Self-organizing maps for geoscientific data analysis: geological interpretation of multidimensional geophysical data

Data interpretation is a common task in geoscientific disciplines. Interpretation difficulties occur especially if the data that have to be interpreted are of arbitrary dimension. This paper describes the application of a statistical method, called self-organizing mapping (SOM), to interpret multidimensional, non-linear, and highly noised geophysical data for purposes of geological prediction. The underlying theory is explained, and the method is applied to a six-dimensional seismic data set. Results of SOM classifications can be represented as two-dimensional images, called feature maps. Feature maps illustrate the complexity and demonstrate interrelations between single features or clusters of the complete feature space. SOM images can be visually described and easily interpreted. The advantage is that the SOM method considers interdependencies between all geophysical features at each instance. An application example of an automated geological interpretation based on the geophysical data is shown.     

小波分析与C3相干体在小断层解释中的应用

利用小波分析的分频特性及C3相干数据体比常规振幅数据体具有更高的构造分辨能力的特点,将小波分析与C3相干体两种方法相结合,用来识别煤矿采区小尺度构造,特别是识别小断层.实际应用表明,利用小波分析与C3相干体可更加精细地揭示断层等构造信息,提高小断层识别能力.     

The application of cluster analysis in geophysical data interpretation

A clustering algorithm that is based on density and is adaptive density-reachable is developed and presented for arbitrary data point distributions in some real-world applications, especially in geophysical data interpretation. Through comparisons of the new algorithm and other algorithms, it is shown that the new algorithm can reduce the dependency of domain knowledge and the sensitivity of abnormal data points, that it can improve the effectiveness of clustering results in which data are distributed in different shapes and different densities, and that it can get a better clustering efficiency. The application of the new clustering algorithm demonstrates that data mining techniques can be used in geophysical data interpretation and can get meaningful and useful results, and that the new clustering algorithm can be used in other real-world applications.     

重力小波分析方法在宁东煤田预测中的应用

宁东地区是宁夏规模最大的含煤区,已发现9个石炭—二叠纪和侏罗纪大煤田。笔者对宁东地区1∶20万区域重力资料进行进一步处理,根据宁东含煤区石炭—二叠纪煤田与侏罗纪煤田2种类型,采用2．5D正演建立煤田重力场模型,并说明采用位场分离方法能够分离与识别含煤区;利用小波分析方法对布格重力进行分析,结果发现：小波一、二、三阶细节与已知的煤田对应较好,而滑动平均等传统的位场分离方法分离的局部异常则无明显对应关系。利用重力小波一、二、三阶细节预测了宁东地区石炭—二叠系和侏罗系含煤区的远景,充分发挥了1∶20万区域重力资料在煤田勘探中的作用。     

Population displacement after cyclone and its consequences: empirical evidence from coastal Bangladesh

This study investigates the disaster-induced population displacement scenario at individual household level in Bangladesh. ‘Population displacement’ is seen here as an alternative adaptation option to natural hazard for the survivors after cyclone Aila. The changes both in origin and destination community due to population displacement are described here on the basis of social ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ concept. The field survey was conducted during March–July 2010, and a sample of 280 respondents from 12 villages in southwest coastal Bangladesh was interviewed. Findings show that at the end of emergency aid, male members of the family started moving towards nearer cities to find an income. Based on the income and asset distribution at the community level, this study developed a societal cluster of displacement and demonstrates the societal changes because of cyclone-induced population displacement.     

