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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
USGS2019

Kinematic rupture modeling of ground motion from the M7 Kumamoto, Japan earthquake

We analyzed a kinematic earthquake rupture generator that combines the randomized spatial field approach of Graves and Pitarka (Bull Seismol Soc Am 106:2136–2153, 2016 ) (GP2016) with the multiple asperity characterization approach of Irikura and Miyake (Pure Appl Geophys 168:85–104, 2011 ) (IM2011, also known as Irikura recipe). The rupture generator uses a multi-scale hybrid approach that incorporates distinct features of both original approaches, such as small-scale stochastic rupture variability and depth-dependent scaling of rupture speed and slip rate, inherited from GP2016, and specification of discrete high slip rupture patches, inherited from IM2011. The performance of the proposed method is examined in simulations of broadband ground motion from the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan earthquake, as well as comparisons with ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs). We generated rupture models with multi-scale heterogeneity, including a hybrid one in which the slip is a combination of high- slip patches and stochastic small scale variations. We find that the ground motions simulated with these rupture models match the general characteristics of the recorded near-fault motion equally well, over a broad frequency range (0–10 Hz). Additionally, the simulated ground motion is in good agreement with the predictions from Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs). Nonetheless, due to sensitivity of the ground motion to the local fault rupture characteristics, the performance among the models at near-fault sites is slightly different, with the hybrid model producing a somewhat better fit to the recorded ground velocity waveforms. Sensitivity tests of simulated near-fault ground motion to variations in the prescribed kinematic rupture parameters show that average rupture speeds higher than the default value in GP2016 (average rupture speed = 80% of local shear wave speed), as well as slip rate durations shorter than the default value in GP2016 (rise time coefficient = 1.6), generate ground motions that are higher than the recorded ones at periods longer than 1 s. We found that these two parameters also affect the along strike and updip rupture directivity effects, as illustrated in comparisons with the Kumamoto observations.

Kumamoto↗
USGS2020

Peak ground motions and site response at Anza and Imperial Valley, California

Power spectra of shear-waves for eighteen earthquakes from the Anza-Imperial Valley region were inverted for source, mid-path Q, site attenuation and site response. The motivation was whether differences in site attenuation (parameterized as t*, r/cQ, where r is distance along ray path near the site, c is shear velocity and Q is the quality factor that parameterizes attenuation) and site response could be correlated with residuals in peak values of velocity or acceleration after removing the affect of distance-dependent attenuation. We decomposed spectra of S-waves from horizontal components of 18 earthquakes from 2010 to 2018 into a common source for each event with ω −2 spectral fall-off at high frequencies and then projected the residuals onto path and site terms following the methodology of Boatwright et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 81:1754–1782, 1991). The site terms were constrained to have an amplification at a particular frequency governed by V S30 at two of the sites which had downhole shear-wave logs. The 18 events, 3 < M < 4, had moments between approximately 10 20 and 10 22 dyne-cm, and stress drops between 1 and 100 bars. Average mid-crust attenuation had a Q of 844 reflecting the average path through the crystalline rock of the San Jacinto Mountains. t* for each station corresponded to the geologic environment such that stations on hard rock had low t* (e.g. stations KNW, PFO and RDM) a station in the San Jacinto fault zone (station SND) had a moderate t* of 0.035 s and stations in the Imperial Valley usually had higher t*s . Generally t* correlated with average amplification suggesting that sites characterized by low surface velocities and higher attenuation also have more amplification in the 1–6 Hz band. Residuals of peak values were determined by subtracting the prediction of Boore and Atkinson ( 2008 ). There is a correlation between average amplification and peak velocity, but not peak acceleration. Interestingly, there is less scatter at high values of amplification although there is also less data. Scatter in values of peak velocity and peak acceleration are higher at shorter compared to longer durations. When using a frequency-dependent form for Q , variances are higher, sometimes much higher; the dataset does not support frequency-dependent Q , which is not similar to results from the Imperial Valley and northeastern North America.

