Onshore Areas Research Articles

Linking uplift, erosion, and sedimentation using landscape evolution models: Madagascar since the Late Cretaceous

SummaryWe present a study to estimate the large‐scale landscape history of a continental margin, by establishing a source‐to‐sink volume balance between the eroding onshore areas and the offshore basins. Assuming erosion as the primary process for sediment production, we strive to constrain a numerical model of landscape evolution that balances the volumes of eroded materials from the continent and that deposited in the corresponding basins, with a ratio imposed for loss of erosion products. We use this approach to investigate the landscape history of Madagascar since the Late Cretaceous. The uplift history prescribed in the model is inferred from elevations of planation surfaces formed at various ages. By fitting the volumes of terrigenous sediments in the Morondava Basin along the west coast and the current elevation of the island, the landscape evolution model is optimized by constraining the erosion law parameters and ratios of sediment loss. The results include a best‐fit landscape evolution model, which features two major periods of uplift and erosion during the Late Cretaceous and the middle to late Cenozoic. The model supports suggestions from previous studies that most of the high topography of the island was constructed since the middle to late Miocene, and on the central plateau the erosion has not reached an equilibrium with the high uplift rates in the late Cenozoic. Our models also indicate that over the geological time scale a significant portion of materials eroded from Madagascar was not archived in the offshore basin, possibly consumed by chemical weathering, the intensity of which might have varied with climate.

Combination of different observation types through a multi-resolution representation of the regional gravity field using the pyramid algorithm and parameter estimation

The optimal combination of different types of gravity observations is the key to obtaining a high-resolution and high-precision regional gravity model. Current studies based on spherical radial basis functions (SRBFs) majorly consider a single-level approach for data combination. Despite the promising results reported in numerous publications, it has been suspected that the single-level model might be biased towards high-resolution measurements. Instead, a multi-resolution representation (MRR) can be applied to further take into consideration the varying spectral sensitivities of different observation techniques. In this study, we develop a new MRR scheme based on the pyramid algorithm and sequential parameter estimation. We propose strategies to solve the challenges in the practical application of the pyramid algorithm, and this study represents its first successful realization in regional gravity field modeling. The modeling results based on both simulated and real gravity data show that either the single-level approach or the MRR without pyramid algorithm is able to capture gravity information from lower resolution measurements as sufficient as our newly developed MRR algorithm. In the simulated case, the RMS error w.r.t. the validation data obtained by the MRR based on the pyramid algorithm decreases by 50% and 35%, in comparison to that of the single-level model and the MRR without pyramid algorithm, respectively. In the real case, the improvement achieved by the MRR based on the pyramid algorithm is 35% and 23% in the onshore area, and it reaches 63% and 57% in the offshore area, compared to the single-level approach and the MRR without pyramid algorithm, respectively.

Tectono-structural framework of the Indo-Myanmar Ranges: Implications for the structural development on the geology of the Rakhine Coastal Region, Myanmar

The Indo-Myanmar Ranges (IMR), known as an accretionary prism, lies between the Kaladan Fault (subduction suture) in the west and Kabaw Fault (the boundary between flysch units and molasse units) in the east is very important to interpret the paleogeographic evolution of the major continents, restoring the paleogeography and plate boundary evolution between the India Plate and West Myanmar Block. The present study explained compression along the Shillong Massif into the IMR with a conceptual model that involves 6-stages of deformation processes. The Kabaw Fault along the eastern rim of Kabaw Valley or the western border of the Kabaw Formation occurs as both an east-dipping thrust and a dextral strike-slip fault. The tectonic model proposed for the IMR is a double-wedge system, in which retro-wedge and east-dipping Kabaw Fault are interrelated to form Nappe of Triassic unit (Thanbaya Formation) with double plunging synclines of Chindwin and Minbu-Salin sub-basins. The Jurassic unit (Kyauksitchaung Formation) is newly found along the eastern base of the IMR as a lithostratigraphic unit and a window structure under the Nappe of the Triassic unit. The alignment of the Kaladan Fault is newly proposed as a suture zone revealed by the window structures of the Oligocene flysch unit under the Nappe of Neogene units on the onshore area, and localities of the mud volcanoes and structural trend of small islands at the offshore area. The formation of circular structures on the Ramree Archipelago is explained by superimposed folding with heterogenous simple shear deformation of the dome and basin structures due to the NW movement of the Broken-Block of IMR colliding with foreland basins including Chittagong-Tripura Fold Belt (CTFB) and Baronga (Boronga) Islands.