A marine pebbly mudstone from the Swiss Alps: palaeotectonic implications and some consequences for the interpretation of Precambrian diamictites

Pebbly mudstones are a conspicuous element of sedimentary sequences deposited in different tectonic settings and sedimentary environments. Whereas for many diamictites a glacial origin seems plausible, the problem to distinguish glacial from non-glacial diamictites is often difficult for Precambrian examples where palaeoclimatic constraints are generally lacking. This article documents an Eocene pebbly mudstone of the Southhelvetic nappes of eastern Central Switzerland (Blockmergel) for which a glacial origin can be firmly rejected and which may thus serve as an example for non-glacial marine diamictites and their sedimentary and palaeotectonic environment. The Blockmergel are interpreted as the product of gravitational deposition of single blocks across steep palaeo-slopes (subaqueous rockfall) into a basin otherwise dominated by suspension settling sedimentation. The Blockmergel occur within the basal part of the early fill of the North Alpine Foreland Basin, which constitutes a deepening upward sequence above basal shallow marine limestones. The Blockmergel demonstrate substantial Middle to Late Eocene sub-aerial erosion and fluvial transport (producing the rounded pebbles) and local extensional fault movements in the proximal part of the incipient North Alpine Foreland Basin. They are capped sharply by forced-regressive shoreface sandstones and the whole sequence thus demonstrates locally very shallow to subaerial conditions within an otherwise rather deep hemipelagic marine basin. This, and the extensional fault movements, are linked to a long-standing feature of Helvetic palaeogeography—the Southhelvetic swell zone. That this swell still operated during the Priabonian i.e. shortly before finally being overthrust by the orogenic wedge of the evolving Alpine orogen is a new element in Alpine palaeotectonics and seems to highlight the importance of the reactivation of inherited palaeotectonic faults. Finally, the example of the Blockmergel is suggested as a useful analogue to help distinguishing glacial-sourced from slope-derived diamictites in the Neoproterozoic sedimentary record and may thus help resolving the “diamictite dichotomy”.     

Three-dimensional assembly technologies for the interpretation of gravimetric data

The assembly method of solving a three-dimensional ore-type inverse problem is considered. The method is based on the unity of a grid (finite-element) approximation of a dense medium and a special type of structuring the iteration process of selection which makes it possible to effectively observe all a priori restrictions on the model of field sources. The examples of interpretations of gravity anomalies are presented.     

纳米比亚北部隐伏断裂构造的航磁异常解释

对纳米比亚北部EPL4305矿权区及外围的航磁异常数据,采用多种不同的方法进行处理,并对比处理前后的异常特征,结合地质资料,推断了多条断裂构造带。在重点地段切取图切剖面,进行2.5D正反演计算,以进一步验证推断的隐伏断裂构造带的可靠性     

Active faults and magnitudes of left-lateral displacement along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (NMTP) is a major intracontinental Cenozoic transpressional zone that comprises a series of active strike-slip faults and thrust faults. It is important to document cumulative horizontal displacements along the NMTP in order to understand quantitatively strain partitioning in East Asia since the India–Eurasia collision. Based on an analysis of horizontal slip along major active faults, the total amount of horizontal displacements is estimated up to 700 km between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tarim Basin since the convergence of India and Eurasia. Along the western and middle segment of the Altyn Tagh fault to the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, there are abundant evidence that show that the net displacement is 400 km since 40–35 Ma, and along the Shulenan Shan and southeast of middle Qilian Shan since 25–17 Ma, the amount of offset is 150 km. The largest horizontal slip in Qilian Shan–Hexi Corridor to the northeast of the Altyn Tagh fault is also 150 km since late Oligocene to early Miocene. It decreases to only 60 km along the Haiyuan fault (since late Miocene) and to 25 km along the Zhongwei–Tongxin fault since the Pliocene (about 5.3–3.4 Ma), at the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This clearly implies northeastward diminishing of the total horizontal displacement and temporal getting younger of the fault slip along the NMTP. However, this tendency is very complicated at different times and different segments as a result of the uplift, growth and rotation of different segments of the NMTP at different stages during the convergence of India and Eurasia.     

Presentation and interpretation of chemical data for igneous rocks

Arguments are made in favor of using variation diagrams to plot analyses of igneous rocks and their derivatives and modeling differentiation processes by least-squares mixing procedures. These methods permit study of magmatic differentiation and related processes in terms ofall of the chemical data available. Data are presented as they are reported by the chemist and specific processes may be modeled and either quantitatively described or rejected as inappropriate or too simple.Examples are given of the differing interpretations that can arise when data are plotted on an AEM ternary vs. the same data on a full set of MgO variation diagrams. Mixing procedures are illustrated with reference to basaltic lavas from the Columbia Plateau.     

