Failure time variation derived from R-S relation： the role of the static stress perturbation

In general, earthquake cycle related to earthquake faulting could include four major processes which could be described by(1) fault locking,(2) self-acceleration or nucleation(possible foreshocks),(3) coseismic slip, and(4) post-stress relaxation and afterslip. A sudden static stress change/perturbation in the surrounding crust can advance/ delay the fault instability or failure time and modify earthquake rates. Based on a simple one-dimensional spring-slider block model with the combination of rate-and-statedependent friction relation, in this study, we have approximately derived the simple analytical solutions of clock advance/delay of fault failures caused by a sudden static Coulomb stress change applied in the different temporal evolution periods during an earthquake faulting. The results have been used in the physics-based explanation of delayed characteristic earthquake in Parkfield region, California, in which the next characteristic earthquake of M 6.0 after 1966 occurred in 2004 instead of around 1988 according to its characteristic return period of 22 years. At the same time, the analytical solutions also indicate that the time advance/ delay in Coulomb stress change derived by the dislocation model has a certain limitation and fundamental flaw. Furthermore, we discussed the essential difference between rate- and state-variable constitutive(R–S) model and Coulomb stress model used commonly in current earthquake triggering study, and demonstrated that, in fact, the Coulomb stress model could be involved in the R–S model. The results, we have obtained in this study, could be used in the development of time-dependent fault interaction model and the probability calculation related to the time-dependent and renewal earthquake prediction model.     

Homotopy perturbation method for solving the space–time fractional advection–dispersion equation

In this paper we present a reliable algorithm, the homotopy perturbation method, to construct numerical solutions of the space–time fractional advection–dispersion equation in the form of a rapidly convergent series with easily computable components. Fractional advection–dispersion equations are used in groundwater hydrology to model the transport of passive tracers carried by fluid flow in a porous medium. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. Some examples are given. Numerical results show that the homotopy perturbation method is easy to implement and accurate when applied to space–time fractional advection–dispersion equations.     

The effect of cyclic variation of shear stress on non-cohesive sediment stabilization by microbial biofilms: the role of ‘biofilm precursors’

Biofilm mediated intertidal sediments exhibit more complex erosional behaviour than abiotic systems. A major feature of intertidal systems is the exposure to repeated cycles of high and low shear created by tidal conditions and also less predictable episodic events, such as storms. There is very little information on how biofilm-forming communities respond to these conditions. In this study, the effects of both single and repeated-cycles of shear on the stability of newly developed bio-sedimentary beds was examined. Cleaned sand, without any potential biostabilization, was used as the control. For the single-cycle scenario, biofilms were incubated on a non-cohesive sandy bed under prolonged low shear periods varying between 5 and 22 days, after which erosional stress was applied. No significant biostabilization was observed for the youngest bio-sedimentary bed (after five days of low shear incubation). After 22 days, microbial communities were characterized by a firmly attached surface biofilm. To cause erosion, greater hydrodynamic stress (0.28 Pa) was required. The erosional behaviour of the underlying sand was also affected in that bedform ripples noted in the control system were no longer observed. Instead, a sudden ‘mass erosion’ took place (0.33 Pa). The one-cycle scenario indicated that significant biostabilization of sand only occurred after a relative long calm period. Under repeated cycles of stress (five days of low stress followed by high stress event and re-incubation, repeated for four cycles = 20 days), frequent cyclic disturbance did not degrade the system stability but enhanced biostabilization. The properties of the sub-surface sediments were also affected where erosion rates were further inhibited. We hypothesize that organic material eroded from the bed acted as a ‘biofilm precursor’ supporting the development of new biofilm growth. A conceptual framework is presented to highlight the dynamics of bio-sedimentary beds and the effects of growth history under repeated-cycles. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Space–time variability of the Plata plume inferred from ocean color

Satellite ocean color and surface salinity data are used to characterize the space–time variability of the Río de la Plata plume. River outflow and satellite wind data are also used to assess their combined effect on the plume spreading over the Southwestern South Atlantic continental shelf. Over the continental shelf satellite-derived surface chlorophyll-a (CSAT) estimated by the OC4v4 SeaWiFS retrieval algorithm is a good indicator of surface salinity. The log (CSAT) distribution over the shelf presents three distinct modes, each associated to: Subantarctic Shelf Water, Subtropical Shelf Water and Plata Plume water. The log (CSAT) 0.4–0.8 range is associated with a sharp surface salinity transition across the offshore edge of the Plata plume from 28.5 to 32.5. Waters of surface salinity <31, derived from mixtures of Plata waters with continental shelf waters, are associated to log (CSAT)>0.5. In austral winter CSAT maxima extend northeastward from the Plata estuary beyond 30°S. In summer the high CSAT waters along the southern Brazil shelf retreat to 32°S and extend south of the estuary to about 37.5°S, only exceeding this latitude during extraordinary events. The seasonal CSAT variations northeast of the estuary are primarily controlled by reversals of the along-shore wind stress and surface currents. Along-shore wind stress and CSAT variations in the inner and mid-shelves are in phase north of the estuary and 180° out of phase south of the estuary. At interannual time scales northernmost Plata plume penetrations in winter (∼1200 km from the estuary) are associated with more intense and persistent northeastward wind stress, which in the period 2000–2003, prevailed over the shelf south of 26°S. In contrast, in winter 1999, 2004 and 2005, characterized by weaker northeastward wind stress, the plume only reached between 650 and 900 km. Intense southwestward plume extensions beyond 38°S are dominated by interannual time scales and appear to be related to the magnitude of the river outflow. The plume response to large river outflow fluctuations observed at interannual time scales is moderate, except offshore from the estuary mouth, where outflow variations lead CSAT variations by about 2 months.     

