A comparative study of the design spectra defined by Eurocode 8, UBC, IBC and Turkish Earthquake Code on R/C sample buildings

Earthquake codes have been revised and updated depending on the improvements in the representation of ground motions, soils and structures. These revisions have been more frequently seen in recent years. One of the key changes in earthquake codes has been performed on the design spectra. In this paper, the design spectra recommended by Turkish Earthquake Code and three other well known codes (Uniform Building Code, Eurocode 8, and International Building Code) are considered for comparison. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the differences caused by the use of different codes in the dynamic analysis and seismic verification of given types of buildings located at code defined different sites. The differences in expressions and some important points for elastic and inelastic spectra defined by the codes are briefly illustrated in tables and figures. Periods, base shears, lateral displacements and interstory drifts for the analyzed buildings located at code defined ground type are comparatively presented.     

Site Response and Earthquake Design Spectra for Central Khartoum, Sudan

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is located at the confluence of White and Blue Niles. The city is heavily populated. Central Khartoum with its high-rise buildings is the center of governmental and business activities and is located on a strip adjacent to the Blue Nile. Geological and geotechnical data indicate that the subsoil conditions at Central Khartoum are characterized by alluvial deposits underlain by Nubian Sandstone at a depth of 25 m. The alluvial deposits, locally known as Gezira formations, consist of clays grading into silt and sand with depth. Macro seismic zonation of Sudan and its vicinities, developed by the authors, gave the ground acceleration at the bedrock surface. The effect of alluvial deposits in Central Khartoum on propagation of seismic motion parameters to the ground surface is investigated in this study. Correlations are proposed for pertinent cyclic soil properties such as shear modulus, damping, and shear wave velocity. The Equivalent-Linear Earthquake Response Analyses (EERA) Model was used to study the effect of local soil conditions on ground-motion parameters. In the absence of strong-motion records in Khartoum, available worldwide strong-motion records are used. Plots showing the time histories of ground motion parameters at the ground surface are obtained. The results indicate amplification of ground motion of up to 4.93. The predicted fundamental period of soils is about 0.5 s which is typical for these types of soils. The maximum spectral acceleration varied from 0.76 to 0.95 g. For design purposes, a response spectrum curve is proposed.     

Characteristics of China’s oil and gas pool formation in latest geological history

The structural activities took place extensively in the Asia continent during the Cenozoic era owing to the strong continent-to-continent collision and continuous compression between the India Plate and the Eurasia Plate. Huang Jiqing called such structural activities Himalayan movement. China’s sedimentary basins developed and took shape mainly during the Himalayan movement period. It is also the main period for formation and development of the oil and gas reservoirs. Of 366 large and medium-sized oil and gas fields currently found in China, 212 reservoirs were formed in the Neogene-Quaternary period. The proportion is as high as 68.2%. The oil and gas migration and accumulation in the latest geological period, which were controlled by the times, properties, styles and strength of the Himalayan movement, took place mainly in eight regions, such as the low uplift area of Bohai Sea, the onshore faulted sag area of Bohai Bay, anticlinorium zone in Daqing, the foreland fold-and-thrust belt in West China, the tilted structural zone in West China, the cratonic palaeohigh in the Tarim Basin, the zone of fault and fold belt in the East Sichuan Basin, and the biological gas zone in the East Qaidam Basin. The oil and gas pool formations in those regions have their own characteristics. With the great potential and broad prospect, those regions are the main exploration areas in China in the future.     

Seismic Moment Tensor Resolution on a Local Scale: Simulated Rockburst and Mine-induced Seismic Events in the Kopanang Gold Mine, South Africa

Seismic records contain information about the effect of the source as well as the effect of wave propagation through the rock mass. The effect of wave propagation is usually not well known as only simplified models of geological structures are available. Therefore, the information about the source retrieved by inverting seismograms may include errors due to incomplete knowledge of the rock mass along the propagation path, which in turn cause a distortion in the calculated moment tensor (MT). The distortion of the MT on a local scale was observed by inverting records of a simulated rockburst conducted at the Kopanang gold mine in South Africa. A dominant isotropic component of the explosive characteristics was found from the inversion. The deviatoric components retrieved from the blast are spurious. A test of their stability indicated that they are not significant, assuming an uncertainty above 5% for velocities and 10% for attenuation within the homogeneous model available for the mine. Thus, the retrieval of the MT from records of local networks in mines using a homogeneous model of the rock mass seems to be feasible. However, the homogeneous model of the rock mass can only be applied to close stations, within a few kilometers of the source. The seismic records from distant stations were too complex to be modelled by a homogeneous rock mass. Records of six mine-induced seismic events recorded at the Kopanang gold mine were also inverted. A vertical linear dipole along the pressure (P) axis was found for three of the events, suggesting a pillar burst. The mechanism of two events contains an isotropic implosion together with a nearly vertical dip-slip, and seems to indicate a combination of a cavity collapse with a down dip-slip along a nearly vertical fault. One event corresponds to a dipole along the tensional (T) axis. However, it is vertical, thus its association with tensile faulting of the hangingwall is uncertain.     

