Tall building performance‐based seismic design using SCEC broadband platform site‐specific ground motion simulations

The scarcity of strong ground motion records presents a challenge for making reliable performance assessments of tall buildings whose seismic design is controlled by large‐magnitude and close‐distance earthquakes. This challenge can be addressed using broadband ground‐motion simulation methods to generate records with site‐specific characteristics of large‐magnitude events. In this paper, simulated site‐specific earthquake seismograms, developed through a related project that was organized through the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Ground Motion Simulation Validation (GMSV) Technical Activity Group, are used for nonlinear response history analyses of two archetype tall buildings for sites in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino. The SCEC GMSV team created the seismograms using the Broadband Platform (BBP) simulations for five site‐specific earthquake scenarios. The two buildings are evaluated using nonlinear dynamic analyses under comparable record suites selected from the simulated BBP catalog and recorded motions from the NGA‐West database. The collapse risks and structural response demands (maximum story drift ratio, peak floor acceleration, and maximum story shear) under the BBP and NGA suites are compared. In general, this study finds that use of the BBP simulations resolves concerns about estimation biases in structural response analysis which are caused by ground motion scaling, unrealistic spectral shapes, and overconservative spectral variations. While there are remaining concerns that strong coherence in some kinematic fault rupture models may lead to an overestimation of velocity pulse effects in the BBP simulations, the simulations are shown to generally yield realistic pulse‐like features of near‐fault ground motion records.     

Complexity in Sequences of Solar Flares and Earthquakes

In this paper the statistical properties of solar flares and earthquakes are compared by analyzing the energy distributions, the time series of energies and interevent times, and, above all, the distributions of interevent times per se. It is shown that the two phenomena have different statistics of scaling, and even the same phenomenon, when observed in different periods or at different locations, is characterized by different statistics that cannot be uniformly rescaled onto a single, universal curve. The results indicate apparent complexity of impulsive energy release processes, which neither follow a common behaviour nor could be attributed to a universal physical mechanism.     

Magnetic fabric of Pleistocene continental clays from the hanging-wall of an active low-angle normal fault (Altotiberina Fault,Italy)

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) represents a valuable proxy able to detect subtle strain effects in very weakly deformed sediments. In compressive tectonic settings, the magnetic lineation is commonly parallel to fold axes, thrust faults, and local bedding strike, while in extensional regimes, it is perpendicular to normal faults and parallel to bedding dip directions. The Altotiberina Fault (ATF) in the northern Apennines (Italy) is a Plio-Quaternary NNW–SSE low-angle normal fault; the sedimentary basin (Tiber basin) at its hanging-wall is infilled with a syn-tectonic, sandy-clayey continental succession. We measured the AMS of apparently undeformed sandy clays sampled at 12 sites within the Tiber basin. The anisotropy parameters suggest that a primary sedimentary fabric has been overprinted by an incipient tectonic fabric. The magnetic lineation is well developed at all sites, and at the sites from the western sector of the basin it is oriented sub-perpendicular to the trend of the ATF, suggesting that it may be related to extensional strain. Conversely, the magnetic lineation of the sites from the eastern sector has a prevailing N–S direction. The occurrence of triaxial to prolate AMS ellipsoids and sub-horizontal magnetic lineations suggests that a maximum horizontal shortening along an E–W direction occurred at these sites. The presence of compressive AMS features at the hanging-wall of the ATF can be explained by the presence of gently N–S-trending local folds (hardly visible in the field) formed by either passive accommodation above an undulated fault plane, or rollover mechanism along antithetic faults. The long-lasting debate on the extensional versus compressive Plio-Quaternary tectonics of the Apennines orogenic belt should now be revised taking into account the importance of compressive structures related to local effects.     

