Volcanic hazard communication using maps: an evaluation of their effectiveness

Hazard maps are considered essential tools in the communication of volcanic risk between scientists, the local authorities and the public. This study investigates the efficacy of such maps for the volcanic island of Montserrat in the West Indies using both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Normal plan view maps, which have been used on the island over the last 10 years of the crisis, are evaluated against specially produced three-dimensional (3D) maps and perspective photographs. Thirty-two demographically representative respondents of mixed backgrounds, sex, education and location were interviewed and asked to complete a range of tasks and identification on the maps and photographs. The overall results show that ordinary people have problems interpreting their environment as a mapped representation. We found respondents’ ability to locate and orientate themselves as well as convey information relating to volcanic hazards was improved when using aerial photographs rather than traditional plan view contour maps. There was a slight improvement in the use of the 3D maps, especially in terms of topographic recognition. However, the most striking increase in effectiveness was found with the perspective photographs, which enabled people to identify features and their orientation much more readily. For Montserrat it appears that well labelled aerial and perspective photographs are the most effective geo-spatial method of communicating volcanic risks.

Crust and Upper Mantle Structure in the Caribbean Region by Group Velocity Tomography and Regionalization

An overview of the crust and upper mantle structure of Central America and the Caribbean region is presented as a result of the processing of more than 200 seismograms recorded by digital broadband stations from SSSN and GSN seismic networks. Group velocity dispersion curves are obtained in the period range from 10s to 40s by FTAN analysis of the fundamental mode of the Rayleigh waves; the error of these measurements varies from 0.06 and 0.09 km/s. From the dispersion curve, seven tomographic maps at different periods and with average spatial resolution of 500 km are obtained. Using the logical combinatorial classification techniques, eight main groups of dispersion curves are determined from the tomographic maps and eleven main regions, each one characterized by one kind of dispersion curves, are identified. The average dispersion curves obtained for each region are extended to 150s by adding data from a larger-scale tomographic study (Vdovin et al., 1999) and inverted using a nonlinear procedure. A set of models of the S-wave velocity vs. depth in the crust and upper mantle is found as a result of the inversion process. In six regions we identify a typically oceanic crust and upper mantle structure, while in the other two the models are consistent with the presence of a continental structure. Two regions, located over the major geological zones of the accretionary crust of the Caribbean region, are characterized by a peculiar crust and upper mantle structure, indicating the presence of lithospheric roots reaching, at least, about 200 km of depth.     

Analytical investigations of seismic responses for reinforced concrete bridge columns subjected to strong near-fault ground motion

Strong near-fault ground motion, usually caused by the fault-rupture and characterized by a pulse-like velocity- wave form, often causes dramatic instantaneous seismic energy (Jadhav and Jangid 2006). Some reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns, even those built according to ductile design principles, were damaged in the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. Thus, it is very important to evaluate the seismic response of a RC bridge column to improve its seismic design and prevent future damage. Nonlinear time history analysis using step-by-step integration is capable of tracing the dynamic response of a structure during the entire vibration period and is able to accommodate the pulsing wave form. However, the accuracy of the numerical results is very sensitive to the modeling of the nonlinear load-deformation relationship of the structural member. FEMA 273 and ATC-40 provide the modeling parameters for structural nonlinear analyses of RC beams and RC columns. They use three parameters to define the plastic rotation angles and a residual strength ratio to describe the nonlinear load- deformation relationship of an RC member. Structural nonlinear analyses are performed based on these parameters. This method provides a convenient way to obtain the nonlinear seismic responses of RC structures. However, the accuracy of the numerical solutions might be further improved. For this purpose, results from a previous study on modeling of the static pushover analyses for RC bridge columns (Sung et al. 2005) is adopted for the nonlinear time history analysis presented herein to evaluate the structural responses excited by a near-fault ground motion. To ensure the reliability of this approach, the numerical results were compared to experimental results. The results confirm that the proposed approach is valid.     

A Survey of Techniques for Predicting Earthquake Ground Motions for Engineering Purposes

Over the past four or five decades many advances have been made in earthquake ground-motion prediction and a variety of procedures have been proposed. Some of these procedures are based on explicit physical models of the earthquake source, travel-path and recording site while others lack a strong physical basis and seek only to replicate observations. In addition, there are a number of hybrid methods that seek to combine benefits of different approaches. The various techniques proposed have their adherents and some of them are extensively used to estimate ground motions for engineering design purposes and in seismic hazard research. These methods all have their own advantages and limitations that are not often discussed by their proponents. The purposes of this article are to: summarise existing methods and the most important references, provide a family tree showing the connections between different methods and, most importantly, to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Comparison of source parameters estimated in the frequency and time domains for seismic events at the Rudna copper mine,Poland

Source parameters estimated in the frequency domain for 100 selected seismic events from the Rudna copper mine, with moment magnitude ranging from 1.4 to 3.6, were collected to study their scaling relations and to compare them with the parameters estimated in the time domain. The apparent stress and static stress drop, corrected for the limited bandwidth recording, increase slightly in a similar manner with increasing seismic moment. The ratio of apparent stress to static stress drop, a measure of radiation efficiency, is practically constant and its mean value is close to 0.1. For 37 seismic events, with moment magnitude between 1.9 and 3.4, source parameters were estimated in the time domain from relative source time functions, that displayed unilateral rupture propagation, and their rupture velocity could be estimated. It ranges from 0.23 to 0.80 of shear wave velocity and is almost independent of seismic moment. The fault length, estimated from the average source pulse width and rupture velocity, is clearly dependent on seismic moment and is smaller than the source radius estimated from the corner frequency on the average by about 25 percent. There is no correlation between the values of static stress drop estimated in the frequency and time domains, but the time domain stress drop is in general similar to that estimated in the frequency domain. The apparent stress increases with increasing rupture velocity, and the ratio of apparent stress to static stress drop seems also to depend on rupture velocity.     

