The gravity method in groundwater exploration in crystalline rocks: a study in the peninsular granitic region of Hyderabad, India

The application of variations in the earth's gravity in groundwater exploration on a regional scale, especially in sedimentary basins, metamorphic terrains, valley fills, and for buried alluvial channels, is well established. However, its use in hard crystalline rocks is little known. In granite, for example, the upper weathered layer is a potential primary aquifer, and the underlying fractured rock can form a secondary aquifer. Fracturing and weathering increases the porosity of a rock, thereby reducing the bulk density. Changes in gravity anomalies of 0.1–0.7 mGal for granites, due to weathering or variations in lithology, can be detected. To test the use of gravity as a groundwater exploration tool for crystalline rocks, a gravity survey of the peninsular shield granites underlying Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad, India, was undertaken. At the site, gravity anomalies reflect variations in the lithology and in the thickness of weathered zones. These anomalies also define the position of intrusives and lineaments. Areas of more deeply weathered granite that contain wells of higher groundwater yield are represented by negative gravity values. In the weathered zone, well yield has an inverse relation to the magnitudes of residual gravity. The study confirms the feasibility of gravity as a tool for groundwater exploration in crystalline rocks. Electronic Publication     

Ordovician Graptolite Rhabdosome Complication and Its Implications on Sea Level Changes

A total of four times of rhabdosome complication events, i.e., the lateral branching of graptolite stipes during the Late Middle Ordovician, the secondary branching of graptolite stipes at the earliest Upper Ordovician, the early Qiantangjiangian of Upper Ordovician and the middle Qiantangjiangian, respectively, is discussed in this paper. These events and other adaptation events demonstrate close relationships between a diverse graptolite fauna and sea level changes, and consequently can be employed to study sea level fluctuations. It is safe to conclude that the complication of rhabdosome started at the maximum flooding surface (MFS) and terminated at the beginning of regression.     

Physical properties of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from the Sulu terrain, eastern central China: implications for the seismic structure at the Donghai (CCSD) drilling site

About 30 samples representing major lithologies of Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks were collected from surface exposures and exploration wells, and compressional (Vp) and shear wave (Vs) velocities and their directional dependence (anisotropy) were determined over a range of constant confining pressures up to 600 MPa and temperatures ranging from 20 to 600 °C. Samples range in composition from acidic to ultramafic. P- and S-wave velocities measured at 600 MPa vary from 5.08 to 8.64 km/s and 2.34 to 4.93 km/s, respectively. Densities are in the range from 2.60 to 3.68 g/cm³. To make a direct tie between seismic measurements (refraction and reflection) and subsurface lithologies, the experimental velocity data (corresponding to shallow depths) were used to calculate velocity profiles for the different lithologies and profiles of reflection coefficients at possible lithologic interfaces across the projected 5000-m Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Program (CCSD) crustal segment. Comparison of calculated in situ velocities with respective intrinsic velocities suggests that the in situ velocities at shallow depths are lowered by an increased abundance of open microcracks. The strongly reflective zone beneath the Donghai drill site can be explained by the impedance contrasts between the different lithologies. Contacts between eclogite/peridotite and felsic rocks (gt-gneiss, granitic gneiss), in particular, may give rise to strong seismic reflections. In addition, shear-induced (lattice preferred orientation (LPO)-related) seismic anisotropy can increase reflectivity. For the explanation of the high velocity bodies (>6.4 km/s) around 1000 m and below 3200-m depth, large proportions of eclogite/peridotite (about 40 and 30 vol.%, respectively) are needed.     

Stability of earthquake moment tensor inversions: effect of the double-couple constraint

We show that spurious large non-double-couple components can be obtained in inversions for the full deviatoric moment tensor for shallow crustal earthquakes due to inaccurate Earth models. The traditional “best double-couple” solution does not in general provide an optimal estimate of a double-couple mechanism, and is only reliable when the non-double-couple component of the full deviatoric solution is small. The inverse problem for the moment tensors of the 1998 Antarctic Plate and 2000 Wharton Basin strike-slip earthquakes is shown in each case to have two well-fitting minima in the misfit function of pure double-couple solutions. Such pairs of solutions are most likely to exist for earthquakes which are close either to vertical strike-slip or to dip-slip on a fault plane dipping at 45°. It is shown theoretically that these pairs of solutions arise from the combination of the pure double-couple constraint and the instability of two elements of the moment tensor. No significant non-double-couple component is found for the shallow thrusting 1996 Biak, Indonesia earthquake.     

Large-scale mass wasting in ancient volcanic materials

Giant landslides are significant hazards associated with many active volcanic edifices. We describe a similar feature on ancient (>4 Ma) volcanic deposits subject to active tectonism. The landslide is approximately 3 km long by 1 km wide, with an estimated depth of 400 m. Side margins are straight and parallel, mimicking regional structure; narrow valleys incised down these margins provide low-strength side-release surfaces. Between these is a giant slump consisting of at least four, largely intact, discrete blocks that have moved down-dip a distance of >500 m. A series of flows with areal extents ranging from 0.01 to 0.5 km² extends from the front of the failure. The materials represent an eroded sequence of andesite flows on the flanks of a stratovolcano. These have undergone two phases of hydrothermal alteration, and are deeply weathered to low-density (1040±80 kg m⁻³) silt (59%) and clay (35%) materials with strength properties typical of weathered silts (c=26±3 kN m⁻²; φ=42±8°). The size and location of this landslide preclude detailed geotechnical investigation of the failure. The worth of numerical stability analysis as an alternative technique in assessing the nature of the failure and hence the risk it poses to nearby communities is investigated. Sensitivity analysis identified likely conditions under which initial failure may have occurred: analyses for sensitivity to strength and earthquake acceleration needed conversion to critical combinations (F=1.0) of water table and strength/acceleration to remove the overriding influence of water table fluctuations. Failure was likely initiated either by a high water table level (83-84%), or some combination of intensity VII-IX earthquake waves together with water table heights of 40-80%. A general hazard assessment indicates that the risk associated with creep and catastrophic failure of the main mass is small, whereas the risk from flow failures near the toe of the landslide may be high. Important parameters (hydrological regime, flow failure morphology, age of initiation, and rates of movement) requiring closer investigation are identified. Development of a model is crucial to assessing the hazard associated with a feature such as that described here. With limited resources, a detailed stability analysis is a powerful tool as an initial stage in hazard analysis.     

