JOINT INVERSION OF SEISMIC AND GEOELECTRIC DATA RECORDED IN AN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE1

Until the present time the ‘ rock-coal-rock’ layer sequence and offsets in coal-seams in underground coal mines have been detected with the aid of seismic waves and geoelectric measurements. In order to determine the geometrical and petrophysical parameters of the coal-seam situation, the data recorded using seismic and geoelectric methods have been inverted independently. In consequence, the inversion of partially inaccurate data resulted in a certain degree of ambiguity. This paper presents the first results of a joint inversion scheme to process underground vertical seismic profiling data, geolectric resistivity and resistance data. The joint inversion algorithm makes use of the damped least-squares method and its weighted version to solve the linearized set of equations for the seismic and geolectric unknowns. In order to estimate the accuracy and reliability of the derived geometrical and petrophysical layer parameters, both a model covariance matrix and a correlation matrix are calculated. The weighted least-squares algorithm is based on the method of most frequent values (MFV). The weight factors depend on the difference between measured data and those calculated by an iteration process. The joint inversion algorithm is tested by means of synthetic data. Compared to the damped least-squares algorithm, the MFV inversion leads to smaller estimation errors as well as lower sensitivities due to the choice of the initial model. It is shown that, compared to an independent inversion, the correlation between the model parameters is definitely reduced, while the accuracy of the parameter estimation is appreciably increased by the joint inversion process. Thus the ambiguity is significantly reduced. Finally, the joint inversion algorithm using the MFV method is applied to underground field data. The model parameters can be derived with a sufficient degree of accuracy, even in the case of noisy data.     

SEISMIC MODELLING WITH CHANNEL WAVES IN SEAM STRUCTURES INFLUENCED BY MYLONITE ZONES1

Channel waves generated in coal-seams and their reflections from discontinuities are widely used to indicate the tectonic and stratigraphic features of coal deposits, resulting in greater efficiency and safety in coal-mining. In the mining area of Ibbenbüren (F.R.G.) seam structures sometimes contain so-called mylonite zones, which are crushed coal deposits capable of binding gas. If mining hits a mylonite zone this would probably not only reduce output of the mine, but could even cause gas explosions. To investigate the influence of a mylonite zone on the propagation of channel waves, Rayleigh channel wave measurements for 2D analogue models were performed and synthetic seismograms of Love channel waves were calculated. Analogue modelling of the mylonite zone using Rayleigh seam waves within the seam was carried out using a perforation technique. Calculations were made to obtain an estimate of velocity reduction due to perforation. The results agree well with velocity values measured up to a perforation of 25% in a 2D epoxy resin model. Reflected channel wave energy was found by applying dispersion analysis in the case where the impedance reduction between the mylonite seam structure and the undisturbed seam was approximately 5%. The horizontal width of the mylonite structure was detectable from the time lag between reflected channel wave signals from both in-seam borders of the mylonite zone. Resolution of two discrete borders was possible for a width of 1.5 λ's. The influence of a vertical fault, positioned within the mylonite zone, could only poorly be resolved. Numerical model investigations of Love seam waves were concerned mainly with the variation of the horizontal width of the mylonite zone. Mylonite zones with dimensions of the order of 0.4 λ's allow definite statements about their widths from dispersion and spectral analyses. For zones with smaller widths down to 0.2 λ's, it was found that reflectivity and transmissivity analyses give a qualitative criterion for distinguishing a mylonite structure surrounding a fault from a pure fault.     

Near-Ultrahigh Pressure Processing of Continental Crust: Miocene Crustal Xenoliths from the Pamir

Xenoliths of subducted crustal origin hosted by Miocene ultrapotassicigneous rocks in the southern Pamir provide important new informationregarding the geological processes accompanying tectonism duringthe Indo-Eurasian collision. Four types have been studied: sanidineeclogites (omphacite, garnet, sanidine, quartz, biotite, kyanite),felsic granulites (garnet, quartz, sanidine and kyanite), basalticeclogites (omphacite and garnet), and a glimmerite (biotite,clinopyroxene and sanidine). Apatite, rutile and carbonate arethe most abundant minor phases. Hydrous phases (biotite andphengite in felsic granulites and basaltic eclogites, amphibolesin mafic and sanidine eclogites) and plagioclase form minorinclusions in garnet or kyanite. Solid-phase thermobarometryreveals recrystallization at mainly ultrahigh temperatures of1000–1100°C and near-ultrahigh pressures of 2·5–2·8GPa. Textures, parageneses and mineral compositions suggestderivation of the xenoliths from subducted basaltic, tonaliticand pelitic crust that experienced high-pressure dehydrationmelting, K-rich metasomatism, and solid-state re-equilibration.The timing of these processes is constrained by zircon agesfrom the xenoliths and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the host volcanic rocksto 57–11 Ma. These xenoliths reveal that deeply subductedcrust may undergo extensive dehydration-driven partial melting,density-driven differentiation and disaggregation, and sequestrationwithin the mantle. These processes may also contribute to thealkaline volcanism observed in continent-collision zones. KEY WORDS: xenolith; high-pressure; subduction; Pamir; Tibet     

