Locally triggered seismicity in the central Swiss Alps following the large rainfall event of August 2005

In 2005 August, an unusual series of 47 earthquakes occurred over a 12-hr period in central Switzerland. The earthquakes occurred at the end of 3-d period of intensive rainfall, with over 300 mm of precipitation. The highest seismicity occurred as two distinct clusters in the region of Muotatal and Riemenstalden, Switzerland, a well-known Karst area that received a particularly large amount of rainfall. The large increase in seismicity, compared to the background, and the short time delay between the onset of the intense rainfall and the seismicity strongly suggest that earthquakes were triggered by rainfall. In our preferred model, an increase in fluid pressure at the surface due to a large amount of rain leads to a local increase in pore fluid pressure at depth. The increase in pore fluid pressure will reduce the shear strength of a porous medium by counteracting normal stress and, at the end, provoke failure. The series of triggered earthquakes in central Switzerland occurred in regions that have been seismically active in the past, showing similar hypocentre locations and magnitudes. This suggests that these earthquakes occurred on existing faults that were critically stressed. We modelled the intense rainfall as a step increase in fluid pressure at the surface that migrates to greater depths following the solution of the one-dimensional diffusion equation in a homogeneous half space. This allowed us to estimate the hydraulic diffusivity by plotting triggered seismicity in a time–depth plot. We found values of hydraulic diffusivity in the range from 0.01 to 0.5 m² s⁻¹ for our study area. These values are in good agreement with previous studies on earthquakes that were triggered by fluids, supporting the idea that the observed earthquake series was triggered by the large amount of rainfall.     

Study on Phase Behavior of CO2/Hydrocarbons in Shale Reservoirs Considering Sieving Effect and Capillary Pressure

The phase behavior of fluid is essential for predicting ultimate oil recovery and determining optimal production parameters. The pore size in shale porous media is nanopore, which causes different phase behaviors of fluid in unconventional reservoirs. Nanopores in shale media can be regard as semipermeable membrane to filter heavy components (sieving effect) in shale oil, which leads to the different distributions of fluid components and different phase behaviors. In addition, the phase behavior of fluid in nanopores can be significantly altered by large capillary pressure. In this paper, the phase behavior of fluid in shale reservoirs is investigated by a new two-phase flash algorithm considering sieving effect and capillary pressure. Firstly, membrane efficiency and capillary pressure are introduced to establish a thermodynamic equilibrium model that is solved by Rachford–Rice flash calculation and Newton–Raphson method. The capillary pressures in different pore sizes are calculated by the Young–Laplace equation. Then, the influences of sieving effect and capillary pressure on phase behavior are analyzed. The results indicate that capillary pressure can suppress the bubble point pressure of fluid in nanopores. The distributions of fluid components are different in various parts of shale media. In the unfiltered part, density and viscosity of fluid are higher. Finally, it is found that the membrane efficiency can be improved by CO₂ injection. The minimum miscibility pressure for shale oil–CO₂ system is also studied. The developed model provides a better understanding of the phase behavior of fluid in shale oil reservoirs.

     

Electrical conductivity models for the continental crust based on laboratory measurements on high-grade metamorphic rocks

Summary. Deep electrical conductivity soundings are increasingly being used as an additional source of information regarding the nature of the lower continental crust. However, a lack of relevant laboratory-based conductivity measurements makes interpretation of such soundings difficult. Laboratory measurements have been made on saturated and unsaturated samples of possible lower crustal rock types subjected to confining pressures up to 0.4 GPa, temperatures up to 300°C, and with variable pore fluid pressure up to the confining pressure. Extrapolation of these results suggests that the surprisingly high conductivities deduced for depths of approximately 20 km in certain stable continental areas may result from a combination of basic rock type and high pore fluid pressures, for whereas the conductivities measured in acid rock types can be explained in terms of conduction through the pore fluid alone, the conductivities measured in basic rock types imply enhanced conduction presumably through the matrix or along grain boundaries. The lower conductivities deduced from field experiments for the upper crust may be due to more acid rock types and/or lower pore fluid pressures, perhaps due to hydration reactions. In areas where the high conductivity layer is coincident with a low velocity layer an explanation in terms of changing pore fluid pressure, i.e. low to high, with increasing depth seems more likely.     

