Spectral magnitude and seismic radiated energy computed from CDSN records

We have employed 10 digital records and computed the spectral magnitude and the seismic radiated energy for 18 large earthquakes (M _s≥6) occurred in Eur-asian belt during 1986–1989. The nine digital stations (CD-SN) distribute all over China and one in Germany. The spectral magnitudes of various period have different stability among stations. The stability is better for maximum spectral magnitudemi and seismic radiated energyE, their differences among stations are smaller, especially for the stations where the ray path main penetrates the low mantle. But the stability of corner period is usually not good. The relation between seismic radiated energy and seismic moment magnitudeM _w is lg (E)=1.5Mw+c, wherec is a constant. The maximum spectral magnitudemi=M _w+0.1, it is consistant with theoretical prediction. The Chinese version of this paper appeared in the Chinese edition ofActa Seismologica Sinica,15, 418–426, 1993. This work supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, F. R. Germany. The support is grateful acknowledge.     

2008年5月12日汶川地震谱震级及相关问题研究(英文)

基于P波和S波的谱震级特征对汶川地震进行了定量研究,可以看出P波和S波的最大谱震级出现在不同的周期上。对这一现象的构造物理意义进行了讨论,推测相对于P波而言,地震发生期间辐射的S波能量来自异常大的震源体积。选择部分全球地震的谱特征为背景,对汶川地震的体波谱震级特征进行了分析,结论是汶川地震的特征与其所处的周边环境是一致的。     

Consistency of Magnitudes of the Largest Earthquakes of the First Half of the 20TH Century Determined on the Basis of Göttingen and Zagreb Wiechert Seismograms

The magnitudes (M _S , m _bP , m _bS ) of the largest historical earthquakes which occurred in the first half of the 20 ^th century, calculated on the basis of records of Wiechert horizontal seismographs in Göttingen (Germany) and Zagreb (Croatia), are compared with one another, as well as with the magnitudes reported in worldwide catalogues. Systematic trends are observed in the data regarding the temporal stability of magnitude estimations in Göttingen, as well as the apparent non-linearity of the instrument responsle in the case of the Wiechert seismograph in Zagreb. We were unable to clearly identify their causes – possible explanations include effects caused by the interaction of the seismometer's frame and mass, as well as local soil conditions, but nonhomogeneity of the reference catalogues cannot be ruled out. The results indicate that a careful re-examination and cross-checking of the reported magnitude figures for the earthquakes from the first half of the 20th century is required.     

Dependence of the energy released during earthquake on ambient shear stress

Starting with dislocation model, using the result of the fracture mechanics: the slip displacement at the crack tip is proportional to the length of the crack and the applied ambient shear stressτ ₀ ² , we consider the dislocation in the earthquake to be the slip displacement at the crack tip and have obtained the analysis expresses of displacement and velocity pulse for the circular crack and have calculated the seismic wave energy radiated by earthquake. The seismic wave energyE ∞M ₀ τ ₀ ² f(v) _r , i. e.E is proportional to the seismic momentM ₀ and the square of the ambient shear stressτ ₀ ² and increases with the rupture velocityv _r . In frequency domain, integrating the square of source velocity spectrum derived from our the scaling law model, we have also obtained the seismic wave energyE released by earthquake and earthquake radiated effficiencyη.E ∞M ₀ τ ₀ ² also. If takingτ ₀ = 10.0 MPa, E=4.79M ₀. This result is consistent with the estimate by Vassiliou and Kanamori (1982). Theη=5.26%. The distribution of the seismic wave energy is that most of the energy contains in the frequency range between the first corner frequencyf _c1 and thirdf _c3, amount to 92.3% the energy in the rangef<f _c1 is about 3.85% and 3.85% whenf>f _c3. Thef _c3 is about 8Hz forM ⩾ 6, thus most of radiated energy is below 2Hz. This phenomenon had been verified by Vassiliou Kanamori. Previous results show the energy radiated by earthquake to be strongly dependent on ambient shear stress. The Chinese version of this paper appeared in the Chinese edition ofActa Seismologica Sinica,15, 146–152, 1993. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, F. R. Germany. The support is grateful acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to Professor Klussmann and Mr. Hasthoff for their lots of help.     

