Seismological and engineering characteristics of strong motion data from 24 and 26 September 2019 Marmara Sea earthquakes

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering - An MW 4.5 earthquake took place on September 24, 2019 in the Marmara Sea. Two days after, on September 26, 2019, Marmara region was rattled by an MW5.7...     

Post-stack high-resolution deconvolution using Cauchy norm regularization with FX filter weighting

High-resolution deconvolution can mathematically be viewed as a regularized inverse problem. Besides, the result of the high-resolution deconvolution is generally accepted as reflectivity series of the layered media. On the other hand, lateral continuity is frequently poorer than vertical resolution on post-stack seismic section after application of any high-resolution deconvolution. However, because of the ill-posed inherent of the deconvolution problem, the Cauchy norm regularization term, a non-quadratic prior-information is widely used to provide the stability and uniqueness of the problem. But, it does not provide adequate quality of deconvolution if the noise in the data is strong. In this study, a stable and high-resolution deconvolution of post-stack seismic data was accomplished by an iterative inversion algorithm incorporating the Cauchy norm regularization with FX filter weighting. Cauchy norm regularization was utilized to force the solution to a spikiness structure, while the effective random noise reduction was performed by using the FX filter. Applications to synthetic and real post-stack data showed that the resolution in the vertical direction and continuity in the lateral direction are better improved. Thus, we think that this process makes seismic sections obtained especially from thin layered sedimentary basins more interpretable.     

Multi-disciplinary earthquake researches in Western Turkey: Hints to select sites to study geochemical transients associated to seismicity

Warm and hot spring water as well as soil gas radon release patterns have been monitored in the Aegean Extensional Province of Western Turkey, alongside regional seismic events, providing a multi-disciplinary approach. In the study period of 20 months, seven moderate earthquakes with M _L between 4.0 and 4.7 occurred in this seismically very active region; two earthquakes with magnitude 5.0 also occurred near the study area. Seismic monitoring showed no foreshock activity. By contrast, hydro-geochemical anomalies were found prior to these seismic events, each lasting for weeks. The anomalies occurred foremost in conjunction with dip-slip events and seem to support the dilatancy and water diffusion hypothesis. Increased soil gas radon release was recorded before earthquakes associated with strike-slip faults, but no soil radon anomalies were seen before earthquakes associated with dip-slip faults. Geochemical anomalies were also noticeably absent at some springs throughout the postulated deformation zones of impending earthquakes. The reason for this discrepancy might be due to stress/strain anisotropies.     

Robust representation of dry cells in single-layer MODFLOW models

Dewatered or "dry" grid cells in the USGS ground water modeling software MODFLOW may cause nonphysical artifacts, trigger convergence failures, or interfere with parameter estimation. These difficulties can be avoided in two dimensions by modifying the spatial differencing scheme and the iterative procedure used to resolve nonlinearities. Specifically, the spatial differencing scheme is modified to use the water level on the upstream side of a pair of adjacent cells to calculate the saturated thickness and hence intercell conductance for the pair. This makes it possible to explicitly constrain the water level in a cell to be at or above the cell bottom elevation without introducing nonphysical artifacts. Thus constrained, all initially active cells will remain active throughout the simulation. It was necessary to replace MODFLOW's Picard iteration method with the Newton-Raphson method to achieve convergence in demanding applications involving many dry cells. Tests using a MODFLOW variant based on the new method produced results nearly identical to conventional MODFLOW in situations where conventional MODFLOW converges. The new method is extremely robust and converged in scenarios where conventional MODFLOW failed to converge, such as when almost all cells dewatered. An example application to the Edwards Aquifer in south-central Texas further demonstrates the utility of the new method.     

Optimum parameter selection in offset-dependent predictive deconvolution: testing on multichannel marine seismic data

Marine Geophysical Research - Predictive deconvolution is an effective way to suppress multiple reflections, especially short path multiples, in seismic data. However, the effectiveness of the...     

Seasonal variations and distributions of dissolved free and total carbohydrates at the İzmir Bay, Aegean Sea

Seasonal variations and distributions of dissolved carbohydrate concentrations at the İzmir Bay were investigated with salinity, chlorophyll a (Chl a), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) levels to understand their relationships. Samples were collected from surface, subsurface and bottom depths at seven stations. DOC concentrations ranged from 32.2 to 244.2 μmol/L, and in general, DOC levels increased from winter to summer, then slightly decreased in autumn. Monosaccharide (MCHO), polysaccharide (PCHO) and total dissolved carbohydrate (TDCHO) levels were found between 0.7-8.3, 0.7-19.5, and 2.6-24.6 μmol/L. DOC, MCHO, PCHO and TDCHO levels were found higher in middle-inner bays, under the influence of anthropogenic inputs, compared to outer bay. Seasonal changes of MCHO/DOC, PCHO/DOC and TDCHO/DOC ratios were statistically significant (p<0.05) and the ratios showed decrease trends from winter to summer-autumn seasons. Distributions of TDCHO/DOC ratios at wide ranges (2.5%-42.3%) indicated the presence of newly forming and degrading fractions of DOM. According to results of factor analysis, Chl a, MCHO and TDCHO were explained in the same factor groups. In conclusion, the results showed that dissolved carbohydrate levels in the İzmir Bay might be influenced by biological processes and terrestrial/anthropogenic inputs.     

Determination of optimum kernel bandwidth for northern Marmara region,Turkey

As a relatively recent development, spatial smoothing methods have been introduced to identify seismic patterns. Among the methods developed to model the spatial variation, methods based on utilization of 3-D Gaussian isotropic kernels have a wide reception. The most important question remaining to be answered in the application of these methods is the determination of the optimum kernel bandwidth. At the present, researchers’ efforts to clarify the subject have still not yet finalized, this study aims to provide insightful knowledge for future efforts. In this study, for the region bounded by 27°–33° longitudes and 39°–41° latitudes, where the western section of the famous Northern Anatolian fault lies, smoothing techniques are implemented to determine the optimum smoothing kernel bandwidth for point sources. The influence of the modeling of seismicity through the computation of the optimum smoothing kernel bandwidth is examined. In addition, the sensitivity of each smoothing technique to the seismic patterns, whether densely clustered or scarcely populated, is investigated. In the end, the smoothing method based on optimum neighbor number is identified as highly sensitive to the density of seismicity and seismic clusters, and better in modeling high seismicity compared to the model based on single optimum smoothing distance used for the entire region of interest.     

Reply to the comment on “Prediction of ground vibrations resulting from the blasting operations in an open pit mine by adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system” by Tarkan Erdik

Environmental Earth Sciences -     

The distribution and sources of heavy metals in Izmit Bay surface sediments affected by a polluted stream

Dil Deresi stream is a highly contaminated stream passing through the most heavily industrialized area of Izmit Bay. In this research, surface sediments in the <63-microm fraction collected from 34 sites at western part of Izmit Bay, Northeastern Marmara Sea, Turkey were analyzed by ICP-AES for Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn. Metal concentrations were compared with the marine sediment quality standards (SQS) and literature data to assess the pollution status of the sediments. Enrichment factors (EFs) were calculated to assess whether the concentrations observed represent background or contaminated levels. The analysis revealed three groups of elements: (1) Sn is the most enriched element; (2) As, Cd, Pb and Zn are minor enriched elements; and (3) Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Ni are at background concentrations. The distribution maps of the concentrations and enrichment factors for all heavy metals were also produced as a contour plot based on Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.