Fault throw determination using 4 component VSP: Aigion fault (Greece) case study

The present paper presents the results of a technique based on Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) to quantify the offset of a fault in a context where seismic reflection profiles do not image any reflectors. The case study is located in Greece, in the Aigion area, on the south border of the Corinth Gulf. The Aigion fault, oriented East–West, and dipping at 60°N, has been intersected by the scientific well Aig-10 at 760 m in depth, but some uncertainty remained concerning its exact offset since the depth of the pre-rift sequence is open to debate due to the lack of subsurface data. The pre-rift consists of a Mesozoic low-porosity series (carbonates and radiolarite), while the syn-rift consists of poorly compacted conglomerates and turbidites.

Seismic diffractions on fault edges are expected to be present along the fault surface. We find that a few diffracted events are effectively recorded in P and S wave mode by the 4 components of the VSP survey, and critically refracted arrivals along the Aigion fault plane. These singular events have been used in order to refine the fault geometry and to determine its throw. Additionally, results from a 2D finite difference elastic seismic model of a single fault step geometry have been closely examined in order to illustrate the generation of the singular seismic events observed on the field data, such as P-wave and S-wave refracted and diffracted events, and support their interpretation with higher confidence. As a result, the seismic arrival patterns from full waveform seismic modelling confirm the characterisation of the main fault geometry (mainly its throw: about 200 m) in the well vicinity derived from the actual analysis of the 4 Component Aigion VSP data.     

Zircon and apatite fission-track thermochronology of Late Carboniferous volcanic rocks of the NE German Basin

Zircon and apatite fission-track analyses from Late Carboniferous felsic volcanic rocks of the NE German Basin (Halle area and Friedland drilling) reveal at least two major post-emplacement thermal events. After initial cooling at ca. 300 Ma, the volcanic pile underwent a major thermal event at ca. 200 Ma that reached in most places ca. 250-280 °C and led to the new growth of clay minerals. This event is recorded in the zircon fission-track data and can be related to Jurassic-Triassic rifting in Europe. Another thermal event is recorded in the apatite samples at ca. 100 Ma. A close correlation is observed between apatite fission-track age, texture, and sample alteration. Coarse-grained samples are stronger altered and have younger fission-track ages. Hydrothermal alteration coupled with advective heating probably caused these Upper Cretaceous fission-track ages. The latter event can be related to block faulting and inversion of the European plate during the early stages of the Alpine orogeny.     

Rift-Parallele Schildwellungen in Arabien und auf den Zirkum N-Atlantischen Tafeln

Zusammenfassung Sowohl in Arabien, ne-Afrika und auf den den Atlantik umgebenden kontinentalen Tafeln können große, epirogene Wellenwürfe ausgemacht werden. All diese Undulation-Systeme sind im Streichen parallel zu benachbarten Riftsystemen ausgerichtet, und ihre Wellenlänge nimmt mit Abstand vom Rifttrog zu. Die Untersuchungen am arabischen Beispiel zu den Zusammenhängen zwischen Bildung ozeanischer Kruste einerseits und deren tektonischen Auswirkungen auf kontinentale Tafeln, wie Magmatismus, Orogenese und besonders in intra-platten dynamischer Hinsicht andererseits, scheinen neue Gesichtspunkte zur Paläogeographie zu eröffnen, und zum Verstehen der Ursachen und Evolution der Schildwellungen beizutragen. Sie zeigen, daß die Schildwellungen nicht im vollen morphologischen Ausmaß mit Beginn des Rifting einsetzen, sondern die Schildbereiche allmählich von der Riftseite her durchdringen (± 40 m. a.) und etwa 80 m. a. zur Vollentwicklung brauchen. Rift-parallele Becken und Schwellen sind in Rift-Nähe am ältesten und werden mit Abstand von letzeren jünger. Über die paläogeographischen Entwicklungen kann ferner gezeigt werden, daß der Wellungs-Prozeß nicht kontinuierlich, sondern in Schüben verläuft.Blattverschiebungen im Rahmen diagonal angelegter Scherung sind eine konjugate Reaktion zur kompressionellen Wellung oder Faltung. Große und kleinere Störungen oder Störungssysteme dieser Kategorie sind im Bereich der Schildwellungen fast immer vorhanden. Schildwellung, die in dieser Arbeit absichtlich etwas überbetont wird, scheint auf alten, auf tiefe Stockwerke erodierten und stark konsilidierten Kratonen gegenüber Scherung zu überwiegen (z. B. Arabischer Schild), während Scherung und Bruchschollen-Tektonik im Sedimentmantel jüngerer, wenig tief erodierter und wohl möglich weniger konsolidierter, kratonisierter Areale ausgeprägter ist (z. B. Europäisches Schollenmosaik).Es wird abgeleitet, daß die Schildwellungen wie die Scherungstektonik von horizontalen, kompressioneilen Verspannungen ausgelöst werden und letztere mit der Bildung und Ausbreitung ozeanischer Kruste (Mantel-Diapirismus, Ocean-Floor Spreading) in ursächlichem Zusammenhang stehen. Die aus tektonischen Gründen vermutete kompressionelle Verspanung kontinentaler Tafeln und deren Symmetriebindung an das world rift system scheint sich nunmehr durch direkte Messungen zu bestätigen, jedenfalls passen sowohl seismo-tektonische Herdmechanismen-Analysen, wie in situ-Druckmessungen in Europa ausgezeichnet zum tektonischen Modell.Arabien wird als Modell-Beispiel für Schildwellungen im Rahmen geodynamischer Beanspruchungen angesehen.

