A New Tool for Inundation Modeling: Community Modeling Interface for Tsunamis (ComMIT)

Almost 5 years after the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tragedy, the 10 August 2009 Andaman tsunami demonstrated that accurate forecasting is possible using the tsunami community modeling tool Community Model Interface for Tsunamis (ComMIT). ComMIT is designed for ease of use, and allows dissemination of results to the community while addressing concerns associated with proprietary issues of bathymetry and topography. It uses initial conditions from a precomputed propagation database, has an easy-to-interpret graphical interface, and requires only portable hardware. ComMIT was initially developed for Indian Ocean countries with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To date, more than 60 scientists from 17 countries in the Indian Ocean have been trained and are using it in operational inundation mapping.     

Visualization and Analysis of Multi-terabyte Geophysical Datasets in an Interactive Setting with Remote Webcam Capabilities

Visualizing and analyzing datasets in the geosciences is becoming increasingly complicated as their volumes are growing explosively. This poses a challenging problem for researchers who must sift through terabytes of data to discover useful relationships inside the information. There is a great need for geophysicists to interactively explore their data sets. Conventional visualization systems lack adequate bandwidth and rendering capabilities necessary for the largest data sets. CAVE and Powerwall display devices are necessary for researchers to explore their data sets in an immersive setting. We describe a utilitarian system targeted specifically at the cost-effective interactive exploration of data sets tens of terabytes in size and harness this system for visualization and analysis of geophysical simulations. Webcams can be used as a steering device to track a local region of interest, which is useful for remote visualization of large data sets. This system will be employed as a web-service under the auspices of Narada-Brokering, while using webcam technologies to enable remote visualization for collaborating researchers. Webcams can be incorporated in a point-to-point network for rapid exchange of information and quickly announcing natural disasters, such as tsunamis, landslides and earthquakes.     

基于FOCMEC方法反演震源机制解的交互式程序研制与使用

基于P、SV、SH波的初动和振幅比联合反演震源机制解程序包(FOCMEC),结合我国地震波资料的保存格式,利用Delphi面向对象语言,开发交互式FOCMEC方法反演震源机制解程序,并详细介绍了计算原理、使用方法和注意事项。通过严格的测试和对比,认为该程序反演结果准确可靠。     

2-D Frequency-domain Waveform Inversion of Coupled Acoustic-Elastic Media with an Irregular Interface

In order to correctly interpret marine exploration data, which contain many elastic signals such as S waves, surface waves and converted waves, we have developed both a frequency-domain modeling algorithm for acoustic-elastic coupled media with an irregular interface, and the corresponding waveform inversion algorithm. By applying the continuity condition between acoustic (fluid) and elastic (solid) media, wave propagation can be properly simulated throughout the coupled domain. The arbitrary interface is represented by tessellating square and triangular finite elements. Although the resulting complex impedance matrix generated by finite element methods for the acoustic-elastic coupled wave equation is asymmetric, we can exploit the usual back-propagation algorithm used in the frequency domain through modern sparse matrix technology. By running numerical experiments on a synthetic model, we demonstrate that our inversion algorithm can successfully recover P- and S-wave velocity and density models from marine exploration data (pressure data only).     

A Compatible Single-Phase/Two-Phase Numerical Model: 1. Modeling the Transient Salt-Water/Fresh-Water Interface Motion

Abstract A numerical model (NEWVAR) to simulate the transient movement of a discrete interface between salt water and fresh water has been developed. NEWVAR is designed to allow the analysis of a regional two-dimensional ground-water flow in coastal aquifers. The numerical solution permits the prediction of both regional fresh-water levels and two-dimensional fresh-water/salt-water interface by using nested square meshes.
The numerical solution is based on the finite-difference method; the Gauss-Jordan direct method is used for solving steady- and unsteady-state linear equations. Different procedures are used to avoid numerical difficulties in the transient position of the interface toe for two-dimensional areal flow.
The numerical solution was tested against the analytical ones for the cases of an advancing interface and of a floating fresh-water lens over sea water. These tests showed good agreement, thus verifying the finite-difference approximation. The results of an application of this model to a real aquifer are discussed in a companion paper entitled: "A Compatible Single-Phase/Two-Phase Numerical Model 2. Application to a Coastal Aquifer in Mexico."     

Mantle Convection Modeling with Viscoelastic/Brittle Lithosphere: Numerical Methodology and Plate Tectonic Modeling

--The earth's tectonic plates are strong, viscoelastic shells which make up the outermost part of a thermally convecting, predominantly viscous layer. Brittle failure of the lithosphere occurs when stresses are high. In order to build a realistic simulation of the planet's evolution, the complete viscoelastic/brittle convection system needs to be considered. A particle-in-cell finite element method is demonstrated which can simulate very large deformation viscoelasticity with a strain-dependent yield stress. This is applied to a plate-deformation problem. Numerical accuracy is demonstrated relative to analytic benchmarks, and the characteristics of the method are discussed.     

