Spatio-temporal microseismicity clustering in the Cretan region

Spatio-temporal clustering of microseismicity in the central forearc of the Hellenic Subduction Zone in the area of Crete is investigated. Data for this study were gathered by temporary short period networks which were installed on the islands of Crete and Gavdos between 1996 and 2004. The similarity of waveforms is quantified systematically to identify clusters of microseismicity. Waveform similarities are calculated using an adaptive time window containing both the P- and S-wave onsets. The cluster detection is performed by applying a single linkage approach. Clusters are found in the interplate seismicity as well as in the intraplate seismicity of the continental crust in the region of the transtensional Ptolemy structure. The majority of the clusters are off the southern coast of Crete, in a region of elevated intraplate microseismic activity within the Aegean plate. Clusters in the Gavdos region are located at depths compatible with the plate interface while cluster activity in the region of the Ptolemy trench is distributed along a nearly vertical structure throughout the crust extending down to the plate interface. Most clusters show swarm-like behaviour with seismic activity confined to only a few hours or days, without a dominant earthquake and with a power law distribution of the interevent times.For the largest cluster, precise relocations of the events using travel time differences of P- and S-waves derived from waveform cross correlations reveal migration of the hypocenters. This cluster is located in the region of the Ptolemy trench and migration occurs along the strike of the trench at  500 m/day.Relocated hypocenters as well as subtle differences in the waveforms suggest an offset between the hypocenters and thus the activation of distinct patches on the rupture surface. The observed microseismicity patterns may be related to fluids being transported along the plate interface and escaping towards the surface in zones of crustal weakness (Ptolemy structure), triggering swarm-like cluster activity along its way.     

Characterisation of a Campanian deep-sea fan system in the Norwegian Sea by means of ichnofabrics

Ichnofabrics are applied in concert with sedimentological data to discriminate sub-environments within a Campanian deep-sea fan system in the Norwegian Sea. Seven ichnofabric types are recognised in the studied cores, which correspond to specific architectural elements of the fan system, including amalgamated channels, lobate sand sheets, proximal and distal overbank, fan fringe, and hemipelagic basin plain environments. A unique observation is an ultra-deep Chondrites ichnofabric, interpreted to result from the activity of a chemosymbiotic tracemaker, possibly utilising hydrothermal vents or hydrocarbon seeps in the near vicinity of an active rift system. Mapping and inter-well correlation of ichnofabrics allow a better control of lateral and vertical facies changes, which are important to exploration and production strategies. This study demonstrates that ichnofabric analysis is proving to be a valuable tool for the characterisation and prediction of reservoir quality, the recognition of potential flow barriers and prediction of lateral depositional trends in deep-sea fan deposits.     

Determination of geometrical spreading from traveltimes

Geometrical spreading plays an important role for amplitude preserving migration, which is a very time-consuming process. In order to achieve efficiency in terms of computational time and, particularly, storage space, we propose a method to determine geometrical spreading from coarsely gridded traveltime tables. The method is based on a hyperbolic traveltime expansion and provides also a fast and accurate algorithm for the interpolation of traveltimes, including the interpolation of complete shots. Examples demonstrate the applicability of the method to isotropic and anisotropic media.     

Controllability and observability in two-phase porous media flow

Reservoir simulation models are frequently used to make decisions on well locations, recovery optimization strategies, etc. The success of these applications is, among other aspects, determined by the controllability and observability properties of the reservoir model. In this paper, it is shown how the controllability and observability of two-phase flow reservoir models can be analyzed and quantified with aid of generalized empirical Gramians. The empirical controllability Gramian can be interpreted as a spatial covariance of the states (pressures or saturations) in the reservoir resulting from input perturbations in the wells. The empirical observability Gramian can be interpreted as a spatial covariance of the measured bottom-hole pressures or well bore flow rates resulting from state perturbations. Based on examples in the form of simple homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoir models, we conclude that the position of the wells and of the front between reservoir fluids, and to a lesser extent the position and shape of permeability heterogeneities that impact the front, are the most important factors that determine the local controllability and observability properties of the reservoir.     

