Seismic scattering at the top of the mantle Transition Zone

We document strong seismic scattering from around the top of the mantle Transition Zone in all available high resolution explosion seismic profiles from Siberia and North America. This seismic reflectivity from around the 410 km discontinuity indicates the presence of pronounced heterogeneity in the depth interval between 320 and 450 km in the Earth’s mantle. We model the seismic observations by heterogeneity in the form of random seismic scatterers with typical scale lengths of kilometre size (10-40 km by 2-10 km) in a 100-140 km thick depth interval. The observed heterogeneity may be explained by changes in the depths to the α-β-γ spinel transformations caused by an unexpectedly high iron content at the top of the mantle Transition Zone. The phase transformation of pyroxenes into the garnet mineral majorite probably also contributes to the reflectivity, mainly below a depth of 400 km, whereas we find it unlikely that the presence of water or partial melt is the main cause of the observed strong seismic reflectivity. Subducted oceanic slabs that equilibrated at the top of the Transition Zone may also contribute to the observed reflectivity. If this is the main cause of the reflectivity, a substantial amount of young oceanic lithosphere has been subducted under Siberia and North America during their geologic evolution. Subducted slabs may have initiated metamorphic reactions in the original mantle rocks.     

Unified approach to amplitude attenuation and coda excitation in the randomly inhomogeneous lithosphere

A unified model is proposed for explaining the frequency dependent amplitude attenuation and the coda wave excitation on the basis of the single scattering process in the randomly inhomogeneous lithosphere. Adopting Birch's law and a direct proportion between density and wave velocity, we statistically describe the inhomogeneous medium by one random function characterized by the von Karman autocorrelation function. We calculate the amplitude attenuation from the solid angle integral of scattered wave energy on the basis of the Born approxiimation after subtracting the travel-time fluctuation effect caused by slowly varying velocity inhomogeneities. This subtraction is equivalent to neglect energy loss by scattering within a cone around the forward direction. The random inhomogeneity of the von Karman autocorrelation function of order 0.35 with the mean square fractional fluctuation of 7.2×10^–3 1.3×10^–2 and the correlation distance of 2.15.1 km well explains observed backward scattering coefficientg and the ratioQ _P ^–1 /Q _S ^–1 , and observed and partially conjecturedQ _S ^–1 for frequencies between 0.5 Hz and 30 Hz.     

乾县台地倾斜潮汐测量结果及动态特征

利用Ｖｅｎｅｄｉｋｏｖ调和分析法分析了乾县地震台１９８３－１９９４年的地倾斜固体潮记录，提取了该地区倾斜固体潮汐因子及其动态变化特征，为地球动力学特别是地球内部结构的深入研究提供了固体潮方面的实测参数。     

Three-dimensional elastic wave scattering and diffraction due to a rigid cylinder embedded in an elastic medium by a point source

The formal solutions of displacement field to the problem of elastic wave scattering and diffraction due to an infinitely long rigid cylinder embedded in an infinite elastic medium by an impulsive point source have been obtained in the integral form. The integrals for the reflected and the diffracted waves both in the shadow zone and in the illuminated zone are evaluated asymptotically for the early time motion by the Reisdue-Cagniard method and the Saddle-point-Cagniard method.Numerical results of the diffractedP, S andPS waves at a fixed circum-distance from the surface of the rigid cylinder show noticeably that (1) the energy partition for the diffractedS wave is small in comparison with that for the diffractedP wave, (2) the wave form of the diffractedS wave is broader and more diffused than that of the diffractedP wave, (3) the direction of the radial motions of the diffractedP andS waves varies as a function of the observational point, and (4) the energy partition for the diffractedP wave is much smaller than that for the direct or the reflectedP waves.This paper has been presented at the 46th Annual International Meeting of Society of Exploration Geophysicists in Houston, Texas, Oct. 28, 1976.     

地震尺度下碳酸盐岩储层的岩石物理建模方法(英文)

碳酸盐岩油藏的强非均质性以及孔隙结构的复杂性,使得作为连接油藏参数与地震参数重要桥梁的岩石物理模型,以及作为油藏预测和定量表征最有效工具的流体替换成为岩石物理建模的难点与重点。在碳酸盐岩储层复杂孔隙结构与地震尺度下碳酸盐岩储层非均质性分析基础上,研究采用岩石网格化方法,将地震尺度下非均质碳酸盐岩储层岩石划分为具有独立岩石参数的均质岩石子体,根据岩石孔隙成因与结构特征采用不同岩石物理模型分步计算岩石子块干岩石弹性模量,并根据不同孔隙连通性进行流体替换,计算饱和不同流体岩石弹性模量。基于计算的岩石子块弹性模量,采用Hashin-Shtrikman-Walpole弹性边界计算理论方法实现地震尺度下碳酸盐岩储层弹性参数计算。通过对含有不同类型孔隙组合碳酸盐岩储层模型的弹性模量进行计算与分析,明确不同孔隙对岩石弹性参数的影响特征,模拟分析结果与实际资料认识一致。     

Multi-step and two-step experiments in heterogeneous porous media to evaluate the relevance of dynamic effects

The determination of hydraulic properties in non-stationary experiments is suspected to be affected by dynamic effects. This is based on thermodynamic considerations on the pore scale displacement of wetting and non-wetting phase. But also macroscopic heterogeneities at the continuum scale may influence the dynamics of water during drainage and wetting. In this paper we investigate both aspects. Firstly, we present the results of typical multi-step outflow experiments in heterogeneous sand columns which are compared with two-step outflow experiments covering the same pressure range. The discrepancies caused by pressure steps of different size reveal the impact of dynamic effects due to the non-stationarity of the experiments.     

