The influence of dry and water saturated cracks on seismic velocities of crustal rocks - A comparison of experimental data with theoretical model

The pressure dependence of P- and S-wave velocities, velocity anisotropy, shear wave splitting and crack-porosity has been investigated in a number of samples from different crustal rock types for dry and wet (water saturated) conditions. At atmospheric pressure, P-wave velocities of the saturated, low-porosity rocks (< 1%) are significantly higher than in dry rocks, whereas the differences for S-wave velocities are less pronounced. The effect of intercrystalline fluids on seismic properties at increased pressure conditions is particularly reflected by the variation of the Poisson's ratio because P-wave velocities are more sensitive to fluids than S-wave velocities in the low-porosity rocks. Based on the experimental data, the respective crack-density parameter (), which is a measure of the number of flat cracks per volume unit contained within the background medium (crack-free matrix), has been calculated for dry and saturated conditions. There is a good correlation between the calculated crack-densities and crack-porosities derived from the experimentally determined volumetric strain curves. The shear wave velocity data, along with the shear wave polarisation referred to a orthogonal reference system, have been used to derive the spatial orientation of effective oriented cracks within a foliated biotite gneiss. The experimental data are in reasonable agreement with the self consistent model of O'Connell and Budiansky (1974). Taking the various lithologies into account, it is clear from the present study, that combined seismic measurements ofV _p andV _s , using theV _p V _s -ratio, may give evidence for fluids on grain boundaries and, in addition, may provide an estimate on the in-situ crack-densities.     

Elastic Parameters of West Bohemian Granites under Hydrostatic Pressure

—The West Bohemian seismoactive region is situated near the contact of the Moldanu bian, Bohemian and Saxothuringian units in which a large volume is occupied by granitoid massifs. The spatial distribution of P-wave velocities and the rock fabric of five representative samples from these massifs were studied. The P-wave velocities were measured on spherical samples in 132 independent directions under hydrostatic pressure up to 400 MPa, using the pulse-transmission method. The pressure of 400 MPa corresponds to a depth of about 15 km in the area under study. The changes of P-wave velocity were correlated with the preferred orientations of the main rock fabric elements, i.e., rock forming minerals and microcracks. The values of the P-wave velocity from laboratory measurements on granite samples fit the velocity model used by seismologists in the West Bohemian seismoactive region.     

华北地区典型岩石在1万巴压力下的密度和弹性波速度的实验研究s

利用高压三轴容器,对华北地区九种典型岩石的密度和弹性波速度随压力的变化关系进行了实验研究。实验的最高压力达到10,500巴。实验中利用电阻应变片测量岩石的体积变化从而得到密度的变化。用高频脉冲法测量了弹性波速度。由得到的密度参数和波速参数计算出高压下岩石的声阻抗。根据体应变和波速随压力变化的曲线估算了岩石的体积模量,裂纹孔隙度,裂纹闭合压力,波速达到稳定变化时的压力以及波速达到稳定变化时的值与常压下的波速值的差。对这些参数在地学及爆破工程上的应用进行了简单的讨论。      

Determining Q of near-surface materials from Rayleigh waves

High-frequency (≥2 Hz) Rayleigh wave phase velocities can be inverted to shear (S)-wave velocities for a layered earth model up to 30 m below the ground surface in many settings. Given S-wave velocity (V_S), compressional (P)-wave velocity (V_P), and Rayleigh wave phase velocities, it is feasible to solve for P-wave quality factor Q_P and S-wave quality factor Q_S in a layered earth model by inverting Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients. Model results demonstrate the plausibility of inverting Q_S from Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients. Contributions to the Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients from Q_P cannot be ignored when Vs/V_P reaches 0.45, which is not uncommon in near-surface settings. It is possible to invert Q_P from Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients in some geological setting, a concept that differs from the common perception that Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients are always far less sensitive to Q_P than to Q_S. Sixty-channel surface wave data were acquired in an Arizona desert. For a 10-layer model with a thickness of over 20 m, the data were first inverted to obtain S-wave velocities by the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method and then quality factors were determined by inverting attenuation coefficients.     