Hydrostatic pore water pressure revisited

Hydrostatic or “normal” pressure can be easily visualized as a water column with pressure given by ρgh and any departures classified as abnormal pressure. This is the basis for commonly used hydrostatic pressure depth trends in sedimentary basins that are constructed on assumptions of constant gradients and are datumed at mean sea level or ground level. But the straightforward water column concept does not upscale in a simple way to sedimentary basins where the zones of interest are several thousands of metres below the land or sea surface. Sedimentary basins are heterogeneous, including stacked, confined reservoirs and variations in pore water composition. It is possible to construct pressure-depth profiles that honour the geology and hydrostratigraphy of a basin and these give different hydrostatic baselines from simple constant gradients hung from familiar local datums such as ground level. Key steps are using a reservoir-specific datums such as the water table or potentiometric surface relevant to that unit, then building a pressure-depth trend that represents the pore fluid salinity variation and density profile throughout the reservoir unit. At a given depth, this version of hydrostatic may predict pressures several hundred psi different from a single density gradient hung from a datum local to the well, and exhibit a notched profile reflecting the geological and hydrological stratigraphy. This construct redefines normal and abnormal pore fluid pressures in sedimentary basins. The impacts of this alternative approach to sedimentary basin hydrostatics, even if data are limited and pressure profiles have to be framed probabilistically, extend to many aspects of studying and interacting with fluid systems in sedimentary basins including basin modelling, petroleum systems analysis, well planning and well operations.     

Temporal and three-dimensional spatial analyses of the frequency–magnitude distribution near Long Valley Caldera, California

The 3-D distribution of the b value of the frequency–magnitude distribution is analysed in the seismically active parts of the crust near Long Valley Caldera, California. The seismicity is sampled in spherical volumes, containing N =150 earthquakes and centred at nodes of a grid separated by 0.3  km. Significant variations in the b value are detected, with b ranging from b ≈0.6 to b ≈2.0. High b -value volumes are located near the resurgent dome, and at depths below 5  km at Mammoth Mountain. b values are found to be much lower south of the Long Valley Caldera. We interpret this to indicate that an active magma body has advanced from depths below 8  km to depths of 4 to 5  km beneath Mammoth Mountain in 1989, and that anomalous crust, either highly fractured or containing unusually high pore pressure, such as is the case in the vicinity of active magma bodies, exists north of the seismically active area beneath the resurgent dome at all depths. We also investigate the spatial distribution of temporal variations of the frequency–magnitude distribution by introducing differential b -value maps. b values increased from b ≈0.8 to b ≈1.5 underneath Mammoth Mountain at the onset of the 1989 earthquake swarm and remained high thereafter. This suggests that an intrusion permanently altered the average distribution of cracks at 5–10  km depth, or that the pore pressure permanently increased. We propose that high b values are a necessary (but not sufficient) condition near a magmatic body, and therefore spatial b -value mapping can be used to aid in the identification of active magma bodies.     

广州夏茅村岩溶塌陷灾害特征及防治对策

通过对广州夏茅村岩溶塌陷进行地质勘察,系统探讨了当地的地质环境条件、岩溶塌陷的灾害特征、岩溶发育条件和岩溶塌陷的形成原因。结果表明,区内第四系覆盖土层厚度大且分布不均,土洞大量发育,隐伏可溶岩的富水性好,溶洞发育;同时,覆盖层内的松散岩类孔隙水与下伏灰岩裂隙溶洞水之间的水力联系密切,含水砂层内地下水位的改变会直接引起下伏灰岩裂隙溶洞水的水位波动,构成岩溶塌陷的水动力因素;钻孔桩施工时钻孔揭穿覆盖层内土洞顶部的黏性土层盖板,造成盖板上部的细砂及淤泥流入土洞,是岩溶塌陷的直接触发因素。在此基础上,提出建立岩溶分布区的地下水动态长期监测网,对岩溶塌陷地段进行灌浆处理,是根治夏茅村岩溶塌陷的主要有效途径。     

Modelling deformation rates in the western Gulf of Corinth: rheological constraints

