Neutron star models

Neutron star models are calculated using an equation of state discussed in an earlier paper. A maximum mass for a neutron star of 1.74 solar masses is found. The central density of thie star is 3.3×10¹⁵ g/cm³. The lightest stars have masses of 0.02 (resp. 0.03) solar masses with central densities 2.2×10¹⁴ g/cm³ (resp. 1.9×10¹⁴).     

Quality factor inversion determination from the analysis of body wave data

Summary In this investigation, a method is developed which allows the determination of the distribution of the intrinsic attenuation with depth in the earth's mantle using single body wave observations. Focal mechanism, geometrical spreading and the source function are not involved in the proposed method. Several examples are presented obeying different laws of the quality factor decreasing or increasing with depth. A case is shown where a first order discontinuity is present, and also when the hypocenter varies with depth.     

Expansion of the Nishinomiya Built Environment Database

The Nishinomiya Built Environment Database, which can be used to analyze the disaster process of the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster in Nishinomiya City, has been expanded with new data entries. The database contains the following very detailed datasets: (1) the urbanization area base map, (2) casualty data, (3) three sets of building damage data surveyed by the Nishinomiya City, the Architectural Institute of Japan and the City Planning Institute of Japan, and the Kobe University, (4) building property data based on the real estate tax roll, (5) photographs of the damaged buildings with the information on the place and orientation of the picture, and (6) the estimated distribution of the seismic ground motion. The seismic ground motion was simulated for the southern part of Nishinomiya City and two verification sites in Kobe City and Amagasaki City. In the simulation, the borehole data of public facilities were used to model the surface soils as one-dimensional layers, taking into consideration the fact that the spatial distribution of the sediment/basement interface forms a slope. The model of the fault rupture process simulated the characteristics of the seismic motion at basement level, and amplification effects of the surface layers were evaluated based on multiple reflection theory. The distribution of peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity was estimated from acceleration response spectra at each borehole point. In addition, the relationship between simulated seismic ground motion and building damage was studied based on newly proposed band-passed spectrum intensity using the expanded database. This confirmed that detailed categorization is necessary in order to evaluate the fragility functions, especially for reinforced concrete structures. The database should provide fundamental information for identifying the relationship between the ground motions and the extent and pattern of building damage, or the pattern of the occurrence of casualties.Presently     

Paleomagnetic evidence for post-Cretaceous internal deformation of the Chuan Dian Fragment in the Yangtze block: a consequence of indentation of India into Asia

Paleomagnetic samples of Paleocene–Eocene red sandstones were collected at 36 sites from the Jiangdihe-4 and Zhaojiadian formations around the Yongren (26.1°N, 101.7°E) and Dayao areas (25.7°N, 101.3°E). These areas are located in the Chuxiong basin of the Chuan Dian Fragment, southwestern part of the Yangtze block. After stepwise thermal demagnetization, a high-temperature component with unblocking temperature of about 680 °C is isolated from 26 sites. The primary nature of this magnetization is ascertained through positive fold and reversal tests at 95% confidence level. The tilt-corrected mean paleomagnetic directions for the Yongren and Dayao areas are D=17.2°, I=26.6° with α₉₅=5.8° and D=16.5°, I=31.1° with α₉₅=4.8, respectively. Easterly deflected declinations from this study are consistent with those reported from other areas of the Chuxiong basin, indicating its wide presence in the Cretaceous–Eocene formations of the said basin. Comparison with declination values expected from the Cretaceous–Eocene APWP of Eurasia indicates that the magnitude of clockwise rotation systematically increases toward the southeast within the Chuxiong basin as well as in the Chuan Dian Fragment. This trend of the differential tectonic rotation in the Chuan Dian Fragment is consistent with curvature of the Xianshuihe–Xiojiang fault system. Deformation of the Chuxiong basin can fairly be associated with the formation of eastward bulge in the southern part of the Chuan Dian fragment. During southward displacement, the Chuan Dian Fragment was probably subjected to tectonic stresses as a result interaction with the Yangtze and Indochina blocks, which resulted into east–west extension and north–south shortening.     

Coda

— Observations and analysis of seismic scattering in the heterogeneous earth have grown from the initial observations of Aki in the 1960s into a well-developed subfield of seismology. The area presents many challenging and interesting problems for seismologists today and there are many areas of fruitful research. We focus on a small subset of areas of research within the general area of, “coda study,” that can be most directly tied to Kei's early work in this field: scattering coefficient, coda Q, coda normalization method, and the radiative transfer approach. These are the most useful tools in the interpretation of high-frequency seismograms. In each of these areas, Kei provided initial inspiration through insightful observation and well-thought out models for his observations. The results of ongoing work in these areas have provided insight into the complexity of wave propagation in the earth and have yielded new insights into the character of the earth's lithosphere. They have also provided reliable means to obtain practical information like relative site amplification factors and relative source radiation as a function of frequency.     