Reliability of Seismic Moment Tensor Inversions for Induced Microseismicity at Kidd Mine, Ontario

— A novel seismic moment tensor inversion approach is applied to microseismic events from the Kidd mine with moment magnitudes ranging between ?1.2 and 0. Data consist of 35 events recorded on 8 triaxial accelerometers installed underground. Reliable solutions are obtained for 21 events, of which 14 represent pure shear mechanisms, whereas the remaining 7 exhibit a significant positive volumetric component (72–76%), along with some pure shear failure (15–20%). Further analysis indicates that 6 of the events characterized by high volumetric components are located within a sill pillar on the 4,700 level and have subvertical P and subhorizontal T axes. This is in agreement with the presence of tensile cracks close to openings for incipient pillar bursting. The pure shear events are located outside the sill pillar, between the 4,600 and 4,800 levels, and on the 5,600 level within a highly fractured rockmass. For the latter events, the subvertical nodal planes are found to match closely the orientation of subvertical NW-SE fractures aligned parallel to the major faults in the area.     

Seismic technique to determine the allowable bearing pressure for shallow foundations in soils and rocks

Based on a variety of case histories of site investigations, including extensive bore-hole data, laboratory testing and geophysical prospecting, an empirical formulation is proposed for the rapid determination of allowable bearing capacity of shallow foundations. The proposed expression consistently corroborates the results of the classical theory and is proven to be rapid and reliable. It consists of only two soil parameters, namely, the in situ measured shear wave velocity, and the unit weight. The unit weight may be also determined with sufficient accuracy by means of another empirical expression using the P-wave velocity. It is indicated that once the shear and P-wave velocities are measured in situ by an appropriate geophysical survey, the allowable bearing capacity as well as the coefficient of subgrade reaction and many other elasticity parameters may be determined rapidly and reliably through a single step operation, not only for soils, but also for rock formations. Such an innovative approach, using the seismic wave velocities only, is considerably cost- and time-saving in practice.     

Effect of Sliding Rate on the Activity of Acoustic Emission During Stable Sliding

--The mechanical and statistical characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) events during stable sliding are investigated through a laboratory experiment using a granite specimen with a pre-cut fault. Numerous AE events are found to be generated on the pre-cut fault, indicating that microscopically unstable fracture occurs during macroscopically stable sliding. The composite focal mechanism solution of AE events is determined from the first motion directions of P-waves. The determined mechanism is consistent with the double-couple one expected for the slip on the pre-cut fault. The source radii of large AE events are estimated to be about 10 mm from the widths of the first P-wave pulses. These indicate that the AE events are generated by shear fracture whose faulting area is a part of the pre-cut fault plane. The occurrence of AE events as a stochastic process approximately obeys the Poisson process, if the effect of mutually dependent events consti tuting clusters is corrected. The observed amplitude-frequency relation of AE events approximately follows a power law for a limited amplitude range. As the macroscopic sliding rate increases, the number of AE events per unit sliding distance decreases. This rate dependence of the AE activity is qualitatively consistent with the observation that the real area of contact between sliding surfaces decreases with an increase in the sliding rate as reported in the literature.     

Simultaneous inversion of velocity structures and hypocentral locations: Application to the Friuli seismic area NE Italy

A layeredP- andS-wave velocity model is obtained for the Friuli seismic area using the arrival time data ofP- andS-waves from local earthquakes. A damped least-squares method is applied in the inversion.The data used are 994P-wave arrival times for 177 events which have epicenters in the region covered by the Friuli seismic network operated by Osservatorio Geofisico sperimentale (OGS) di Trieste, which are jointly inverted for the earthquake hypocenters andP-wave velocity model. TheS-wave velocity model is estimated on the basis of 978S-wave arrival times and the hypocenters obtained from theP-wave arrival time inversion. We also applied an approach thatP- andS-wave arrival time data are jointly used in the inversion (Roecker, 1982). The results show thatS-wave velocity structures obtained from the two methods are quite consistent, butP-wave velocity structures have obvious differences. This is apparent becauseP-waves are more sensitive to the hypocentral location thanS-waves, and the reading errors ofS-wave arrival times, which are much larger than those ofP-waves, bring large location errors in the joint inversion ofP- andS-wave arrival time. The synthetic data tests indicated that when the reading errors ofS-wave arrivals are larger than four times that ofP-wave arrivals, the method proposed in this paper seems more valid thanP- andS-wave data joint inversion. Most of the relocated events occurred in the depth range between 7 and 11 km, just above the biggest jump in velocity. This jump might be related to the detachment line hypothesized byCarulli et al. (1982). From the invertedP- andS-wave velocities, we obtain an average value 1.82 forV _p /V _s in the first 16 km depth.     