The Gulf of Corinth is one of the most active extensional regions in the Mediterranean area characterized by a high rate of seismicity. However, there are still open questions concerning the role and the geometry of the numerous active faults bordering the basin, as well as the mechanisms governing the seismicity. In this paper, we use a 2-D plane strain finite element analysis to constrain the upper crust rheology by modelling the available deformation data (GPS and geomorphology). We consider a SSW–NNE cross-section of the rift cutting the main active normal faults (Aigion, West Eliki and Off-Shore faults). The models run for 650 Kyr assuming an elasto-viscoplastic rheology and 1.3 cm yr⁻¹ horizontal extension as boundary condition (resulting from GPS data). We model the horizontal and vertical deformation rates and the accumulation of plastic strain at depth, and we compare them with GPS data, with long term uplift rates inferred from geomorphology and with the distribution of seismicity, respectively. Our modelling results demonstrate that dislocation on high-angle normal faults in a plastic crustal layer plays a key role in explaining the extremely localized strain within the Gulf of Corinth. Conversely, the contribution of structures such as the antithetic Trizonia fault or the buried hypothetical subhorizontal discontinuity are not necessary to model observed data.     

Quadrangle-grid velocity–stress finite difference method for poroelastic wave equations

A quadrangle-grid velocity–stress finite difference method, based on a first-order hyperbolic system that is equivalent to Biot's equations, is developed for the simulation of wave propagation in 2-D heterogeneous porous media. In this method the velocity components of the solid material and of the pore fluid relative to that of the solid, and the stress components of three solid stresses and one fluid pressure are defined at different nodes for a staggered non-rectangular grid. The scheme uses non-orthogonal grids, allowing surface topography and curved interfaces to be easily modelled in the numerical simulation of seismic responses of poroelastic reservoirs. The free-surface conditions of complex geometry are achieved by using integral equilibrium equations on the surface, and the source implementations are simple. The algorithm is an extension of the quadrangle-grid finite difference method used for elastic wave equations.     

CARBONATE EROSION RATES IN SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN

Between 1977 and 1979 three sets of erosional weight loss tablets were em-placed in the karst of southwestern Wisconsin to measure both potential and actual rates of carbonate erosion. Tablets of Jamaican White Limestone, which has been used in many other karst areas, were used to gauge relative erosion potential while tablets of the local bedrock, Prairie du Chien dolomite, were used to assess absolute rates. Tablets of Yugoslavian limestone were emplaced as part of a world-wide study of comparative rates. Tablets were recovered in 1983 and 1984. Although potential erosion rates are similar to those in other carbonate areas, the sluggish dissolution of the indigenous dolomite retards karst development. Soil cover increases erosion rates and rates at a given depth are consistent over sites of up to 10 m². The highest erosion rates were recorded by the Yugoslavian tablets but betweensite variations caution that results based on a single site may be unrepresentative. Over 37% of all tablets were affected by mechanical weathering processes, probably freeze-thaw action.     

The deep seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea

The study reappraises the deep seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Careful examination of the quality of reported hypocentres shows that the earthquakes define a zone dipping NW, about 200 km along strike, 50 km thick, and reaching a depth of about 500 km. The zone is slightly concave to the NW at a depth of 300 km, but, contrary to many previous reports, is not tightly concave, nor are there significant spatial gaps in the seismicity, which is effectively continuous with depth. Seismicity is, however, concentrated in the depth interval 250–300 km, where the dip of the seismic zone changes from 70° (above 250 km) to a more gentle dip of 45° at greater depths. Seven fault-plane solutions are available for the largest earthquakes in this depth interval, all of them consistent with a P -axis down the dip of the seismic zone, and all of them requiring movement on faults out of the plane of the subducting slab.
Two deep earthquakes near Naples lie well outside the main zone of activity; for one of which a fault-plane solution is available that has a P -axis not aligned with the dip of the seismic zone. The tightly concave slab-geometry favoured by other reports is supported mainly by the location of these events near Naples, which we think may represent deformation in a separate, probably shallower dipping, piece of subducted lithosphere.
The lack of shallow seismicity, and particularly of thrust faulting earthquakes, at the surface projection of the Benioff zone suggests that active subduction has ceased. Estimates of the convergence rate responsible for subduction in the last 10 Myr far exceed the present convergence rate of Africa and Eurasia, suggesting that the subduction was related instead to the stretching and thinning of the crust in the Tyrrhenian Sea.     