Decoding of seismic data for complex stratigraphic traps revealing by seismic attributes analogy in Yidma/Alamein concession area Western Desert, Egypt

Sandstone channels are one of the best stratigraphic traps for hydrocarbon accumulation, and their depositional and composition make them difficult to detect on ordinary seismic data, especially in structurally affected onshore areas like the Western Desert of Egypt. The Western Desert of Egypt has many hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs of various compositions like carbonates and sandstones with high production rates, and thus the Western Desert of Egypt is recognized as a hot spot for oil and gas exploration. One of the important reservoirs in the Lower Cretaceous “the Aptian sand” produced around 285 MBBLS cumulative oil of 22° API and still produces 102 BOPD. This reservoir has a channel-type depositional environment, and the dimensions of this channel could be resolved by good quality 3D seismic data in the moderately deep basins as the basins become deeper, the detection of the channel becomes increasingly challenging. This study aims to delineate the geometry of this reservoir and reveal the exposure from the Aptian sand channel in the Alamein area using the seismic attributes analogy on the re-processed 3D seismic data to determine the best drilling location for increasing the production from this reservoir. In this context, the relative acoustic impedance (RAI), iso-frequency components, and sweetness stratigraphic attribute analyses were conducted on the optimized seismic data and attested as important as they resolved the stratigraphic geological mystery in the structurally affected study area. These attribute analyses revealed the exposure from the distinctive meander channel of the Aptian sand for the first time in the study area nearby the producing Alamein field, where this channel was hard to be distinguished by the ordinary seismic interpretation methods and there is no drilled well penetrated the detected channel’s body. Upon the results, the conclusion and recommendation summaries to intensify the efforts to test the productivity of the detected channel to increase the production from this motivating reservoir by drilling a new well targeting the best structural locations of the channel body.

A Comparison Between Sea‐Bottom Gravity and Satellite Altimeter‐Derived Gravity in Coastal Environments: A Case Study of the Gulf of Manfredonia (SW Adriatic Sea)

AbstractThe marine gravity field derived from satellite altimetry is generally biased in coastal areas by signals back‐scattered from the adjacent land. As a result, the derived gravity anomalies are generally unreliable for geophysical and geological interpretations of near‐shore environments. We compared two different altimetry models with sea‐bottom gravity measurements acquired along the Italian coast to quantify the errors generated by reflections from onshore areas and verify the quality of the geologic models inferred from gravity data. We focused on the Gulf of Manfredonia, in the SE sector of the Adriatic Sea, where (a) two different sea‐bottom gravity surveys have been conducted over the years, (b) the bathymetry is mainly flat, and (c) seismic data has revealed a prominent carbonate ridge covered by hundreds of meters of Oligocene‐Quaternary sediments. Gravity field derivatives have been used to enhance both deep geological contacts and coastal noise. The analyses point to a ringing noise that degrades the altimeter signals up to 17 km from the coast. Differences between observations and gravity calculated from a geological model and constrained by seismic data show that all the data sets investigated register approximately the same interference patterns associated with the Gondola Fault Zone. This study shows the potential for integrating gravity anomalies from satellite altimetry with high‐resolution near‐shore data, such as that provided by sea‐bottom gravity network available around the Italian coasts. Future applications will use this technique to improve the analysis of the connections between marine and inland geology in transitional areas.

Greenland Geothermal Heat Flow Database and Map (Version 1)

Abstract. We compile and analyze all available geothermal heat flow measurements collected in and around Greenland into a new database of 419 sites and generate an accompanying spatial map. This database includes 290 sites previously reported by the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC), for which we now standardize measurement and metadata quality. This database also includes 129 new sites, which have not been previously reported by the IHFC. These new sites consist of 88 offshore measurements and 41 onshore measurements, of which 24 are subglacial. We employ machine learning to synthesize these in situ measurements into a gridded geothermal heat flow model that is consistent across both continental and marine areas in and around Greenland. This model has a native horizontal resolution of 55 km. In comparison to five existing Greenland geothermal heat flow models, our model has the lowest mean geothermal heat flow for Greenland onshore areas. Our modeled heat flow in central North Greenland is highly sensitive to whether the NGRIP (North GReenland Ice core Project) elevated heat flow anomaly is included in the training dataset. Our model's most distinctive spatial feature is pronounced low geothermal heat flow (< 40 mW m−2) across the North Atlantic Craton of southern Greenland. Crucially, our model does not show an area of elevated heat flow that might be interpreted as remnant from the Icelandic plume track. Finally, we discuss the substantial influence of paleoclimatic and other corrections on geothermal heat flow measurements in Greenland. The in situ measurement database and gridded heat flow model, as well as other supporting materials, are freely available from the GEUS Dataverse (https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/F9P03L; Colgan and Wansing, 2021).