位场多尺度导数分析法识别线性构造-以新疆卡拉塔格地区重力解译断裂构造为例

本文介绍了一种新的地质体边界识别方法-位场多尺度导数分析法。在基本原理介绍及理论模型试验的基础上,对该方法在地质体边界识别中的有效性进行了论证。然后,利用该方法对新疆卡拉塔格地区1:5万重力数据进行了多尺度导数处理,识别出了不同尺度和走向的断裂构造,进一步证明多尺度导数分析方法能够对位场数据进行有效的分离和信息增强,进而识别出不同尺度场源体的边界。     

用方差体技术识别小断层及裂隙发育带

为了提高煤田开采的效率,准确、快速地确定断层和裂隙发育带已迫在眉睫。而三维方差体技术突出了地层横向变化对地震道的影响,能够对三维地震地质信息进行提取,还可用于识别断层、裂隙及地层的不连续变化。这里介绍了三维方差体技术的原理及基本算法,并在山东某采区三维地震资料的解释工作中进行了实际应用。结果表明,方差体技术对断层、裂隙发育带等地质异常体具有良好的识别效果。     

Fractal dimension of molten surfaces as a possible parameter to infer the slip-weakening distance of faults from natural pseudotachylytes

High-velocity friction experiments on gabbro and monzodiorite, using a rotary-shear high-velocity friction apparatus, have revealed that frictional melting and progressive growth of a molten layer along a fault cause slip weakening, eventually reaching a nearly steady-state. The melting surface at the host rock/molten layer interface is initially very flat, but it becomes more complex and rounded in shape towards the steady state owing to the selective melting of minerals with lower melting points and the Gibbs–Thomson effect. This change in the melting-surface topography can be quantitatively expressed by the fractal dimension D, as determined by the divider method, from about 1.0 near the peak friction to around 1.1 near the steady-state friction. The ultimate fractal dimension at steady-state friction tends to decrease with increasing heat production rate presumably due to more rapid and uniform melting. A systematic correlation of D with mechanical behavior of the fault during frictional melting may provide a way of estimating slip-weakening distance and heat production rate at steady-state friction by measuring D for natural pseudotachylytes on slip surfaces with different displacements. The weakening distance is of vital significance in relation to fault instability and the heat production rate is related to the fault strength. The experimental studies point to ways to estimate these difficult quantities for natural faults.     

Strike-slip faults parallel to crustal spreading axes: data from Iceland and the Afar Depression

Slickenside studies in regions of crustal spreading such as Iceland and the Afar Depression, East Africa, reveal that a significant number of faults parallel and close to rift axes are strike-slip rather than normal. Therefore, the pattern of brittle deformation in these regions does not conform to the classic two-dimensional schemes of oceanic tectonics and pre-oceanic rifting. Dip-slip and strike-slip faulting presumably alternated along or in the vicinity of spreading axes, indicate a varying stress field and a combination of transverse and longitudinal movements. In Iceland, strike-slip faults parallel to rifts are observed both west and east of the rift system as well as in a median area between overlapping rifts; the mechanisms proposed for their origin include accommodation of oblique convergence or divergence of crustal sections due to variations of spreading directions along axis and the interaction of overlapping rifts. In the Afar Depression this kind of fault is recorded west of the rift of Asal and can be imputed to reflect an interaction among rifts in the vicinity of the Afar triple junction. Rift-parallel strike-slip faults cannot however be assumed to be a feature of all crustal spreading axes due to the peculiarity of the examined regions: both of them are hot-spot areas and the Afar Depression lies at a triple junction.     

