Influence of shear heating on microstructurally defined plate boundary shear zones

In plate-boundary scale ductile shear zones defined by microstructural weakening, shear heating may lead to a temperature increase over 5 m.y. of up to 80 °C just below the brittle ductile transition, up to 120 °C just below the Moho, and to thermal boundary zones tens of km wide on either side of the shear zone. Where rock strength is highest, shear zones are narrow (∼1 km), and thermal gradients within the shear zone itself are low, so there is no tendency for increased localization. Heating results in thermal weakening, but this is partly offset by grain growth related to the decrease in stress. In shear zones of the order of 10 km width, shear stress, strain rate, and hence heat generation are lower, and thermal gradients are insufficient to cause additional strain localization. Temperature increases in the mid-crust are of the order of 10 °C, insufficient to cause partial melting or an increase in metamorphic grade. In the upper mantle, shear zones may be 50 km or more wide, and the temperature increase is less than 20 °C in 5 m.y., but temperature differences between center and margin may enhance the strain rate at the center by up to 18%.     

Geological constraints on the dynamic emplacement of cone-sheets – The Ardnamurchan cone-sheet swarm,NW Scotland

Cone-sheets are a significant constituent of many central volcanoes, where they contribute to volcano growth by intrusion and through flank eruptions, although the exact emplacement mechanisms are still controversially discussed. In particular, it is not yet fully resolved whether cone-sheets propagate as magma-driven, opening-mode fractures or as shear fractures, and to what extent pre-existing host-rock structures and different stress fields influence cone-sheet emplacement. To shed further light on the role of these parameters in cone-sheet emplacement, we use detailed field and remote sensing data of the classic Ardnamurchan cone-sheet swarm in NW-Scotland, and we show that the cone-sheets primarily propagated as opening-mode fractures in the σ1–σ2 plane of the volcanic stress field. In addition, more than one third of the Ardnamurchan cone-sheet segments are parallel to lineaments that form a conjugate set of NNW and WNW striking fractures and probably reflect the regional NW–SE orientation of σ1 during emplacement in the Palaeogene. Cone-sheets exploit these lineaments within the NE and SW sectors of the Ardnamurchan central complex, which indicates that the local volcanic stress field dominated during sheet propagation and only allowed exploitation of host-rock discontinuities that were approximately parallel to the sheet propagation path. In addition, outcrop-scale deflections of cone-sheets into sills and back into cone-sheets (also referred to as “staircase” geometry) are explained by the interaction of stresses at the propagating sheet tip with variations in host-rock strength, as well as the influence of sheet-induced strain. As a consequence, cone-sheets associated with sill-like segments propagate as mixed-mode I/II fractures. Hence, cone-sheet emplacement requires a dynamic model that takes into account stress fields at various scales and the way propagating magma interacts with the host rock and its inherent variations in rock strength.     

Advances in the deep tectonics and seismic anisotropy of the Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault zone in the Sichuan-Yunnan Block,Southwestern China

The Sichuan-Yunnan Block (SYB) is located at the SE margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (TP). Under the influence of the southeastward movement of material originated from the TP, intense crustal deformation, frequent seismic activity, and complex geological structures are observed in the SYB. The Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault (LXF) goes through the central part of the SYB, dividing it into two blocks from north to south, and forming an intersecting fault system with the surrounding faults. This paper firstly introduces the morphology and the nature of the LXF, the distribution of the regional surface displacements and the focal mechanisms, and then analyzes the medium deformation and the effects of faults. Moreover, according to the regional tectonics and geophysical patterns, the paper discusses the characteristics of the north-south blocks of the SYB and the abrupt change of deep structure along the LXF zone. Since seismic anisotropy is an essential property for detecting crustal stress, deep structures and dynamical mechanisms, this paper is dedicated to the advances in seismic anisotropy at different depths and different scales in the study area. There are noteworthy differences in the anisotropic features between the north part and the south part of the SYB, possibly associated with a clear boundary adjacent to the LXF. Such phenomenon suggests some close correlation between anisotropic zoning boundary and the LXF, although this boundary is not consistent with the LXF in strike. The results from the deformation of the crust and the upper mantle elucidate the distribution patterns of the crust-mantle coupling in the north part and the crust-mantle decoupling in the south part, even though this conclusion needs to be further verified by more studies. Presently, the scientific understanding of the deep tectonics and the media deformation around the “generalized” LXF i.e. the LXF with the Jinpingshan fault on its eastern side, is still insufficient, and related equivocal topics deserve more in-depth studies.     

