Pure and Applied Geophysics

Majorowicz, Jacek

doi: 10.1007/BF00876434pmid: N/A

The results of precision temperature logs made to depths of several hundred meters in some 80 wells in Western Canada, most of which are located in the Prairie Provinces, show evidence of warming at the ground surface in the 0.5 K to 3.5 K range (average=2.2±0.7 K, for 80 unevenly distributed sites). Modeling shows that this warming mostly pertains to this century and it has been most substantal in the last four decades if the “ramp” function of the linear increase of surface temperature is assumed. Using the “step function” model's increase of surface temperature (land clearing, forest fires, etc.) the calculated onset of warming would pertain mostly to the last two decades. Contour maps of ground temperatures currently and previously and a contour map of the ground warming magnitude dilineate a large regional character of the ground temperature change at the southern marigin of permafrost for the large area of the Prairie Provinces. In many cases however, the magnitude of ground warming is much larger than the magnitude of air warming. This is especially evident for the northern areas of Alberta in the boreal forest ecoprovince. The magnitude of ground warming is equal to the magnitude of surface air warming in southern Alberta in the grassland and aspen parkland ecoprovinces. The analysis of the temperature depth response to the surface warming from well data shows the integrated effect of surface air warming together with the increases in ground temperature due to natural terrain effects and other anthropogenical changes to the surface of the earth.

Chelidze, T.; Spetzler, H.; Sobolev, G.

doi: 10.1007/BF00876435pmid: N/A

An understanding of strain wave propagation in fluid containing porous rocks is important in reservoir geophysics and in the monitoring in underground water in the vicinity of nuclear and toxic waste sites, earthquake prediction, etc. Both experimental and theoretical research are far from providing a complete explanation of dissipation mechanisms, especially the observation of an unexpectedly strong dependence of attenuationQ −1 on the chemistry of the solid and liquid phase involved. Traditional theories of proelasticity do not take these effects into account. In this paper the bulk of existing experimental data and theoretical models is reviewed briefly in order to elecidate the effect of environmental factors on the attenuation of seismic waves. Low fluid concentrations are emphasized. Thermodynamical analysis shows that changes in surface energy caused by weak mechanical disturbances can explain observed values of attenuation in real rocks. Experimental dissipation isotherms are interpreted in terms of monolayered surface adsorption of liquid films as described by Langmuir's equation.

Langer, Horst; Falsaperla, Susanna

doi: 10.1007/BF00876436pmid: N/A

The features of seismic activity on Stromboli are discussed and compared in terms of their relationship with the main changes of volcanic activity from 1990 to 1993.

Tselentis, G.; Melis, N.; Sokos, E.; Papatsimpa, K.

doi: 10.1007/BF00876437pmid: N/A

On June 15, 1995 at 00:15 GMT a devastating earthquake (6.2M L ) occurred in the western end of the Gulf of Corinth. This was followed 15 min later by the largest aftershock (5.4M L ). The main event was located by the University of Patras Seismological Network (PATNET) at the northern side of the Gulf of Corinth graben. The second event (5.4M L ) was located also by PATNET near the city of Egion, on a fault parallel to the Eliki major fault that defines the south bound of the Gulf of Corinth graben. A seismogenic volume that spans the villages of Akrata (SE) and Rodini (NW) and extends to Eratini (NE) was defined by the aftershock sequence, which includes 858 aftershocks of magnitude greater than 2M L that occurred the first seventeen days. The distribution of hypocentres in cross section does not immediately suggest a planar distribution but rather defines a volume about 15 km (depth) by 35 km (NW-SE) and by 20 km (NE-SW).

Novikova, O.; Vorobieva, I.; Enescu, D.; Radulian, M.; Kuznetzov, I.; Panza, G.

doi: 10.1007/BF00876438pmid: N/A

The application of the CN algorithm to a new earthquake catalogue, for the period from 1932 to 1993, obtained by merging Romanian and U.S.S.R. data, allows us to monitor, on the intermediate time scale, the preparation of strong, intermediate-depth earthquakes in the Vrancea region. Four of the five strong earthquakes with a magnitude above 6.4 are predicted, the total duration of the Time of Increased Probability of the occurrence of an earthquake (TIP) occupies 21.7% of the time interval under consideration, i.e., about 2.5 years for each strong earthquake.

