The Earth surface deformations caused by air pressure variations

The relationship between the tilts and strains of rocks and air pressure variations is investigated using deformation measurements from the Protvino observatory. Deformations due to air pressure are large in the observation area. The deformation response to the observed air pressure variations is compared with calculated values. In addition, the effective elasticity of the rock is determined from measured deformations in the underground galleries of the observatory after creating a load on the Earth surface. The observed tilts are considerably larger than the calculated values, for local as well as atmospheric loading, and the rock shear modulus determined from the tilt data is anomalously small compared to the mean shear modulus value for the crust. The observed horizontal strain data indicate no anomaly in the rock shear modulus value. The cavity effects at the observatory cannot explain this phenomenon. It may be caused by the rocks high fracturing. It is supposed, that the influence of cracks on the rock horizontal deformations is small if the cracks are closed and have the vertical direction. In case of large wavelength the large tilts correspond to the great displacements. These displacements may worsen the accuracy of geodetic measurements, especially when measuring vertical crustal movements.     

西沙群岛石岛浅部基底地壳应力测量及其地球动力学意义分析

西沙群岛独特的构造位置决定了其构造运动背景和地壳应力场动力源的复杂性.位于西沙群岛石岛、深达1268.07m的西科1A井在1257.52m钻遇花岗岩基底.在1125.8~1262.0m开展5次水压致裂地应力测量,获得最大水平主应力为17.09~20.85MPa,最小水平主应力为15.97~18.29MPa,估算垂直主应力为22.86~26.68 MPa,地壳应力结构为SVSHSh,以垂直主应力为主导,该应力结构特征有利于正断层活动,表明西沙群岛地壳基底处于拉张的应力环境.受西沙海槽断层影响,水平应力值较低.印模测试显示基底地壳应力方向以近东西-北西向为主,与已有的GPS测量、横波分裂和面波反演结果较为吻合,显示西沙群岛岩石圈尺度上变形一致性较好.西沙群岛地壳应力场的力源受板块运动和地幔物质上涌作用联合制约.综合南海西北部实测地应力数据分析,显示该区域主应力方向较为一致,应处于统一、稳定的构造运动背景之中.西科1A井水压致裂试验是我国首次涉海深孔地壳应力测量,具有重要的地球动力学意义,提供了研究南海地球物理场的宝贵基础资料.     

垂直向地震作用对节理岩体失稳破坏的影响

基于线弹性断裂力学理论分析了垂直向地震作用对节理岩体地震动力破坏的影响。在仅考虑峰值时,最不利的单向地震动加速度方向是水平倾向坡外,双向则依据破裂机制是拉剪或压剪,加速度分别是水平倾向坡外与向下或向上的组合。地震动的幅值、作用方向及双向地震动的组合都可使岩体的破坏机制发生转化,并且是突变的、不可逆的。较低峰值的双向地震动产生的应力强度因子可能大于较高峰值的单向地震动所产生的应力强度应子。在岩体节理分布特征和静态应力场一定的初始条件下,第一个导致岩体中产生破裂的地震动加速度幅值及其方向的组合唯一地决定了岩体不可逆破坏发展的方向、机制及最终的破坏特征,其复杂性远大于静力作用时的情况。对岩体地震动力破坏问题的认识应充分考虑垂直向地震动的重要影响。     

Elastic wave velocities in a granitic geothermal reservoir

Geothermal resources have potential for providing cost-effective and sustainable energy. Monitoring of production-induced changes in geothermal reservoirs using seismic waves requires understanding of the elastic properties of the rock and how they change due to injection of fluids and opening and closing of natural and hydraulic fractures. P- and S-wave velocities measured in a granitic geothermal reservoir using sonic logging are systematically lower than those predicted using the composition of the rock. Cracks may occur in granitic rocks from tectonic stresses and from the thermal expansion mismatch between differently oriented anisotropic crystals. An isotropic orientation distribution of microcracks causes a significant reduction in both the P- and S-velocities, consistent with the observed sonic P- and S-velocities. Vertical fractures cause a difference in the velocity of vertically propagating shear waves polarized parallel and perpendicular to the fractures. An assumption that the lower measured velocities are caused by the presence of vertical fractures is inconsistent with the sonic data. This is because vertical fractures cause a decrease in slow S-wave velocity that greatly exceeds the decrease in P-wave velocity, in contrast to the observed data. The growth of vertical fractures in the geothermal reservoir may be monitored using the difference in velocity of the fast and slow shear waves, while the change in P-velocity in a crossplot of measured P- and slow S-velocities is useful for estimating the ratio of the normal-to-shear compliance of the fractures.     