Variscan orogeny in Corsica: new structural and geochronological insights,and its place in the Variscan geodynamic framework

In Western Corsica, remnants of pre-batholitic lithological and metamorphic assemblages are preserved as km-scale septa enclosed within Lower Carboniferous to Early Permian plutons. Two groups of septa were recognized: (1) the Argentella and Agriates-Tenda fragments correspond to Neoproterozoic rocks deformed and metamorphosed during the Cadomian–Panafrican orogeny, and (2) the Zicavo, Porto-Vecchio, Solenzara–Fautea, Belgodère, Topiti, and Vignola fragments consist of Variscan metamorphic rocks. The lithological content and the main ductile deformation events for each septum are presented. In the Zicavo, Porto-Vecchio, and Topiti septa, a top-to-the-SW ductile shearing (D1 event) coeval with an amphibolite facies metamorphism is responsible for crustal thickening at ca 360 Ma. This main event was preceded by eclogite and granulite facies metamorphic events preserved as restites within migmatites dated at ca 345–330 Ma. A top-to-the-SE ductile shearing (D2 event) coeval with the crustal melting accommodated the exhumation of the D1 event. In contrast, the Belgodère segment is peculiar as it exhibits a top-to-the-E vergence, although retrogressed high-pressure rocks are also recognized. The pre-Permian fragments are arranged in four NW–SE-striking stripes that define a SW–NE zoning with (1) a Western domain in Topiti, Vignola, Zicavo, Porto-Vecchio, and Solenzara–Fautea; (2) a Neoproterozoic basement with its unconformable Early Paleozoic sedimentary cover in Argentella; (3) an Eastern metamorphic domain in Belgodère; (4) another Neoproterozoic basement with its Upper Paleozoic sedimentary cover in Agriates-Tenda. The Argentella basement is separated from the Western and Eastern domains by two sutures: S1 and S2. The Variscan Corsica represents the Eastern part of the Sardinia–Corsica–Maures segment. The comparison of this segment with other Variscan domains allows us to propose some possible correlations. We argue that the Western domain, Argentella, Belgodère, and Agriates-Tenda domains can be compared with the Southern Variscan belt exposed in French Massif Central–Southern Massif Armoricain, Armorica microblock, Léon block, respectively.     

SPM response to tide and river flow in the hyper-turbid Ems River

In this paper, we analyse the behaviour of fine sediments in the hyper-turbid Lower Ems River, with focus on the river’s upper reaches, a stretch of about 25 km up-estuary of Terborg. Our analysis is based on long records of suspended particulate matter (SPM) from optical backscatter (OBS) measurements close to the bed at seven stations along the river, records of salinity and water level measurements at these stations, acoustic measurements on the vertical mud structure just up-estuary of Terborg and oxygen profiles in the lower 3 m of the water column close to Leerort and Terborg. Further, we use cross-sectionally averaged velocities computed with a calibrated numerical model. Distinction is made between four timescales, i.e. the semi-diurnal tidal timescale, the spring–neap tidal timescale, a timescale around an isolated peak in river flow (i.e. about 3 weeks) and a seasonal timescale. The data suggest that a pool of fluid/soft mud is present in these upper reaches, from up-estuary of Papenburg to a bit down-estuary of Terborg. Between Terborg and Gandersum, SPM values drop rapidly but remain high at a few gram per litre. The pool of fluid/soft mud is entrained/mobilized at the onset of flood, yielding SPM values of many tens gram per litre. This suspension is transported up-estuary with the flood. Around high water slack, part of the suspension settles, being remixed during ebb, while migrating down-estuary, but likely not much further than Terborg. Around low water slack, a large fraction of the sediment settles, reforming the pool of fluid mud. The rapid entrainment from the fluid mud layer after low water slack is only possible when the peak flood velocity exceeds a critical value of around 1 m/s, i.e. when the stratified water column seems to become internally supercritical. If the peak flood velocity does not reach this critical value, f.i. during neap tide, fluid mud is not entrained up to the OBS sensors. Thus, it is not classical tidal asymmetry, but the peak flood velocity itself which governs the hyper-turbid state in the Lower Ems River. The crucial role of river flow and river floods is in reducing these peak flood velocities. During elongated periods of high river flow, in e.g. wintertime, SPM concentrations reduce, and the soft mud deposits consolidate and possibly become locally armoured as well by sand washed in from the river. We have no observations that sediments are washed out of the hyper-turbid zone. Down-estuary of Terborg, where SPM values do not reach hyper-turbid conditions, the SPM dynamics are governed by classical tidal asymmetry and estuarine circulation. Hence, nowhere in the river, sediments are flushed from the upper reaches of the river into the Ems-Dollard estuary during high river flow events. However, exchange of sediment between river and estuary should occur because of tide-induced dispersion.     