ITERATIVE TOMOGRAPHIC METHODS TO LOCATE SEISMIC LOW-VELOCITY ANOMALIES: A MODEL STUDY1

The possibilities for reconstructing seismic velocity distributions containing low-velocity anomalies by iterative tomographic methods are examined studying numerical and analogue 2D model data. The geometrical conditions of the model series were designed to generalize the geometrical characteristics of a typical cross-hole tomographic field case. Models with high (30%) and low (8%) velocity contrasts were realized. Traveltimes of 2D ultrasonic P-waves, determined for a dense net of raypaths across each model, form the analogue data set. The numerical data consists of traveltimes calculated along straight raypaths. Additionally, a set of curved-ray traveltimes was calculated for a smoothed version of the high-contrast model. The Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) was chosen from the various tomographic inversion methods. The abilities of this standard procedure are studied using the low-contrast model data. The investigations concentrate on the resolving power concerning geometry and velocity, and on the effects caused by erroneous data due to noise or a finite time precision. The grid spacing and the source and receiver patterns are modified. Smoothing and slowness constraints were tested. The inversion of high-contrast analogue model data shows that curved raypaths have to be considered. Hence, a ray-tracing algorithm using velocity gradients was developed, based on the grid structure of the tomographic inversion. This algorithm is included in the SIRT-process and the improvements concerning anomaly localization, resolution and velocity reconstruction are demonstrated. Since curved-ray tomography is time-consuming compared with straight-ray SIRT, it is necessary to consider the effects of grid spacing, ray density, slowness constraints and the     

LOVE-TYPE SEAM-WAVES IN WASHOUT MODELS OF COAL SEAMS*

The propagation of Love seam-waves across washouts of coal seams was studied by calculating synthetic seismograms with a finite-difference method. Seam interruption, seam end and seam thinning models were investigated. The horizontal offset, the dip of the discontinuities and the degree of erosion served as variable parameters. Maximum displacement amplitudes, relative spectral amplitudes and phase and group slowness curves were extracted from the synthetic seismograms. Both seam interruption and seam thinning reduce the maximum displacement amplitudes of the transmitted Love seam-waves. The degree of amplitude reduction depends on the horizontal offset and the degree of erosion. It is four times greater for a total seam interruption than for an equivalent seam thinning with a horizontal offset of four times the seam thickness. In a seam cut vertically, the impedance contrast between the coal and the washout filling determines the maximum displacement amplitudes of the reflected Love seam-waves. They diminish by a maximum factor of four in oblique interruption zone discontinuities with a dip of maximum 27°, and by a maximum factor of ten in a seam thinning with a degree of erosion of at least 22%. The analysis of the relative spectral amplitudes indicates a preferential transmission of those phases with frequencies below, and a preferential reflection of those phases with frequencies above the first mode Airy-phase. The relative spectral amplitudes of the reflected Love seam-waves show a distinct interference pattern of the waves reflected at both interruption zone discontinuities. The dispersion analysis reveals a flattening of the phase and group slowness curves with increasing frequencies, horizontal offset and degrees of erosion. These results imply that a detection of washouts in-mine will be possible in a frequency range including at least the first mode Airy-phase. An interference pattern and a flattening of the dispersion curve indicate a washout rather than other seam obstructions and leads to an estimate of the washout dimension.     

HYBRID SEISMIC MODELLING: A TECHNIQUE TO COMBINE PHYSICAL AND COMPUTER METHODS FOR VERTICAL WAVE INCIDENCE*

A hybrid seismic modelling technique has been developed to investigate complex geological phenomena. Those parts of a geological structure which are too complicated to be treated theoretically are studied by two-dimensional physical models; other sections of the structure which can be treated theoretically, i.e., inhomogeneities in the vertical direction, are modelled by computer methods. A feedback process is used to combine the results of both physical and computer modelling. Horizontally layered coal-seam models are presented to test the hybrid modelling technique for normal incidence. A comparison of the hybrid seismograms with pure synthetic seismograms shows an acceptable conformity for normal incidence. A hybrid zero-offset section is shown to investigate a complex geological structure in the Ruhr coalfield in Germany.     