Modeling Coastal Environmental Change and the Tsunami Hazard

The hazard from earthquake-generated tsunami waves is not only determined by the earthquake’s magnitude and mechanisms, and distance to the earthquake area, but also by the geomorphology of the nearshore and onshore areas, which can change over time. In coastal hazard assessments, a changing coastal environment is commonly taken into account by increasing the sea-level to projected values (static). However, sea-level changes and other climate-change impacts influence the entire coastal system causing morphological changes near- and onshore (dynamic). We compare the run-up of the same suite of earthquake-generated tsunamis to a barrier island-marsh-lagoon-marsh system for statically adjusted and dynamically adjusted sea level and bathymetry. Sea-level projections from 2000 to 2100 are considered. The dynamical adjustment is based on a morphokinetic model that incorporates sea-level along with other climate-change impacts. We employ Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6 and 8.5 without and with treatment of Antarctic Ice-sheet processes (known as K14 and K17) as different sea-level projections. It is important to note that we do not account for the occurrence probability of the earthquakes. Our results indicate that the tsunami run-up hazard for the dynamic case is approximately three times larger than for the static case. Furthermore, we show that nonlinear and complex responses of the barrier island-marsh-lagoon-marsh system to climate change profoundly impacts the tsunami hazard, and we caution that the tsunami run-up is sensitive to climate-change impacts that are less well-studied than sea-level rise.

The Triassic of New Siberian Islands Archipelago and Its Position in the Structure of Sedimentary Cover of the Laptev Sea Shelf

AbstractThe geological study of the Mesozoic sections of the New Siberian Islands archipelago and Asian coastal sections of the Arctic Ocean plays a key role in tying the results of comprehensive studies with seismic data on the Laptev Sea shelf and the western part of the East Siberian Sea. Therefore, it is extremely important to improve the subdivision of the Triassic system of the New Siberian archipelago and to define the position of the system in the structure of the Laptev Sea shelf sedimentary basin. The results of our study were used to improve and refine the lithostratigraphic subdivision of the Triassic in the study area and to recognize a distinct interregional stratigraphic marker, i.e., the Czekanowski Formation (lower Olenekian). In terms of genetic, structural, and sedimentological features, the Triassic strata were grouped into two Groups: the Reshetnikov Group (Induan–upper Ladinian) and the Svetlaya Group (Ladinian–Rhaetian), reflecting major stages of sedimentation. For the Triassic of the eastern Laptev Sea shelf and adjacent onshore areas, the facies zonation scheme has been developed and refined on a unified basis. Based on their structure, the Phanerozoic sections of the study area can be considered as a part of the intermediate structural stage of the Laptev Sea plate at the margins of the Siberian craton.

Estimating the volume of the 1978 Rissa quick clay landslide in Central Norway using historical aerial imagery

Abstract Quick clay is found across Scandinavia and is especially prominent in south-eastern and central Norway. Quick clay is prone to failure and can cause landslides with high velocities and large run-outs. The 1978 Rissa landslide is one of the best-known quick clay landslides to have occurred in the last century, both due to its size and the fact that it was captured on film. In this article, we utilise Structure from Motion Multi-View Stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetry to process historical aerial photography from 1964 to 1978 and derive the first geodetic volume of the Rissa landslide. We found that the landslide covered a total onshore area of 0.36 km2 and had a geodetic volume of 2.53 ± 0.52 × 106 m3 with up to 20 m of surface elevation changes. Our estimate differs profusely from previous estimates by 43–56% which can partly be accounted for our analysis not being able to measure the portion of the landslide that occurred underwater, nor account for the material deposited within the landslide area. Given the accuracy and precision of our analyses, we believe that the total volume of the Rissa landslide may have been less than originally reported. The use of modern image processing techniques such as SfM-MVS for processing historical aerial photography is recommended for understanding landscape changes related to landslides, volcanoes, glaciers, or river erosion over large spatial and temporal scales.