California↗
USGS2021

Inter-source interferometry of seismic body waves: Required conditions and examples

Seismic interferometry is widely applied to retrieve wavefields propagating between receivers. Another version of seismic interferometry, called inter-source interferometry, uses the principles of seismic reciprocity and expands interferometric applications to retrieve waves that propagate between two seismic sources. Previous studies of inter-source interferometry usually involve surface-wave and coda-wave estimations. We use inter-source interferometry to estimate the P-waves propagating between two sources rather than the estimation of surface waves and coda waves. We show that the recovered arrival times are dependent on the accuracy of the earthquake catalog of the two sources. Using inter-source interferometry, one can recover the waveform of the direct body waves and potentially reconstruct the waveform of coda waves, depending on the source-receiver geometry. The retrieval of these waveforms is accurate only when the wavefield is sampled with approximately 4 receivers per wavelength in the stationary phase zone. We show that using only receivers inside the stationary phase region for inter-source interferometry introduces the phase error of approximately 0.3 radians. In our study, we show an example of the P-wavefield reconstruction between two earthquakes using the seismic records from an array along San Andreas Fault. The retrieved P waves give a qualitative estimation of the thickness of the low-velocity zone of San Andreas Fault of approximately 4 km.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2021

Local variations in broadband sensor installations: Orientations, sensitivities, and noise levels

As seismologists continue to place more stringent demands on data quality, accurately described metadata are becoming increasingly important. In order to better constrain the orientation and sensitivities of seismometers deployed in U.S. Geological Survey networks, the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL) has recently begun identifying true north with a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) and has developed methodologies to constrain mid-band, vertical component sensitivity levels to less than 1% in a controlled environment. However, questions remain regarding the accuracy of this new alignment technique as well as if instrument sensitivities and background noise levels are stable when the seismometers are installed in different environmental settings. In this study, we examine the stability and repeatability of these parameters by reinstalling two high-quality broadband seismometers (Streckeisen STS-2.5 and Nanometrics T-360 Global Seismographic Network (GSN) version) at different locations around the ASL and comparing them to each other and a reference STS-6 seismometer that stayed stationary for the duration of the experiment. We find that even in different environmental conditions, the sensitivities of the two broadband seismometers stayed stable to within 0.1% and that orientations attained using the FOG are generally accurate to within a degree. However, one install was off by 5° due to a mistake made by the installation team. These results indicate that while technology and methodologies are now in place to calibrate and orient a seismometer to within 1°, human error both during the installation and while producing the metadata is often a limiting factor. Finally, we find that background noise levels at short periods (0.1–1 s) become noisier when the sensors are emplaced in unconsolidated materials, whereas the noise levels at long periods (30–100 s) are not sensitive to local geological structure on the vertical components.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS1996

A two-stage model of fracture of rocks

In this paper we propose a two-stage model of rock fracture. In the first stage, cracks or local regions of failure are uncorrelated occur randomly throughout the rock in response to loading of pre-existing flaws. As damage accumulates in the rock, there is a gradual increase in the probability that large clusters of closely spaced cracks or local failure sites will develop. Based on statistical arguments, a critical density of damage will occur where clusters of flaws become large enough to lead to larger-scale failure of the rock (stage two). While crack interaction and cooperative failure is expected to occur within clusters of closely spaced cracks, the initial development of clusters is predicted based on the random variation in pre-existing Saw populations. Thus the onset of the unstable second stage in the model can be computed from the generation of random, uncorrelated damage. The proposed model incorporates notions of the kinetic (and therefore time-dependent) nature of the strength of solids as well as the discrete hierarchic structure of rocks and the flaw populations that lead to damage accumulation. The advantage offered by this model is that its salient features are valid for fracture processes occurring over a wide range of scales including earthquake processes. A notion of the rank of fracture (fracture size) is introduced, and criteria are presented for both fracture nucleation and the transition of the failure process from one scale to another.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS1997

Water level and strain changes preceding and following the August 4, 1985 Kettleman Hills, California, earthquake