Site Response in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada from NTS Explosions and Earthquake Data

We report site response in Las Vegas Valley (LVV) from historical recordings of Nevada Test Site (NTS) nuclear explosions and earthquake recordings from permanent and temporary seismic stations. Our data set significantly improves the spatial coverage of LVV over previous studies, especially in the northern, deeper parts of the basin. Site response at stations in LVV was measured for frequencies in the range 0.2–5.0 Hz using Standard Spectral Ratios (SSR) and Horizontal-Vertical Spectral Ratios (HVR). For the SSR measurements we used a reference site (approximately NEHRP B ``rock' classification) located on Frenchman Mountain outside the basin. Site response at sedimentary sites is variable in LVV with average amplifications approaching a factor of 10 at some frequencies. We observed peaks in the site response curves at frequencies clustered near 0.6, 1.2 and 2.0 Hz, with some sites showing additional lower amplitude peaks at higher frequencies. The spatial pattern of site response is strongly correlated with the reported depth to basement for frequencies between 0.2 and 3.0 Hz, although the frequency of peak amplification does not show a similar correlation. For a few sites where we have geotechnical shear velocities, the amplification shows a correlation with the average upper 30-meter shear velocities, V₃₀. We performed two-dimensional finite difference simulations and reproduced the observed peak site amplifications at 0.6 and 1.2 Hz with a low velocity near-surface layer with shear velocities 600–750 m/s and a thickness of 100–200 m. These modeling results indicate that the amplitude and frequencies of site response peaks in LVV are strongly controlled by shallow velocity structure.     

辽宁深井承压水位潮汐响应函数的初步研究

介绍了辽宁省地震水动态监测网19口井固体潮汐响应函数的计算结果,基于M2波潮汐因子及其月离散相对误差,分析了各观测井潮汐响应函数对地壳应变的响应灵敏度、潮汐因子的动态稳定性和监测效能。结果表明:在所列19口观测井中,如果以M2波潮汐因子0.2m/10-9作为潮汐响应幅值的下限,则除甘沟子以外的18口井可用于潮汐响应函数的研究;如果以M2波潮汐因子的月离散相对误差20%作为选择观测井的上限,则除瓦房店楼房井、岫岩1井、周家井、丹东变电所井、牛四井、容2井和阜新市甘沟子等井以外的12口井可用于潮汐参数的动态特征研究。     

Characteristics of near-fault ground motion containing velocity pulses

There are many reports about the research on near-fault velocity pulses, which focus on the generation of velocity pulse and simplify the velocity pulse so as to be used in the seismic design of structure, However few researches have put emphasis on the characteristics of near-fault ground motions containing velocity pulses, especially the characteristics relevant with the design response spectrum prescribed by the code. Through collection of a large number of near-fault records containing velocity pulses, the response spectra and the characteristic periods of records containing no pulses are compared with those of records containing pulses. Response spectra of near-fault records are compared with standard spectra given by code; furthermore, the response spectra and the characteristic periods of each earthquake are compared with that given by code. The result shows that at long periods （longer than 1.5 s）, the response spectrum of pulse-containing records is bigger than the response spectrum of no-pulse-containing records; when the characteristic period of near-fault records is calculated, the method that does not fix frequency is more reasonable because the T1 and T2 have a lagging tendency; regardless of the site Ⅰ and site Ⅱ, the characteristic period of pulse-containing records is over twice bigger than the characteristic period given by the code,     

东天山觉罗塔格地区夹白山一带晚古生代构造格局及演化

研究区早石炭世经历了中天山古陆北缘被动陆缘向活动陆缘沟弧盆体系演化的全过程.阿齐山-雅满苏岛弧带于维宪期发育在广宽陆棚海之上.岛弧为大型背形结构,雅满苏断裂带为火山喷发的主要通道,弧前盆地生成于弧沟间隙部位.晚石炭世早期,弧后区发生扩张作用而塌陷形成向形的边缘盆地.晚石炭世末,北侧康古尔洋区以弧弧对接方式关闭,弧区伴有深成花岗岩浆侵位.早二叠世早期进入松弛阶段,在弧间及弧后南缘产生上叠断陷盆地.晚二叠世右旋走滑变动席卷全区,最后大型造山带与地块之间发生块体右旋滑移错位,由此奠定了现今的盆山构造格局初貌.     

下扬子东南缘北段加里东期构造形迹新资料

皖浙交界的宁国、于潜一带,上奥陶统和下志留统厚度巨大且具有浊流沉积的特征,导致长期以来对这一地区加里东期大地构造背景的不同认识.通过1:25万区域地质填图,在震旦纪-下古生代地层中发现大量加里东期构造变形形迹和数处不整合接触关系,表明本区加里东运动强烈,华南地区广泛发育的加里东运动已经强烈地影响到扬子板块的南缘.这些发现为研究本区加里东期的大地构造环境和变形特点、扬子板块与华南板块的相互作用提供了新资料.     

西藏羌塘西北部干枯沟地区早三叠世晚期碱性岩类的发现

碱性花岗岩分布于西藏羌塘北部的花岗岩带内,岩石K2O Na2O含量达11.27%～12.02%,具高铝、高碱、低铁镁组分的特征,属碱性花岗岩类.地球化学特征表明,该碱性岩形成于后碰撞期.形成该岩体的物质主要来源于加厚陆壳的中下部,反映了研究区古特提斯闭合后经历了陆内造山阶段.霞石正长岩同位素锆石U-Pb年龄为248.7Ma±2.6Ma,相当于早三叠世晚期.碱性花岗岩的出现是西藏西北部古特提斯造山带崩塌开始的岩石学标志.