A hybrid optimization scheme for self-potential measurements due to multiple sheet-like bodies in arbitrary 2D resistivity distributions

Self-potential is a passive geophysical method that can be applied in a straightforward manner with minimum requirements in the field. Nonetheless, interpretation of self-potential data is particularly challenging due to the inherited non-uniqueness present in all potential methods. Incorporating information regarding the target of interest can facilitate interpretation and increase the reliability of the final output. In the current paper, a novel method for detecting multiple sheet-like targets is presented. A numerical framework is initially described that simulates sheet-like bodies in an arbitrary 2D resistivity distribution. A scattered field formulation based on finite differences is employed that allows the edges of the sheet to be independent of the grid geometry. A novel analytical solution for two-layered models is derived and subsequently used to validate the accuracy of the proposed numerical scheme. Lastly, a hybrid optimization is proposed that couples linear least-squares with particle-swarm optimization in order to effectively locate the edges of multiple sheet-like bodies. Through numerical and real data, it is proven that the hybrid optimization overcomes local minimal that occurs in complex resistivity distributions and converges substantially faster compared to traditional particle-swarm optimization.     

HD 134 518: A Main-Sequence Detached or a Semi-detached Eclipsing Binary?

We have analyzed PRZYBYLSKY 's (1981) photometric observations of HD 134518, an eclipsing binary with a period of 1.15 days and a β Lyrae type light curve. Performing a grid of solutions with different assumed values of the mass ratio by means of the WILSON -DEVINNEY method we have determined the photometric elements of this variable, which shows an extremely low mass ratio (q = mc/mh = 0.06) and appears as semi-detached system. The discrepancies between the WILSON -DEVINNEY solution and the WOOD solution (GIURICIN et al. 1982) are pointed out. Die photometrischen Beobachtungen PRZYBYLSKYS (1981) von HD 134 518, einem Bedeckungsveränderlichen mit P = 1^d.15 und einer β-Lyrae-artigen Lichtkurve, wurden analysiert. Mittels der WILSON -DEVINNEY -Methode wurden für verschiedene Masseverhältnisse die photometrischen Elemente des Veränderlichen bestimmt, der ein extrem niedriges Massenverhältnis (q = mc/mh = 0.06) besitzt und halbgetrennt zu sein scheint.     

Search for contact systems among EB-type binaries

We present the analysis of the data of four EB-type eclipsing binaries, continuing our search for contact or almost contact systems. The Price algorithm has been used in conjunction to the Wilson-Devinney model to try to obtain, where possible, unambiguous solutions for all the systems.     

Experimental evaluation of early patterns of colonisation of space on rocky shores and seawalls

The introduction of artificial structures in coastal areas can cause fragmentation and loss of natural habitats. Previous studies found that variation in colonisation of space at mid-shore levels could account for differences in mature assemblages between seawalls and vertical surfaces on adjacent rocky shores in Sydney Harbour (Australia). This study tests the model that the nature of the substratum is responsible for different patterns of early colonisation between vertical ledges of rocky shores and seawalls. According to this model, patterns in early colonisation would differ between cleared areas created on vertical surfaces on rocky shores and seawalls, but not between standard surfaces (panels) installed on each structure. Early colonisation of space differed between seawalls and rocky shores, regardless of the type of substratum (clearings versus panels). Differences in relative abundances between structures were evident on both types of substrata for some taxa, while they varied between substrata for others. No taxa, however, showed consistent differences between structures in only the clearings. In addition, the abundance of some taxa differed between panels on the different structures, suggesting that the effects of the substratum were modulated by factors operating differentially between rocky shores and seawalls.     

Induced polarization,resistivity, and self-potential: a case history of contamination evaluation due to landfill leakage

This article compares the efficiency of induced polarization (IP) and resistivity in characterizing a contamination plume due to landfill leakage in a typical tropical environment. The resistivity survey revealed denser electrical current flow that induced lower resistivity values due to the high ionic content. The increased ionic concentration diminished the distance of the ionic charges close to the membrane, causing a decrease in the IP phenomena. In addition, the self-potential (SP) method was used to characterize the preferential flow direction of the area. The SP method proved to be effective at determining the flow direction; it is also fast and economical. In this study, the resistivity results were better correlated with the presence of contamination (lower resistivity) than the IP (lower chargeability) data.