Two of the four wells monitored near Parkfield, California, during 1985 showed water level rises beginning three days before the M4 6.1 Kettleman Hills earthquake. In one of these wells, the 3.0 cm rise was nearly unique in five years of water level data. However, in the other well, which showed a 3.8 cm rise, many other changes of comparable size have been observed. Both wells that did not display pre-earthquake rises tap partially confined aquifers that cannot sustain pressure changes due to tectonic strain having periods longer than several days. We evaluate the effect of partial aquifer confinement on the ability of these four wells to display water level changes in response to aquifer strain. Although the vertical hydraulic diffusivities cannot be determined uniquely, we can find a value of diffusivity for each site that is consistent with the site's tidal and barometric responses as well as with the rate of partial recovery of the coseismic water level drops. Furthermore, the diffusivity for one well is high enough to explain why the preseismic rise could not have been detected there. For the fourth well, the diffusivity is high enough to have reduced the size of the preseismic signal as much as 50%, although it should still have been detectable. Imperfect confinement cannot explain the persistent water level changes in the two partially confined aquifers, but it does show that they were not due to volume strain. The pre-earthquake water level rises may have been precursors to the Kettleman Hills earthquake. If so, they probably were not caused by accelerating slip over the part of the fault plane that ruptured in that earthquake because they are of opposite sign to the observed coseismic water level drops.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS1998

Estimation of the intrinsic absorption and scattering attenuation in Northeastern Venezuela (Southeastern Caribbean) using coda waves

Northeastern Venezuela has been studied in terms of coda wave attenuation using seismograms from local earthquakes recorded by a temporary short-period seismic network. The studied area has been separated into two subregions in order to investigate lateral variations in the attenuation parameters. Coda-Q-1 (Q(c)-1) has been obtained using the single-scattering theory. The contribution of the intrinsic absorption (Q(i)-1) and scattering (Q(s)-1) to total attenuation (Q(t)-1) has been estimated by means of a multiple lapse time window method, based on the hypothesis of multiple isotropic scattering with uniform distribution of scatterers. Results show significant spatial variations of attenuation: the estimates for intermediate depth events and for shallow events present major differences. This fact may be related to different tectonic characteristics that may be due to the presence of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, because the intermediate depth seismic zone may be coincident with the southern continuation of the subducting slab under the arc.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS1999

Seismic subduction of the Nazca Ridge as shown by the 1996-97 Peru earthquakes

By rupturing more than half of the shallow subduction interface of the Nazca Ridge, the great November 12, 1996 Peruvian earthquake contradicts the hypothesis that oceanic ridges subduct aseismically. The mainshock's rupture has a length of about 200 km and has an average slip of about 1.4 m. Its moment is 1.5 x 1028 dyne-cm and the corresponding M(w) is 8.0. The mainshock registered three major episodes of moment release as shown by a finite fault inversion of teleseismically recorded broadband body waves. About 55% of the mainshock's total moment release occurred south of the Nazca Ridge, and the remaining moment release occurred at the southern half of the subduction interface of the Nazca Ridge. The rupture south of the Nazca Ridge was elongated parallel to the ridge axis and extended from a shallow depth to about 65 km depth. Because the axis of the Nazca Ridge is at a high angle to the plate convergence direction, the subducting Nazca Ridge has a large southwards component of motion, 5 cm/yr parallel to the coast. The 900-1200 m relief of the southwards sweeping Nazca Ridge is interpreted to act as a 'rigid indenter,' causing the greatest coupling south of the ridge's leading edge and leading to the large observed slip. The mainshock and aftershock hypocenters were relocated using a new procedure that simultaneously inverts local and teleseismic data. Most aftershocks were within the outline of the Nazca Ridge. A three-month delayed aftershock cluster' occurred at the northern part of the subducting Nazca Ridge. Aftershocks were notably lacking at the zone of greatest moment release, to the south of the Nazca Ridge. However, a lone foreshock at the southern end of this zone, some 140 km downstrike of the mainshock's epicenter, implies that conditions existed for rupture into that zone. The 1996 earthquake ruptured much of the inferred source zone of the M(w) 7.9-8.2 earthquake of 1942, although the latter was a slightly larger earthquake. The rupture zone of the 1996 earthquake is immediately north of the seismic gap left by the great earthquakes (M(w) ~8.8-9.1) of 1868 and 1877. The M(w) 8.0 Antofagasta earthquake of 1995 occurred at the southern end of this great seismic gap. The M(w) 8.2 deep-focus Bolivian earthquake of 1994 occurred directly downdip of the 1868 portion of that gap. The recent occurrence of three significant earthquakes on the periphery of the great seismic gap of the 1868 and 1877 events, among other factors, may signal an increased seismic potential for that zone.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2000

