Explosion seismic reflections from the Earth’s core

Recent seismological studies have presented evidence for the existence of a layer with ultra-low seismic velocities at the core-mantle boundary at ca. 2900 km depth. We report high-amplitude, high-frequency, and laterally coherent seismic arrivals from three nuclear explosions in Siberia. With recording station intervals of 15 km, the seismic phases are readily correlated and show the presence of a thin, ultra-low velocity zone in a region where it was not previously reported. The duration and complexity of the arrivals are inconsistent with a simple core-mantle boundary and require a hitherto unidentified, kilometre-scale, fine structure in the ultra-low velocity zone. The observations may be explained by a ca. 7 km thick, two-layer, ultra-low velocity zone with exceptional low velocities, which indicate the presence of high percentages of melt (>15%), in particular in the lower part of the zone. Waveform variation implies lateral change in the thickness and physical properties of the ultra-low velocity zone with a wavelength of less than 100 km.     

松辽盆地白垩系的密集段及海水进侵的新证

在总结松辽盆地白恶系层地层特征的基础上，阐述了密集段的地质学和地球物理学标志，经分析，大多数重要反射与密集段相关而并非是层序边界，根据扫描电镜分析结果，在密集段中首次发现了钙质超微化石，为区内白垩纪海水进侵的提供了新的证据，由稳定同位素分析，密集段形成了缺氧，相对可容纳空间最大及水体最深时期。     

Geometric form of Haiyuan fault zone in the crustal interior and dynamics implications

The deep seismic reflection data on profile HY2 are reprocessed by the method of simultaneous inversion of velocity distribution and interface position. By the travel-time inversion with the data of the diving wave Pg and fault plane reflection wave, we determine the geometric form and velocity of Haiyuan fault zone interior and surrounding rock down to 10 km depth. The measured data show that the amplitudes have strong attenuation in the range of stake number 37–39 km, suggesting the fault zone has considerable width in the crustal interior. The results of this paper indicate that to the north of the fault zone the crystalline basement interface upheaves gradually from southwest to northeast and becomes shallow gradually towards northeast, and that to the south of the fault zone, within the basin between Xihua and Nanhua mountains, the folded basement becomes shallow gradually towards southwest. The obliquity of the fault zone is about 70° above the 3 km depth, about 60° in the range of the 3–10 km depths. From the results of this paper and other various citations, we believe that Haiyuan fault zone is in steep state from the Earth’s surface to the depth of 10 km. Foundation item: Joint Seismological Science Foundation of China (201001) and State Key Basic Research Development and Programming Project (95-13-02-02). Contribution No. RCEG200308, Exploration Geophysical Center, China Earthquake Administration.     

Field vibration mitigation by honeycomb WIB for pile foundations of a high-speed train viaduct

Environmental vibrations from recent high-speed trains are becoming a special concern in the civil and environmental engineering field since they can give detrimental effects to residents, sensitive equipments and high-tech production facilities in the vicinity of train tacks. Herein, aiming at the vibration mitigation for a specific high-tech industrial area, the low-frequency vibrations from a train viaduct are targeted over an anticipated range. A theoretically designed innovative countermeasure, called honeycomb wave impeding barrier (WIB) for a wave impeding barrier, is introduced and its effects are investigated by computer simulation. The present WIB is based on the wave dispersion phenomenon that can modulate the incoming wavelengths into the shorter wavelengths, creating an apparent wave cut-off characteristic in the wave field across WIB installation area. The shorter wavelengths are further impeded due to the impedance ratio of the WIB walls and in-fill materials and absorbed by the in-fills more. The three-dimensional FEM simulation demonstrates a dramatic reduction effect that is difficult to achieve by conventional measures.     

The reflection of plane waves in a poroelastic half-space saturated with inviscid fluid

This paper discusses surface displacements, surface strain, rocking, and energy partitioning during reflection-of-plane waves in a fluid-saturated poroelastic half-space. The medium is modeled by Biot's theory, and is assumed to be saturated with inviscid fluid. A linear porosity-modulus relation based on experimental data on sandstones is used to determine the material parameters for Biot's model. Numerical results in terms of angle of incident waves and Poisson's ratio are illustrated for various porosities and degrees of solid frame stiffness. The results show that the amount of solid frame stiffness controls the response of a fluid-saturated porous system. A poroelastic medium with essentially dry-frame stiffness behaves like an elastic medium, and the influence of pore fluid increases as dry-frame stiffness is reduced. The effects of a second P-wave become noticeable in poroelastic media with low dry-frame stiffness.