Seismic Field Research Articles

Perturbative analysis of the effect of a magnetic field on gravito-inertial modes

Context. Magnetic fields have been measured recently in the cores of red giant stars thanks to their effects on stellar oscillation frequencies. The search for magnetic signatures in pulsating stars, such as γ Doradus (γ Dor) or slowly pulsating B stars, requires us to adapt the formalism developed for slowly rotating red giants to rapidly rotating stars. Aims. We perform a theoretical analysis of the effects of an arbitrary magnetic field on high radial order gravity and Rossby modes in a rapidly rotating star. Methods. The magnetic effects were treated as a perturbation. For high radial order modes, the contribution of the radial component of the magnetic field is likely to dominate over the azimuthal and latitudinal components. The rotation is taken into account through the traditional approximation of rotation. Results. General expressions of the frequency shift induced by an arbitrary radial magnetic field are derived. Approximate analytical forms are obtained in the high-order, high-spin-parameter limits for the modes most frequently observed in γ Dor stars. We propose simple methods to detect seismic magnetic signatures and measure possible magnetic fields in such stars. Conclusions. These methods offer new possibilities to look for internal magnetic fields in future observations, such as those of the PLATO mission, or of revisiting existing Kepler or TESS data.

Vertical bearing capacity of spun precast concrete pile in liquefiable soil: a case study

Spun precast prestressed concrete (SPC) pile has been used in many parts of the world as a viable foundation alternative. This study assesses the load-carrying capacity of SPC piles passing through a deep soft subsoil layer and resting on a dense sand layer. The vertical bearing capacity of the SPC pile has been estimated using various analytical methods and static pile load tests for the Jolshiri area of Dhaka. The liquefaction potential of the site has been assessed using local seismic site conditions, field and laboratory test data. The liquefaction analysis suggests that the topsoil layer is liquefiable to a depth of 4.5 m. The capacity obtained from the load test is compared with those obtained from the different methods, ultimate push-in load, and local design guidelines. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed considering the hardening soil (HS) model using PLAXIS 3D to simulate field conditions. The load settlement response obtained from FEA shows a good agreement with the test results. The capacity examinations primarily suggest that the SPC pile can be a viable foundation solution for the subsoil conditions of Jolshiri Abasion area of Dhaka.

Geometry and Kinematics of Northmost Yilan-Yitong Fault Zone, China: Insights from Shallow Seismic Data and Field Investigation

Detailed geological and geomorphological evidence has suggested that the Yilan-Yitong fault (YYF), one of the key branches of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone in northeastern China, has been an active fault since the Holocene that has extended from Liaoning Province to far-eastern Asia. However, there are no clear fault traces or late Quaternary active features northeast of Tangyuan County. In this study, we carried out shallow seismic reflection exploration, field geological investigation, and trench excavation across the YYF north of Tangyuan. The results revealed that the YYF is composed of two main branches: the west YYF branch is a late Pleistocene active fault, and the east one is a middle-to-early Pleistocene fault. In Heli Town, the west branch of YYF presents fault scarps with heights of ~0.6 m. Across the scarps, we excavated a trench, and we propose that the YYF displaced the late Pleistocene to Holocene deposits, as this was indicated by the geochronological data. The seismic reflection data and sedimentary sequence revealed that the YYF north of Tangyuan is composed of three tectonic belts: the western depression, the central bulge, and the eastern depression. Each tectonic belt is composed of several small folds formed from the end of the Paleogene to the beginning of the Neogene. After the Neogene, different subsidence and uplift events occurred in various parts of the YYF, and after the early Pleistocene, the fault showed a consistent subsidence.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of seismic strain anomalies reveal seismic risk zones along the Longmenshan fault zone and adjacent areas