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Large and gentle warping sets are recognizable in Arabia, ne-Africa and on the continents, which surround the n-Atlantic rifts (former Laurasia). All these undulation systems are aligned parallel to neighbouring rift-systems and their wavelength increases with the distance from the rifts. In Arabia studies of the geodynamic interrelations of generation of new oceanic crust, on the one side, and its structural effects on the shield area, like magmatism, orogeny and especially intra-plate dynamics, on the other side, seem to provide new aspects and a better understanding for the causes and evolution of these warping structures. These studies imply that warping sets are not developed to their full morphological extend with the beginning of continental rifting, they seem to penetrate the shield areas slowly (± 40 m. a.) and grow gradually (± 80 m. a.), i. e. they are oldest next to the oceanic rift troughs and become younger with distance from them. It also can be stated that rift-parallel basins and uplifts are developed sporadically during episodes of increased tectonic activity.Lateral movements along diagonally arranged shear zones are a conjugate reaction to compressional shield folding; major faults or fault systems of this category are usually recognizable in warped areas. Shield warping, which is purposely overemphasised in this article, seems to be predominant on old, deeply eroded and strongly consolidated cratons, while shearing and block-tilting seem to prevail on younger, less deeply eroded and consolidated, cratonised areas.Continental warping as well as shearing is thought to be due to horizontal, compressional stresses caused by the injection and spreading of mantle derived, new oceanic crust (mantle diapirism, ocean-floor spreading). The postulated, horizontally compressional stress environment on continental plates and its symmetry relation to spreading-ridges seem now confirmed by two independant means, i. e. fault-plane solutions and in situstress measurements, especially in Europe.Arabia is considered as the model-example for crustal-warping and its causal relations to geodynamic processes.

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Résumé En Arabie comme aussi dans le NE de l'Afrique et tout autour de l'Atlantique, les plaques continentales sont affectées d'ondulations épirogéniques. Celles-ci ont une direction parallèle à celle du rift voisin et leur longueur d'ondes croît avec la distance au rift. Les recherches en Arabie sur les rapports entre la formation de la croûte océanique et le dynamisme interne des plaques continentales ont favorisé de nouvelles idées sur la paléogéographie et contribué à la compréhension du principe de l'ondulation des boucliers: elles montrent que l'ondulation des plaques ne commence qu'avec une faible dimension morphologique et qu'elle pénètre le bouclier successivement du côté du rift (+ou –40 m.a.). Le développement final est atteint après 80 m.a. environ. Les bassins proches du rift sont donc les plus vieux, tandis qu à plus grande distance sont les plus jeunes. Le développement paléogéographique montre en outre que l'ondulation se produit de façon discontinue et plutôt sporadique. Le décrochement latéral dans le système du cisaillement diagonal est une réaction équivalente à l'ondulation compressive ou du plissement.Des failles plus ou moins grandes ou des familles de failles de ce type existent presque toujours en association avec les ondulations des boucliers. Cette ondulation des boucliers semble l'emporter sur le cisaillement dans des cratons bien consolidés et profondément érodés, tandis que le cisaillement et la tectonique de microplaques caractérisent les couches sédimentaires des socles (peut-être cratonisés) moins profondément érodés.Il faut donc admettre que l'ondulation des bouckliers aussi bien que la tectonique de cisaillement se développe à cause de la compression latérale. La compression est en rapport avec la genèse et le développement de la croûte océanique (ocean-floor spreading, diapirs du manteau). On peut constater que la compression des plaques (supposée par la tectonique) et leur rapport avec le world rifting system est confirmé par des mesures directes. En tout cas, les analyses sismotectoniques et les mesures de pression in situ sont bien conformes au modèle tectonique. L'Arabie est prise comme modèle pour l'ondulation des boucliers et ses rapports avec la contrainte géodynamique.

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Prof. R.Brinkmann zum 83. Geburtstag gewidmet

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Kurzfassung zu Vorträgen gehalten am 19. und 20. 2. 1968 auf der 58. Jahresversammlung der Geologischen Vereinigung in Göttingen und am 27.2. 1975 auf der 65. Jahresversammlung in Karlsruhe.     