Integrated surface–groundwater flow modeling: A free-surface overland flow boundary condition in a parallel groundwater flow model

Interactions between surface and groundwater are a key component of the hydrologic budget on the watershed scale. Models that honor these interactions are commonly based on the conductance concept that presumes a distinct interface at the land surface, separating the surface from the subsurface domain. These types of models link the subsurface and surface domains via an exchange flux that depends upon the magnitude and direction of the hydraulic gradient across the interface and a proportionality constant (a measure of the hydraulic connectivity). Because experimental evidence of such a distinct interface is often lacking in field systems, there is a need for a more general coupled modeling approach.     

The role of vegetation patterns in structuring runoff and sediment fluxes in drylands

The dynamics of vegetation‐driven spatial heterogeneity (VDSH) and its function in structuring runoff and sediment fluxes have received increased attention from both geomorphological and ecological perspectives, particularly in arid regions with sparse vegetation cover. This paper reviews the recent findings in this area obtained from field evidence and numerical simulation experiments, and outlines their implications for soil erosion assessment. VDSH is often observed at two scales, individual plant clumps and stands of clumps. At the patch scale, the local outcomes of vegetated patches on soil erodibility and hydraulic soil properties are well established. They involve greater water storage capacity as well as increased organic carbon and nutrient inputs. These effects operate together with an enhanced capacity for the interception of water and windborne resources, and an increased biological activity that accelerates breakdown of plant litter and nutrient turnover rates. This suite of relationships, which often involve positive feedback mechanisms, creates vegetated patches that are increasingly different from nearby bare ground areas. By this way a mosaic builds up with bare ground and vegetated patches coupled together, respectively, as sources and sinks of water, sediments and nutrients. At the stand scale within‐storm temporal variability of rainfall intensity controls reinfiltration of overland flow and its decay with slope length. At moderate rainfall intensity, this factor interacts with the spatial structure of VDSH and the mechanism of overland flow generation. Reinfiltration is greater in small‐grained VDSH and topsoil saturation excess overland flow. Available information shows that VDSH structures of sources and sinks of water and sediments evolve dynamically with hillslope fluxes and tune their spatial configurations to them. Rainfall simulation experiments in large plots show that coarsening VDSH leads to significantly greater erosion rates even under heavy rainfall intensity because of the flow concentration and its velocity increase. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distributed geospatial information processing: sharing distributed geospatial resources to support Digital Earth

Abstract

This paper introduces a new concept, distributed geospatial information processing (DGIP), which refers to the process of geospatial information residing on computers geographically dispersed and connected through computer networks, and the contribution of DGIP to Digital Earth (DE). The DGIP plays a critical role in integrating the widely distributed geospatial resources to support the DE envisioned to utilise a wide variety of information. This paper addresses this role from three different aspects: 1) sharing Earth data, information, and services through geospatial interoperability supported by standardisation of contents and interfaces; 2) sharing computing and software resources through a GeoCyberinfrastructure supported by DGIP middleware; and 3) sharing knowledge within and across domains through ontology and semantic searches. Observing the long-term process for the research and development of an operational DE, we discuss and expect some practical contributions of the DGIP to the DE.     

Coda waves: A review

The analysis and interpretation of coda waves have received increasing attention since the early seventies. In the past few years interest in this subject has spread worldwide, and the study of high-frequency seismic coda waves has become a very important seismological topic. As a conclusion of the studies accomplished in this time, coda waves are considered the result of scattering processes caused by heterogeneities acting on seismic waves.P andS waves play a particularly important role in this interaction. The process introduces an attenuation which, added to the intrinsic absorption, gives the observed apparent attenuation. Therefore, coda waves constitute a thumbprint left by the heterogeneities on the seismograms. Coda waves offer decisive information about the mechanism of how scattering and attenuation take place. This review describes coda waves in detail, and summarizes the work done in this subject to 1986. The relation between coda waves and attenuation in the context of research on seismic scattering problems is stressed. Particular attention has been given to the application of coda waves to estimate source and medium parameters. The state-of-the-art of the temporal variations of coda wave shape, and the possible use of these variations as an earthquake precursor also are presented. Care has been taken to introduce the statistical models used to deal with the heterogeneities responsible for scattering.