Thermodynamically Constrained Averaging Theory Approach for Modeling Flow and Transport Phenomena in Porous Medium Systems: 8. Interface and Common Curve Dynamics

This work is the eighth in a series that develops the fundamental aspects of the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT) that allows for a systematic increase in the scale at which multiphase transport phenomena is modeled in porous medium systems. In these systems, the explicit locations of interfaces between phases and common curves, where three or more interfaces meet, are not considered at scales above the microscale. Rather, the densities of these quantities arise as areas per volume or length per volume. Modeling of the dynamics of these measures is an important challenge for robust models of flow and transport phenomena in porous medium systems, as the extent of these regions can have important implications for mass, momentum, and energy transport between and among phases, and formulation of a capillary pressure relation with minimal hysteresis. These densities do not exist at the microscale, where the interfaces and common curves correspond to particular locations. Therefore, it is necessary for a well-developed macroscale theory to provide evolution equations that describe the dynamics of interface and common curve densities. Here we point out the challenges and pitfalls in producing such evolution equations, develop a set of such equations based on averaging theorems, and identify the terms that require particular attention in experimental and computational efforts to parameterize the equations. We use the evolution equations developed to specify a closed two-fluid-phase flow model.     

Modeling Lake Ladoga Zoobenthos and Studying Its Role in Phosphorus Exchange at the Water–Bed Interface

A zoobenthos submodel is included in an ecosystem model. The new model is used to assess the role of zoobenthos in the phosphorus exchange at the water–bed interface, in particular, the phosphorus cycle in the water body ecosystem is described more accurately. The calculated zoobenthos distribution over the bed of a lake can be used in modeling the lake ichthyocenoses.     

Geochemical analyses of air from an ancient debris-covered glacier,Antarctica

We examined air trapped in ancient ice from three shallow cores (<35 m deep) recovered from stagnant portions of the Mullins glacier, an 8 km long debris-covered alpine glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys that is overlain by several in-situ volcanic ash-fall deposits. Previously reported ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates on ash-fall in the vicinity of the core sites average 4.0 Ma, and underlying ice is presumably as old in some areas. We analyzed the elemental and isotopic composition of O₂, N₂, and Ar and total air content of the glacial ice. We also dated the trapped air directly to an uncertainty of ±220 kyr (1σ) by measuring its ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar and ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar ratios. Our results suggest that the air analyzed is likely a mixture of ancient atmosphere trapped at the time of ice formation and more recent air introduced via cracks in the ice that penetrate to at least 33 m. The isotopic signatures of gases have been complicated by gas loss, as well as a mixture of thermal and gravitational fractionation. The oldest age estimated for the trapped air dates to 1.6 Ma, indicating that the original air is at least as old as 1.6 ± 0.2 Ma. A convergence to older ice ages with increasing depth in the deepest core analyzed (33 m) hints at the possibility that pristine air might be recovered at greater depths. Minor interstitial debris present in the glacial ice (<1%), along with geochemical evidence for in-situ microbial respiration, prohibit direct analysis of CO₂. We measured the triple isotopic composition of O₂ as a proxy for CO₂ and infer that, in the air represented in our ice samples, CO₂ concentrations are within the range observed over the last 800 ka.     

South Aegean volcanic arc: Geochemical variations and geotectonic implications

The Aegean volcanic arc is one of the most important geological structure of the Mediterranean area. It is a belt of volcanic centers consisting of products ranging from basaltic, andesitic, dacitic to rhyolitic in composition, all of them displaying a typical calc-alkaline chemical character. The most abundant rock types are represented by andesites and dacites. Minor amounts of basalts and rhyolites occur mainly in the central-eastern sector of the arc. The REE, Rb, Sr, Ba, Th, Ta, Hf, Zr, Ni, Co, V and Cr abundances determined in 27 representative samples from different centers suggest that: 1) the intermediate and acidic terms are products of crystal/liquid fractionation processes starting from basic parent magmas: 2) large variations in incompatible elements occur in the most basic samples that are interpreted as evidence for heterogeneously LIL element-enriched mantle source; 3) plagioclase played a role in the evolution of the volcanic centers of the eastern and central arc different from that played in the volcanoes of the western sector. Along the arc, the differences in the distribution of lithological types, in the volumes of erupted material, in the volcanological characteristics of the different centers as well as in the patterns of trace element distribution in the volcanites are considered to be connected with the prevailing tectonic regime affecting the various sectors of the arc.     

适于声波方程数值模拟的时间-空间域有限差分算子改进线性算法

有限差分法广泛应用于地震波场的数值延拓,确定合适的有限差分算子以减小数值频散是有限差分法的一个重要研究内容。近年来为了进一步抑制数值频散和增加时间步长,新的有限差分模板得到了应用,对于此,前人使用泰勒展开方法和最小二乘方法确定有限差分算子系数。本文在以前工作的基础上,使用改进的线性方法确定新模板的有限差分系数,并与传统模板线性方法进行对比;通过频散分析和正演模拟验证出新模板线性方法能够更好地保持频散关系,在相同的精度下效率提高了一倍,从而说明了改进的线性方法的有效性。     

与地震有关的水文及地球化学变化

简要回顾了几十年来对地震发生前、地震过程中和震后地下流体和地球化学变化的研究和成果,这些研究一般都是以探索地震预报可能性为目的的。论述了与地震有关的地下水文及地球化学变化的机理,这些地下流体(包括地下水和气体诸如氢、氧和惰性气体)的起源和迁移流动现象以及详细介绍了早期和近代对有关地震的地下流体和地球化学变化的观测成果。同时指出了对地下流体和地球化学作为地震前兆来观测研究的困难所在以及为了克服这些困难而应该采取的地震前兆观测研究的方向,例如多种手段和多种原理方法,开发有效的地球物理和地球化学模型以及适当的数据分析统计方法等。     

Geochemical indicators and seismic phenomena

Bulletin of Volcanology - The results obtained from the study of the Atami Geyser. of Hakone Volcano fumaroles, and of Kagai hot springs can be used for the geochemical prediction of ‘great...