正交异性岩体水力压裂应力测量原理和方法

本文根据岩体力学性质的各向异性，以岩体正交异性弹性理论为基础，提出用水力压裂法测算水平方向两主应力大小和方向的原理及测量有关岩体弹性参数的方法。     

Integrated measurements of acoustical and optical thin layers II: Horizontal length scales

The degree of layered organization of planktonic organisms in coastal systems impacts trophic interactions, the vertical availability of nutrients, and many biological rate processes. While there is reasonable characterization of the vertical structure of these phenomena, the extent and horizontal length scale of variation has rarely been addressed. Here we extend the examination of the vertical scale in the first paper of the series to the horizontal scale with combined shipboard acoustic measurements and bio-optic measurements taken on an autonomous underwater vehicle. Measurements were made in Monterey Bay, CA from 2002 to 2008 for the bio-optical parameters and during 2006 for acoustic scattering measurements. The combined data set was used to evaluate the horizontal decorrelation length scales of the bio-optical and acoustic scattering layers themselves. Because biological layers are often decoupled from the physical structure of the water column, assessment of the variance within identified layers was appropriate. This differs from other studies in that physical parameters were not used as a basis for the layer definition. There was a significant diel pattern to the decorrelation length scale for acoustic layers with the more abundant nighttime layers showing less horizontal variability despite their smaller horizontal extent. A significant decrease in the decorrelation length scale was found in bio-optical parameters over six years of study, coinciding with a documented shift in the plankton community. Results highlight the importance of considering plankton behavior and time of day with respect to scale when studying layers, and the challenges of sampling these phenomena.     

Separation of P. and SV-wavefields from multi-componen seismic data

In multi-component seismic exploration, the horizontal and vertical components both contain P- and SV-waves. The P- and SV-wavefields in a seismic record can be separated by their horizontal and vertical displacements when upgoing P- and SV-waves arrive at the sea floor. If the sea floor P wave velocity, S wave velocity, and density are known, the separation can be achieved in ther-p domain. The separated wavefields are then transformed to the time domain. A method of separating P- and SV-wavefields is presented in this paper and used to effectively separate P- and SV-wavefields in synthetic and real data. The application to real data shows that this method is feasible and effective. It also can be used for free surface data.     

Predicting horizontal velocities from well data

The Imperial College borehole test site consists of four boreholes with depths lying between 260 and 280 m. The boreholes intersect several cyclical sequences of sandstones, mudstones and limestones. The formations are highly laminated and ultrasonic measurements on preserved core have shown that the mudstones are intrinsically anisotropic. Little or no anisotropy is associated with the sandstones and limestones. A scheme is proposed to predict synthetic vertical and horizontal P- and S-wave logs. Combining (an)isotropic effective medium theories, the Gassmann equation and Backus averaging, the scheme extends previous sand-shale models to transversely isotropic rock formations. The model assumes that the anisotropy is due to layering and due to the preferred horizontal orientation of the clay minerals, pores and cracks within the mudstones. The pores and cracks within the sandstones and limestones are randomly orientated. After fitting the model to the ultrasonic data to obtain the unknown parameters, the model successfully predicts the sonic log and the direct arrival times from a cross-hole survey.     

Petrologic composition model of the upper crust in Bohai Bay basin, China, based on Lamé impedances

Seismic attributes, such as P- and S-wave velocity, Poisson’s ratio, and acoustic impedances, all generally can be used for distinguishing different rock types. The non-uniqueness can be largely reduced using Lamé impedances instead of acoustic impedances as additional constraints. We have followed this method to constitute a petrologic composition model of the upper crust in the Bohai Bay basin, China. We briefly review the seismic parameters used for discrimination of rock types and focus our attention on the sensitivity of different combinations of parameters to determine the composition of materials. Corrections for pressure and temperature are performed in order to compare elastic wave velocities and densities measured at room temperature and surface pressure in laboratory with those for representative rock parameters. In a second step, we find the rock classes in the tested area by contrasting known data to laboratory measurements on a variety of rock samples extracted in the area. The basic field data are P-wave velocity values collected along a seismic profile conducted in the Bozhong Depression. The different rock types belonging to a particular rock class are finally constrained by the seismic velocities, Poisson’s ratio, density, acoustic impedance, and Lamé impedance related to the topmost 10 km of the Bohai Bay crust.     