震源时间函数与震源破裂过程

简要介绍了现代数字地震学的两个重要概念。一个是震源时间函数，另一个是地震震源的时空破裂过程。首先，从地震断层位移表示定量出发，介绍震源时间函数和震源破裂过程的基本概念。然后，分别介绍两种从远场地震记录中提取震源时间函数和获取有限断层面上时空破裂过程图像的反演方法。     

科技期刊发展的挑战与机遇

中国加入世贸组织后 ,面对开放的世界性大市场的直接冲击 ,我国出版发行行业的竞争必将更加激烈。优胜劣汰 ,会直接考验每个出版社、每份期刊。为了使我国的期刊在竞争中成为胜者 ,探讨了科技期刊参与竞争的困难与优势 ,提出了如何提高我国科技期刊竞争力的粗浅看法     

漾濞地震震源位置分析

采用一致的地震震相和台网布局，应用昆明数字地震台网资料，对2002年月1月4日－1月7日的漾濞地震及序列作进一步核定，得出了更精确的地震震源位置，并作出三维空间图。     

2001年1月2 6日印度古杰拉特(Gujarat)Ｍem>Ssub>7.8地震时空破裂过程

从全球数字地震台网的长周期记录中，选择了震中距小于90的27个台站的54个P波震相和44个S波震相资料．首先，用波形反演方法确定了2001年1月26日印度古杰拉特(Gujarat)ＭS7.8地震的地震矩张量、震源机制、震源时间函数和时空破裂过程等震源参数．通过矩张量反演，并根据Kutch Mainland断层的走向、地震烈度的空间分布、余震震源的空间分布和震害的空间分布，确认2001年1月26日印度古杰拉特ＭS7.8地震的发震断层的走向为92、倾角为58、滑动角为62，即一走向近东-西向、断层面向南倾斜、以逆冲为主的左旋-逆断层．这次地震所释放的地震矩为3.51020 Nm，矩震级ＭW＝7.6．然后，借助合成地震图，采用频率域求谱商的方法，得到了依赖于台站方位的27个P波震源时间函数、22个S波震源时间函数以及平均的P波震源时间函数和S波震源时间函数．对震源时间函数的分析表明，这次地震是一次连续的破裂事件，开始比较急遽，但结束比较迟缓，总持续时间约19 s．最后，以所提取的P波和S波震源时间函数为资料，采用时间域的反演技术得到了断层面上滑动的时空分布．滑动量在断层面上的静态分布表明，断层面上的最大滑动量约为7 m．断层面上的最大应力降约为30 MPa，平均应力降约为7 MPa．滑动量大于0.5 m的区域在走向方向长85 km，在断层面倾斜方向宽约60 km(相应地，在深度方向约51 km)．破裂向东扩展约50 km，向西扩展约35 km．滑动量大于0.5 m的区域的主要部分呈椭圆形，其长轴取向与断层滑动方向一致．表明此区域破裂扩展的方向即是断层错动的方向．这种现象对于走滑断层情形是多见的，但对逆冲断层情形却少见．断层面上初始破裂点以东、以上部分面积大于初始破裂点以西、以下部分的面积，这是破裂非对称性的表现，表明破裂具有自西向东、自下向上单侧破裂的特征．从滑动率随时空变化的快照可以看出，滑动率在第4 s达到最大值，此时滑动率约为0.2 m/s，滑动基本上发生在破裂起始点及其周围．从第6 s开始，起始点的破裂基本结束，破裂开始向外围扩展．破裂向西的扩展速度明显小于向东的扩展速度．在第15 s，这种环形的扩展基本结束．自16 s以后，主要是一些零星的破裂点分布在破裂区的外围．从滑动量随时空变化的快照看，破裂自起始点开始后，逐渐向四周扩展．主要的破裂(滑动量大于5 m的区域)在6～10 s，具有明显的自西向东、向上的单侧破裂特征．在第11～13 s，破裂的西端向西、向下有所扩展．整个破裂过程持续约19 s．在整个破裂过程中的平均破裂速度约为3.3 km/s．      

饱和岩石的各向异性及非线性黏弹性响应

在MTS伺服压机上对不同饱和状态的砂岩、大理岩标本进行了垂直层理和平行层理两个方向的正弦波加载试验,研究了饱和岩石的各向异性及非线性黏弹性行为. 在最大载荷低于岩石的屈服点时,获得的衰减、杨氏模量、泊松比、波速都表现出显著的各向异性,同时它们还具有较明显的应变振幅效应和频率效应. 随着应变振幅的增大,衰减近似呈线性增长,杨氏模量和泊松比近似呈线性下降. 在0.005-4Hz频段内除衰减不明显依赖频率以外,杨氏模量、泊松比、波速对频率的依赖性都较强; 当频段扩大到15Hz时,这4个参数都表现出较强的频率效应. 饱和岩石的衰减、杨氏模量、泊松比、波速均随饱和液体的黏滞系数增大而增大.