance of the individual estimates. Thus, the dominant site-response model varies in space as a function of the accuracy of the different models. For mapping applications, site-response models should be judged in terms of both spatial coverage and the degree of correlation with observed amplifications. Performance varies with period, but in general the Parkfield data show that: (1) where a velocity profile is available, the square-rootof- impedance (SRI) method outperforms the measured VS30 (30 m divided by the S-wave travel time to 30 m depth) and (2) where velocity profiles are unavailable, the topographic slope method outperforms surficial geology for short periods, but geology outperforms slope at longer periods. We develop new equations to estimate site response from topographic slope, derived from the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) database.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2010

A geostatistical approach to mapping site response spectral amplifications

If quantitative estimates of the seismic properties do not exist at a location of interest then the site response spectral amplifications must be estimated from data collected at other locations. Currently, the most common approach employs correlations of site class with maps of surficial geology. Analogously, correlations of site class with topographic slope can be employed where the surficial geology is unknown. Our goal is to identify and validate a method to estimate site response with greater spatial resolution and accuracy for regions where additional effort is warranted. This method consists of three components: region-specific data collection, a spatial model for interpolating seismic properties, and a theoretical method for computing spectral amplifications from the interpolated seismic properties. We consider three spatial interpolation schemes: correlations with surficial geology, termed the geologic trend (GT), ordinary kriging (OK), and kriging with a trend (KT). We estimate the spectral amplifications from seismic properties using the square root of impedance method, thereby linking the frequency-dependent spectral amplifications to the depth-dependent seismic properties. Thus, the range of periods for which this method is applicable is limited by the depth of exploration. A dense survey of near-surface S-wave slowness (Ss) throughout Kobe, Japan shows that the geostatistical methods give more accurate estimates of Ss than the topographic slope and GT methods, and the OK and KT methods perform equally well. We prefer the KT model because it can be seamlessly integrated with geologic maps that cover larger regions. Empirical spectral amplifications show that the region-specific data achieve more accurate estimates of observed median short-period amplifications than the topographic slope method. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Engineering Geology↗

USGS2009

Impediments to predicting site response: Seismic property estimation and modeling simplifications

We compare estimates of the empirical transfer function (ETF) to the plane SH-wave theoretical transfer function (TTF) within a laterally constant medium for invasive and noninvasive estimates of the seismic shear-wave slownesses at 13 Kiban-Kyoshin network stations throughout Japan. The difference between the ETF and either of the TTFs is substantially larger than the difference between the two TTFs computed from different estimates of the seismic properties. We show that the plane SH-wave TTF through a laterally homogeneous medium at vertical incidence inadequately models observed amplifications at most sites for both slowness estimates, obtained via downhole measurements and the spectral analysis of surface waves. Strategies to improve the predictions can be separated into two broad categories: improving the measurement of soil properties and improving the theory that maps the 1D soil profile onto spectral amplification. Using an example site where the 1D plane SH-wave formulation poorly predicts the ETF, we find a more satisfactory fit to the ETF by modeling the full wavefield and incorporating spatially correlated variability of the seismic properties. We conclude that our ability to model the observed site response transfer function is limited largely by the assumptions of the theoretical formulation rather than the uncertainty of the soil property estimates.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2007

Spatial correlation of shear-wave velocity in the San Francisco Bay Area sediments

Ground motions recorded within sedimentary basins are variable over short distances. One important cause of the variability is that local soil properties are variable at all scales. Regional hazard maps developed for predicting site effects are generally derived from maps of surficial geology; however, recent studies have shown that mapped geologic units do not correlate well with the average shear-wave velocity of the upper 30 m, V s (30). We model the horizontal variability of near-surface soil shear-wave velocity in the San Francisco Bay Area to estimate values in unsampled locations in order to account for site effects in a continuous manner. Previous geostatistical studies of soil properties have shown horizontal correlations at the scale of meters to tens of meters while the vertical correlations are on the order of centimeters. In this paper we analyze shear-wave velocity data over regional distances and find that surface shear-wave velocity is correlated at horizontal distances up to 4 km based on data from seismic cone penetration tests and the spectral analysis of surface waves. We propose a method to map site effects by using geostatistical methods based on the shear-wave velocity correlation structure within a sedimentary basin. If used in conjunction with densely spaced shear-wave velocity profiles in regions of high seismic risk, geostatistical methods can produce reliable continuous maps of site effects.

California↗