Reevaluation of tsunami formation by debris avalanche at Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Debris avalanches entering the sea at Augustine Volcano, Alaska have been proposed as a mechanism for generating tsunamis. Historical accounts of the 1883 eruption of the volcano describe 6- to 9-meter-high waves that struck the coastline at English Bay (Nanwalek), Alaska about 80 kilometers east of Augustine Island. These accounts are often cited as proof that volcanigenic tsunamis from Augustine Volcano are significant hazards to the coastal zone of lower Cook Inlet. This claim is disputed because deposits of unequivocal tsunami origin are not evident at more than 50 sites along the lower Cook Inlet coastline where they might be preserved. Shallow water (<25 m) around Augustine Island, in the run-out zone for debris avalanches, limits the size of an avalanche-caused wave. If the two most recent debris avalanches, Burr Point (A.D. 1883) and West Island (<500 yr. B.P.) were traveling at velocities in the range of 50 to 100 meters per second, the kinetic energy of the avalanches at the point of impact with the ocean would have been between 1014 and 1015 joules. Although some of this energy would be dissipated through boundary interactions and momentum transfer between the avalanche and the sea, the initial wave should have possessed sufficient kinetic energy to do geomorphic work (erosion, sediment transport, formation of wave-cut features) on the coastline of lowwer Cook Inlet. Because widespread evidence of the effects of large waves cannot be found, it appears that the debris avalanches could not have been traveling very fast when they entered the sea, or they happened during low tide and displaced only small volumes of water. In light of these results, the hazard from volcanigenic tsunamis from Augustine Volcano appears minor, unless a very large debris avalanche occurs at high tide.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2001

Mapping crustal heterogeneity using Lg propagation efficiency throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Northern Africa

In this paper we describe a technique for mapping the lateral variation of Lg characteristics such as Lg blockage, efficient Lg propagation, and regions of very high attenuation in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean regions. Lg is used in a variety of seismological applications from magnitude estimation to identification of nuclear explosions for monitoring compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). These applications can give significantly biased results if the Lg phase is reduced or blocked by discontinuous structure or thin crust. Mapping these structures using quantitative techniques for determining Lg amplitude attenuation can break down when the phase is below background noise. In such cases Lg blockage and inefficient propagation zones are often mapped out by hand. With our approach, we attempt to visually simplify this information by imaging crustal structure anomalies that significantly diminish the amplitude of Lg. The visualization of such anomalies is achieved by defining a grid of cells that covers the entire region of interest. We trace Lg rays for each event/ station pair, which is simply the great circle path, and attribute to each cell a value equal to the maximum value of the Lg/P-coda amplitude ratio for all paths traversing that particular cell. The resulting map, from this empirical approach, is easily interpreted in terms of crustal structure and can successfully image small blockage features often missed by analysis of raypaths alone. This map can then be used to screen out events with blocked Lg prior to performing Q tomography, and to avoid using Lg-based methods of event identification for the CTBT in regions where they cannot work. For this study we applied our technique to one of the most tectonically complex regions on the earth. Nearly 9000 earthquake/station raypaths, traversing the vast region comprised of the Middle East, Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Northern Africa, have been analyzed. We measured the amplitude of Lg relative to the P-coda and mapped the lateral variation of Lg propagation efficiency. With the relatively dense coverage provided by the numerous crossing paths we are able to map out the pattern of crustal heterogeneity that gives rise to the observed character of Lg propagation. We observe that the propagation characteristics of Lg within the region of interest are very complicated but are readily correlated with the different tectonic environments within the region. For example, clear strong Lg arrivals are observed for paths crossing the stable continental interiors of Northern Africa and the Arabian Shield. In contrast, weakened to absent Lg is observed for paths crossing much of the Middle East, and Lg is absent for paths traversing the Mediterranean. Regions that block Lg transmission within the Middle East are very localized and include the Caspian Sea, the Iranian Plateau and the Red Sea. Resolution is variable throughout the region and strongly depends on the distribution of seismicity and recording stations. Lg propagation is best resolved within the Middle East where regions of crustal heterogeneity on the order of 100 km are imaged (e.g., South Caspian Sea and Red Sea). Crustal heterogeneity is resolvable but is poorest in seismically quiescent Northern Africa.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2003