Mutually consistent estimates of upper mantle composition from seismic velocity contrasts at 400 km depth

Seismologically determined properties of the 400 km discontinuity may be compared to experimentally determined properties of the associated phase transformation in order to place constraints upon upper mantle bulk composition. Disagreement among previous studies is commonly ascribed to differences in elastic equations of state (especially to assumptions about pressure and temperature derivatives) between studies. However, much of the disparity between studies is actually due to the selection of different seismic data functionals (P-wave velocity,S-wave velocity, etc.) for comparison to minnral clasticity calculations, rather than to the differences in elasticity data sets and equations of state. Within any given study, bulk sound velocity comparisons generally yield more olivine-rich compositional estimates than doP-wave velocity comparisons, which in turn indicate more olivine thanS-wave velocities. Indeed, such variation in compositional estimates within a given study (arising from choice of data functional) exceeds the variation between studies (arising from elastic equation of state approx mations). it can be argued that bulk sound velocities are better constrained seismologically than densities and, being independent of assumptions about shear moduli, should provide more reliable compositional estimates thanP-orS-wave velocities.Using recently measured bulk and shear moduli equations of state, mutually consistent estimates of upper mantle olivine content can be obtained fromP-wave,S-wave, and bulk sound velocity contrasts at 400 km only if ln /T of has a value of about–2×10^–4K^–1, yielding approximately 52% olivine by volume. A value of ln /T smaller in magnitude would require reassessment of several underlying assumptions.     

Seismic velocity and Poisson’s ratio tomography of the crust beneath southwest Anatolia: an insight into the occurrence of large earthquakes

The western part of Anatolia is one of the most seismically and tectonically active continental regions in the world, and much of it has been undergoing NS-directed extensional deformation since the Early Miocene. In this study, we determine 3-D tomographic images of the crust under the southwestern part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone by inverting a large number of arrival time data of P and S waves. From the obtained P- and S-wave velocity models, we estimated the Poisson’s ratio structures for a more reliable interpretation of the obtained anomalies. Our tomographic results confirmed the major tectonic features detected by previous studies and revealed new structural heterogeneities related to the active seismotectonics of the studied area. High P-wave velocity anomalies are recognized near the surface, while at deeper crustal layers, low P-wave velocities are widely distributed. The crustal S-wave velocity and Poisson’s ratio exhibit more structural heterogeneities compared to the P-wave velocity structure. Microearthquake activity is intense along highly heterogeneous zones in the southwestern part, which is characterized by low to high P-wave velocity, low S-wave velocity, and high Poisson’s ratio anomalies. Large earthquakes are also concentrated in zones dominated by low velocities and low to high Poisson’s ratios. Results of the checkerboard and synthetic tests indicate that the imaged anomalies are reliable features down to a depth of 25 km. Moreover, they are consistent with many geological and geophysical results obtained by other researchers along the southwestern part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Joint inversion of P- and S-receiver functions and dispersion curves of Rayleigh waves: The results for the Central Anatolian Plateau

The P- and S-wave receiver functions and dispersion curves of the fundamental Rayleigh wave are used to study the lithosphere within the Central Anatolian Plateau. The results for eight broadband seismic stations are presented. It is established that within the plateau, the crust with a thickness of about 35 km is underlain by the mantle lid with its bottom at a depth of about 60 km. The velocities of longitudinal (Vp) and shear (Vs) waves in this layer are at most 7.6 and 4.5 km/s, respectively, and the Vp/Vs ratio is close to 1.7 (i.e., by 6% lower than in the standard IASP91 and PREM models). Such a low velocity ratio is characteristic of rocks having high orthopyroxene content. Beneath the high-velocity mantle lid, the S-wave velocity decreases to 4.0–4.2 km/s and the Vp/Vs ratio is close to its standard value (1.8). At most stations, the P-wave receiver functions do not contain seismic phase P410s, which is formed at the global seismic boundary at a depth of 410 km. The seismic boundary at a depth of 410 km is related to the olivine-spinel phase transformation, and its absence can indicate the anomalously low olivine content and high basalt content. This anomaly is probably associated with the subduction of a large amount of oceanic crust during the closure of the Tethys. The results of the study overall indicate the high informativity of the used method.     