Compression of the North Hemisphere derived from space geodesy

Introduction With the development of global tectonics and overall detections for global tectonics with multi-geophysical methods, ones can roundly study on the geological tectonics of sampling and magnetic stripe image, so as to summarize and interpret the geometrical and kinematical charac-teristics for the distribution of the ocean and the land, and spreading state of the global tectonics in a global scale. From a comprehensive view, the South and North hemispheres are clearly unsym-metrical…     

The quasi－static solutions of two kinds of the thermo－elastic problem and the time spacedistributionfeatureoftheseismicprecursorfields

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Estimation of seismic stress drop from the peak velocity of ground motion

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Comparison of the geophysical excitations of polar motion from the period: 1980.0–2009.0

In this study we compared contributions to polar motion excitation determined separately from each of three kinds of geophysical data: atmospheric pressure, equivalent water height estimated from hydrological models, and harmonic coefficients of the Earth gravity field obtained from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Hydrological excitation function (Hydrological Angular Momentum — HAM) has been estimated from models of global hydrology, based on the observed distribution of surfacewater, snow, ice, and soil moisture. In our considerationwe used several global models of land hydrosphere and models ofAtmospheric Angular Momentum (AAM) and Oceanic Angular Momentum (OAM). All of themwere compared with observed Geodetic Angular Momentum (GAM). The spectra of the following excitation functions of polar motion: GAM, AAM+OAM, AAM+OAM+HAM, GAM-AAM-OAM residual geodetic excitation function, and HAM were computed too. The time variable spectra of geodetic, gravimetric, and the sum of atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrological excitation functions are also presented. Phasor diagrams of the seasonal components of polar motion excitation functions of all HAM excitation functions as well as of two GRACE solutions: Center for Space Research (CSR), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales/Groupe de Recherche en Geodesie Spatiale (CNES/GRGS) were determined and discussed.     

Plumb line variation at Tangshan during 1987–1998 and its relation with the earthquakes around

Plumb line variations (PLV) at Tangshan during the years of 1987–1998 are determined by using the 46 batch repeated gravity observations of the Beijing-Tangshan network. It has been found that PLV at Tangshan are related with the 38 earthquakes in this period. It appears that the time of an earthquake around Tangshan is usually quite the same when PLV at Tangshan begins moving in opposite direction. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10633030)     

Development of attenuation relation for the near fault ground motion from the characteristic earthquake

A composite source model has been used to simulate a broadband strong ground motion with an associated fault rupture process. A scenario earthquake fault model has been used to generate 1 000 earthquake events with a magni-tude of Mw8.0. The simulated results show that, for the characteristic event with a strike-slip faulting, the character istics of near fault ground motion is strongly dependent on the rupture directivity. If the distance between the sites and fault was given, the ground motion in the forward direction (Site A) is much larger than that in the backward direction (Site C) and that close to the fault (Site B). The SH waves radiated from the fault, which corresponds to the fault-normal component plays a key role in the ground motion amplification. Corresponding to the sites A, B, and C, the statistical analysis shows that the ratio of their aPG is 2.15:1.5:1 and their standard deviations are about 0.12, 0.11, and 0.13, respectively. If these results are applied in the current probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), then, for the lower annual frequency of exceedance of peak ground acceleration, the predicted aPG from the hazard curve could reduce by 30% or more compared with the current PSHA model used in the developing of seismic hazard map in the USA. Therefore, with a consideration of near fault ground motion caused by the rupture directivity, the regression model used in the development of the regional attenuation relation should be modified accordingly.     

The rigidity spectrum of the harmonics of the 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray intensity in different epochs of solar activity: 1965–2002

We study temporal changes of the rigidity (R) spectrum of the harmonics of the 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity using neutron monitors (NM) data for the period 1965–2002. We show that the rigidity spectrum of the third harmonic (9 days) of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity changes in a similar way as the spectra of the first and second harmonics, being hard in the maximum epochs and soft in the minimum epochs of solar activity. We ascribe this finding to the alternation of the sizes of the modulation regions of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity in different epochs of solar activity. The average size of the vicinity of the corotating interaction regions, causing the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity, is less in the minimum epochs than in the maximum epochs of solar activity. A vicinity of the corotating interaction regions of larger size involves in modulation higher rigidity particles of GCR than the vicinity of smaller size; thus, this statement can be considered as one of the reasons leading to the hardening of the rigidity spectrum of the harmonics of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity in maximum epochs compared with minimum epochs of solar activity.We also show that the temporal changes of the power rigidity spectrum of the third harmonic of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity are negatively correlated with the rigidity spectrum of the 11-year variation of the galactic cosmic ray intensity.We found a recurrence in the temporal changes of the amplitudes of the first harmonic of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity and in some parameters of solar activity and solar wind.     