Introduction: Identifying and quantifying earthquake precursors, and analyzing their physical mechanisms, continues to be a challenge for earthquake forecasting. In this study, orthogonal functions were developed to effectively identify precursor anomalies, thereby improving the forecasting of strong earthquakes.Methods: To study the spatio-temporal contour anomalies in seismic strain fields, we assessed them for seismic activity variables and natural orthogonal function expansion, in six strong earthquakes near the Longmenshan Fault Zone, China, that have occurred since 2008.Results: We observed that, prior to these earthquakes, the temporal factor (the time variation characteristics of the strain field) displayed anomalies with high/low values exceeding the mean square error within a stable context. The anomalies exhibited multi-component characteristics and were primarily concentrated in the first four-strain fields. Short-term and impending-earthquake anomalies were observed in the temporal factor before the 2008 Wenchuan (M8.0) and 2013 Lushan (M7.0) earthquakes, while medium-term and long-term anomalies appeared before the other four strong earthquakes, without notable short-term anomalies. The temporal evolution of strain field contour anomalies, and the strain contours positive and negative intersection, showed that central areas surrounded by multiple strain field contour anomalies were potential locations for strong earthquakes. This suggests a potential approach for earthquake location forecasting. Since 2009, there have been five strong earthquakes, each affected to varying degrees by anomalous strain fields from the 2008 Wenchuan (M8.0) earthquake.Conclusion: The results of this study corroborate the findings of the focal mechanism’s node shear stress, indicating significant physical implications of the anomalies and the reliability of these conclusion.

Integrated characterization of deep karsted carbonates in the Tahe Oilfield, Tarim Basin

Abstract As transport channels of oil and gas, fracture networks can greatly improve reservoir seepage, which is of great significance to the hydraulic fracturing and hydrocarbon deposit exploitation in petroleum science and engineering. In this paper, our target reservoirs are deep karsted carbonates at depths of >6000 m and highly heterogeneous, leading to complex seismic responses with weak energy and low resolution. Therefore, it is challenging to predict the spatial distribution of a carbonate fracture-cavern reservoir and to characterize its delicate structure. We present a characterization method for an excellent fracture description by integrating several attribute results on 3D seismic field data. First, we use a noise elimination method to remove the noise interference in seismic data without damaging the fault structure characteristics. Next, we propose a novel spatially windowed 2D Hilbert transform-based operator to perform volumetric edge detection on 3D seismic field data. Then, the volumetric edge results are co-rendered with other seismic geometric attributes to generate multi-attribute fusion results for a comprehensive prediction that can excellently delineate geologic anomalies at different scales in deep carbonates. The results indicate that integrating several scale attributes can obtain more rich geological discontinuity and reveal more subtle fractures than using single attribute. The multi-attribute fusion results can effectively delineate some small-medium-sized faults, and they provide practical support for the exploration and production of Tahe carbonate fracture-cavern reservoirs.

Design and implementation of a seismic Newtonian noise cancellation system for the Virgo gravitational-wave detector

Terrestrial gravity perturbations caused by seismic fields produce the so-called Newtonian noise in gravitational-wave detectors, which is predicted to limit their sensitivity in the upcoming observing runs. In the past, this noise was seen as an infrastructural limitation, i.e., something that cannot be overcome without major investments to improve a detector’s infrastructure. However, it is possible to have at least an indirect estimate of this noise by using the data from a large number of seismometers deployed around a detector’s suspended test masses. The noise estimate can be subtracted from the gravitational-wave data, a process called Newtonian noise cancellation (NNC). In this article, we present the design and implementation of the first NNC system at the Virgo detector as part of its AdV+ upgrade. It uses data from 110 vertical geophones deployed inside the Virgo buildings in optimized array configurations. We use a separate tiltmeter channel to test the pipeline in a proof-of-principle. The system has been running with good performance over months.