Dilatancy and fracture induced velocity changes in rock and their relation to frictional sliding

Summary Laboratory room temperature triaxial friction tests on sawcut granite and serpentinite specimens suggest that stick-slip at high confining pressures is preceded by dilatancy in the intact rock adjacent to the shear surface. By using a fast-reacting servo-loading system in combination with a high resolution digital computer recording system it is possible to obtain a more realistic picture of the stick-slip mechanisms and the stress drop associated with unstable slip. Fracturing in granite under biaxial loading leads to a significant anisotropy in dilation andP-wave velocity of the rock. Velocity decreases remarkably in the directions of minor principal stresses with no indication for velocity recovery before macroscopic shear fracture development.The results suggest that dilatancy and velocity anomalies may precede crustal earthquakes under certain tectonic conditions.

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Zusammenfassung Triaxiale Scherversuche an polierten Scherflächen in Granit- und Serpentinitproben (Normaltemperatur) lassen schließen, daß instabile Gleitvorgänge auf den Scherflächen bei sehr hohen Manteldrücken mit vorhergehenden Auflockerungen (Dialatanz) des intakten Gesteins in der Umgebung der Scherfläche verbunden sind. Durch die Verwendung eines reaktions-schnellen Servobelastungssystems in Verbindung mit einem hoch-auflösenden digitalen Aufzeichnungssystem konnte erstmals ein Einblick in den tatsächlichen Ablauf des instabilen Gleitprozesses gewonnen werden. Der Bruch in Granit bei biaxialer Belastung führt zu einer signifikanten Anisotropie der Auflockerung des Gesteinsgefüges und damit der Geschwindigkeit seismischer Wellen. Die Geschwindigkeit derP-Wellen nimmt in Richtung der beiden kleineren Hauptspannungen mit fortschreitender Deformation kontinuferlich ohne Anzeichen eines Geschwindigkeitsanstiegs vor der Entwicklung des makroskopischen Scherbruchs ab.Die Ergebnisse lassen den Schluß zu, daß Dilatanz und damit verbundene Geschwindigkeitsanomalien Erdbeben in der Kruste bei bestimmten tektonischen Bedingungen vorangehen können.

     

油气田典型岩石三轴压缩变形破坏与声发射活动特征——四川盆地震旦系白云岩及页岩的破坏过程

随着二氧化碳地质封存、深部地热开采、地下储气库建设、页岩气开发、二次驱油/驱气等工业应用的快速发展,与地下流体注入有关的诱发地震活动呈现一定的增加趋势.利用声发射实验观测油气田典型岩石在三轴压缩条件下变形破坏过程与声发射活动特征,对研究注水诱发地震过程有着重要意义.本文利用四川盆地现场采集的震旦系白云岩及页岩,采用实验室声发射技术观测研究岩石三轴压缩变形破坏过程中地震波速度等物性参数及声发射事件时空分布特征.实验结果表明:震旦系白云岩及页岩在变形破坏过程中均有一定的声发射活动.根据声发射定位结果,声发射主要集中在破坏前后的较短时间内,页岩的层理面为结构弱面,控制最终破坏面的形态及声发射特征.根据应力-应变结果,白云岩在压缩的后期阶段有一定的扩容现象,但页岩在整个压缩阶段均没有明显扩容现象.研究结果表明四川盆地较古老的白云岩及页岩具有脆性破坏特征,地下流体注入容易诱发微震活动,形成裂缝,有利于页岩气压裂开采.微震活动有利于监测裂缝的发生发展,但同时在页岩气开发及二氧化碳地质封存时应采取相应的预防控制措施进行安全合理的储盖层管理,避免灾害性诱发地震的发生.     