Relativistic effects in the motion of artificial satellites: The oblateness of the central body II

The motion of artificial satellites in the gravitational field of an oblate body is discussed in the post — Newtonian framework using the technique of canonical Lie transformations. Two Lie transformations are used to derive explicit results for the longperiodic and secular perturbations for satellite orbits in the Einstein case.     

Estimating the spatial pattern of human-caused forest fires using a generalized linear mixed model with spatial autocorrelation in South Korea

Most forest fires in Korea are spatially concentrated in certain areas and are highly related to human activities. These site-specific characteristics of forest fires are analyzed by spatial regression analysis using the R-module generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), which can consider spatial autocorrelation. We examined the quantitative effect of topology, human accessibility, and forest cover without and with spatial autocorrelation. Under the assumption that slope, elevation, aspect, population density, distance from road, and forest cover are related to forest fire occurrence, the explanatory variables of each of these factors were prepared using a Geographic Information System-based process. First, we tried to test the influence of fixed effects on the occurrence of forest fires using a generalized linear model (GLM) with Poisson distribution. In addition, the overdispersion of the response data was also detected, and variogram analysis was performed using the standardized residuals of GLM. Second, GLMM was applied to consider the obvious residual autocorrelation structure. The fitted models were validated and compared using the multiple correlation and root mean square error (RMSE). Results showed that slope, elevation, aspect index, population density, and distance from road were significant factors capable of explaining the forest fire occurrence. Positive spatial autocorrelation was estimated up to a distance of 32 km. The kriging predictions based on GLMM were smoother than those of the GLM. Finally, a forest fire occurrence map was prepared using the results from both models. The fire risk decreases with increasing distance to areas with high population densities, and increasing elevation showed a suppressing effect on fire occurrence. Both variables are in accordance with the significance tests.     

Sediment-chemistry response to land-use change and pollutant loading in a hypertrophic lake, southern Sweden

Responses to recent land-use changes and pollutant loading in the sediment of a hypertrophic lake in southern Sweden were studied by comparison of geochemical, pollen and magnetic records with historical land-use data. A chronology was constructed for the last two centuries by correlating changes in the pollen diagram to major events in the land-use history. Sediment accumulation was low (mean c. 0.2 g cm^-2 yr^-1) prior to 1800 AD, when less than 25% of the catchment was arable land. Reorganization of the agrarian system during the 19th century increased the annually tilled area by 300%, which accelerated soil erosion and substantially increased the accumulation of allochtonous matter in the lake. Since the turn of the century 90% of the catchment has been ploughed every year. The deposition of clastic matter in the lake has, however, decreased due to a gradual rerouting of the drainage system, which has reduced the effective catchment area by c. 85%.Authigenic vivianite (Fe3(PO4)2.8H2O) is a major P phase in the preindustrial non-sulphidic sediments, which suggests that the sediments at that time served as a fairly efficient sink for P. The arable expansion, increased manuring and, eventually, the introduction of artificial fertilizers during the 19th century led to a massive influx of nutrients, which elevated primary production in the lake. Subsequent development of bottom water anoxia around 1900, in combination with an additional pollutant burden of sulphate within the lake basin, led to major alterations of the biogeochemical cycles. The most critical change in the post-1900 sediments involved the cycling of Fe and P. The linkage between the lacustrine P and Fe cycles can explain that FeS formation was paralleled by a release of P from the sedimentary pool. This supply of P to the lake basin must have supplemented the nutrient supply by modern agriculture and contributed to recent hypertrophication. The bacterial sulphate reduction also affected the generation of alkalinity which supported a significant calcite precipitation in the post-1900 sediments.S is enriched 10-fold in the post-1900 sediments compared to preindustrial values. Along with the rise in S, soot particles derived from fossil fuel combustion appear in the sediments for the first time. Therefore, Bussj¨osj¨on is thought to be a good example of how a well-buffered, highly productive lake may respond to the pollution by sulphur from acid rain.     

Small-scale heterogeneities below the Lanzhou CTBTO seismic array,from seismic wave field fluctuations

Seismic wave field fluctuations below Lanzhou Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization seismic array are determined and interpreted to describe the scattering characteristics of the crust beneath the northeastern margin of Qinghai–Tibet plateau in China. The frequency-dependent intensities of the mean and fluctuation wave fields are analyzed for 21 deep (206–632 km depth) teleseismic events. The observed wave field fluctuations in the frequency range 0.5–2.5 Hz can be explained by the scattering of the teleseismic P wave front at random media-type structures. The stable and narrow range of the fluctuation parameters from these teleseismic events indicates evidence for scattered seismic phases which are generated inside the crust. The reasonable structural models contain heterogeneities with 1–3% velocity fluctuations and 2.4–8.2 km correlation lengths in the crust with 53 km thickness.