SEPARATION OF P- AND S-WAVES*

In combined P- and SV-observations with vertical and in-line horizontal geophones, recognition and separation of the individual P- and S-arrivals may form a considerable problem. Due to the geophone receiving characteristics, P- and S-waves are observed on both horizontal and vertical geophones. A new method of separating P- and S-waves is presented that inverts the geophone records for the receiving characteristics, thereby separating the two wavetypes. The filter coefficients are determined from the near-surface P- and S-wave velocity and from the geometry of the geophone groups. The P/S-separation filter was tested on synthetic data with good results. Even PS- and SP-converted reflections, which are completely coinciding for horizontal reflectors, could be well separated. The filter appears to be stable and to have low sensitivity to noise in the data or to errors in the near-surface P- and S-wave velocity. The filter is superior to other separation methods, which were applied to the same dataset for comparison. This method can also be applied to VSP data.     

Preliminary stress measurements in central California using the hydraulic fracturing technique

Use of the hydraulic fracturing technique for determiningin situ stress is reviewed, and stress measurements in wells near the towns of Livermore, San Ardo, and Menlo Park, California are described in detail. In the Livermore well, four measurements at depths between 110 and 155 m indicate that the least principal compressive stress is horizontal and increases from 1.62 to 2.66 MPa. The apparent direction of maximum compression is N 70° E (±40°). At the San Ardo site the least principal stress is that due to the overburden weight. At depths of 240.2 and 270.7 m the minimum and maximum horizontal stresses are estimated to be 11.4 and 22.5 MPa, and 12.0 (±1.1) and 15.8 (±3.3) MPa, respectively. From an impression of the fracture at 240.2 m, the direction of maximum compression appears to be about N 15° E. The rock in the Menlo Park well is too highly fractured to yield a reliable measurement of the horizontal stresses. The data indicate, however, that the least principal stress is vertical (due to the overburden weight) to a depth of 250 m.     

基于页岩岩石物理等效模型的地应力预测方法研究

地应力的精确预测是对页岩地层进行水平井钻井轨迹设计和压裂的基础.本文在分析页岩构造特征的基础上,提出了适用于页岩地层的岩石物理等效模型的建立流程,并以此为基础实现了最小水平地应力的有效预测.首先,通过分析页岩地层的矿物、孔隙、流体及各向异性特征,将其等效为具有垂直对称轴的横向各向同性介质,进行了页岩岩石物理等效模型的构建;然后建立了页岩地层纵横波速度经验公式,并将该经验公式与岩石物理等效模型均应用于实际页岩工区的横波速度预测中,二者对比表明,本文中建立的页岩气岩石物理等效模型具有更高的横波预测精度,验证了该模型的适用性;最后,利用该模型计算各弹性刚度张量,进而实现了页岩地层最小水平地应力的预测,与各向同性模型估测结果对比表明,该模型预测的最小水平地应力与地层瞬间闭合压力一致性更高,且储层位置更为明显,具有较高的实用性.     

The Assessment of Damage Around Critical Engineering Structures Using Induced Seismicity and Ultrasonic Techniques

—?Two large-diameter boreholes have been excavated vertically from the floor of a tunnel at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden. The two deposition holes will have simulated high-level radioactive waste canisters installed in them in an experiment undertaken to test the retrievability of waste from a proposed repository. Induced seismicity and other acoustic monitoring techniques have been used to investigate the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) around the two holes. High-frequency acoustic emission (AE) monitoring has been used to delineate regions of stress-induced microfracturing on the millimetre scale. This has been shown to locate in clusters around the perimeter of the deposition hole at azimuths orthogonal to the far-field maximum principal stress. Three-dimensional velocity surveys have been conducted along ray paths that pass through the damaged region and through a stress-disturbed zone around the excavation. Induced microfracturing and stress disturbance have been observed as sharp decreases in velocity as the excavation proceeds through the rock mass. The combination of the high-resolution velocity measurements and the AE source locations has allowed the linking of the velocity measurements to a volume of excavation damaged rock. This has provided a quantitative estimate of the effect of the EDZ on the rock mass.     