Frequency-dependence of velocity and attenuation of elastic waves in granite under uniaxial compression

Velocity as well as attenuation factorQ ^–1 ofP-wave in a dry granitic rock sample under uniaxial compressions were measured in the range of frequency between 100 kHz and 710 kHz by using the pulse transmission technique. Above the stress of 0.5 _f , where _f is the fracture stress, theP-wave velocity decreases with increasing axial stress, whereasQ ^–1 increases. Particularly, the change ofQ ^–1 is greater for high frequency than for low frequency. At a given stress level, the higher the frequency, the higher theP-wave velocity and the largerQ ^–1. This result means that the velocity decrease with increasing stress is smaller for higher frequency. Because of this frequency-dependence of velocity decrease, theP-wave in the rock under dilatant state shows dispersion. The body wave dispersion is more remarkable at higher stress, and is not found in a homogeneous material with no cracks. Thus the disperison is attributed to the generation of cracks. When the frequency-dependence ofQ ^–1 is approximated asf ⁿ in the present frequency range, the exponentn takes a value from 0.63 to 0.77.     

Comparison of P- and S-waves velocities estimated from Biot-Gassmann and Kuster-Toksöz models with results obtained from acoustic wavetrains interpretation

Kuster-Toksöz and Biot-Gassmann models for estimating velocities of longitudinal and shear waves on the basis of well-logging data were analysed. P-wave and S-wave velocity models are crucial for interpretation of seismic data. Discussed models enable determination with quite good accuracy, in some cases higher than the acoustic full wavetrains interpretation. Because velocity strongly depends on lithology and saturation of pore space, the selection of parameters of rock matrix, hydrocarbons and formation waters has a strong effect on the quality of velocities estimation.     

Multi-scale Tomography for Crustal <Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis> Velocities in Southern California

Seismic tomography is a viable tool in building depth-velocity models in the presence of strong lateral velocity variations. In this study 3-D P- and S-velocity models for the crust of southern California are constrained using more than 1,000,000 P-wave first arrivals and 130,000 S-wave arrivals from local earthquakes. To cope with the uneven distribution of raypaths, a multi-scale tomography is applied with overlapping model cells of different sizes. Within the 300 × 480 × 39 km³ model volume, the smallest cell size is 10 × 10 × 3 km³. During the iterations of velocity updating, earthquake hypocenters are determined using both P and S arrivals, and full 3-D ray tracing is implemented. Except near the edges and in the lower crust, the resultant models are robust according to various tests on the effects of reference models, resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. The tomographic velocities at shallow depths correlate very well with the regional geology of southern California. In the upper crust the P-wave and S-wave models exhibit slow velocities in major sedimentary basins and fast velocities in areas of crystalline rocks. Mid-crustal low velocity zones are present under the Coso Range, San Gabriel Mountains, and a large portion of the Mojave Desert. P- and S-velocity patterns maintain their similarity in the lower crust though the models are less reliable there.     

Direct measurement of crustalP-velocities in the norsar area

Using simulated data, it is demonstrated that one may estimate the body wave velocity in the crust by measuring the angle of incidence ofP-waves provided only the very first part of the signal is used. This angle has been measured for a set ofP-waves at the NORSAR long period instrument sites. Combining these observations with measurements of apparent velocities, we find that the data indicates a crust velocity of 6.1±0.4 km/sec. While it is somewhat uncertain to what depth the value is representative, the observations are in obvious disagreement with previous authors who concluded that long periodP-waves were not affected by the earth's crust. Because of difficulties in separating the effects of real velocity variations from measurement errors, the details of the observedP-wave variation across the array are difficult to interpret. The consistent behavior of the data does, however, indicate that variations of approximately 3% must exist in the crustalP-wave velocity across the array.     

