Development of site-specific design ground motions in Western and Eastern North America

This paper presents results recently obtained for generating site-specific ground motions needed for design of critical facilities. The general approach followed in developing these ground motions using either deterministic or probabilistic criteria is specification of motions for rock outcrop or very firm soil conditions followed by adjustments for site-specific conditions. Central issues in this process include development of appropriate attenuation relations and their uncertainties, differences in expected motions between Western and Eastern North America, and incorporation of site-specific adjustments that maintain the same hazard level as the control motions, while incorporating uncertainties in local dynamic material properties. For tectonically active regions, such as the Western United States (WUS), sufficient strong motion data exist to constrain empirical attenuation relations for M up to about 7 and for distances greater than about 10–15 km. Motions for larger magnitudes and closer distances are largely driven by extrapolations of empirical relations and uncertainties need to be substantially increased for these cases.

For the Eastern United States (CEUS), due to the paucity of strong motion data for cratonic regions worldwide, estimation of strong ground motions for engineering design is based entirely on calibrated models. The models are usually calibrated and validated in the WUS where sufficient strong motion data are available and then recalibrated for applications to the CEUS. Recalibration generally entails revising parameters based on available CEUS ground motion data as well as indirect inferences through intensity observations. Known differences in model parameters such as crustal structure between WUS and CEUS are generally accommodated as well. These procedures are examined and discussed.     

Capture Zones for Simple Aquifers

Abstract. The protection and cleanup of aquifers is a matter of high priority for all states and the federal government. One concept that is receiving increased attention is that of wellhead protection. Capture zones showing the area influenced by a well within a certain time are useful for both aquifer protection and cleanup. If hydrodynamic dispersion is neglected, a deterministic curve defines the capture zone. Analytical expressions for the capture zones can be derived for simple aquifers. However, the capture zone equations are transcendental and cannot be explicitly solved for the coordinates of the capture zone boundary. Fortunately, an iterative scheme allows the solution to proceed quickly and efficiently even on a modest personal computer. Three forms of the analytical solution must be used in an iterative scheme to cover the entire region of interest, after the extreme values of the x coordinate are determined by an iterative solution. The resulting solution is a discrete one, and usually 100-1000 intervals along the x-axis are necessary for a smooth definition of the capture zone. The presented program is written in FORTRAN and has been used in a variety of computing environments. No graphics capability is included with the program; it is assumed the user has access to a commercial package. The superposition of capture zones for multiple wells is expected to be satisfactory if the spacing is not too close. Because this program deals with simple aquifers, the results rarely will be the final word in a real application. However, the program is useful as a first phase in developing wellhead protection or aquifer cleanup schemes.     

New Method for Continuous Transmissivity Profiling in Fractured Rock

A new method is presented to search for hydraulically transmissive features in open boreholes in bedrock. A flexible borehole liner made of a watertight, nylon fabric is filled with water to create a constant driving head to evert (reverse of invert) the liner down the hole so that the liner pushes the borehole water out into transmissive fractures or other permeable features. The descent rate is governed by the bulk transmissivity of the remaining permeable features below the liner. Initially, the liner descent rate or velocity is a measure of transmissivity (T) of the entire hole. As the everting liner passes and seals each permeable feature, changes in the liner velocity indicate the position of each feature and an estimate of T using the Thiem equation for steady radial flow. This method has been performed in boreholes with diameters ranging from 96 to 330 mm. Profiling commonly takes a few hours in holes 200‐ to 300‐m long. After arrival of the liner at the bottom of the hole, the liner acts as a seal preventing borehole cross connection between transmissive features at different depths. Liner removal allows the hole to be used for other purposes. The T values determined using this method in a dolostone aquifer were found to be similar to the values from injection tests using conventional straddle packers. This method is not a replacement for straddle‐packer hydraulic testing of specific zones where greater accuracy is desired; however, it is effective and efficient for scanning entire holes for transmissive features.     

A New Rapid Method for Measuring the Vertical Head Profile

This study describes a new technique for measuring the head profile in a geologic formation. The technique provides rapid, low cost information on the depth of water‐producing zones and aquitards in heterogeneous aquifers, yielding estimates of hydraulic heads in each zone while identifying any potential for cross contamination between zones. The measurements can be performed in a typical borehole in just a few hours. The procedure uses both the continuous transmissivity profile obtained by the installation (eversion) of a flexible borehole liner into an open borehole and the subsequent removal (inversion) of the same liner from the borehole. The method is possible because of the continuous transmissivity profile (T profile described by Keller et al. 2014) obtained by measuring the rate of liner eversion under a constant driving head. The hydraulic heads of producing zones are measured using the reverse head profile (RHP) method (patent no. 9,008,971) based on a stepwise inversion of the borehole liner. As each interval of the borehole is uncovered by inversion of the liner, the head beneath the liner is allowed to equilibrate to a steady‐state value. The individual hydraulic heads contributing to each measurement are calculated using the measured transmissivity for each zone. Application of the RHP method to a sedimentary bedrock borehole in New Jersey verified that it reproduced the head distribution obtained the same day in the same borehole instrumented with a multilevel sampling system.     

Source mechanisms and microfracturing during uniaxial cycling of rock

Focal mechanisms for 116 acoustic emission events associated with uniaxial cyclic loading of Westerly granite have been investigated using P-wave first-motions. Polarities were observed at eight transducers positioned on the sample to provide good azimuthal coverage. The P-wave radiation patterns can be fit by a quadrupole source but not by a simple pure tensional source. The predominant orientations of the two nodal planes for the quadrupole fit were subparallel to and perpendicular to the ₁ direction. Events with close hypocenters, i.e., within a radius of 3 mm, display a remarkable similarity in focal mechanisms irrespective of the cycle or time within a cycle at which they occur. The polarity observations of 48 of 116 acoustic emission events could be fit with the simple quadrupole indicating that the microfracturing processes even in uniaxial compression often simplistically portrayed as propagating axial cracks are indeed quite complex.     

The erosion rates of cohesive sediments in Venice lagoon,Italy

The stability of cohesive sediments from Venice lagoon has been measured in situ using the benthic flume Sea Carousel. Twenty four stations were occupied during summertime, and a sub-set of 13 stations was re-occupied during the following winter. Erosion thresholds and first-order erosion rates were estimated and showed a distinct difference between inter-tidal and sub-tidal stations. The higher values for inter-tidal stations are the result of exposure that influences consolidation, density, and organic adhesion. The thresholds for each state of sediment motion are well established. However, the rate of erosion once the erosion threshold has been exceeded has been poorly treated. This is because normally a time-series of sediment concentration (C) and bed shear stress (τ₀(t)) is used to define threshold stress or cohesion (τ_crit,z) and erosion rate (E). Whilst solution of the onset of erosion, τ_crit,0, is often reported, the evaluation of the erosion threshold variation through the process of erosion (eroded depth) is usually omitted or not estimated. This usually leads to assumptions on the strength profile of the bed which invariably has no credibility within the topmost mm of the bed where most erosion takes place. It is possible to extract this information from a time-series through the addition of a step in data processing. This paper describes how this is done, and the impact of this on the accuracy of estimates of the excess stress (τ₀(t)–τ_crit,z) on E.