Oligocene Palynology Of On-Shore West Java

Compared to its counterpart in the off-shore area (including Northwest Java and Northeast Java), the Oligocene sediment of on-shore West Java provides low pollen assemblages. In addition, superwet elements of Dacrydium and Casuarina commonly occurred in off-shore area are less represented in the on-shore area. However, it is believed that the study area still experienced wet climate condition as proved by common occurrence of rattan pollen Dicolpopollis spp. indicating a thick growth of swamp forest under moist climate. Unlike its counterpart in the off-shore North West Java, the studied sediment rarely yields lacustrine elements suggesting the disappearance of lake deposit. The Oligocene sediment of on-shore West Java is defi ned by the regular appearance of Oligocene marker of pollen Meyeripollis naharkotensis. The last occurrence of this pollen marks the top Oligocene age. In fact, the appearance of pollen M. Naharkotensis is obviously used to separate Oligocene age from Miocene age in the off-shore area. Moreover, marine micropaleontology analysis on foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton confi rms this age. The studied sediment was deposited in the transition to shallow marine environment as indicated by rare occurrence of marine microfossils. The common brackish pollen of Zonocostites ramonae (Rizophora) and Spinizonocolpites echinatus (Nypa) indicates mangrove/ back-mangrove environment. Moreover, the domination of shallow water benthonic over the planktonic forms suggests shallow marine setting.

OPTIMAL IN THE NATIONAL ENERGY SECTOR DIRECTIONS OF FORMATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE COMPLEX

OPTIMAL IN THE NATIONAL ENERGY SECTOR DIRECTIONS OF FORMATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE COMPLEX

Fore-to-retroarc crustal structure of the north Patagonian margin: How is shortening distributed in Andean-type orogens?

Orogenic belts like the Andes experience several changes during long-term evolution of the subduction margin; however, the degree to which their different components (the fore-to-retroarc domains) are jointly or separately deformed is not well understood. To investigate this problem, we provide new field and seismic data of the Chilean forearc at the Chiloé island latitude (~41-44°S) integrated with the retroarc structure, in order to obtain a clear visualization of the crustal architecture in the north Patagonian margin. Field work in the western Andean flank and Coastal Cordillera along with 2D multichannel lines, basement isobaths and borehole data in the forearc basins are used to build a structural framework and stratigraphic correlations between the offshore and onshore areas. Forearc syntectonic strata associated with basement faults show a change in the tectonic regime from late Oligocene-early Miocene extension to middle-late Miocene contraction, coincidently to the previously determined deformational stages in the main cordillera and retroarc regions. This coupled fore-to-retroarc behavior ceased during the Pliocene when glaciations covered the North Patagonian Andes, providing abundant sedimentary supply to the forearc and promoting the growth of the accretionary wedge. During this period the retroarc fold-thrust belt growth stagnated and a strike-slip regime was activated in the western Andean flank. Different mechanisms controlled the forearc basins during these late Cenozoic changing tectonic conditions; whilst the external depocenter at the oceanic platform is part of a west-vergent wedge affected by a major splay-like thrust beneath the Coastal Cordillera, the internal depocenter next to the main orogen is overthrusted by the steep western Andean slope through a major west-directed fault. We refer to this latter structural system as the “Western Patagonian Thrust” and find that positive tectonic inversion is the main deformation mechanism. These west-directed crustal faults are part of the orogenic prowedge that is associated with considerably less crustal shortening (~4.2 km) than the retroarc fold-thrust belt (~18 km), part of the retrowedge. By placing these values in a global context through a comparison with other segments of the Andes and with type-examples of collisional orogens, we find that shortening along the Andes is preferentially accommodated in the retrowedge, while shortening in collisional orogens is mainly absorbed in the prowedge. These results have implications for models of subduction orogeny and the crustal architecture of the Andes.

