P-wave amplitude spectra of Nevada underground nuclear explosions

Summary Short-period vertical-componentP-wave spectra have been determined for twelve Nevada underground nuclear explosions recorded by the Swedish seismic station network. Selected events cover the magnitude range fromm _b =5.9 tom _b =7.0 and the shot-depth range from 460 m to 1400 m. All explosion spectra show pronounced minima near 1 sec period. Within individual test areas the period at which the minimum occurs increases systematically with increasing shot-depth. This dependence makes it possible to interpret the observed minima in terms of interference betweenP- andpP-waves. One atmospheric explosion from Novaya Zemlya is analyzed to verify the inferred minima intrpretation.The minimum-period shows also a systematic linear dependence upon the magnitude. However, the physical explanation for this dependence is not evident and it may just be a consequence of a magnitude-depth relation.On leave from the Geophysical Institute, Czechosl. Acad. Sci., Prague 4-Spoilov, Boni II.     

Decomposition of seismic moment tensors for underground nuclear explosions

Generally the decomposition of a seismic moment tensor is not unique. However, to favorably view the characteristics of a certain seismic source, one must decompose a seismic moment tensor into parts according to assumptions about the properties of the seismic source. Different from natural earthquakes in which the shear dislocation component plays a predominant role in the source process, and the seismic moment tensor can be separated into an isotropic component, a double couple, and a compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD), underground nuclear explosions have three major components in their source process, i.e., the explosion, the tensional spalling, and the tectonic strain release associated with the explosion. In such a situation the conventional moment tensor decomposition for earthquakes is not convenient to estimate the yield of the explosion and to characterize the tectonic strain release. In this paper, an alternative decomposition scheme is proposed to deal with the moment tensor of underground nuclear explosions, which might benefit the approach to study the tectonic strain release induced by underground nuclear detonations.     

地下爆炸地震耦合效应的静态分析

首先修正了地下爆炸地震耦合效应的准静态理论,然后利用改进之后的理论对剪切模量、材料强度、围压以及孔隙率不同的介质中地下爆炸的震源强度进行了分析.分析结果表明,对于密实硬岩介质来说,在其它条件不变的情况下,介质的剪切模量越大,震源强度越低;介质的强度越大,震源强度越低;震源强度随着埋深的增加而降低.而干燥多孔介质中的干孔隙率也对震源强度有重要影响.     

Observations of teleseismicP wave coda for underground explosions

The earlyP wave coda (5–15 sec after the first arrival) of underground explosions at the Nevada Test Site is studied in the time domain using 2082 teleseismic short-period recordings, with the intent of identifying near-source contributions to the signals in the frequency range 0.2–2.0 Hz. Smaller magnitude events tend to have relatively high coda levels in the 0.4–0.8 Hz frequency band for both Yucca Flat and Pahute Mesa explosions. Coda complexity in this low-frequency passband is negatively correlated with burial depth for Pahute Mesa events but is only weakly correlated with depth for Yucca Flat events. Enhanced excitation of relatively long-period scattered waves for smaller, less deeply buried events is required to explain this behavior. Coda complexity in the 0.8–1.1 Hz band is positively correlated with magnitude and depth for Pahute Mesa events, but has no such dependence for Yucca Flat events. This may result from systematic variations between the spectra of direct signals and coda arrivals caused bypP interference for the largest events, all of which were detonated at Pahute Mesa. Another possible explanation is a frequency-dependent propagation effect on the direct signals of the larger events, most of which were located in the center of the mesa overlying strong lateral velocity gradients in the crust and upper mantle. Event average complexity varies spatially for both test sites, particularly in the 0.8–1.1 Hz band, providing evidence for frequency-dependent focussing or scattering by near-source structure. Both the direct arrivals and the early coda have strong azimuthal amplitude patterns that are produced by defocussing by mantle heterogeneity. The direct arrivals have stronger coherent azimuthal patterns than the early coda for Pahute Mesa events, indicating more pronounced deep crustal and shallow mantle defocussing for the direct signals. However, for Yucca Flat events the direct arrivals have less coherent azimuthal patterns than the coda, suggesting that a highly variable component of near-source scattering preferentially affecting the downgoing energy is superimposed on a pattern produced by mantle heterogeneity that affects the entire signal. This complicated behavior of the direct arrivals may be the result of triplications and caustics produced by the complex basement structure known to underlie the Yucca Flat test site. The presence of strong azimuthal patterns in the early coda indicates that source strength estimates based on early coda are subject to biases similar to those affecting estimates based on direct arrivals.     

