Mechanisms of seismic quiescences

In the past decade there have been major advances in understanding the seismic cycle in terms of the recognition of characteristic patterns of seismicity over the entire tectonic loading cycle. The most distinctive types of patterns are seismic quiescences, of which three types can be recognized:post-seismic quiescence, which occurs in the region of the rupture zone of an earthquake and persists for a substantial fraction of the recurrence time following the earthquake,intermediate-term quiescences, which appear over a similar region and persist for several years prior to large plate-rupturing earthquakes, andshort-term quiescences, which are pronounced lulls in premonitory swarms that occur in the hypocentral region hours or days before an earthquake. Although the frequency with which intermediate-term and short-term quiescences precede earthquakes is not known, and the statistical significance of some of the former has been challenged, there is a need, if this phenomena is to be considered a possibly real precursor, to consider physical mechanisms that may be responsible for them.The characteristic features of these quiescences are reviewed, and possible mechanisms for their cause are discussed. Post-seismic quiescence can be readily explained by any simple model of the tectonic loading cycle as due to the regional effect of the stress-drop of the previous principal earthquake. The other types of quiescence require significant modification to any such simple model. Of the possibilities considered, only two seem viable in predicting the observed phenomena, dilatancy hardening and slip weakening. Intermediate-term quiescences typically occur over a region equal to or several times the size of the rupture zone of the later earthquake and exhibit a relationship between the quiescence duration and size of the earthquake: they thus involve regional hardening or stress relaxation and agree with the predictions of the dilatancy-diffusion theory. Short-term quiescences, on the other hand, are more likely explained by fault zone dilatancy hardening and/or slip weakening within a small nucleation zone. Because seismicity is a locally relaxing process, seismicity should follow a behaviour known in rock mechanics as the Kaiser effect, in which only a very slight increase in strength, due to dilatancy hardening or decrease in stress due to slip weakening, is required to cause quiescence. This is in contrast to other precursory phenomena predicted by dilatancy, which require large dilatant strains and complete dilatancy hardening.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory     

An Examination of Behavior and Hazards Faced by Physically Disabled People During the Loma Prieta Earthquake

There is a need to study hazards faced by physically disabled people during earthquakes. A literature review showed the importance of occupant behavior as a factor that contributes to casualty during earthquakes. A survey questionnaire was used to study the behavioral responses of 33 disabled residents, none of whom sustained injury, during the Loma Prieta earthquake of 17 October 1989. An occupant risk analysis methodology was developed to study the sequence of activities of the disabled people. Severe restrictions in the physical capabilities of the respondents did not appear to increase their exposure to hazards. Overall, the physically disabled occupants did not think of themselves as vulnerable, and those who felt vulnerable initiated self-protective action in response to the hazards present in their immediate surroundings.     

A garnet population in Yellowknife schist, Canada

Abstract Data are presented on a garnet population in a specimen of garnet-biotite-plagioclase-quartz schist from the cordierite zone of an Archaean thermal dome in the Southern Slave Province of the Canadian Shield. Garnet crystals are bounded by planar dodecahedral faces and by trapezohedral faces which on the 10-μm scale are corrugated. Crystal distribution, as revealed by dissection of a small cubic volume of rock, is random. The size distribution is normal, with a mean diameter of 0.81 mm and a standard deviation of 0.32 mm. In the largest crystal of the population (mean radius 0.83 mm), [Mn] = 100 Mn/(Fe + Mg + Mn + Ca) decreases from 14.5 at the centre to 7.5 and then increases in the outer margin to 8.5; [Fe] increases continuously from 67 at the centre to 77 at the surface; [Mg] increases from 12.5 to 13.5 and then falls sharply to 11; [Ca] remains unchanged at 4.0 and then drops to 3.3. Progressively smaller crystals have progressively lower [Mn] and higher [Fe] concentrations at their centres, while all crystals have the same margin composition. Growth vectors extending from given concentration contours to crystal surfaces are of equal length regardless of the size of the crystal in which the vector is located. A garnet-forming model is presented in which reaction was initiated by a rise in temperature. Nucleation sites were randomly selected. The nucleation rate increased with time and then declined. Crystal faces advanced at a constant linear rate, which implies an increase in volume proportional to surface area. Initially, the composition of garnet deposited on crystal surfaces was determined by van Laar equations of equilibrium, which demanded the withdrawal of Mn and Fe from within chlorite crystals. This transfer reaction was then accompanied by an ion exchange reaction which moved Mn and Fe to garnet surfaces from biotite, in exchange for Mg. The exchange reaction provides an explanation for the high overall concentration of Mn and Fe in garnet and for the observed Mn and Mg reversals in the margins of crystals. The increase of garnet volume in the garnet population is found to be parabolic, i.e. Vαα⁵.     