Source rock pyrolysis and bulk kinetic modelling of Miocene sedimentary sequences in southeastern Sabah, Malaysia: The variability of thermal maturity to oil-gas producing kerogen

The study reports a new organic geochemical evaluation for a petroleum source rock in the Southeastern (SE) Sabah basin. The analyses focus on Kalabakan, Tanjong, and Kapilit Formation deposited in the deltaic-shallow marine environment stratigraphically from the Early to Late Miocene sequences. The basin sediments are part of the hydrocarbon prolific Tarakan basin, extending from the northernmost of Kalimantan Indonesia to the southeastern Sabah (mainly onshore area). The hydrocarbon generation of Kapilit and Tanjong Formation pinnacles the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) contents that range from 0.62 to 81.97 wt% and 0.97–92.96 wt% respectively. The dominant black shale in Kalabakan Formation has lower TOC content between 0.50 and 1.82 wt%. The results in the Rock-Eval S2 of Kapilit (0.31–351.61 mg HC/g rock) and Tanjong Formation (3.32–239.78 mg HC/g rock) have excellent source rock potential compared to the Kalabakan Formation (0.12–1.19 mg C/g rock) with fair to good source rock potential. All three formations give a wide maturity range of vitrinite reflectance (VRo) and Tmax values, from immature to over-mature stage. Stratigraphically from youngest to oldest Miocene sequences, the Tmax increases with increasing VRo values. The dispersion of organic matter that requires high maturity and overburden of thick upper succession over Kalabakan Formation reflects a higher maturity stage than the Tanjong and Kapilit Formations. Pyrolysis results in Kapilit, Tanjong, and Kalabakan Formation has HI values to varies between 50 and 498 mg HC/g, 157–367 mg HC/g and 14–110 mg HC/g TOC respectively. The binary plot of HI versus Tmax supported by Py-GC pyrolysis marks that the Kapilit source rock is dominated by Type II-III kerogen, potentially generating immature to mature oil and gas prone. Tanjong Formation portrays a mature to late mature stage of Type III kerogen with a minor Type II kerogen capable of producing mixing of oil and gas prone, with mainly gas. The Kalabakan Formation shows a post-mature Type III and IV kerogen that generates gas or barren source rock. In terms of bulk kinetic evaluation, both Kapilit and Tanjong Formation are derived from heterogeneous organic matter. The projected petroleum temperature varies substantially due to the compositional variation. The onset of bulk petroleum generation in the Kapilit and Tanjong Formation occur at 112 °C - 128 °C and 127 °C - 142 °C respectively. The results are consistent with the maturity generated where the Tanjong has higher thermal maturity than Kapilit Formation due to stable aromatic Type III kerogen. Generally, all samples show great variability in thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation potential, which that be influenced by the tectonism and development of sediments in the basin. The Early Miocene source rock yields post mature gas prone and continues to generate hydrocarbon that consists of mature oil and gas prone from younger source rocks.

Mapping Aquaculture Ponds for the Coastal Zone of Asia with Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Time Series

Asia dominates the world’s aquaculture sector, generating almost 90 percent of its total annual global production. Fish, shrimp, and mollusks are mainly farmed in land-based pond aquaculture systems and serve as a primary protein source for millions of people. The total production and area occupied for pond aquaculture has expanded rapidly in coastal regions in Asia since the early 1990s. The growth of aquaculture was mainly boosted by an increasing demand for fish and seafood from a growing world population. The aquaculture sector generates income and employment, contributes to food security, and has become a billion-dollar industry with high socio-economic value, but has also led to severe environmental degradation. In this regard, geospatial information on aquaculture can support the management of this growing food sector for the sustainable development of coastal ecosystems, resources, and human health. With free and open access to the rapidly growing volume of data from the Copernicus Sentinel missions as well as machine learning algorithms and cloud computing services, we extracted coastal aquaculture at a continental scale. We present a multi-sensor approach that utilizes Earth observation time series data for the mapping of pond aquaculture within the entire Asian coastal zone, defined as the onshore area up to 200 km from the coastline. In this research, we developed an object-based framework to detect and extract aquaculture at a single-pond level based on temporal features derived from high-spatial-resolution SAR and optical satellite data acquired from the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites. In a second step, we performed spatial and statistical data analyses of the Earth-observation-derived aquaculture dataset to investigate spatial distribution and identify production hotspots at various administrative units at regional, national, and sub-national scale.