Tectonic stress accumulation in the region of the Kuril–Kamchatka Island Arc system

The time variations in the tidal response of the medium in 2011–2015 according to the measurements at the global seismographic network (GSN) in Kamchatka are considered. Based on the data from the horizontal pendulums recording the eastward tilts at the station, it is established that there was a linear growth in the tidal tilt amplitudes up to May 24, 2013 due to the changes in the elastic moduli caused by tectonic stress accumulation. The growth phase was followed by the decline in the tidal tilt amplitudes induced by the release of stresses after the Sea-of-Okhotsk earthquake.     

A study of the role of ion–molecule chemistry in the formation of sporadic sodium layers

Over two campaigns in 1998 and 1999, multiple sporadic sodium events were observed by the Arecibo Observatory sodium density lidar while simultaneously monitoring the plasma density using the incoherent scatter radar. In this paper, we test the theoretical explanation proposed by Cox and Plane (1998) where Na⁺ in a plasma layer is neutralized via an ion–molecule mechanism to form a sporadic sodium layer. A particular challenge is to interpret observations made in a Eulerian frame of observation where the spatial and temporal characteristics of events cannot easily be separated. The reaction scheme in the original mechanism is modified to include the reactions NaO⁺+N₂→Na⁺·N₂+O and NaO⁺+O₂→Na⁺+O₃, following the results of theoretical quantum calculations. Six unique case studies of sporadic sodium layers are presented here, and excellent agreement between simulation and observations was obtained for five of them.     

Neotectonic modelling of the western part of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary: from the Mid-Atlantic ridge to Algeria

In this work we use the thin-shell approximation to model the neotectonics of the western part of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary, extending from the Mid-Atlantic ridge to Tell Atlas (northern Algeria). Models assume a nonlinear rheology and include laterally variable heat flow, elevation, and crust and lithospheric mantle thickness. Including the Mid-Atlantic ridge permits us to evaluate the effects of ridge push and to analyse the influence of the North America motion on the area of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary. Ridge push forces were included in a self-consistent manner and have been shown to exert negligible effects in the neotectonics of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa. Different models were computed with systematic variation of the fault friction coefficient. Model quality was scored by comparing predictions of anelastic strain rates, vertically integrated stresses and velocity fields to data on seismic strain rate computed from earthquake magnitude, most compressive horizontal principal stress direction, and seafloor spreading rates on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. The best model scores were obtained with fault friction coefficients as low as 0.06–0.1. The velocity boundary condition representing spreading on the Mid-Atlantic ridge is shown to produce concentrated deformation along the ridge and to have negligible effect in the interior of the plates. However, this condition is shown to be necessary to properly reproduce the observed directions of maximum horizontal compression on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. The maximum fault slip rates predicted by the model are obtained along the Mid-Atlantic ridge, Terceira ridge and Tell Atlas front. Relatively high slip rates are also obtained in the area between the Gloria fault and the Gulf of Cadiz. We infer from our modelling a significant long-term seismic hazard for the Gloria fault, and interpret the absence of seismicity on this fault as possibly due to transient elastic strain accumulation. The present study has also permitted better understanding of the geometry of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary from the Azores triple junction to the Algerian Basin. The different deformational styles seem to be related to the different types of lithosphere, oceanic or continental, in contact at the plate boundary.     

Improving the resolution of seismic traces based on the secondary time–frequency spectrum

The resolution of seismic data is critical to seismic data processing and the subsequent interpretation of fine structures. In conventional resolution improvement methods, the seismic data is assumed stationary and the noise level not changes with space, whereas the actual situation does not satisfy this assumption, so that results after resolution improvement processing is not up to the expected effect. To solve these problems, we propose a seismic resolution improvement method based on the secondary time–frequency spectrum. First, we propose the secondary time-frequency spectrum based on S transform (ST) and discuss the reflection coefficient sequence and time-dependent wavelet in the secondary time–frequency spectrum. Second, using the secondary time–frequency spectrum, we design a twodimensional filter to extract the amplitude spectrum of the time-dependent wavelet. Then, we discuss the improvement of the resolution operator in noisy environments and propose a novel approach for determining the broad frequency range of the resolution operator in the time–frequency–space domain. Finally, we apply the proposed method to synthetic and real data and compare the results of the traditional spectrum-modeling deconvolution and Q compensation method. The results suggest that the proposed method does not need to estimate the Q value and the resolution is not limited by the bandwidth of the source. Thus, the resolution of the seismic data is improved sufficiently based on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).