Two-dimensional synchrosqueezing transform and its application to tight channel sandstone reservoir characterization

Spectral analyses can effectively highlight the morphological characteristics of tight-channel sandstone reservoirs, which are crucial development targets in the field of unconventional oil and gas. A majority of these methods focus on trace-by-trace analyses of seismic data without lateral constraints. However, they do not depict the morphological characteristics of the channels in detail. Therefore, this study proposes a novel time-frequency (TF) analysis (TFA) method: two-dimensional synchrosqueezing transform (TDSST). The TDSST introduces a space-time window to capture the lateral variation of seismic signals. Then, from a two-dimensional (2D) purely harmonic signal, the instantaneous frequency (IF) and instantaneous wavenumber (IK) estimation formulas were strictly derived in the two-dimensional short-time Fourier transform domain. Furthermore, we define a new two-dimensional synchrosqueezing operator (TDSTO) that can squeeze the TF coefficients into the estimated IF and IK trajectories. Finally, the TDSST can effectively reflect the vertical and horizontal changes, and according to the relationship between the wave number and frequency, the wave number parameter can be determined by maximizing the energy of the TDSST. TDSST can provide a highly energy-concentrated TF representation (TFR) while allowing the reconstruction of signals. Compared to other TFA methods, TDSST can provide a more laterally continuous spectral decomposition that clearly describes tight-channel sandstone reservoirs, even in a strongly noisy environment. The reliability of TDSST is validated through the utilization of both synthetic model and seismic field data.

Joint optimization of seismometer arrays for the cancellation of Newtonian noise from seismic body waves in the Einstein Telescope

Seismic Newtonian noise (NN) is predicted to limit the sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope (ET). It can be reduced with coherent noise cancellation techniques using data from seismometers. To achieve the best results, it is important to place the seismic sensors in optimal positions. A preliminary study on this topic was conducted for the ET: it focused on the optimization of the seismic array for the cancellation of NN at an isolated test mass (TM). In this paper, we expand the study to include the nested shape of ET, i.e. four TMs of the low-frequency interferometers at each vertex of the detector. Results are investigated in function of the polarization content of the seismic field composed of body waves. The study also examines how performance can be affected by displacing the sensor array from its optimal position or by operating at frequencies other than those used for optimization.

Generative interpolation via a diffusion probabilistic model

Seismic data interpolation is essential in a seismic data processing workflow, recovering data from sparse sampling. Traditional and deep-learning-based methods have been widely used in the seismic data interpolation field and have achieved remarkable results. In this paper, we develop a seismic data interpolation method through the novel application of diffusion probabilistic models (DPMs). DPM transforms the complex end-to-end mapping problem into a progressive denoising problem, enhancing the ability to reconstruct complex situations of missing data, such as large proportions and large-gap missing data. The interpolation process begins with a standard Gaussian distribution and seismic data with missing traces and then removes noise iteratively with a UNet trained for different noise levels. Our DPM-based interpolation method allows interpolation for various missing cases, including regularly missing, irregularly missing, consecutively missing, noisy missing, and different ratios of missing cases. The ability to generalize to different seismic data sets is also discussed in this paper. Numerical results of synthetic and field data indicate satisfactory interpolation performance of the DPM-based interpolation method in comparison with the f- x prediction filtering method, the curvelet transform method, the low-dimensional manifold method (LDMM), and the coordinate attention-based UNet method, particularly in cases with large proportions and large-gap missing data. Diffusion is all we need for seismic data interpolation.

Концепция технологии цифровой информационной экспертной оценки комплексных моделей нефтегазопромысловых объектов

A digital technology for analyzing big data of multiparameter and multidimensional systems (objects) for the example of analyzing the information content of line seismic fields and well data, which makes it possible to make a qualified management decision on the choice of informative material for building a geological model of the region. Based on the obtained model, identify oil and gas prospective objects and specify further details of the spatial structure of objects and the forecast of its reservoir properties.

Statistical Analysis of an RC Elevated Tank Damage by a Nonlinear Approach

In the seismic field, the seismic performance of a structure reflects its damage level under a given seismic demand. Thus, to evaluate this performance, many analysis and design techniques are used, such as nonlinear approach commonly called Pushover is used in this research. On the other hand, predicting the damage level is a random process, where only a probabilistic approach would allow predicting it, as the level of uncertainty, related to the seismic action is important. For this purpose, a statistical study was conducted through simulations with large number of seismic accelerations, generated from a probabilistic distribution law, inspired from the Monte Carlo method, to evaluate the damage rates corresponding to each damage domain. The results revealed the influence of the seismic zone and the location of the structure on the damage rate observed after seismic loading.