Comparative Study of the Near-Surface Typhoon Wind Profile Fitting between Offshore and Onshore Areas

The study of typhoon wind profiles, especially offshore typhoon wind profiles, has been constrained by the scarcity of observational data. In this study, the Doppler wind lidar was used to observe the offshore wind profiles during Super Typhoon Mangkhut and onshore wind profiles during Super Typhoon Lekima. Four wind profile models, including the power law, logarithmic law, Deaves–Harris (D-H), and Gryning, were selected in the height range of 0–300 m to fit the wind profile. The variations in the power exponent with the mean wind speed and roughness length were also analyzed. The results showed that the wind profiles fitted by the four models were generally in good agreement with the observed wind profiles with correlation coefficients greater than 0.98 and root mean square deviations less than 0.5 m s−1. For the offshore case, the fitting degree of all wind profile models improved with increasing mean wind speed. Specifically, the D-H model had the highest fitting degree when the horizontal mean wind speed at 40 m was in the range of 8–25 m s−1, while the log-law model had the highest fitting degree when the wind speed exceeded 30 m s−1. For the onshore case, the fitting degree of the four wind profile models deteriorated with increasing mean wind speed, and the log-law model had the highest fitting degree in all wind speed intervals from 8 to 30 m s−1. For both offshore and onshore cases, the power exponent was less affected by mean wind speed and increased with increasing roughness length, and the logarithmic empirical model proposed in this study could well characterize the relationship between the power exponent and roughness length.

Petrography and reservoir quality controls in shallow transitional marine Cretaceous-Paleogene deposits in the Dahomey Basin, Nigeria

Upper Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic sedimentary rocks are of great significance to the petroleum geology of the Eastern Dahomey Basin as they are valuable prospects for hydrocarbon reservoirs. Diagenesis and reservoir quality (porosity and permeability) controls are deduced from core samples recovered from six shallow exploration wells in the onshore area of the Eastern Dahomey Basin using petrographic, petrophysical and mineralogical tools. The studied lithostratigraphic intervals consist of limestone, calcareous siliciclastic sandstone (Ewekoro and Araromi Formations), quartz arenite and clay-matrix supported sandstone (Afowo Formation) which were deposited within a shallow marine depositional environment.Siliciclastic samples of the Ewekoro Formation consist predominantly of calcareous sandstone and limestone, which are classified as packstone and wackestone. The porosity values in the sandstones range from 5 to 36% whereas permeability ranges from 0.006 to 109 mD. Ewekoro Limestone porosity ranges from 7 to 32% and permeability ranges from 0.003 to 13 mD. Samples of the Araromi Formation exhibit a porosity of 4 to 45% with permeability between <0.001 and 1764 mD in sandstones whereas a single limestone sample has 8% porosity and permeability of 0.03 mD. Porosity in quartz arenitic sandstones of the Afowo Formation ranges from 15 to 47% with permeability of 0.05 to >10,000 mD, while in the clay-matrix supported sandstones, the values range from 18 to 42% and 0.05 to 5 mD for porosity and permeability, respectively. The main pore-occluding authigenic minerals are carbonate cements (Fe-dolomite, Fe-calcite, siderite and dolomite), iron oxide, kaolinite, and illite-smectite mixed layer clays. The best reservoir quality is observed in the quartz arenitic sandstones of the Araromi and Afowo Formations, except for the low permeability, clay-matrix supported sandstone facies.The most significant controlling factors in sandstones are clay mineral matrix contents and the presence of carbonate cements. Fe-calcite, Fe-dolomite and kaolinite formation occurs during early diagenesis in the studied lithologies and has helped to reduce the effect of compaction. The results of this study indicate fair to good reservoir quality in the shallow marine sedimentary rocks of the Eastern Dahomey Basin, which could be targeted in further exploration campaigns in the region.

Geodynamics and Neotectonics of the Cordillera Septentrional and Samaná Peninsula, Dominican Republic: implications for seismotectonics and seismic hazard assessment

