Scaling of response spectrum and duration for aftershocks

Aftershocks have the potential to cause collapse of a structure that has been already damaged by the preceding main shock. Seismic safety of a structure should therefore be ascertained through a damage analysis using the anticipated main shock and few larger-aftershock motions. Simulation of aftershock motions needs characterization of the seismic hazard due to aftershocks, and therefore it will be useful to develop a conditional scaling model that can predict the response spectrum of an anticipated aftershock motion consistent with the design spectrum of the main shock motion anticipated at the same station. In this study an attempt is made to develop a conditional scaling model for the pseudo spectral velocity spectrum via linear regression analysis on the aftershock and main shock recordings for the 1999 Chi–Chi earthquake. It is shown that it may be possible to obtain a simpler and approximate version of the conditional model from an unconditional model. Damage-causing potential of a ground motion also depends on its strong motion duration (SMD) and therefore a conditional scaling model is developed for SMD of the aftershock motion in several narrow frequency-bands. The model is developed for the larger-aftershock motions and it is shown that a reasonable replacement of such a model may be obtainable directly from an unconditional model. Finally, a simple weighted averaging scheme is proposed to obtain the composite SMD from the SMDs for different frequency bands by using the pseudo spectral acceleration spectrum of the motion.     

滑坡位移多重分形特征与滑坡演化预测

在系统分析滑坡位移监测资料和位移演化特征的基础上,根据多重分形理论基本原理,对滑坡位移演化所具有的复杂性、突变性和非线性特征进行了分析和研究。单一分形维数对滑坡位移的演化趋势预测存在不足,文中分别以新滩滑坡、丹巴滑坡和黄蜡石滑坡为例,计算了滑坡位移时序演化的多重分维数演化特征。分析和评价位移演化规律与多重分维数演化特征的关系发现,多重分维数D1 > D2 > … > D∞时,滑坡趋于稳定;D1 < D2 < … < D∞时,滑坡向失稳破坏演化。当滑坡位移时序多重分维数演化特征出现拐点时,即分维数由D1 > D2 > … > D∞,经D1 > … > Dn < Dn+1 < … < D∞到 D1 < D2 < … < D∞的演化过程时,滑坡向不稳定的状态演化;当分维数由D1 < D2 < … < D∞,经D1 > … > Dn D2 > … > D∞的演化过程时,滑坡向趋于稳定的状态演化。研究表明,可以运用多重分维数演化特征对滑坡位移演化趋势与规律进行评价与预测。     

云南麻栗坡地区成矿元素的多重分形特征与成矿预测

对麻栗坡地区1∶5万水系沉积物测量数据的统计分析表明,W、Sn、Pb、Zn、Cu等主要成矿元素不完全服从正态分布和对数正态分布,而表现出多重分形结构特征。因此,采用传统的地质统计学方法提取异常显然不能客观地反映区域的成矿元素分布特征。本文引用了"C-A"多重分形模型来研究该地区成矿元素特征,并有效提取各元素异常下限值,结合区域成矿地质背景,对区内成矿潜力进行初步预测。实践表明,分形方法所提取的剩余异常与研究区的矿产分布较为相符,较好地反映了研究区成矿元素分布规律,为研究区成矿预测提供了依据。     

Head/Tail Breaks: A New Classification Scheme for Data with a Heavy-Tailed Distribution

This article introduces a new classification scheme—head/tail breaks—to find groupings or hierarchy for data with a heavy-tailed distribution. The heavy-tailed distributions are heavily right skewed, with a minority of large values in the head and a majority of small values in the tail, commonly characterized by a power law, a lognormal, or an exponential function. For example, a country's population is often distributed in such a heavy-tailed manner, with a minority of people (e.g., 20 percent) in the countryside and the vast majority (e.g., 80 percent) in urban areas. This new classification scheme partitions all of the data values around the mean into two parts and continues the process iteratively for the values (above the mean) in the head until the head part values are no longer heavy-tailed distributed. Thus, the number of classes and the class intervals are both naturally determined. I therefore claim that the new classification scheme is more natural than the natural breaks in finding the groupings or hierarchy for data with a heavy-tailed distribution. I demonstrate the advantages of the head/tail breaks method over Jenks's natural breaks in capturing the underlying hierarchy of the data.     

Erosion modelling for land management in the Tahoe basin,USA: scaling from plots to forest catchments

Abstract

Recent developments in hydrological modelling of river basins are focused on prediction in ungauged basins, which implies the need to improve relationships between model parameters and easily-obtainable information, such as satellite images, and to test the transferability of model parameters. A large-scale distributed hydrological model is described, which has been used in several large river basins in Brazil. The model parameters are related to classes of physical characteristics, such as soil type, land use, geology and vegetation. The model uses two basin space units: square grids for flow direction along the basin and GRU—group response units—which are hydrological classes of the basin physical characteristics for water balance. Expected ranges of parameter values are associated with each of these classes during the model calibration. Results are presented of the model fitting in the Taquari-Antas River basin in Brazil (26 000 km² and 11 flow gauges). Based on this fitting, the model was then applied to the Upper Uruguay River basin (52 000 km²), having similar physical conditions, without any further calibration, in order to test the transferability of the model. The results in the Uruguay basin were compared with recorded flow data and showed relatively small errors, although a tendency to underestimate mean flows was found.     

Analyses multifractales et spatio-temporelles des précipitations du modèle Méso-NH et des données radar

Résumé

Dans le cadre des multifractals universels, il est possible de caractériser la variabilité spatio-temporelle de la pluie sur une grande gamme d’échelle à l'aide de trois paramètres invariants d’échelles. Dans cette étude, nous avons estimé ces paramètres multifractals sur des simulations numériques effectuées avec le modèle méso-échelle Méso-NH, développé par Météo-France et le Laboratoire d'Aérologie (Univ. P. Sabatier, Toulouse, France), et des images radar composites, couvrant le même événement pluvieux, à savoir un orage particulièrement violent, dit de type Cévenol, ayant eu lieu sur la partie sud de la France du 5 au 9 Septembre 2005. La comparaison des résultats montre que les deux types de données présentent des domaines d'invariance d’échelle relativement similaires, et dont les propriétés sont en accord avec les modèles de précipitation spatio-temporels unifiés et scalants les plus simples. Néanmoins l’évaluation de leurs exposants conduit à des valeurs parfois fortement différentes.

Citation Gires, A., Tchiguirinskaia, I., Schertzer, D. & Lovejoy, S. (2011) Analyses multifractales et spatio-temporelles des précipitations du modèle Méso-NH et des données radar. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(3), 380–396.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF ALPINE SOILS,EAGLE CAP,WALLOWA MOUNTAINS,OREGON

This study examines alpine soil development along a toposequence on Eagle Cap, Wallowa Mountains, northeast Oregon. Soils studied are from Wind Blown (WB) and Minimal Snow Cover (MSC) sites in the Ridge-Top Tundra geomorphic province. The soils are predominantly loamy sands, and exhibit minimal structural development. Soil pH ranges from 6.5 to 7.3 increasing with depth, and organic carbon ranges from 3.9% in the A horizon to 0.8% in the C horizon. The soils display significant input from Cascade volcanic ash infall and eolian influx from the weathered marble nearby. It is postulated that the ash content in the soils originates from Mazama Ash deposits. Though Eagle Cap soils have developed for the most part on granodiorite, the strong influence of the volcanic ash on pedogenesis leads to a preliminary classification of Andisols, most probably Typic and Lithic Haplocryands. [Key words: Alpine soils, Andisols, Wallowa Mountains.]