Generalization of the results of long-term strainmeter and GPS observations for intraplate regions

The measurements of contemporary deformations in Asia in the region of active seismic processes stretching from Northern Tien Shan through Altai and Sayan Mountains to Lake Baikal have been carried out for a few decades by strainmeters and tiltmeters. Recently, these works were expanded by the network measurements by the methods of space geodesy. Studying the contemporary displacements and deformations of the Earth’s crust is necessary for solving various problems on a wide range of spatial and time scales from exploring the contemporary deformations of the tectonic plates and present-day seismicity to estimating the man-made loads on the geological medium. The measurements of the deformations are conducted by different methods with short and long baselines, on the surface and at different depths. Based on the obtained data, it is possible to analyze the strain rates at different frequencies and to compare them with the level of seismic activity in the region. In recent decades, the seismic zone located in the south of the Siberian platforms experienced a few strong (M = 6.3–7.5) earthquakes, during which the deformation and displacement fields were captured. South of this region, the displacement fields during the earthquakes with the magnitude above 8 were recorded by the space geodetic methods in China. By excluding the coseismic effects, one can estimate the tectonic component of the displacements and deformations.     

Seismicity of the northern part of Russian plate and its glaciostatic nature

The comparison of seismological materials with the front boundary of the latest continental glaciation has shown that all revealed really tectonic earthquakes occur exclusively in the occurrence area of a thick cover of this glaciation. The thickness of the glacier at a distance of about 50–100 km from its front could have reached 1 km, and the amplitude of glacioisostatic lowering and subsequent uplifts could have reached 0.3 km. The total amplitude of these movements, which were taking place during 20 thousand years, is comparable with the amplitudes of vertical neotectonic movements, which were taking place during 35–37 million years and on the average were three orders of magnitude more intense than neotectonic movements. With such amplitudes and speeds of vertical glacioisostatic movements, it looks quite plausible that the buried rupture zones could be revived recently (including in Holocene) with block movements of crystalline basement with an amplitude of a few tens of meters. This explains the localization of modern seismicity, which is a hazard to construction, within the occurrence domain of the latest glacial shield.     

Residual curvature migration velocity analysis for angle domain common imaging gathers

Pre-stack depth migration velocity analysis is one of the keys to influencing the imaging quality of pre-stack migration. In this paper we cover a residual curvature velocity analysis method on angle-domain common image gathers (ADCIGs) which can depict the relationship between incident angle and migration depth at imaging points and update the migration velocity. Differing from offset-domain common image gathers (ODCIGs), ADCIGs are not disturbed by the multi-path problem which contributes to imaging artifacts, thus influencing the velocity analysis. On the basis of horizontal layers, we derive the residual depth equation and also propose a velocity analysis workflow for velocity scanning. The tests to synthetic and field data prove the velocity analysis methods adopted in this paper are robust and valid.     

Sensitivity study of the seasonal mean circulation in the northern South China Sea

A study of the circulation in the northern South China Sea （SCS） is carried out with the aid of a three-dimensional, high-resolution regional ocean model. One control and two sensitivity experiments are performed to qualitatively investigate the effects of surface wind forcing, Kuroshio intrusion, and bottom topographic influence on the circulation in the northern SCS. The model results show that a branch of the Kuroshio in the upper layer can intrude into the SCS and have direct influence on the circulation over the continental shelf break in the northern SCS. There are strong southward pressure gradients along a zonal belt largely seaward of the continental slope. The pressure gradients are opposite in the southern and northern parts of the Luzon Strait, indicating inflow and outflow through the strait, respectively. The sensitivity experiments suggest that the Kuroshio intrusion is responsible for generating the imposed pressure head along the shelf break and has no obvious seasonal variations. The lateral forcing through the Luzon Strait and Taiwan Strait can induce the southwestward slope current and the northeastward SCS Warm Current in the northern SCS. Without the lateral forcing, there is the continental slope. The wind forcing mainly causes the The wind-induced water pile-up results in the southward no high-pressure-gradient zonal belt seaward of seasonal variation of the circulation in the SCS. high pressure gradient along the northwestern boundary of the basin. Without the blocking of the plateau around Dongsha Islands, the intruded Kuroshio tends to extend northwest and the SCS branch of the Kuroshio becomes wider and stronger. The analyses presented here are qualitative in nature but should lead to a better understanding of the oceanic responses in the northern SCS to these external influence factors.     

Coupled Earth’s Thermosohere-Ionosphere Global Dynamics Model

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A coupled Earth’s thermosohere-ionosphere global dynamics model (for altitudes of 90–500 km) is presented. This model is based on a...     

Basement structure and sedimentary cover seismostratigraphy in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise (Sea of Japan)

The results of continuous seismic profiling thermodynamics performed in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise and the data of a micropaleontological examination of the diatom remains encountered in the sediment samples from the rise and continental slope are presented. In the area studied, the topography of the acoustic basement features a vast rise (plateau) buried under the sedimentary cover outlined by the depth contour 5.8 s. The plateau has a relatively smooth top surface crossed by a series of rises of the acoustic basement. The two largest rises are represented by the ridges of the Tarasov Rise. The plateau is separated from the continental slope by a depression in the acoustic basement with a depth up to 6.8 s. From the end of the Middle Miocene up to the beginning of the Paleocene, the region of the plateau represented an area of active volcanism; it coincided in time with the stage of subsidence of the floor of the acoustic basement depression. At the end of the Late Miocene, the ridges of the Tarasov Rise started to sink. In the Pliocene, this process accelerated, and, at the beginning of the Pleistocene, it stopped. In the Middle Miocene-Early Pleistocene time, the portion of the continental slope adjacent to the plateau remained stable and suffered no significant vertical movements.     

Magma yield stress and permeability: Insights from multiphase percolation theory

Magmas often contain multiple interacting phases of embedded solid and gas inclusions. Multiphase percolation theory provides a means of modeling assemblies of these different classes of magmatic inclusions in a simple, yet powerful way. Like its single phase counterpart, multiphase percolation theory describes the connectivity of discrete inclusion assemblies as a function of phase topology. In addition, multiphase percolation employs basic laws to distinguish separate classes of objects and is characterized by its dependency on the order in which the different phases appear. This paper examines two applications of multiphase percolation theory: the first considers how the presence of bubble inclusions influences yield stress onset and growth in a magma's crystal network; the second examines the effect of bi-modal bubble-size distributions on magma permeability. We find that the presence of bubbles induces crystal clustering, thereby 1) reducing the percolation threshold, or critical crystal volume fraction, ?_c, at which the crystals form a space-spanning network providing a minimum yield stress, and 2) resulting in a larger yield stress for a given crystal volume fraction above ?_c. This increase in the yield stress of the crystal network may also occur when crystal clusters are formed due to processes other than bubble formation, such as heterogeneous crystallization, synneusis, and heterogeneity due to deformation or flow. Further, we find that bimodal bubble size distributions can significantly affect the permeability of the system beyond the percolation threshold. This study thus demonstrates that larger-scale structures and topologies, as well as the order in which different phases appear, can have significant effects on macroscopic properties in multiphase materials.     

Black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of China’s marginal seas

This study investigates the distribution of black carbon (BC) and its correlation with total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ΣPAH) in the surface sediments of China’s marginal seas. BC content ranges from <0.10 to 2.45 mg/g dw (grams dry weight) in the sediments studied, and varied among the different coastal regions. The Bohai Bay sediments had the highest BC contents (average 2.18 mg/g dw), which comprises a significant fraction (27%–41%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) preserved in the sediments. In ...