Simulation of ground motion using the stochastic method

A simple and powerful method for simulating ground motions is to combine parametric or functional descriptions of the ground motion's amplitude spectrum with a random phase spectrum modified such that the motion is distributed over a duration related to the earthquake magnitude and to the distance from the source. This method of simulating ground motions often goes by the name "the stochastic method." It is particularly useful for simulating the higher-frequency ground motions of most interest to engineers (generally, f>0.1 Hz), and it is widely used to predict ground motions for regions of the world in which recordings of motion from potentially damaging earthquakes are not available. This simple method has been successful in matching a variety of ground-motion measures for earthquakes with seismic moments spanning more than 12 orders of magnitude and in diverse tectonic environments. One of the essential characteristics of the method is that it distills what is known about the various factors affecting ground motions (source, path, and site) into simple functional forms. This provides a means by which the results of the rigorous studies reported in other papers in this volume can be incorporated into practical predictions of ground motion.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2006

Special issue: Terrestrial fluids, earthquakes and volcanoes: The Hiroshi Wakita volume I

Terrestrial Fluids, Earthquakes and Volcanoes: The Hiroshi Wakita Volume I is a special publication to honor Professor Hiroshi Wakita for his scientific contributions. This volume consists of 17 original papers dealing with various aspects of the role of terrestrial fluids in earthquake and volcanic processes, which reflect Prof. Wakita’s wide scope of research interests. Professor Wakita co-founded the Laboratory for Earthquake Chemistry in 1978 and served as its director from 1988 until his retirement from the university in 1997. He has made the laboratory a leading world center for studying earthquakes and volcanic activities by means of geochemical and hydrological methods. Together with his research team and a number of foreign guest researchers that he attracted, he has made many significant contributions in the above-mentioned scientific fields of interest. This achievement is a testimony to not only his scientific talent, but also his enthusiasm, his open mindedness, and his drive in obtaining both human and financial support.

Pure and Applied Geophysics↗
USGS2015

The Boulder magnetic observatory

The Boulder magnetic observatory has, since 1963, been operated by the Geomagnetism Program of the U.S. Geological Survey in accordance with Bureau and national priorities. Data from the observatory are used for a wide variety of scientific purposes, both pure and applied. The observatory also supports developmental projects within the Geomagnetism Program and collaborative projects with allied geophysical agencies.

