ALBERT

Description: We examine P -wave velocity structure at the base of the mantle beneath the western Pacific, near the western edge of the Pacific Large-Low Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP), using high-quality seismograms provided by a large-scale mobile broad-band seismic observation in northeastern China (the NECESSArray project). Forward modelling using the reflectivity method is conducted to explain the variation of P -wave traveltimes as a function of epicentral distance near the core shadow zone. Additionally, PcP–P traveltimes are examined to enlarge the survey area. As a result, a rapid variation of P -wave velocity is detected at the base of the mantle. Regions of thin (20–50 km thick) and low velocity (–2 to –5 per cent) layers at the base of the mantle are intersected by an 80-km-thick region with a high velocity (+2 per cent). A slightly fast region exists at the northwest of the region with the thin low-velocity layer. These layers are typically separated by several hundred kilometres and would be difficult to explain by thermal effects alone. These observations suggest that very complicated thermochemical reactions occur near the edge of the Pacific LLSVP.

Description: We raise attention to the issue of consistency between the reference frame with respect to which the seismological model calculations of displacement are made on one hand, and that to which the geodetic measurements of crustal deformation refer (e.g. the ITRF) on the other. This issue is critical in principle if the seismologically calculated displacement (or gravity change) is to be compared or used in joint inversion with geodetic measurements. A necessary set of conditions to be satisfied by inertial frames is the conservations of linear and angular momentums: no net change in them can be induced by a seismic source indigenous to the Earth. We show that the momentums are embodied in the degree-1 terms of the vector spherical-harmonic expansion of the displacement field. Using three largest recent earthquakes as case examples we find that the algorithms of seismological dislocation modelling in the literature do not conserve the momentums. However, quantitatively this inconsistency amounts to two orders of magnitude smaller than the current precision in the definition of the ITRF, hence insignificant in practice. Some caveats are raised.

Description: In the context of elastic wave propagation, the non-periodic homogenization asymptotic method allows to find a smooth effective medium and equations that correspond to the wave propagation in a given complex elastic or acoustic medium down to a given minimum wavelength. By smoothing all discontinuities and fine scales of the original medium, the homogenization technique considerably reduces meshing difficulties as well as the numerical cost associated with the wave equation solver, while producing the same waveform as for the original medium (up to the wanted accuracy). We present here a variation of the original method, allowing to homogenize the difference, or residual, between an original medium and a reference medium. This makes it possible to, for example, homogenize some specific parts of a model or to leave unchanged a specific interface while homogenizing the rest of the model. We present two examples of applications, one implying a complex geological shallow structure and the other involving the combination of deterministic and stochastic elastic models.

Description: Converted phase (CP) elastic seismic signals are comparable in amplitude to the primary signals recorded at large offsets and have the potential to be used in seismic imaging and velocity analysis. We present an approach for CP elastic wave equation velocity analysis that does not use source information and is applicable to surface-seismic, microseismic, teleseismic and vertical seismic profile (VSP) studies. Our approach is based on the cross-correlation between reflected or transmitted PP and CP PS (and/or SS and CP PS) waves propagated backward in time, and is formulated as an optimization problem with a differential semblance criterion objective function for the simultaneous update of both P - and S -wave velocity models. The merit of this approach is that it is fully data-driven, uses full waveform information, and requires only one elastic backward propagation to form an image rather than the two (one forward and one backward) propagations needed for standard reverse-time migration. Moreover, as the method does not require forward propagation, it does not suffer from migration operator source aliasing when a small number of shots are used. We present a derivation of the method and test it with a synthetic model and field micro-seismic data.

Description: Numerical simulations of dynamic earthquake rupture require an artificial initiation procedure, if they are not integrated in long-term earthquake cycle simulations. A widely applied procedure involves an ‘overstressed asperity’, a localized region stressed beyond the static frictional strength. The physical properties of the asperity (size, shape and overstress) may significantly impact rupture propagation. In particular, to induce a sustained rupture the asperity size needs to exceed a critical value. Although criteria for estimating the critical nucleation size under linear slip-weakening friction have been proposed for 2-D and 3-D problems based on simplifying assumptions, they do not provide general rules for designing 3-D numerical simulations. We conduct a parametric study to estimate parameters of the asperity that minimize numerical artefacts (e.g. changes of rupture shape and speed, artificial supershear transition, higher slip-rate amplitudes). We examine the critical size of square, circular and elliptical asperities as a function of asperity overstress and background (off-asperity) stress. For a given overstress, we find that asperity area controls rupture initiation while asperity shape is of lesser importance. The critical area obtained from our numerical results contrasts with published theoretical estimates when background stress is low. Therefore, we derive two new theoretical estimates of the critical size under low background stress while also accounting for overstress. Our numerical results suggest that setting the asperity overstress and area close to their critical values eliminates strong numerical artefacts even when the overstress is large. We also find that properly chosen asperity size or overstress may significantly shorten the duration of the initiation. Overall, our results provide guidelines for determining the size of the asperity and overstress to minimize the effects of the forced initiation on the subsequent spontaneous rupture propagation.