Examination of a Rock Failure Criterion Based on Circumferential Tensile Strain

—Uniaxial compression, triaxial compression and Brazialian tests were conducted on several kinds of rock, with particular attention directed to the principal tensile strain. In this paper we aim to clarify the effects of the experimental environment—such as confining pressure, loading rate, water content and anisotropy—on the critical tensile strain, i.e., the measured principal tensile strain at peak load.¶It was determined that the chain-type extensometer is a most suitable method for measuring the critical tensile strain in uniaxial compression tests. It is also shown that the paper-based strain gage, whose effective length is less than or equal to a tenth of the specimen’s diameter and glued on with a rubber-type adhesive, can be effectively used in the Brazilian tests.¶The effect of confining pressure P _C on the critical tensile strain ? _TC in the brittle failure region was between ?0.02 × 10^?10 Pa^?1 and 0.77 × 10^?10 Pa^?1. This pressure sensitivity is small compared to the critical tensile strain values of around ?0.5 × 10^?2. The strain rate sensitivities ?? _TC /?{log(d|?|/dt)} were observed in the same way as the strength constants in other failure criteria. They were found to be from ?0.10 × 10^?3 to ?0.52 × 10^?3 per order of magnitude in strain rate in the triaxial tests. The average magnitude of the critical tensile strain ? _TC increased due to the presence of water by 4% to 20% for some rocks, and decreased by 22% for sandstone. It can at least be said that the critical tensile strain is less sensitive to water content than the uniaxial compressive strength under the experimental conditions reported here. An obvious anisotropy was observed in the P-wave velocity and in the uniaxial compressive strength of Pombetsu sandstone. It was not observed, however, in the critical tensile strain, although the data do show some variation.¶A "tensile strain criterion" was proposed, based on the above experimental results. This criterion signifies that stress begins to drop when the principal tensile strain reaches the critical tensile strain. The criterion is limited to use within the brittle failure region. The critical tensile strain contains an inelastic strain component as well as an elastic one. It is affected by the strain rate, however, it is relatively insensitive to the confining pressure, the presence of water and anisotropy.     

Hypocenter distribution and focal mechanism of AE events during two stress stage creep in Yugawara andesite

More than a thousand acoustic-emission (AE) hypocenters were determined in a cylindrical andesite specimen under two-stage uniaxial creep at stresses of 204 and 214 MPa. Strains were monitored for 6 peripheral points at the middle part of the cylindrical specimen's wall. The strain data indicate gradual increase of nonuniform deformation during steady creep and strong intensification of the nonuniformity during acceleration creep and, therefore, biased stress distribution within the specimen. The correlation between dilatant strain and AE hypocenters was investigated for whether or not tensile cracks emit AE. The region with high AE activity shows only a small dilatant strain. This negative correlation between AE and the dilatant region may eliminate tensile cracks as possible AE sources. A composite focal-mechanism solution of local AE events, covering a wide solid angle of the focal hemisphere, indicates that shear fractures emit AE waves. The direction of the compressional axis in this solution shows a significant deviation from that inferred from the applied external force, suggesting that the local stress field is governed by preexisting weak zones that are, presumably, produced by tensile cracks within the specimen. AE hypocenters tended to form clusters during steady creep under the constant compressional stress. During acceleration creep caused by a small step increase of the external stress, the preceding clusters disappeared while a new cluster appeared in an incipient fault plane. This suggests that changes in seismicity pattern such as migrations or quiescences of swarm—important clues for earthquake predictions—may be caused by an instantaneous change in the tectonic-stress levels.     

Rupture and particle velocity during frictional sliding

Summary Laboratory measurements of rupture and particle velocity are in surprisingly good agreement with seismic values, providing further evidence that stick-slip friction is a suitable mechanism for shallow earthquakes. A simple theory is developed to explain the linear relationship observed between average particle velocity and stress drop for stick-slip events. Both stick-slip ruptures and cracks in brittle material commonly propagate at velocities roughly comparable to theS wave velocity of the material. Rupture normally begins relatively slowly and accelerates to a steady velocity in a few centimeters. Observations suggest that stick-slip ruptures can propagate atS wave speeds or occasionally greater and that cracks in pre-stressed glass can also propagate faster than theS waves. Fracture and thus rupture velocity of intact rock specimens is greatly influenced by the inhomogeneous structure of rock. Fracture may be modeled by coalescence of many cracks rather than growth of a single crack.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Contribution No. 2627.