Estimation of Response Spectra in the Severely Damaged Area During the 1995 Hyogo-Ken Nambu Earthquake

We calculated theoretical acceleration response spectra at the ground surface in the region near the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nambu earthquake source based on the spectral moment method. To estimate earthquake motion on the ground surface, a formula of earthquake motion at base rock level was derived. The amplification effect of the ground was introduced by using multiple reflection theory. Theoretically estimated response spectrum were modified by the response spectra calculated using observed earthquake motions.     

Tectonic plate motion and deformation inferred from very long baseline interferometry

We inverted 76 rates of change of baseline lengths measured with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) during the period 1979–1989 to estimate the parameters of motions of the North American (noam) and Eurasian (eura) plates relative to the Pacific (pcfc) plate. We considered two types of plate motion models, namely, rigid and non-rigid models. In the non-rigid models, we simultaneously determined the non-rigid motions of several stations near plate boundaries due to intraplate deformation. Intraplate deformation in the regions far away from plate boundaries is assumed to be negligible.Among several models considered, a non-rigid model called M2 is found to fit most closely to the observed data. In this model, six stations are assumed to be capable of the non-rigid motion; those are goldvenu, hatcreek, mojave12, ovro 130 and vndnberg, in the southwestern United States and kashima, in Japan. M2 gives parameter sets of 0.827 ± 0.035°/m.y., about 50.5 ± 1.2°N, 78.5 ± 5.3°W and 0.889 ± 0.049°/m.y., about 59.7 ± 1.9°N, 85.1 ± 7.4 °W, representing the noam-pcfc and eura-pcfc relative motions. The plate motion parameters of M2 are nearly identical to those of the newest global-scale plate motion model nuvel-1. The noam-pcfc and eura-pcfc rotation rates of M2 respectively deviate only 0.044°/m.y. and 0.010°/m.y. from those of nuvel-1 (these deviations are only about 6% and 1%, respectively, of the rotation rates themselves). The noam-pcfc and eura-pcfc poles of M2 both lie only 2° from those of nuvel-1 (within a 2σ error ellipse of each pole). nuvel-1 is determined from spreading rates at mid-ocean ridges, azimuths of transform faults and earthquake slip vectors. Since the spreading rates are estimated from marine magnetic anomalies integrated over a geological timescale, nuvel-1 gives the plate motions averaged over this timescale. Thus, we may conclude that there is no appreciable difference between the plate motions averaged over a geological timescale (millions of years) and those in a recent short period ( ~ 10 yr).M2 also gives the horizontal non-rigid motions of VLBI stations in the southwestern United States at rates of 6–9 mm/yr and roughly in opposite direction to the rigid motion of each station associated with plate motion. hatcreek, located near the northern part of the Basin and Range Province (B&R), also shows additional westward motion of about 9 mm/yr, suggesting crustal stretching in the northern B&R. The US VLBI stations show subsidence at rates of about 5–7 mm/yr, except for goldvenu and ovro 130, whose subsidence is negligible. The Japanese VLBI station, kashima, has a horizontal non-rigid motion of about 20 mm/yr in the west-northwest direction, roughly opposite to the direction of the rigid motion. kashima also shows subsidence at a rate of about 12 mm/yr, which is larger than that deduced from geodetic data but consistent with the result from GPS.     

Analysis of saturated dense sand-structure system and comparison with results from shaking table test

An effective stress method is presented for the analysis of liquefaction of ground including soil-structure interaction, based on an explicit-implicit finite element method. A simple constitutive model is developed to be incorporated in the effective stress method. The constitutive model consists of the Ramberg-Osgood model extended to two-dimensional problems and a new dilatancy model. The effectiveness of the constitutive model is examined with results of a simple shear test. Besides, the effective stress method is verified by comparing its numerical results with results of a shaking table test. It is found that the present method can simulate well the response of a saturated dense sand-structure system. The difference of the response computed by the effective stress method and the total stress method is discussed. It is found that the total stress method can simulate the response of the saturated sand within an accumulating excess pore water pressure of less than 70 per cent of the initial overburden stress.     

Full-correlation analysis of turbulent scattering layers in the mesosphere observed by the MU radar

We have applied a full-correlation analysis technique to the echo power fluctuations observed by the MU radar (35°N, 136°E), and analyzed the horizontal structure of the scattering pattern in the mesosphere as well as their horizontal motions. The velocity of the scattering pattern did not agree with the background wind velocity, but was associated with the horizontal propagating direction of a saturated inertia gravity wave identified in the wind field. The length of the long axis of the characteristic ellipse of the scattering pattern was approximately 50 km, and the direction was almost perpendicular to the propagating direction of the wave. The correlation time of the scattering pattern was approximately 700 s, which is much longer than the lifetime of the isolated turbulence itself. This implies that the observed scattering pattern is associated with a region where the saturated inertia gravity wave generates turbulence.