Airborne measurements of dust layer properties, particle size distribution and mixing state of Saharan dust during SAMUM 2006

The Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) was conducted in May/June 2006 in southern Morocco. As part of SAMUM, airborne in situ measurements of the particle size distribution in the diameter range 4 nm < D _p < 100 μm were conducted. The aerosol mixing state was determined below D _p < 2.5 μm. Furthermore, the vertical structure of the dust layers was investigated with a nadir-looking high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL). The desert dust aerosol exhibited two size regimes of different mixing states: below 0.5 μm, the particles had a non-volatile core and a volatile coating; larger particles above 0.5 μm consisted of non-volatile components and contained light absorbing material. In all cases, particles larger than 10 μm were present, and in 80% of the measurements no particles larger than 40 μm were present. The abundance of large particles showed almost no height dependence. The effective diameter D _eff in the dust plumes investigated showed two main ranges: the first range of D _eff peaked around 5 μm and the second range of D _eff around 8 μm. The two ranges of D _eff suggest that it may be inadequate to use one average effective diameter or one parametrization for a typical dust size distribution.     

TOMOGRAPHIC INVERSION OF NORMALIZED DATA: DOUBLE-TRACE TOMOGRAPHY ALGORITHMS1

Tomography is widely used in geophysics as a technique for imaging geological structures by means of data that are line integrals of physical characteristics. In some transmission measurements, due to various kinds of normalization, the measured data are related to two (the current and the reference) raypaths and can be expressed as a function of differences between line integrals. This is the case, for example, in seismo-acoustic emission measurements, when (since the exact start time is unknown) only the differences between traveltimes (differences between line integrals of the slowness) can be determined. Similarly the use of normalized Fourier amplitudes results in data dependent upon the difference between line integrals of the absorption coefficient (computed along the actual and the reference raypaths). In order to invert these data the ordinary tomography algorithms should be modified. Some generalizations are presented for series expansion tomography methods in order to make them applicable to reconstruction problems in which the input data are differences between two line integrals. The conjugate gradient and the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT) methods were adapted and tested. It is shown that the modified tomography algorithms are stable and sufficiently accurate for practical use. In the reconstruction of noise-free difference data, the conjugate gradient algorithm is found to be faster and more accurate while, in the case of noisy difference data, the modified SIRT algorithm is more stable and insensitive to noise.     

Suitability of monosaccharides as markers for particle identification in carbonate sediments*†

The identification of the remains of organisms contributing to carbonate sediments by means of scanning electron-microscopy is limited to particles of the 2–20 μm size class. Mineralogy and the content of Mg, Sr and trace elements alone are usually insufficient to solve the problem of identification, especially in the differentiation between algal and coral aragonite. The organic matrix of calcareous organisms consists of stable biopolymers such as polysaccharides and glycoproteins which are intimately associated with the carbonate skeleton. Analysis of these hydrolysed compounds gives rise to characteristic arrays of monosaccharides which provide independent criteria for producer identification. The calcareous green algae Halimeda, Penicillus and Udotea show high xylose and low fucose levels. Xylose and fucose levels are elevated in the red algae Amphiroa but only fucose is prominent in the brown algae Padina. The corals Oculina, Porites, Millipora and Montastrea are relatively rich in fucose and show little or no xylose. In the bivalves Arca, Codakia and in Argopecten mannose may be characteristic. Analysis of artificial and natural sediments demonstrates that coral and algal aragonite can be distinguished on the basis of the total sugar concentration and respective xylose and fucose levels. The applicability of the technique in comparison to geochemical and mineralogical methods has been demonstrated for surface sediments from varying water depths of Harrington Sound, Bermuda.     

STUDIES OF ROADWAY MODES IN A COAL SEAM BY DISPERSION AND POLARIZATION ANALYSIS: A CASE HISTORY*

Field data from two-component in-seam seismic measurements are used to study roadway modes and their interaction with reflected seam waves. Using the multiple-filter technique to investigate the dispersion behaviour of the different waves, it can be shown that the roadway modes disperse very similarly to the related transmitted seam waves. However, because of the free surface of the coal face, the dispersion curves of the roadway modes show a velocity reduction and a slight shift to lower frequencies compared to those of the related transmitted seam waves. Polarization analysis using hodograms, rectilinearity and polarization angle confirms these results. The parameters found by polarization analysis can be used to design polarization filters which help to separate roadway modes and reflected events in the traveltime range of superposition in the presented field case.