The Dominican Republic is exposed to a high seismic hazard due to its geodynamic location between two active margins of oblique convergence. New geodynamic, neotectonic and seismotectonic data of the Cordillera Septentrional and Samaná Peninsula, and also the onshore area of the northern microplate, have allowed the location of the main seismotectonic fault zones. Structural, stratigraphic and morphotectonic information obtained from the fault zones at several scales has allowed us to interpret their kinematics and consistency with the obtained regional stress tensor deduced from dynamic inverse methods. This information complemented by the record of historical seismicity, displacement velocity and seismic parameters of the fault zones has allowed us to evaluate the seismic hazard of the studied area.The method used for the evaluation of the seismic hazard is probabilistic and considers three types of seismic sources: the subduction zone, the main strike-slip fault zones and the areas located between them. This method allows us to calculate the iso-lines of peak ground acceleration (PGA) with a resolution of 0.05º for an exceedance probability of 10% (50 years) and a return period of 475 years. Resulting PGA bands are arranged sub-parallel to the North Hispaniola, Septentrional and Camú Fault Zones, as well as the main ONO-ESE-trending faults systems, detecting a maximum of PGA towards the SE of the modelled area. Consequently, the cities with the lowest seismic hazard are those located towards the NW of the maximum PGA zone.

Simulation of scattered seismic surface waves on mountainous onshore areas: Understanding the “ground roll energy cone”

The accurate simulation of seismic surface waves on complex land areas requires elastic models with realistic near-surface parameters. The SEAM Phase II Foothills model, proposed by the SEG Advanced Modeling (SEAM) Corporation, is one of the most comprehensive efforts undertaken by the geophysics community to understand complex seismic wave propagation in foothills areas. However, while this model includes a rough topography, alluvial sediments, and complex geologic structures, synthetic data from the SEAM consortium do not reproduce the qualitative characteristics of the scattering energy that is generally interpreted as the “ground roll energy cone” on shot records of real data. To simulate the scattering, a near-surface elastic model in mountainous areas ideally must include the following three elements: (1) rough topography and bedrock, (2) low-velocity layer, and (3) small-scale heterogeneities (size approximately Rayleigh wavelength). The SEAM Foothills model only includes element (1) and, to a lesser extent, element (2). We represent a heterogeneous near surface as a random medium with two parameters: the average size of the heterogeneities and fractional fluctuation. A parametric analysis shows the influence of each parameter on the synthetic data and how similar it is compared to real data acquired in a foothills area in Colombia. We perform the analysis in the shot gather panel and dispersion image. Our study shows that it is necessary to include the low-velocity layer and small-scale distributed heterogeneities in the shallow part of the SEAM model to get synthetic data with realistic scattered surface-wave energy.

Identification of and Favorable Conditions for a New Long-Offset Seismic Phase from Offshore–Onshore Seismic Surveys

Abstract Offshore–onshore seismic survey is one of the main methods to study crustal structures in offshore–onshore transitional zones. At present, the seismic waves commonly used in imaging are the crustal refraction (Pg), the crustal reflection from the Moho (PmP), and the upper-mantle refraction (Pn) waves. The propagation distances of Pg and PmP are commonly less than 210 km, and Pn propagates with an apparent velocity of ∼8 km/s. In 2015, two offshore–onshore wide-angle seismic lines with a length of ∼350 km were acquired in the Pearl River Estuary. In addition to Pg, PmP, and Pn, a new seismic phase was observed, which has a long propagation distance (offset of ∼170–290 km), low apparent velocity (∼5.85 km/s), and low frequency (∼4–7 Hz). Similar seismic phases have been widely reported in previous offshore–onshore and reservoir seismic surveys, but the understanding of these phases is still limited. Herein, we used both raytracing and waveform modeling methods to identify the new seismic phase as the secondary Pg phase, which reflects from the surface (named Pg2Pg). We also discuss favorable conditions for Pg2Pg, including (1) a thin sedimentary layer with low velocity at the surface in which the reflection of Pg occurs, which can reduce the incidence angles and hence increase the energy of the reflected waves; (2) a sedimentary basement dipping toward the sea at the positions of the air gun shots, which focuses seismic waves; (3) relatively smooth interfaces of the medium, which can reduce the scattering of Pg2Pg; and (4) air guns that can excite low-frequency signals, which can reduce the attenuation of seismic waves. Checkerboard tests and practical applications show that Pg2Pg can significantly improve upper-crustal resolution, especially for onshore areas. Our research promotes the data mining of offshore–onshore seismic surveys, which is important for obtaining more detailed crustal structures.

Impact of inherited structures on present-day tectonics of the northern Red Sea and its western onshore area in Egypt: evidence from 3D gravity inversion and seismicity

Impact of inherited structures on present-day tectonics of the northern Red Sea and its western onshore area in Egypt: evidence from 3D gravity inversion and seismicity