地下核爆炸的主要非爆炸源机制

通常将地下封闭式爆炸近似为球对称爆炸震源来研究,然而利用这一模型来解释由地下核爆炸激发的近场和远场地震波的全部特征是远远不够的,通过理论和利用地下核爆炸产生的地震波数据的研究,学者们总结出了一些重要的辅助震源模式,作为地下核爆炸的二次源机制,如地震波转换震源模式、层裂震源模式、构造应变能释放震源模式等.其中的一些模型成功地解释了诸如地下核爆炸Lg波的激发机制等重要问题.本文介绍了这些重要模式的研究背景及理论依据,并且详细地推导了层裂源的数学描述过程.     

Towards global seismic monitoring of underground nuclear explosions using waveform cross correlation. Part II: Synthetic master events

Waveform cross correlation is an efficient tool for detection and characterization of seismic signals. For the purposes of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, cross correlation can globally reduce the threshold of detection by 0.3 to 0.4 magnitude units. However, the technique critically depends on the availability of master events. In Part I of this paper, we have demonstrated that in seismically active regions the best master events (grand-masters) replicated over a regular grid allow improving the efficiency of signal detection and event finding. In aseismic areas, there are two approaches to populate the global grid of master events for the International Monitoring System: the replication of grand-masters and calculation of synthetic seismograms for master-events in the global grid nodes. The efficiency of synthetic templates depends on the accuracy of shape and amplitude predictions controlled by focal depth and mechanism, source function, velocity structure and attenuation along the master/station path. Here we test three focal mechanisms (explosion, thrust fault, and actual Harvard CMT solution for one of the April 11, 2012 Sumatra aftershocks) and two velocity structures (ak135 and CRUST 2.0). Sixteen synthetic master events were distributed over a 1° × 1° grid covering the zone of aftershocks. We built five cross correlation standard event lists (XSEL) and compared detections and events with those built using the real and grand master events as well as with the Reviewed Events Bulletin of the International Data Centre. The XSELs were built using an explosion source and ak135 and the reverse fault with isotropic radiation pattern to demonstrate the performance similar to that of the real and grand masters. Here we have proved quantitatively that it is possible to cover all aseismic areas with synthetic masters without significant loss in seismic monitoring capabilities based on cross correlation.     

Source parameters of some significant earthquakes near Koyna dam,India

Seismic moment, stress drop, source radius, and fault dislocation have been determined for nineteen significant earthquakes in the Konya area, India using displacement spectra of shear waves computed from strong-motion accelerograph records. Though the stress-drop shows a definite increasing trend with the seismic moment, its correlations with source radius and corner frequency indicate that a constant stress drop of 170 bars represents a good mean value to describe the source mechanism of the Koyna dam earthquakes. An empirical relationship also has been established between magnitude and seismic moment.     

核爆、化爆、地震识别研究综述

地震学方法是监测地下核试验最为重要的方法.为准确鉴别地下核试验,不仅包括识别核爆炸与天然地震,还包括对化学爆炸震源类型的识别.论文从核爆炸与天然地震的识别、化学爆炸与地震的识别、核爆炸与化学爆炸的识别三个方面对国内外的研究状况分别进行了综述,较为详尽地阐述了从统计分析和信号处理的角度进行研究的进展状况,并对目前的研究进展进行了分析总结,最后对未来的核爆监测识别研究的发展趋势进行了展望,提出了一些建议.     

The transport and deposition of debris from nuclear test explosions

Fine debris from nuclear test explosions is removed from the atmosphere by dry deposition or by rainwater. The relative importance of these two mechanisms is considered and the conclusion is reached that, in middle latitudes, at least 80% of the fision product activity in soil has been brought down in rain. The average life of a small particle in the troposphere is deduced from the rate of decrease of air concentration and from the relation between air and rainwater activities and lies in the range 30–60 days. The factors influencing the attachment of a particle to a raindrop are discussed in the light of the most recent data and tentative conclusions are reached on the comparative efficiences of the three processes:

1. 1.
   Attachment to cloud droplets by Brownian motion.     
   
   