Description: The Terre Adélie and George V Land (East Antarctica) represent key areas for understanding tectonic relationships between terranes forming the Neoarchean-Palaeoproterozoic Terre Adélie Craton (TAC) and the neighbouring lithospheric blocks, together with the nature of its boundary. This region that represents the eastern border of the TAC is limited on its eastern side by the Mertz shear zone (MSZ) separating more recent Palaeozoic units from the craton. The MSZ, that recorded dextral strike-slip movement at 1.7 and 1.5 Ga, is likely correlated with the Kalinjala or Coorong shear zone in South Australia, east of the Gawler Craton and may therefore represent a frozen lithospheric-scale structure. In order to investigate the lithospheric structure of the TAC and the MSZ, we deployed from 2009 October to 2011 October four temporary seismic stations, which sampled the various lithospheric units of the TAC and of the neighbouring Palaeozoic block, together with the MSZ. We used receiver function method to deduce Moho depths and seismic anisotropy technique to infer the upper mantle deformation. Results from receiver functions analysis reveal Moho at 40–44 km depth beneath the TAC, at 36 km under the MSZ and at 28 km beneath the eastern Palaeozoic domain. The MSZ therefore delimits two crustal blocks of different thicknesses with a vertical offset of the Moho of 12 km. Seismic anisotropy deduced from SKS splitting at stations on the TAC shows fast polarisation directions () trending E–W, that is, parallel to the continental margin, and delay times ( t ) ranging from 0.8 to 1.6 s. These results are similar to the splitting parameters observed at the permanent GEOSCOPE Dumont D'Urville station (DRV: 95°N, t 1.1 s) located in the Palaeoproterozoic domain of TAC. On the MSZ, the small number of good quality measurements limits the investigation of the deep signature of the shear zone. However, the station in the Palaeozoic domain shows trending N60°E, which is significantly different to the trending measurements from stations on the TAC, suggesting that the MSZ may also represent a major frontier between the Neoarchean-Palaeoproterozoic and Palaeozoic terranes.

Description: The seismic investigation of the lowermost mantle is in many places hampered by the lack of suitable source–receiver combinations that sample the D '' region and have to meet the requirements of a suitable epicentral distance range. The low velocity regions beneath the central Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in particular have been sampled in fewer places than circum Pacific regions. In this study, we use data from two recent ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) deployments for the Plume-Lithosphere Undersea Mantle Experiment (PLUME) around Hawaii to increase the coverage of the lower mantle with reflected P waves. Through stacking of the data we achieve significant reduction in noise levels. The most favourable epicentral distances to detect D '' reflections are around 70–79°. Most of our source–receiver combinations have distances less than that, thereby limiting the number of candidate observed reflections. Nevertheless, using array methods, we are able to test approximately 70 events for arrivals with slowness values and arrival times that would be consistent with a top-side reflection off a hypothetical D '' structure (PdP wave). Modelling these data with a 1-D reflectivity method, we identify a few places of detectable PdP waves, for which the velocity contrast in P - and S -wave velocity across the D '' reflector have to be relatively large (around 3–5 per cent increase and decrease, respectively) compared to other regions (e.g. beneath the Caribbean or Eurasia where the contrast is closer to 1–2 per cent). For larger distance ranges, smaller velocity contrasts are sufficient to cause observable reflections. This study shows that, despite the possible dominance of microseisms on OBS records, it is possible to use relatively short-period waves, with dominant periods as short as 3–7 s. Our findings suggest that, with future such deployments, OBS deployments will help to extend D '' studies to previously unmapped regions.

Description: Current earthquake early warning (EEW) systems lack the ability to appropriately handle multiple concurrent earthquakes, which led to many false alarms during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake sequence in Japan. This paper uses a Bayesian probabilistic approach to handle multiple concurrent events for EEW. We implement the theory using a two-step algorithm. First, an efficient approximate Bayesian model class selection scheme is used to estimate the number of concurrent events. Then, the Rao-Blackwellized Importance Sampling method with a sequential proposal probability density function is used to estimate the earthquake parameters, that is hypocentre location, origin time, magnitude and local seismic intensity. A real data example based on 2 months data (2011 March 9–April 30) around the time of the 2011 M 9 Tohoku earthquake is studied to verify the proposed algorithm. Our algorithm results in over 90 per cent reduction in the number of incorrect warnings compared to the existing EEW system operating in Japan.

Description: We use the Rayleigh integral (RI) as an approximation to the Helmholtz–Kirchoff integral to model infrasound generation and propagation from underground chemical explosions at distances of 250 m out to 5 km as part of the Source Physics Experiment (SPE). Using a sparse network of surface accelerometers installed above ground zero, we are able to accurately create synthetic acoustic waveforms and compare them to the observed data. Although the underground explosive sources were designed to be symmetric, the resulting seismic wave at the surface shows an asymmetric propagation pattern that is stronger to the northeast of the borehole. This asymmetric bias may be attributed to the subsurface geology and faulting of the area and is observed in the acoustic waveforms. We compare observed and modelled results from two of the underground SPE tests with a sensitivity study to evaluate the asymmetry observed in the data. This work shows that it is possible to model infrasound signals from underground explosive sources using the RI and that asymmetries observed in the data can be modelled with this technique.

Description: As the Earth's inhomogeneous and viscoelastic properties, seismic signal attenuation we are trying to mitigate is a long-standing problem facing with high-resolution techniques. For addressing such a problem in the fields of time–frequency transform, Gabor transform methods such as atom-window method (AWM) and molecular window method (MWM) have been reported recently. However, we observed that these methods might be much better if we partition the non-stationary seismic data into adaptive stationary segments based on the amplitude and frequency information of the seismic signal. In this study, we present a new method called amplitude-frequency partition (AFP) to implement this process in the time–frequency domain. Cases of a synthetic and field seismic data indicated that the AFP method could partition the non-stationary seismic data into stationary segments approximately, and significantly, a high-resolution result would be achieved by combining the AFP method with conventional spectral-whitening method, which could be considered superior to previous resolution-enhancement methods like time-variant spectral whitening method, the AWM and the MWM as well. This AFP method presented in this study would be an effective resolution-enhancement tool for the non-stationary seismic data in the fields of an adaptive time–frequency transform.