High urine hippuric acid level among police working close to traffic in an urban area,Thailand: a preliminary study

Toluene is of particular concern because recent research indicating that toluene exposure can result in several toxicities. Hence, toluene exposure is of particular concern because of ongoing exposure to thousands of workers in the industrial plants. Determination of the urine hippuric acid level is accepted as a helpful for monitoring risk groups of workers. Apart from the industrial workers, there are other occupations with high risk for toluene exposure. In this study, we study another at-risk occupation, the police. In this study, 45 urine samples were obtained from 45 Thai police working close to traffic in an urban area for determination for urine hippuric acid level. The average urine hippuric acid level was 0.70 ± 0.70 mg/gCr, respectively. This average is significant higher than that of the control non-exposed Thais (P < 0.05). Working in the air pollution in the urban area can be health hazard for the police. Exposure to the toluene from automobile exhaust can be an important occupational problem for these police.     

春季大风、降雪和沙尘暴天气的信息数字化方法的分析

Using informational digital diagrams, we analyzed the snow event that occurred on Feb 26, 2006 and the sandstorm on Apr 11, 2006 in Xi＇an. Results indicate that, under similar weather circumstances, different events evidently exhibit unique vertical structure features. Informational digital diagrams provide a method for transitional weather prediction, a problem for present extrapolative analysis system.     

Comparative analysis of strong motion (SM) records from the July 2017 Ohrid seismic sequence

During the months of June–July 2017, the Lake Ohrid area in the southwestern Macedonia experienced a series of small to intermediate earthquakes. More than a thousand earthquakes occurred in that period, all in the epicentral area about 10 km east-northeast from Ohrid city center. The earthquakes showed characteristics of a swarm with 50 of them having magnitudes of 3 or greater and the strongest reaching magnitude M5.0. The earthquakes caused concern among the people in Ohrid and neighboring cities and villages and prompted the installation of two networks of temporary stations. One network was deployed in the epicentral area to determine in more detail the earthquakes’ depth and source parameters. The other urban network of instruments was installed to monitor the influence of the ground on the amplification of shaking and the dynamics of structures in the city of Ohrid. In this study, a selection of the urban network strong motion (SM) records was analyzed for the first time. Accelerograph records from a magnitude M3.1 earthquake recorded at eight places in the city and from the two earthquakes with magnitudes M4.2 and M5.0 recorded at the permanent seismological station Ohrid (code OHR) were used. The results of the behavior of the instrumented building were also compared with the findings of previous experiments. The differences in the spectral values on the SM records from the stations were investigated in respect to the ground conditions and location where the instruments were installed, i.e., bedrock and sediments at the sites. The power spectra and the H/V ratio of the earthquake records from the 2017 seismic sequence in the Ohrid area were also viewed in respect to the Eurocode-8. In addition to being used as part of standard engineering practice, this information about the local soil conditions can be of interest to geophysicists in seismic and geotechnical investigations, as well as in seismic risk-assessment applications.     

One-step solution to local tie vector determination at co-located GNSS/VLBI sites

The local tie vector, which connects the different space geodetic techniques at a co-located site, plays an important role in the realization of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). This paper presents a new method to determine the tie vector between the GNSS and very long baseline interferometry tracking points. The parameters of the local tie vector and the axes offsets are introduced into constraint equations. The parameters are then resolved using the 3D constrained least squares adjustment. With the surveying data collected at two different sites (Kunming and Urumqi) in China, the proposed method can precisely determine the local tie vectors in a geocentric frame. The root mean square error (RMSE) is (1.2, 2.3 and 1.5 mm) and (1.0, 1.5 and 1.4 mm) for the three coordinate components at the sites in Kunming and Urumqi, respectively. The offset between the primary and secondary axes of the VLBI telescopes is estimated to be 7.5 mm in Kunming’s site and 4.0 mm in Urumqi’s site, and the corresponding RMSE is 1.8 mm and 2.0 mm for the two sites, respectively.     

Magnetic methods in tracing soil erosion,Kharkov Region,Ukraine

Magnetic measurements of soils are an effective research tool in assessing soil erosion. This approach is based on detecting layers showing different magnetic properties in vertical soil profiles and lateral catenas. The objective of this research is to compile data on magnetic susceptibility (MS) of soils in Eastern Ukraine to assess the soil erosion rates. The chernozems of Tcherkascy Tishki (Kharkov Region, Ukraine) have undergone a field crop rotation without proper soil conservation technologies being applied. We conducted an intrinsic element grouping of the magnetic susceptibility values and demonstrated that they can be used as MS cartograms in soil erosion mapping. The study showed a strong correlation between the MS values and the erosion index. MS and the erosion index were found to correlate with the humus content. Magnetic mineralogical analyses suggest the presence of highly magnetic minerals (magnetite and maghemite) as well as weakly magnetic goethite, ferrihydrite, and hematite. Stable pseudosingle-domain (PSD), single-domain (SD), and superparamagnetic (SP) grains of pedogenic origin dominate in the studied chernozems. Being an effective, quick and low cost alternative, magnetic methods can be successfully used in the soil erosion investigations.