Characteristics and origin of underpressure system in the Shiwu Fault Depression, south-east Songliao Basin, China

The vertical characteristics of underpressure, pore fluids and sealing condition in the Shiwu Fault Depression, south‐east Songliao Basin, are investigated. Based on the pore pressure data from drill stem tests collected from 40 wells, the vertical distribution of pore pressure in this depression consists of a shallow hydrostatic pressure system and a deep underpressure system. The observed low pressures range from about 4 to 10 MPa in the depth interval of about 1550–2800 m. The pore water chemistry data document that the ionic evaporite trends of the pore water in the underpressure zone are different from overlying sediments in the hydrostatically pressured section, indicating that the underpressure system is sealed. The study indicates that the depression has undergone rapid deposition in a rift period during the Cretaceous followed by a long‐term slow uplift and erosion in the Tertiary. On the basis of the modelled results of the abnormal pressure evolution in a typical cross‐section using a two‐dimensional numerical flow model, we believe that the predecessor of the underpressure system was an overpressure system. Since the end of the Cretaceous, the observed underpressure system has developed as a result of a geotemperature decrease ranging from 30 to 70 °C, owing to palaeoheat flow reduction and long‐term uplift and erosional cooling. The mudstones below a depth of 1550 m in the deep subnormal pressure system have small measured porosities ranging from 4% to 1.2% with calculated permeability of about 10^?21–10^?24 m². The observed underpressure can be modelled if we assign permeabilities below 10^?20 m² with a linear reduction of geotemperature. The geotemperature decrease, in combination with very low permeability in the Lower Cretaceous mudstones, is therefore a possible origin for the formation of the underpressure system in this depression.     

粤北岩溶山地土壤地下漏失程度评价指标构建探讨

为了弥补岩溶区地下土壤漏失程度评价指标体系空白,基于在粤北岩溶区连南县多个岩溶山地采矿断面、公路修建断面实地调查获得的56条裂隙、40个漏斗和多个孔穴的调查数据,以及粤北岩溶丘陵、峰林区英德市岩背镇、九龙镇等40多个样方的地表景观实地调查资料,探讨构建岩溶地下土壤漏失程度评价指标与标准。首先,充分考虑了土壤漏失途径、阶段、各指标的关联性、断面调查数据及数据采集的可操作性等,将定性指标与量化指标结合,采用裂隙、洞穴、漏斗3个一级指标和与溶洞连通度、断面比、密度,洞穴类型、数量、位置,漏斗深宽比、形状、周边裂隙发育情况9个二级指标,构建了岩溶区地下漏失无漏失、轻度漏失、中度漏失、重度漏失分级标准;其次,将基岩、地貌、地形、岩石裸露率、植被结构、类型、盖度和土壤深度等地表景观特征作为地下漏失程度的辅助参考指标,使地下漏失评价与地表石漠化程度评价能够有机结合,共同形成岩溶环境评价的整体系统。     

Geological constraints of pore pressure detection in shales from seismic data

Methods for detection of pore fluid overpressures in shales from seismic data have become widespread in the oil industry. Such methods are largely based on the identification of anomalous seismic velocities, and on subsequent determination of pore pressures through relationships between seismic velocities and the vertical effective stress (VES). Although it is well known that lithology variations and compaction mechanisms should be accounted for in pore pressure evaluation, a systematic approach to evaluation of these factors in seismic pore pressure prediction seems to be absent. We have investigated the influence of lithology variations and compaction mechanism on shale velocities from acoustic logs. This was performed by analyses of 80 wells from the northern North Sea and 24 wells from the Haltenbanken area. The analyses involved identification of large‐scale density and velocity variations that were unrelated to overpressure variations, which served as a basis for the analyses of the resolution of overpressure variations from well log data. The analyses demonstrated that the overpressures in neither area were associated with compaction disequilibrium. A significant correlation between acoustic velocity and fluid overpressure nevertheless exists in the Haltenbanken data, whereas the correlation between these two parameters is weak to non‐existing in the North Sea shales. We do not presently know why acoustic velocities in the two areas respond differently to fluid overpressuring. Smectitic rocks often have low permeabilities, and define the top of overpressures in the northern North Sea when they are buried below 2 km. As smectitic rocks are characterized by low densities and low acoustic velocities, their presence may be identified from seismic data. Smectite identification from seismic data may thus serve as an indirect overpressure indicator in some areas. Our investigations demonstrate the importance of including geological work and process understanding in pore pressure evaluation work. As a response to the lack of documented practice within this area, we suggest a workflow for geological analyses that should be performed and integrated with seismic pore pressure prediction.     