Spectral P-wave magnitudes, Aki's ω-square model and source parameters of earthquakes

The earthquake magnitude is a quantity sampling the spectrum of the far-field radiation.With a suit of properly defined magnitudes in a sufficiently broad range of frequencies, the radiated spectrum can be restored and analyzed.A method is proposed for the extraction of stress drop, fault length and seismic moment from magnitudes on a routine basis. Thereby, the theoretical spectrum as predicted by the ω-square model of Aki is utilized.In applying the method to earthquakes which occurred in several parts of Asia over a time-span of 3 years, it is shown that in most cases earthquakes in a given region are characterized by the same stress drop, varying however from region to region. In one region a change of the stress drop with time is found, eventually indicating a change in the state of stress in the particular region during the time interval investigated.     

Magnification of undamped seismographs and the analysis of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake record obtained on the Vicentini seismograph in Zagreb (Croatia)

A method to estimate the dynamic magnification of nonlinear seismographs is presented. The method was tested by applying it to the record of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake seismogram obtained on the Vicentini seismograph in Zagreb, in order to reconstruct the ground motion amplitudes. The magnitudes inferred from the corrected Vicentini recording of P- and surface waves are internally consistent ( m _b= 7.74, M _s= 8.48) and agree with the values published in various catalogues, within the error limits of magnitude determination for individual events. The corrected P-waveform is compatible with a rupture slip profile exhibiting several distinct maxima along the 300 km-long section of the San Andreas fault, in accordance with recent studies and contemporary geodetic measurements.     

Determination of fuel combustion product in airport runoff water samples using liquid–liquid extraction with gas chromatography–spectrometry

Determination of xenobiotics in samples of airport runoff water is both a complex and indispensable task due to an increasing threat resulting from the activities of numerous airports. The aim of this study was to develop, optimize, and validate a procedure based on liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). So far, no procedure was available that would ensure reliable data about concentration levels of these toxic pollutants in a new type of environmental samples, such as airport stormwater. The most difficult step in the analytical procedure used for the determination of fuel combustion products in airport stormwater samples is sample preparation. In this work, eight different protocols of sample preparation were tested. The evaluation of the LLE demonstrated that the best extraction conditions were as follows: dichloromethane (extraction solvent), solvent volume of 15 mL and sample volume of 250 mL. The percent recovery values ranged from 66 to 106 %, which shows that the LLE technique is a powerful method for extracting PAHs from airport runoff water samples with a complex matrix composition. Moreover, the developed procedure was characterized by satisfactory selectivity and a relatively low LOQ (0.17–0.52 μg/L). The procedure has been successfully applied to the analysis of stormwater samples collected from different sites at international airport in Poland. The procedure can thus be used as a tool for tracking the environmental fate of these compounds and for assessing the environmental effect of airports.     

In situ methods for measuring thermal properties and heat flux on planetary bodies

The thermo-mechanical properties of planetary surface and subsurface layers control to a high extent in which way a body interacts with its environment, in particular how it responds to solar irradiation and how it interacts with a potentially existing atmosphere. Furthermore, if the natural temperature profile over a certain depth can be measured in situ, this gives important information about the heat flux from the interior and thus about the thermal evolution of the body. Therefore, in most of the recent and planned planetary lander missions experiment packages for determining thermo-mechanical properties are part of the payload. Examples are the experiment MUPUS on Rosetta's comet lander Philae, the TECP instrument aboard NASA's Mars polar lander Phoenix, and the mole-type instrument HP³ currently developed for use on upcoming lunar and Mars missions. In this review we describe several methods applied for measuring thermal conductivity and heat flux and discuss the particular difficulties faced when these properties have to be measured in a low pressure and low temperature environment. We point out the abilities and disadvantages of the different instruments and outline the evaluation procedures necessary to extract reliable thermal conductivity and heat flux data from in situ measurements.