Discussion on the Relation Between the Probabilistic Distribution of Magnitude in a Seismic Province and That in an Area with Potential Seismic Source

According to the joint probabilistic distribution model of magnitude and space,the author discusses the relationship between the probabilistic distribution of magnitude in a seismic province and that in an area with potential seismic sources.The results show that if the magnitude probabilistic distribution follows the truncated exponential form in a seismic province,there must be some potential source in which the magnitude probabilistic distribution does not conform to that form.The result is consistent with the concept of "characteristic earthquake" derived from the study of actual records of seismicity and the study of geology.The author suggests that the relationship between the probabilistic distribution of magnitude in a seismic province and that in a seismic potential area must be considered in the study of the analysis of seismicity,seismic zonation and engineering seismology,for the purpose of the evaluation of the probabilistic distribution of magnitude correctly in every area with potential s     

Relocation of Hypocenters in the Bohai Sea and Adjacent Areas

In this paper a method of relocating hypocenter in inhomogeneous medium is introduced.Based on the velocity from the latest results on the crust and mantle structure of the Bohai Sea and its adjacent areas,by using the data recorded in Shandong,Hebei,Beijing,and Liaoning networks around the Bohai Sea we apply the method to relocate hypocenter parameters of 598 events occurring in the Bohai Sea and its adjacent areas.The accuracy of hypocenter relocation is discussed.We present the results of events ML≥4.0 in the Bohai Sea in recent years and discussed the distribution of focal depths.     

造山带与岩石圈演化动力学研究述评

本文综述指出：深部过程，可能导致放射性元素在地幔或下地壳的某些部位聚结而产生强烈的核反应，致使下地壳加热和上地壳的快速抬升和伸展垮塌，产生地震、火山作用、岩浆作用，形成山脉。通过对来自地球内部的α─粒子辐射监测，有可能对毁灭性地震作出预报。     

岩石摩擦-滑动中的声发射b值动态特征及其地震学意义

双剪试验的结果表明,岩石摩擦滑动过程中的AE b 值动态曲线可归纳为锯齿状和台柱状两类,分别对应于不规则粘滑和规则粘滑.滑动瞬间滑面上摩擦系数变化△μ的分布决定岩石的滑动方式,不均匀分布易发生不规则粘滑.均匀分布易引起规则粘滑;破裂和滑动是摩擦滑动过程中的两类AE 机制,两类AE 的能量分别与破裂面面积及△μ成正比.研究结果提示,平直光滑的地震断层可能显示出特征地震的发震特点.     

同位素地球化学方法与地震研究及地震预报

通过在地震活动区对有关地质体的K—Ar、Ar—Ar、FT、TL、~(14)C、ESR、U系等同位素年代学、地下水及其释放气体的D/H、~(13)C/~(12)C、~(18)O/~(16)O等稳定同位素以及He、Ar等稀有气体同位素的研究,可获得有关新构造运动的时间序列、断层运动的时间、地质体热历史以及地下断层流体运动的许多重要信息。因而,同位素地球化学已逐渐在研究地震成因机制以及监测预报地震中发挥重要作用。     

地震的复发周期

本文提出了一个计算某一地震带(区)上地震复发周期的简单公式: T_M=m·10~(bM-a)式中T_M为震级是M的地震周期,m表示在求震级—频度关系式logN=a-bM中的系数a及b时,使用了m年的资料(时间单位也可以采用年、季度、月、旬等等)。 采用上述公式,作者研究了地震预报中的长期、中期及短临预报的问题。一些震例的研究表明:复发周期在地震预报的许多方面具有广泛的实用意义。不失为地震预报中的一个重要指标。     

由岩体失稳讨论地震前兆的复杂性

断层带应变弱化——失稳的地震模式表明,岩体失稳不仅取决于作用的应力水平,而且决定于应变弱化阶段中环境刚度和岩石刚度的相对大小。该模式可能被应用去解释实际观测中出现异常,而其后不发生地震活动的复杂情况。