Scaling variables and interpretation of eigenvalues in principal component analysis of geologic data

The dominant feature distinguishing one method of principal components analysis from another is the manner in which the original data are transformed prior to the other computations. The only other distinguishing feature of any importance is whether the eigenvectors of the inner product-moment of the transformed data matrix are taken directly as the Q-mode scores or scaled by the square roots of their associated eigenvalues and called the R-mode loadings. If the eigenvectors are extracted from the product-moment correlation matrix, the variables, in effect, were transformed by column standardization (zero means and unit variances), and the sum of the p-largest eigenvalues divided by the sum of all the eigenvalues indicates the degree to which a model containing pcomponents will account for the total variance in the original data. However, if the data were transformed in any manner other than column standardization, the eigenvalues cannot be used in this manner, but can only be used to determine the degree to which the model will account for the transformed data. Regardless of the type of principal components analysis that is performed—even whether it is Ror Q-mode—the goodness-of-fit of the model to the original data is given better by the eigenvalues of the correlation matrix than by those of the matrix that was actually factored.     

Oxygen isotopic exchangeability of diatom valve silica; interpretation and consequences for paleoclimatic studies

Problems of analytical reproducibility have impeded the application of ${}^{18}\text{O}{}^{16}\text{O}$ ratio measurements of biogenic opal to paleoclimatology. Lack of reproducibility has been attributed to the labile nature of part of the oxygen of the silica. This has been studied using oxygen isotopic exchange between diatom silica and water vapor. This reaction involves the reversible hydrolysis of weak Si-O bonds. Using controlled exchange with waters of different oxygen isotopic composition, the isotopic ratio of both the exchanged and the unexchanged silica-bound oxygen were estimated. Optimum conditions for reproducible measurement of the oxygen isotopic composition of diatom silica are defined.     

Palaeostress analysis of the northern Nijar and southern Vera basins: constraints for the Neogene displacement history of major strike-slip faults in the Betic Cordilleras, SE Spain

This paper presents the results of a detailed structural analysis of the northern Nijar and southern Vera basins with special emphasis on the evolution of the regional stress field and the associated timing of movement of the Serrata, Gafarillos and Palomares strike-slip fault zones. These major fault zones control the Neogene deformation of the SE Internal Betic Cordilleras in Spain. Detailed stress analysis on Neogene sediments of the Vera and Nijar basins shows a strike-slip regime with NW–SE-oriented subhorizontal maximum principal stress (σ₁) during Tortonian and earliest Messinian times. Under the influence of this stress field, dextral displacement along the N090E-trending Gafarillos fault zone resulted in deformation of the sediments of the southern Sorbas and northeastern Nijar basins. During the early Messinian a clock-wise rotation of the stress field occurred. Stress analysis in rocks with late–early Messinian up to Quaternary ages in the Nijar and Vera basins indicates a strike-slip regime with N–S-oriented subhorizontal maximum principal stress (σ₁). Under the influence of this stress field the main activity along the N010E-striking Palomares strike-slip fault zone took place, resulting in deformation of the Neogene sediments of the southeastern Vera basin and culminating in a maximum sinistral displacement of more than 20 km. At the same time the stress field was not suitably oriented to exert a large shear component on the Gafarillos fault zone, which activity ended after the earliest Messinian. Fault and outcrop patterns of syntectonic Neogene sediments in the Vera basin show that displacement along the Palomares fault zone decreased at the end of the Middle Miocene although minor displacement phases may still have occurred during the Late Miocene and possibly even Pliocene. From the Middle Miocene onward, deformation in the Nijar basin was controlled by sinistral displacement along the N040E-trending Serrata strike-slip fault zone.     

火成岩地表复杂区地震资料的构造解释及应用

北部湾盆地的迈陈凹陷东部地区浅层广泛分布第四纪火成岩,地表条件复杂,发育多期断裂系统,构造破碎,导致地震资料品质较差,构造解释及圈闭描述难度大。笔者在开展解释处理一体化以提高地震资料品质的同时,建立区域构造地质模型,综合运用多种解释技术手段,进行构造解释研究。解决了速度及多期活动小断层的识别及断层组合的解释等问题,提高了圈闭的可信度和构造解释方案的准确性。