The 2022 Chaos Canyon landslide in Colorado: Insights revealed by seismic analysis, field investigations, and remote sensing

An unusual, high-alpine, rapid debris slide originating in ice-rich debris occurred on June 28, 2022, at 16:33:16 MDT at the head of Chaos Canyon, a formerly glacier-covered valley in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA. In this study, we integrate eyewitness videos and seismic records of the event with meteorological data, field observations, pre- and post-event satellite imagery, and uncrewed aircraft vehicle imagery to characterize the event and future hazards it may pose. Deformation of the eventual slide mass preceded rapid failure by decades, starting in the early to mid-2000s, accelerating in 2018 (the warmest year on record), and reaching ~ 20 m/year in 2021. The main event, which was preceded by smaller sliding episodes earlier that day, had a volume of ~ 2.1 million m3, reached peak velocities of about 5 m/s, slid on a surface up to 80 m deep, and moved up to ~ 245 m downslope in < 2 min. We observed blocks of frozen debris (permafrost) in the landslide deposits. Within ~ 2 weeks, these blocks had melted and became dry, conical debris mounds (molards). We hypothesize that the rapid slide was induced by gradually increasing long-term air temperatures that thawed ice and increased pore pressures. The presence and suspected influence of permafrost on the occurrence of this landslide indicate other slopes in the park, and other moderate-to-low latitude alpine regions may experience similar slope stability issues as temperatures continue to warm.

A convergent alternating projections onto convex sets method for data reconstruction

The alternating projections onto convex sets (POCS) method is one of the well-known data reconstruction methods in the seismic field. We first review the POCS theory in mathematics and then point out that many POCS methods reported in the literature have overlooked the convergence condition, which is a fundamental and important aspect in POCS. We further develop a convergent POCS (CP) method that uses an existing POCS method as the algorithm framework and adds a convergence condition before a convex set is updated, and we mathematically prove the convergence of this proposed CP method. Several examples are used to demonstrate the success of the CP method. The CP method is a reconstruction scheme robust to variations in the input data and the thresholding schedule.

Analogue modelling of basin inversion: implications for the Araripe Basin (Brazil)

Abstract. Basin inversion is a process that takes place when a sedimentary basin is subjected to compressional stresses resulting in the reactivation of pre-existing faults and/or the localization of deformation along new reverse faults. The Araripe Basin (NE Brazil) is an example of a Cretaceous intracontinental aborted rift, with its sedimentary infill found at ca. 1000 m altitude, 500 m above the host basement. Post-rift basin inversion has been proposed by previous authors as the cause of this topographic high, but how inversion affected this basin remains a matter of debate, with the following two end-member scenarios: reactivation of pre-existing normal faults leading to local uplift or regional uplift and differential erosion. Neither end-member fully explains the observations from seismic and field data. In this study, we, therefore, conducted analogue models to explore how basin inversion in the Araripe Basin could have taken place. We present two series of crustal-scale brittle–viscous experiments: (i) extension followed by compression without sedimentation, with a variation in divergence and convergence directions (orthogonal or 45∘ oblique); and (ii) extension with syn-rift sedimentation followed by compression, with the same variation in rifting and inversion directions. We found that orthogonal rifting without sedimentation forms throughgoing graben boundary faults, whereas oblique rifting initially creates en échelon faults that eventually link up, creating large graben boundary faults. Rift basins with syn-rift sedimentation evolved in a similar fashion; however, sedimentary loading resulted in increased subsidence. During both oblique and orthogonal inversion, most shortening was accommodated along new low-angle reverse faults. Significant intra-graben fault reactivation occurred in all models without syn-rift sedimentation. By contrast, orthogonal inversion of models with syn-rift sedimentation did not reactivate rift faults, whereas only a minor reactivation of rift faults took place during oblique inversion since the sediments strengthened the otherwise weakened basin, thus acting as a buffer during convergence. Based on our modelling results, we propose an alternative scenario for the evolution of the Araripe Basin, involving oblique inversion and the development of low-angle reverse faults, which better fits observations from seismic lines and field data from the region.