The effect of critical pH on virus fate and transport in saturated porous medium

Several viral transport experiments were conducted in a model aquifer 1 m long, using bacteriophages MS2 and phiX174 at various pH (4.6 to 8.3) conditions, to increase our understanding of virus behavior in ground water. The results indicate the existence of a critical pH at which the virus behavior changes abruptly. This is supported by data from field and batch experiments. The critical pH is determined to be 0.5 unit below the highest isoelectric point of the virus and porous medium. When water pH is below the critical pH, the virus has an opposite charge to at least one component of the porous medium, and is almost completely and irreversibly removed from the water. This suggests that electrostatic attraction at a subcritical water pH condition is an important factor controlling virus attenuation in ground water. The concept of critical pH can assist in the design of geologic barriers for preventing viral contamination in ground water.     

Tube wave modeling by the finite-difference method with varying grid spacing

A finite-difference approach of aP-SV modeling scheme is applied to compute seismic wave propagation in heterogeneous isotropic media, including fluid-filled boreholes. The discrete formulation of the equation of motion requires the definition of the material parameters at the grid points of the numerical mesh. The grid spacing is chosen as coarse as possible with respect to the accurate representation of the shortest wavelength. If we assume frequencies lower than 250 Hz then the grid spacing is usually chosen in the range of a few meters. One encounters difficulties because of the large-scale difference between the grid spacing and the size of the borehole, usually several centimeters.These difficulties can be overcome by a grid refinement technique. This technique provides the construction of grids with varying grid spacing. The grid spacing in the vicinity of the borehole is chosen such that the borehole is properly represented. An example demonstrates the accuracy of this technique by comparisons with other methods. Unlike many analytical methods, the FD method can handle complex subsurface geometries. Further numerical examples of walk-awayVSP configurations show tube wave propagation within fluid-filled boreholes of realistic diameters.     

Wave-induced topographic formstress in baroclinic channel flow

Large-scale zonal flow driven across submarine topography establishes standing Rossby waves. In the presence of stratification, the wave pattern can be represented by barotropic and baroclinic Rossby waves of mixed planetary topographic nature, which are locked to the topography. In the balance of momentum, the wave pattern manifests itself as topographic formstress. This wave-induced formstress has the net effect of braking the flow and reducing the zonal transport. Locally, it may lead to acceleration, and the parts induced by the barotropic and baroclinic waves may have opposing effects. This flow regime occurs in the circumpolar flow around Antarctica. The different roles that the wave-induced formstress plays in homogeneous and stratified flows through a zonal channel are analyzed with the BARBI (BARotropic-Baroclinic-Interaction ocean model, Olbers and Eden, J Phys Oceanogr 33:2719–2737, 2003) model. It is used in complete form and in a low-order version to clarify the different regimes. It is shown that the barotropic formstress arises by topographic locking due to viscous friction and the baroclinic one due to eddy-induced density advection. For the sinusoidal topography used in this study, the transport obeys a law in which friction and wave-induced formstress act as additive resistances, and windstress, the effect of Ekman pumping on the density stratification, and the buoyancy forcing (diapycnal mixing of the stratified water column) of the potential energy stored in the stratification act as additive forcing functions. The dependence of the resistance on the system parameters (lateral viscosity ε, lateral diffusivity κ of eddy density advection, Rossby radius λ, and topography height δ) as well as the dependence of transport on the forcing functions are determined. While the current intensity in a channel with homogeneous density decreases from the viscous flat bottom case in an inverse quadratic law ~δ ^–2 with increasing topography height and always depends on ε, a stratified system runs into a saturated state in which the transport becomes independent of δ and ε and is determined by the density diffusivity κ rather than the viscosity: κ/λ ² acts as a vertical eddy viscosity, and the transport is λ ²/κ times the applied forcing. Critical values for the topographic heights in these regimes are identified.