Source parameters of the 2004 Kaliningrad earthquakes

An analysis of source parameters of the two unexpected earthquakes from the Kaliningrad (Russia) area is presented. The earthquakes occurred on 21 September 2004 at 11:05:01 and 13:32:31 UT, respectively. The first event was located at the latitude φ = 54.924°N and the longitude λ = 20.120°E, with a depth h = 16 km, and the second event at φ = 54.876°N, λ = 20.120°E and h = 20 km. Magnitudes Mw of the two events were very similar: 5.1 and 5.2. The magnitude values reported by various international data centers have been meaningfully different. The reason is the presence of high-frequency components in Z velocity component of the S wavefield. They were observed along the direction defined by two stations, BLEU in Sweden and SUW in Poland, located in opposite sides of the source. Along the direction perpendicular to it, the effects are relatively very small. The high-frequency waves are understood to mean components in the 6–8 Hz band for event 1 and 2-4 Hz for event 2. The effects in question are also clearly visible on displacement spectrograms. The magnitude values calculated at such stations from S-wave amplitudes or from seismic spectra are clearly overestimated and are close to 6. Therefore, we made a careful selection of channels in order to determine the spectral parameters and, on this basis, the source parameters. The size of the source is relatively small, of about 2 km. The closest seismic station is at 100 source radii from the source. One can clearly see the effect of the TT zone which markedly reduces the seismic moment value for seismic stations laying on the opposite sides of the source. Both events have very similar spatial distributions of the source parameters: magnitude, seismic moment and radius.     

Stacking of records of nuclear explosions registered by the world network of seismic stations

The methods and results of stacking of seismograms of nuclear explosions registered by the world network of seismic stations from 1980 until 1988 are presented. Stacking of seismograms obtained at one seismic station from the sources located in the same place allows us substantially to increase the useful signal/noise ratio. This, in turn, allows more confident correlation of various seismic waves coming to the seismic stations after the first arrivals, particularly, converted and reflected waves from different boundaries inside the Earth.     

Source parameters of some large earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region based on an itertive maximum entropy technique

TeleseismicP-waves of some large earthquakes that occurred in the eastern Mediterranean region have been analysed by using an iterative maximum entropy technique in order to obtain the independent spectral parameters, the long-period spectral level ₀ and the corner frequencyf ₀ of the far-field displacement spectra.Based on these parameters, the seismic source parameters seismic momentM ₀, source dimensionr, fault lengthl, average displacement u, shear stress drop , radiated energyE _s and apparent stressn are calculated for the considered earthquakes by using Brune's and Madariaga's models.The striking feature of the source parameters obtained in this study is the low stress drop value which varies between 5 and 15 bars. If Madariaga's model had been used, higher stress drop values would have been obtained.The low stress drop earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region might be interpreted either by the possible presence of low strength material near the source or by the partial stress drop model.     

Discrimination between nuclear explosions and earthquakes based on consideration of tectonic ambient shear stress values

IntroductionFor the need of a nuclear test ban treaty, international society must make great efforts to find effective methods for discrimination between earthquake and nuclear explosion. Thereupon, many methods of discrimination of nuclear explosion appeared. But, at present, there is some uncertainty to discriminate middle or small nuclear explosion (Peppin, McEvilly, 1974; Richards, Zarales, 1990). When we study tectonic ambient shear stress field of Southern California, we find that str…     

Source parameters of the earthquakes of the Baikal rift system

The dynamic parameters of the earthquake source—the seismic moment, the moment magnitude, the source radius, the stress drop, and the amplitude of displacement—are determined by the amplitude Fourier spectra of the body shear waves (S-waves) for 62 earthquakes of the Baikal rift system with the energy class of K _P = 9.1–15.7. In the calculations I used the classical Brune model. The seismic moment of the earthquakes being investigated changes from 3.65 × 10¹¹ N m to 1.35 × 10¹⁸ N m, and the radii of earthquake sources vary from 390 m to 1.84 km. The values of the drop in stress Δσ grow with an increase in the seismic moment up to 1.7 × 10⁸ Pa. For the group of weak earthquakes (M _w = 1.7–3.3), extremely low values of the drop in stress 10³–10⁴ Pa are observed. The maximum amplitude of displacement in the source amounts to 5.95 m. The empirical equations between the seismic moment and the other dynamic parameters of the source are determined. The regional dependence of the seismic moment and energy class is obtained: log M ₀ ± 0.60 = 1.03K _P + 3.17. The character of the relationship between the seismic moment and the corner frequency indicates that the classical scaling law of the seismic spectrum for the earthquakes in question is not fulfilled. The obtained estimates of the dynamic parameters are in satisfactory agreement with the published data concerning the analogous parameters of the other rift zones, which reflects the general regular patterns of the destruction of the lithosphere and the seismicity in the extension zones of the lithosphere.     

An investigation on the ground motion parameters and seismic response of underground structures

Peak ground acceleration (PGA), frequency content and time duration are three fundamental parameters of seismic loading. This study focuses on the seismic load frequency and its effect on the underground structures. Eight accelerograms regarding different occurred earthquakes that are scaled to an identical PGA and variation of ground motion parameters with ratio of peak ground velocity (PGV) to PGA, as a parameter related to the load frequency, are considered. Then, concrete lining response of a circular tunnel under various seismic conditions is evaluated analytically. In the next, seismic response of underground structure is assessed numerically using two different time histories. Finally, effects of incident load frequency and frequency ratio on the dynamic damping of geotechnical materials are discussed. Result of analyses show that specific energy of seismic loading with identical PGA is related to the seismic load frequency. Furthermore, incident load frequency and natural frequency of a system have influence on the wave attenuation and dynamic damping of the system.     