Achieving Robust Compressive Sensing Seismic Acquisition with a Two-Step Sampling Approach

The compressive sensing (CS) framework offers a cost-effective alternative to dense alias-free sampling. Designing seismic layouts based on the CS technique imposes the use of specific sampling patterns in addition to the logistical and geophysical requirements. We propose a two-step design process for generating CS-based schemes suitable for seismic applications. During the first step, uniform random sampling is used to generate a random scheme, which is supported theoretically by the restricted isometry property. Following that, designated samples are added to the random scheme to control the maximum distance between adjacent sources (or receivers). The null space property theoretically justifies the additional samples of the second step. Our sampling method generates sampling patterns with a CS theoretical background, controlled distance between adjacent samples, and a flexible number of active and omitted samples. The robustness of two-step sampling schemes for reallocated samples is investigated and CS reconstruction tests are performed. In addition, using this approach, a CS-based 3D seismic survey is designed, and the distributions of traces in fold maps and rose diagrams are analyzed. It is shown that the two-step scheme is suitable for CS-based seismic surveys and field applications.

ERT investigation of mud volcanoes: detection of mud fluid migration pathways from 2D and 3D synthetic modelling

Mud volcanoes are geological structures observed throughout the world that arise from the upwelling of deep fluids along discontinuities in the subsoil. The detection of mud fluid migration pathways can be challenging, even when using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) as detectability issues may arise from complex geological settings. This paper presents new results from 2D and 3D ERT synthetic modelling for the investigation of the shallow, internal structure of terrestrial mud volcanoes. This study revealed the internal structure of the ‘Cenerone-Pineto’ mud volcano (Central Italy) and provided further clues as to its internal structure. The main results of the study are: the presence of a mud chamber, which represents the last phase of mud accumulation before final emission, not located beneath the crater but laterally offset, as well as the presence of a narrow, shallow feeder channel; these findings represent evidence of a much more complex structure than one would expect. This means that the mud volcano is not supplied with mud fluids directly from below as would be the case with an uprising of deep fluid along a near-vertical open fracture and that the shallow mud fluid reservoir is not correlated to the distribution of any mud volcano observed on the surface. Findings from this study are consistent with the observed structural features already noted in ERT and seismic field data collected at the ‘Cenerone-Pineto’ mud volcano and may be helpful in explaining the mechanisms and processes involved in mud volcanism in similar geological settings.

Application of New Statistical Methods to Estimation of the Seismicity Field Parameters by an Example of the Japan Region

Application of New Statistical Methods to Estimation of the Seismicity Field Parameters by an Example of the Japan Region

Application of New Statistical Methods to Estimation of the Seismicity Field Parameters by an Example of the Japan Region

Abstract—This study is devoted to application of some new statistical methods to analysis of the spatial struc-ture of the seismic field in the seismically active region in the Japan region bounded by the following coordinates: 28°–50° north latitude, 130°–150° east longitude. The estimates of the seismic flux by using the k nearest neighbors method for the magnitude interval m ≥ 5.2. The highest values of intensity of about 10–4 \(\frac{1}{{{\text{year}}{\kern 1pt} - {\kern 1pt} {\text{k}}{{{\text{m}}}^{{\text{2}}}}}}\) are located at depths of down to 100 km and manifest themselves in the neighborhood of the Tohoku megathrust earthquake. The spatial resolution of the intensity estimates is ranging from 33–50 km in the regions with a high intensity to 100 км and larger in the zones of weak intensity. It has been shown that the seismic filed parameters – intensity λ, slope of the graph of repetition β, maximum possible magnitude m1 – have different scales of their spatial variability and, thus, it is necessary to apply different scales of spatial averaging to them. Based on the Gutenberg—Richter truncated distribution model, the estimates are obtained for the slope of the graph of repetition (b-value) and the upper boundary of the distribution m1. An original method is proposed for determining the optimal averaging radius for an arbitrary cell of the space grid. The method is based on the use of the statistical coefficient of variation of the corresponding parameter. For the considered region, the estimate of the maximum possible magnitude Мmax = 9.60 ± 0.41 was obtained with consideration of the correction for bias.