Costa, Giovanni; Orozova-Stanishkova, Ivanka; Panza, Giuliano; Rotwain, Irina

doi: 10.1007/BF00876439pmid: N/A

The CN algorithm is utilized here both for the intermediate term earthquake prediction and to validate the seismotectonic model of the Italian territory. Using the results of the analysis, made through the CN algorithm and taking into account the seismotectonic model, three main areas, one for Northern Italy, one for Central Italy and one for Southern Italy, are defined. Two transition areas between the three main areas are delineated. The earthquakes which occurred in these two areas contribute to the precursor phenomena identified by the CN algorithm in each main area.

Vila, Josep; Batllo, Josep; Correig, Antoni

doi: 10.1007/BF00876440pmid: N/A

Since 1984, a seismic surveillance at the Baix Ebre Region (NE of the Iberian Peninsula) has been carried out from a seismic network consisting of two digital and one analog stations. Large discrepancies between the recorded amplitudes and the magnitude estimates given by different agencies have been observed. To explain these discrepancies, that consist of a large reduction of amplitude and a strong dependence of the azimuth, a local magnitude formula for the area has been computed, using the analog records obtained at EBR short-period station. Global results show an average station correction factor between the computed local magnitude and the reported magnitude of the order of 1, presenting large variations around the mean value with a clear dependence on the azimuth. A detailed analysis of this variation around the mean value reveals that earthquakes can be classified according to their location in different geological units, thus obtaining for each zone a distinct station correction factor that can fluctuate as much as 0.6 around the average. These large lateral variations of the magnitude are in good agreement with previous studies of coda-Q attenuation.

Öncel, Ali; Main, Ian; Alptekin, Ömer; Cowie, Patience

doi: 10.1007/BF00876441pmid: N/A

We investigate the nature of temporal variations in the statistical properties of seismicity associated with the North Anatolian Fault Zone between longitudes 31°–41°E during the instrumental period 1900–1992. Temporal variations in the seismicb value and the fractal (correlation) dimensionD c of earthquake epicenters are examined for earthquakes of magnitudeM S ≥4.5, using sliding windows of 100 consecutive events.b varies temporally between 0.6 and 1.0, andD c between 0.6 and 1.4, both representing significant fluctuations above the errors in measurement technique. A strong negative correlation (r=−0.85) is observed betweenb andD c , consistent with previous observation of seismicity in Japan and southern California. Major events early in this century (M S ≥7) are associated with lowb and highD c , respectively consistent with greater stress intensity and greater spatial clustering of epicenters—both implying a greater degree of stress concentration at this time.

Singh, R.; Aman, Ashutosh; Prasad, Y.

doi: 10.1007/BF00876442pmid: N/A

Strong motion data from various regions of India have been used to study attenuation characteristics of horizontal peak acceleration and velocity. The strong ground motion data base considered in the present work consists of various earthquakes recorded in the northern part of India since 1986 with magnitudes 5.7 to 7.2. Using these data, relations for horizontal peak acceleration and velocity, which are $$\begin{gathered} log_{10} a = 1.14 + 0.31M + 0.65log_{10} R \hfill \\ log_{10} v = 0.571 + 0.41M + 0.768log_{10} R \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ have been proposed wherea is the peak horizontal acceleration in cm/sec2,v is the peak horizontal velocity in mm/sec,M is body wave magnitude, andR is the hypocentral distance in km. The proposed relations are in reasonable agreement with the small amount of strong ground motion data available for the northern part of India. The present results will be useful in estimating strong ground motion parameters and in the earthquake resistant design in the Himalayan region.

Sain, Kalachand; Kaila, K.

doi: 10.1007/BF00876443pmid: N/A

The necessary condition for the seismic refraction method to succeed is that the refracted first arrivals from each layer in a multilayered earth system should be detected on a seismogram as first arrivals, and this is possible only when velocities of all underlying layers are successively greater. The usual procedure to interpret the refraction travel times is to fit such a data set with several intersecting straight lines by employing a visual technique which may lead to errors of subjective judgment, as the velocity model depends on the selection of various line segments through the data. To remove the visual fit we propose here a layer stripping method based on minimum intercept time, apparent velocity, rms residual, and maximum data points by least-squares fitting to yield several intersecting straight lines. Once data are segmented out, the conventional equations can be used to determine the velocity structure.