Colorado↗
USGS2007

Integration of seafloor point data in usSEABED

Sediments of the beach, nearshore, and continental shelves record a complex interplay of processes including wave energy and direction , currents, beach erosion or accretion, bluff or cliff retreat, fluvial input, sediment longshore and cross-shelf transport processes, contaminant content and transport, sediment sources and sinks, and others. In turn, sediments and rocks modify wave patterns, affect recreation and tourism, and provide habitat for fish, epifauna, and infauna. Character of the surficial seafloor also influences navigation, commercial and recreational fishing and gathering of other food sources, communication, piplines, national defense, and provides geologic resources including sand and gravel aggregates, minerals, and real or potential energy sources. The beaches, nearshore, and continental margins fall under overlapping levels of managerial responsibility between Federal, State, regional, and local government agencies and consortia. In addition, universities and other academic institutions investigate these places for pure or applied scientific reasons. Mapping is usually the first step in understanding any issue and is often comprised of remotely gathered geophysical data such as bathymetry and backscatter imagery, and groundtruthing; that is, the collection of physical and virtual samples to tie the remotely gathered data to reality. The physical samples are described and (or) carefully analyzed for grain-size information -- which records both the site's physical conditions and geologic past -- and commonly, for constituent components such as mineral and rock types (to determine onland sources and in situ chemical processes), carbonate and organic content and microfossils (for biological and oceanographic influences), and structure such as layering and bioturbation (for physical influences). The samples may also be subjected to physical tests such as comp[action analyses, liquefaction or plasticity limits, ans other parameters important when considering construction of offshore structures. In recent years, virtual sampling of the seafloor has become popular, through the use of towed video or photographic equipment and the addition of camera to oceanographic equipment such as corers and tripods. Before about ten years ago, most maps were made by hand. Recently, with the advent of desktop GIS packages, map making and resource analysis can be done nearly "on-the-fly" if geographically located data exist. While the problems of projection, scale, and resolution of digitized paper maps are commonly known amongst GIS-users, access to the original underlying point data allows for maps to be regenerated for digital use using statistically proven methods, provides increasing data density by including multiple studies, as well as allows the point data to be used in other ways than just mapping. These point data may be available in raw or refined or in worded descriptions. Raw data such as granulometric analyses can be manipulated through the use of known equations or empirical relationships to provide information about other parameters of the sediment, such as mean grainsize, sorting, erodability, or rugosity. If refined data are presented such as gravel, sand, and mud percentages, the parameter noted earlier may be estimated. In the case of worded descriptions, values for geologic terms can be assigned, for example, "fine sand" equate to 0.2 mm sized particles, to provide numeric terms for GIS or modeling purposes.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1999

The color of the Martian sky and its influence on the illumination of the Martian surface

The dust in the atmosphere above the Mars Pathfinder landing site produced a bright, red sky that increases in redness toward the horizon at midday. There is also evidence for an absorption band in the scattered light from the sky at 860 nm. A model of the sky brightness has been developed [ Markiewicz et al. , this issue] and tested against Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) observations of calibration targets on the lander. The resulting model has been used to quantify the total diffuse flux onto a surface parallel to the local level for several solar elevation angles and optical depths. The model shows that the diffuse illumination in shadowed areas is strongly reddened while areas illuminated directly by the Sun (and the blue forward scattering peak) see a more solar-type spectrum, in agreement with Viking and IMP observations. Quantitative corrections for the reddening in shadowed areas are demonstrated. It is shown quantitatively that the unusual appearance of the rock Yogi (the east face of which appeared relatively blue in images taken during the morning but relatively red during the afternoon) can be explained purely by the changing illumination geometry. We conclude that any spectrophotometric analysis of surfaces on Mars must take into account the diffuse flux. Specifically, the reflectances of surfaces viewed under different illumination geometries cannot be investigated for spectral diversity unless a correction has been applied which removes the influence of the reddened diffuse flux.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗
USGS2011

High-frequency Born synthetic seismograms based on coupled normal modes

High-frequency and full waveform synthetic seismograms on a 3-D laterally heterogeneous earth model are simulated using the theory of coupled normal modes. The set of coupled integral equations that describe the 3-D response are simplified into a set of uncoupled integral equations by using the Born approximation to calculate scattered wavefields and the pure-path approximation to modulate the phase of incident and scattered wavefields. This depends upon a decomposition of the aspherical structure into smooth and rough components. The uncoupled integral equations are discretized and solved in the frequency domain, and time domain results are obtained by inverse Fourier transform. Examples show the utility of the normal mode approach to synthesize the seismic wavefields resulting from interaction with a combination of rough and smooth structural heterogeneities. This approach is applied to an ∼4 Hz shallow crustal wave propagation around the site of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD).

Geophysical Journal International↗