Seismic attenuation tomography of Eastern Europe from ambient seismic noise analysis

SUMMARY The Eastern-Europe region (EER), is a complex geotectonic area that captures part of the Alpine-Himalayan Orogen, the subduction of multiple NeoTethys Branches and part of the East European Craton. It is one of the most exciting geological areas in Europe due to a diversity of tectonic processes acting within it: extensional basin evolution, oceanic subduction, post-collisional volcanism, as well as active crustal deformation associated with the push of the Adria plate or the pull of the actively detaching Vrancea slab. This makes EER an excellent natural laboratory to study the behaviour of the lithosphere–asthenosphere system in a heterogeneous tectonic setting. To investigate the lateral heterogeneity and physical properties of the crust in the EER, we use ambient seismic noise data recorded by the vertical components of broad-band stations that have been operational between 1999 and 2020 in Eastern Europe and surrounding regions. We used this significant amount of data and the latest processing techniques of the ambient seismic noise field based on the continuous wavelet transform to compute cross-correlations between various station pairs, turning every available seismic station into a virtual source. The coda of the interstation cross-correlograms were used to determine coda quality factors (Qc) of Rayleigh waves in four different period ranges (3.0–5.0, 5.0–10.0, 10.0–20.0 and 20.0–30.0 s) and to invert them in the 2-D space, constructing the highest resolution attenuation tomography of the region. Our results reveal high attenuation features throughout the northeast Pannonian region, the Bohemian Massif, the East Carpathians and the Moesian Platform. Nevertheless, our findings do not emphasize a close correlation between the depth of sedimentary basins and attenuation features identified at longer periods. In addition, Qc variations are larger at short periods, indicating higher heterogeneity in the uppermost crust of Eastern Europe. Our findings demonstrate the higher efficiency of noise correlation approaches relative to earthquake data analyses investigating Qc at low frequencies.

Potential Seismic Hazard in Seoul, South Korea: A Comprehensive Analysis of Geology, Seismic, and Geophysical Field Observations, Historical Earthquakes, and Strong Ground Motions

ABSTRACT A series of moderate-size (Mw 4.0–6.0) earthquakes occurred in South Korea after the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku–Oki megathrust earthquake, incurring public concern about possible occurrence of devastating earthquakes in Seoul—the capital city of South Korea, where historical seismic damage was reported. The seismicity is distributed in Seoul, being dominated by strike-slip earthquakes. The fault planes are oriented in north-northeast–south-southwest, which is a favorable direction to respond to the ambient stress field. Higher rates of seismicity are observed in the northwestern Seoul at depths of &amp;lt;10 km. Micro-to-small earthquakes occur episodically in the central Seoul along the Chugaryeong fault system that traverses Seoul in north–south. Seismic, geophysical, and geological properties illuminate the fault structures. Stochastic modeling of ground motions reproduces the seismic damages of historical earthquakes reasonably, supporting the occurrence of devastating historical earthquakes in Seoul. The seismicity distribution, focal mechanism solutions, geological features, and seismic and geophysical properties suggest the possible presence of earthquake-spawning blind faults in Seoul. The peak ground motions are assessed for moderate-size scenario earthquakes (Mw 5.4 with focal depth of 7 km) at six representative subregions in Seoul. The upper bounds of peak ground accelerations reach ∼11 m/s2. The seismic damage potentials for moderate-size earthquakes are high in most areas of Seoul, particularly around river sides covered by alluvium.