Shear-induced pressure changes and seepage phenomena in a deforming porous layer-III

We report the results of an analytical investigation into the deformation behaviour of rate-dependent granular material as a refinement of previous studies on seepage phenomena during shear. The rheology has two components—a compliant part of the constitutive law associated with grain contacts as deformation takes place (dilatancy), and a rate-dependent viscous force transmitted by the melt phase. This formulation allows intermediate, time-dependent behaviour to be assessed for the dilatant porous medium. A key result is that during shear, the magnitude of the excess pore pressure first decreases then increases back to its initial value. Two characteristic timescales are identified that control the rate-dependent dilatancy of the mixture, τ₁, the time constant that rules the increase of the magnitude of the excess pore pressure, and τ₀ that controls its decline. We consider the dilatant effect to be an internal constraint in deforming magmas in the lithosphere and other porous (partially molten) regions in the solid earth. When such regions are exposed to external loading, secular pressure changes should drive fluid flow independent of local buoyancy forces, for the duration of the governing rate-dependent timescales. The accumulated heave of the process is also estimated.     

基于Strahler面积—高程分析的云南石林县域喀斯特地貌演化的量化研究

基于异质性喀斯特地貌结构与喀斯特保护地整体保护利用的关系,将水平蚀低垂直加深的喀斯特地貌发育机制落实于地理信息系统支持的Strahler面积—高程分析,形成整体、海拔段和内部洼地的面积—高程曲线与积分值指标组,以量化石林县域喀斯特地貌演化。结果表明不同地貌发育特征的不同地形面具有不同的Strahler值,其差异和规律性有一定的指示价值。石林县四级海拔梯级地貌处于壮年晚期,为断裂切割与巴江侵蚀基准面差异性控制下的孤丘夷平面分解,属同期异构的回春型地貌区。> 2100 m海拔段为孤丘夷平构造侵蚀溶原中山,洼地不发育。1900~2100 m海拔段为孤丘夷平面转向孤丘溶原洼地、峰丛洼地,暗河不发育。1700~1900 m海拔段为溶丘洼地斜坡,由蚀余状石林—剑状石林—覆盖石林—烘烤石林组成的石林垂直层状结构与溶丘—洼地—暗河—泉群—河谷盆地组成的水平梯级地貌结构,它是水平与垂直地貌过程的融合产物。石林发育区既为水源形成区,也为水土流失区。这是石林保护地整体保护利用的地貌动力依据。     

Origin of early overpressure in the Upper Devonian Catskill Delta Complex, western New York state

The Upper Devonian Rhinestreet black shale of the western New York state region of the Appalachian Basin has experienced multiple episodes of overpressure generation manifested by at least two sets of natural hydraulic fractures. These overpressure events were thermal in origin and induced by the generation of hydrocarbons during the Alleghanian orogeny close to or at the Rhinestreet's ～3.1 km maximum burial depth. Analysis of differential gravitational compaction strain of the organic‐rich shale around embedded carbonate concretions that formed within a metre or so of the seafloor indicates that the Rhinestreet shale was compacted ～58%. Compaction strain was recalculated to a palaeoporosity of 37.8%, in excess of that expected for burial >3 km. The palaeoporosity of the Rhinestreet shale suggests that porosity reduction caused by normal gravitational compaction of the low‐permeability carbonaceous sediment was arrested at some depth shy of its maximum burial depth by pore pressure in excess of hydrostatic. The depth at which the Rhinestreet shale became overpressured, the palaeo‐fluid retention depth, was estimated by use of published normal compaction curves and empirical porosity‐depth algorithms to fall between 850 and 1380 m. Early and relatively shallow overpressuring of the Rhinestreet shale likely originated by disequilibrium compaction induced by a marked increase in sedimentation rate in the latter half of the Famennian stage (Late Devonian) as the Catskill Delta Complex prograded westward across the Appalachian Basin in response to Acadian tectonics. The regional Upper Devonian stratigraphy of western New York state indicates that the onset of overpressure occurred at a depth of ～1100 m, well in advance of the Rhinestreet shale's entry into the oil window during the Alleghanian orogeny.     

MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF KARST DEPRESSIONS ON A MEDITERRANEAN KARST MASSIF

Dolines are the most typical landform in karst landscapes. They play an important role in karst hydrogeology; they are effective sediment traps that provide information about past climates and karst evolution, and can also be indicators of tectonic activity. The morphometic analysis of those depressions can help in their study and interpretation. However, detailed identification and delineation of dolines becomes increasingly difficult when the study area is very large, of limited access or covered by vegetation. Here, we have used a method developed by the authors for automatic identification and delineation of karst depressions based on the use of a pit removal algorithm. Next a complete morphometric analysis of the karst depressions has been carried out. The main advantage of the methodology is that by delineating and identifying the depth of each doline from its rim, many morphometric statistics can be obtained, including the relation of doline depth and area with respect to altitude, the main doline orientations, doline density, the fractal dimension of doline area and frequency, and point field analysis, among others. The results are interpreted from a geomorphological point of view and the mapped dolines can be easily integrated into geomorphological mapping. A case study is presented from the large Sierra Gorda karst massif in southern Spain, where 3100 depressions have been identified. A strong structural control of doline shape and orientation is demonstrated; the main areas of doline density are highlighted and doline size is shown to follow a fractal law.     

下垫面因素对喀斯特地区水分利用效率的影响

水分利用效率是衡量陆地生态系统对气候变化响应的重要指标,而下垫面因素通过影响局部气候进而影响水分利用效率。喀斯特地区生态缺水严重且下垫面情况复杂,但目前该区域多个下垫面因素对水分利用效率的综合影响仍不明晰。论文利用MODIS GPP和ET数据集计算中国西南喀斯特地区的水分利用效率,结合岩性组合、土壤类型、土地利用类型及地表粗糙度,采用广义线性模型,揭示了下垫面因素对水分利用效率的综合影响。结果表明：研究区水分利用效率受海拔和喀斯特发育程度综合影响,在空间上从东南向西北逐渐升高。下垫面因素中岩性组合对水分利用效率的影响表现出了喀斯特与非喀斯特地区的差异,喀斯特地区的碳酸盐岩岩性组合对水分利用效率呈负向影响,纯喀斯特岩性组合比非纯喀斯特岩性组合负向影响更强;土壤类型对水分利用效率的影响受分布海拔高度差异、土壤有机质差异及喀斯特与非喀斯特地貌差异3种因素影响;土地利用类型总体上呈植被越茂盛的地类对水分利用效率的正向影响越强的趋势;地表粗糙度的增大先对水分利用效率趋正向影响,后趋于负向影响。碳酸盐岩影响土壤性质,而土壤性质和地表粗糙度共同影响植被来对喀斯特地区的水分利用效率产生综合影响。     

Generation of overpressure and compaction-driven fluid flow in a Plio-Pleistocene growth-faulted basin, Eugene Island 330, offshore Louisiana

The complex pressure and porosity fields observed in the Eugene Island (EI) 330 field (offshore Louisiana) are thought to result from sediment loading of low-permeability strata. In this field, fluid pressures rise with depth from hydrostatic to nearly lithostatic, iso-pressure surfaces closely follow stratigraphic surfaces which are sharply offset by growth-faulting, and porosity declines with effective stress. A one-dimensional hydrodynamic model simulates the evolution of pressure and porosity in this system. If reversible (elastic) compaction is assumed, sediment loading is the dominant source of overpressure (94%). If irreversible (inelastic) compaction and permeability reduction due to clay diagenesis are assumed, then thermal expansion of pore fluids and clay dehydration provide a significant component of overpressure (>20%). The model is applied to wells on the upthrown and downthrown sides of the major growth fault in the EI 330 field. Assuming that sediment loading is the only pressure source and that permeability is a function of lithology and porosity, the observed pressure and porosity profiles are reproduced. Observation and theory support a conceptual model where hydrodynamic evolution is intimately tied to the structural and stratigraphic evolution of this progradational deltaic system.