Estimates of the energy of surface waves from atmospheric explosions and the source parameters of the Tunguska event

The results of the numerical modeling of experimental concentrated atmospheric explosions, both nuclear and chemical, are presented. The surface pressure spectra are calculated and constraints are gained on their relation to the energy of surface seismic waves and to earthquake magnitudes. For a more accurate determination of the source parameters of the Tunguska event (June 30, 1908), atmospheric explosions at various altitudes and vertical falls of meteoroids are modeled numerically and their seismic effect is estimated.     

龙潭水库诱发地震震源参数分析

利用广西龙滩水库地震台网记录的数字地震波资料,用波谱分析方法计算了龙滩水库库区ML2．5—4．5级共计95个地震的震源参数。并对震源参数进行分析,结果表明：库区视应力的范围在0-3．5巴之间,2007年7月17日库区最大4．5级地震的视应力最大,为3．07巴。视应力随震级的增大呈幂函数增大趋势,两者的拟合关系为：σap...     

Geodynamic processes in seismically active areas of the Tien Shan from monitoring data with the use of nuclear explosions

Recent geodynamic processes in the Tien Shan region are studied by the analysis of time series of effective velocities and traveltime delays relative to the IASPEI-91 traveltime curve of the weakly refracted wave P _n from nuclear explosions at the Semipalatinsk test site over the period of 1968–1989. The time series were constructed for 10 seismic stations located at distances of 800–1200 km from the test site in the regions of the Northern, Central, and Southern Tien Shan. The twenty-year period of observations at stations in the North Tien Shan showed a significant decrease in traveltime delays by 0.20–0.76 s, which corresponds to a 0.2–0.7% increase in seismic velocities. An opposite pattern is observed at stations of the Central and Southern Tien Shan: traveltime delays increased by 0.2–0.5 s and, accordingly, seismic velocities dropped by 0.2–0.5%. These results suggest the predominance of compression processes in the crust and upper mantle during the period of observations in Northern Tien Shan and extension processes in the Central and Southern Tien Shan. The series of velocities and traveltime residuals are characterized by the presence of rhythmic oscillations of various amplitudes and periods against a linear trend. A correlation between variations in kinematic parameters and yearly numbers of earthquakes is observed at all stations. Diagrams of the spectral time analysis reveal rhythms with periods of 2–3 and 5–7 yr. The data obtained in this study are consistent with results of studying the stress-strain state of the Tien Shan crust from focal mechanisms of earthquakes and the velocities of recent crustal movements from GPS data. It is found that the amplitude of variations in kinematic parameters of the P wave at stations located in seismically active regions (the Tien Shan, Kopet Dagh, the Caucasus, Altai, and Sayany) is two to five times higher compared to aseismic regions (the Russian and Kazakh plains).     

Seismo-engineering parameters for sites of interim storages for spent nuclear fuel at German nuclear power plants

Within the scope of the licensing procedure for 12 interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants (NPP) and one for the dismantling of a NPP in Germany, site-specific expert reports were carried out to determine seismo-engineering design parameters. Our work was based on the German nuclear safety standard KTA 2201 part 1 “Design of Nuclear Power Plants against Seismic Events” which requires the derivation of the design earthquake in terms of (macroseismic) intensity. The intensity of the particular design earthquake was evaluated by the deterministic method stipulated in KTA 2201 part 1. According to the current state-of-the-art of science and technology supplementary to the deterministic approach, probabilistic evaluations were done setting a probability of exceedance for the occurrence of the design earthquake of 10⁻⁵ year⁻¹. Geological development and neotectonic conditions of the site surrounding areas were included in the evaluations. For 13 interim storage facility sites, soil-dependent design spectra and corresponding strong-motion duration values were determined.For sites with low seismic hazard site-specific design spectra from the literature were used. In the case of sites with higher seismic hazard (design earthquakeVII 1/2 MSK) strong-motion registrations representative for the site were selected from world wide data and subsequently evaluated to derive site-specific design spectra.     

1999年台湾集集7.6级地震的震源参数

利用广东省数字地震台网记录的１９９９年台湾集集７．６级地震的波形资料,通过频谱分析,得出此次地震的霜相动力学特征,计算出Ｐ波和Ｓ波的应力降、地震矩、震源尺度等震源参数和介质品质因子Ｑ值,并求出了它的距震级。