两次降水过程的微降雨雷达探测精度分析

垂直指向微降雨雷达(MRR)能够测量从近地面至高空的雷达反射率因子和雨滴谱分布特征,对认识降水微物理结构,改进雷达定量降水估计精度有重要作用。为评估MRR探测的雨滴谱分布、降水和雷达回波精度,利用南京地区夏季观测的两次降水过程,将MRR与业务S波段天气雷达、二维视频雨滴谱仪、常规雨量筒观测进行层状云降水和对流性降水下的定量对比分析。结果表明,MRR垂直探测的雷达反射率因子与S波段雷达观测在中低层(＜4 km)平均差异＜1 dB, 但高层(＞4 km)出现显著低估,且该现象随降水强度增强更明显,这主要是雷达回波衰减导致。MRR在回波强度＜35 dBz时对降水率的探测精度较高,但在＞35 dBz时低估降水。其中,层状云降水的降水率比对流性降水更接近雨量筒观测。常规雨量筒对0.1 mm以下的降水无探测能力,而MRR探测敏感度较高,对于微弱降水率的估计效果也很好。由于MRR最大探测范围的限制,相对于2DVD而言,MRR探测的最大粒子直径低估、最小粒子浓度高估,但在中间段的探测效果和2DVD雨滴谱观测一致性较高。总体而言,MRR是一个有效的降水探测仪器,其探测结果在层状云降水过程中优于对流性降水过程。     

Surfactant effects on the water‐stable aggregation of wettable soils from the continental USA

Surfactants may affect soil structure differently depending upon the soil or the quality of rainfall or irrigation water. This study examined whether the water‐stable aggregation of 11 wettable soils was affected by surfactants and the water in which the soils were sieved. The study also examined whether the wettable soils' water drop penetration time (WDPT) was affected by surfactants, water drop quality, and elapsed time since the surfactants were applied. Two nonionic surfactants and a surfactant‐free water control were sprayed (by misting) upon air‐dry soil, then WDPT was measured 1 and 72 h thereafter. Subsequently, this treated soil was slowly wetted with an aerosol to its water content at a matric potential of ?3 kPa, then immediately sieved for 600 s in water that contained either appreciable or few electrolytes. Water‐stable aggregation, quantified as mean weight diameter (MWD), varied widely among soils, ranging from 0.10 to 1.36 mm. The MWDs were affected (at p = 0.06) by surfactant treatments, depending upon the soil but not sieving water quality. Surfactants affected the MWD of an Adkins loamy sand and Feltham sand, two of the three coarsest‐textured soils. Although WDPTs never exceeded 5 s, depending upon the soil WDPTs were affected by surfactant treatments but not by water drop quality. After surfactant application, WDPTs generally decreased with time for three soils but increased with time for one soil. Findings suggested that surfactants interacted (1) with clay mineralogy to affect MWD and (2) with soluble calcium to affect WDPT for certain soils. Surfactant treatments but not water quality affected both MWD and WDPT for some but not all of 11 wettable, US soils. Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

多消浪室局部开孔沉箱防波堤反射特性的迭代解析研究

基于势流理论,对多消浪室局部开孔沉箱防波堤的反射特性进行解析研究。研究中采用开孔墙处的二次压力损失边界条件,可以直接考虑波高对于开孔墙处能量损失的影响。利用匹配特征函数展开法和迭代方法得到当前问题的解析解。收敛性验证表明,迭代计算和级数解均具有良好的收敛性。该解析解的计算结果与分区边界元的数值计算结果一致,并且与已有的试验结果符合良好。通过算例分析,研究开孔沉箱防波堤反射系数的主要影响因素。结果表明：与单消浪室开孔沉箱防波堤相比,多消浪室开孔沉箱防波堤可以在更宽的波浪频率范围内保持低反射;增大开孔墙的开孔率,有利于降低多消浪室开孔沉箱防波堤的反射系数;当开孔墙的开孔率沿着入射波方向依次递减时,多消浪室开孔沉箱防波堤的反射系数较小。本文所建立的解析模型简单可靠,可用于工程初步设计中分析开孔沉箱防波堤的水动力性能。     

2016年11月13日新西兰凯库拉(Kaikoura)MW7.8地震同震位移和应力数值分析

2016年11月13日新西兰南岛北端凯库拉（Kaikoura）发生了M_W7.8大地震,造成了强烈的地表变形并引发大面积滑坡和海啸的发生.基于美国地质调查局（USGS）断层滑动模型,建立全球同震横向不均匀并行椭球型地球模型,计算了此次新西兰凯库拉大地震产生的同震形变和应力及库仑应力变化.初步计算结果表明：新西兰凯库拉M_W7.8地震造成断层上盘东北向抬升,下盘西南俯冲;引起发震区域同震位移较大,从凯库拉到坎贝拉（Campbell）以及首都惠灵顿（Wellington）整体上东北向抬升,最大同震水平位移1.2 m,垂直位移1.1 m.此次大地震释放了发震断层上积累的压应力,但增加了发震断层两端的挤压力;同时,同震剪应力变化增加了NE-SW向断层发生右旋滑动的危险性;采用此次地震发震断层参数计算得出的最大库仑应力变化增加区域集中在发震断层两端,可达到MPa量级.当分别采用新西兰北岛Awatere断裂系和南岛Wellington断裂系参数计算库仑应力变化时,发现新西兰北岛和南岛震中以南区域的库仑应力均增加,可触发部分余震的发生.