Fracture of granite under various strain conditions

Mechanisms of fracture of granite specimens subjected to loading controlled by the defect formation rate are studied in the experiments on stick-slip initiation and deformation of water-saturated specimens from the acoustic emission measurements. It is found that under mechanical loading of dry specimens, the initially dispersed formation of defects is followed by the stage of their localization, and then a fracture nucleates whose development results in the formation of macrofracture and failure of the specimen. In water-saturated specimens, multiple defects are formed randomly throughout the entire volume, which causes intense damage to the material. At the final stage of deformation, several source regions appear in which the main cracks develop. If fracturing follows the stick-slip scenario, the stoppers located on the sides of the fault are destroyed.     

北京市土层GPS连续站数据的初步利用

处理了北京地区GPS连续站的数据,发现京郊一些土层连续站水平分量变化和基岩站差别不大,垂直分量与基岩站不完全一致.利用北京地区GPS连续站的观测数据结合北京地区周围10个IGS站,用GAMIT软件进行解算,讨论了土层连续站数据在地震研究中应用的可能性.     

Determination of Stress State from Focal Mechanisms of Microseismic Events Induced During Hydraulic Injection at the Hijiori Hot Dry Rock Site

—?The stress state at the Hijiori hot dry rock site was estimated based on the inversion from focal mechanisms of microseismic events induced during hydraulic injection experiments. The best fit stress model obtained by inverting 58 focal mechanisms of seismic events simultaneously indicates that the maximum principal stress σ₁ is vertical, while the minimum principal stress σ₃ is horizontal and trends north-south. The average misfit between the stress model and all the data is 6.8°. The inversion results show that the average misfit is small enough to satisfy the assumption of homogeneity in the focal mechanism data and that the 95% confidence regions of σ₁ and σ₃ are well constrained, i.e., they do not overlap, suggesting that the inversion results are acceptable. The stress estimates obtained by the focal mechanism inversion essentially agree with other stress estimates previously obtained. It is therefore concluded that the focal mechanism inversion method provides a useful tool for estimating the stress state. The hypocentral distributions of microseismic events associated with the hydraulic fracturing experiments are distributed around the plane that spreads to almost east–west from the injection wells and declines to the north at a high angle. The vertical orientation and east–west strike of the seismic events are essentially coplanar with the caldera ring-fault structure in the southern portion of the Hijiori Caldera. This indicates that tensile fractures of intact rock were not being created, but pre-existing fractures were being re-opened and developed in the direction of the maximum horizontal principal stress, although microseismic events were caused by shear failures.     

固体液体分界面处P波和S波波场的分离

在地震勘探中,Ｐ波和Ｓ波入射到一固体液体分界面处时,在该分界处的水平检波器和垂直检波器将接受到相位的响应垂直的响应。垂直检波器的响应与在自由界面处的垂直检波器 响应大概相同,而水平检波器对Ｐ波的响应相对于对Ｓ波的 来说要强。     

安宁河断裂带测区古构造残余应力随深度分布

以岩体正交异性弹性理论为基础，用Ｘ射线法，在安宁河断裂带测区，选取了９个钻孔的岩芯，测量了岩体中宏观残余应力场的水平和铅直三维主应力及最大剪应力随深度的分布，分析了其沿深度的分布规律，求得了其铅直梯度值     

Separation of P- and S-wavefields from wide-angle multicomponent OBC data for a basalt model

Wide-angle multicomponent ocean-bottom cable (OBC) data should further enhance sub-basalt imaging by using both compressional and converted shear wavefields. The first step in analysing multicomponent OBC data is to decompose the recorded wavefields into pure P- and pure S-wavefields, and extract the upgoing P- and S-waves. This paper presents a new scheme to separate P- and S-wavefields from wide-angle multicomponent OBC data in the τ–p domain. By considering plane-wave components with a known horizontal slowness, the P- and S-wavefields are separated into the directions of observed P- and S-wave oscillations using the horizontal and vertical components of the data. The upgoing P- and S-waves are then extracted from the separated P- and S-wavefields. The parameters used in the separation are the seismic wave velocities and the density at the receiver location, which can be estimated from the first reflection phase observed on the horizontal and vertical components. Numerical tests on synthetic data for a plane-layered model show good performance and demonstrate the accuracy of the scheme. Separation of wavefields from a basalt model is performed using synthetic wide-angle multicomponent OBC data. The results show that both near-offset and wide-angle reflections and conversions from within and below basalt layers are enhanced and clearly identified on the separated wavefields.