TY - JOUR A1 - Weber, Michael H. A1 - Wicks, Charles A1 - Le Stunff, Yves A1 - Romanowicz, Barbara A1 - Krüger, Frank T1 - Seismic evidence for a steeply dipping reflector-stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone JF - Geophysical journal international N2 - Studies of seismic tomography have been highly successful at imaging the deep structure of subduction zones. In a study complementary to these tomographic studies, we use array seismology and reflected waves to image a stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone. Using P and S (SH) waves we find a steeply dipping reflector centred at ca. 400 km depth and ca. 550 km west of the present Mariana subduction zone (at 20N, 140E). The discovery of this anomaly in tomography and independently in array seismology (this paper) helps in understanding the evolution of the Mariana margin. The reflector/stagnant slab may be the remains of the hypothetical North New Guinea Plate, which was theorized to have subducted ca. 50 Ma. KW - Mantle processes KW - Composition of the mantle KW - Seismic tomography KW - Wave scattering and diffraction KW - Subduction zone processes KW - Volcanic arc processes KW - Continental margins: convergent KW - Pacific Ocean Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu438 SN - 0956-540X SN - 1365-246X VL - 200 IS - 2 SP - 1235 EP - 1251 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dahm, Torsten A1 - Cesca, Simone A1 - Hainzl, Sebastian A1 - Braun, Thomas A1 - Krüger, Frank T1 - Discrimination between induced, triggered, and natural earthquakes close to hydrocarbon reservoirs: A probabilistic approach based on the modeling of depletion-induced stress changes and seismological source parameters JF - Journal of geophysical research : Solid earth N2 - Earthquakes occurring close to hydrocarbon fields under production are often under critical view of being induced or triggered. However, clear and testable rules to discriminate the different events have rarely been developed and tested. The unresolved scientific problem may lead to lengthy public disputes with unpredictable impact on the local acceptance of the exploitation and field operations. We propose a quantitative approach to discriminate induced, triggered, and natural earthquakes, which is based on testable input parameters. Maxima of occurrence probabilities are compared for the cases under question, and a single probability of being triggered or induced is reported. The uncertainties of earthquake location and other input parameters are considered in terms of the integration over probability density functions. The probability that events have been human triggered/induced is derived from the modeling of Coulomb stress changes and a rate and state-dependent seismicity model. In our case a 3-D boundary element method has been adapted for the nuclei of strain approach to estimate the stress changes outside the reservoir, which are related to pore pressure changes in the field formation. The predicted rate of natural earthquakes is either derived from the background seismicity or, in case of rare events, from an estimate of the tectonic stress rate. Instrumentally derived seismological information on the event location, source mechanism, and the size of the rupture plane is of advantage for the method. If the rupture plane has been estimated, the discrimination between induced or only triggered events is theoretically possible if probability functions are convolved with a rupture fault filter. We apply the approach to three recent main shock events: (1) the M-w 4.3 Ekofisk 2001, North Sea, earthquake close to the Ekofisk oil field; (2) the M-w 4.4 Rotenburg 2004, Northern Germany, earthquake in the vicinity of the Sohlingen gas field; and (3) the M-w 6.1 Emilia 2012, Northern Italy, earthquake in the vicinity of a hydrocarbon reservoir. The three test cases cover the complete range of possible causes: clearly human induced, not even human triggered, and a third case in between both extremes. KW - induced seismicity KW - probabilistic discrimination KW - hydrocarbon field KW - triggered earthquake KW - seismic hazard KW - earthquake Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB011778 SN - 2169-9313 SN - 2169-9356 VL - 120 IS - 4 SP - 2491 EP - 2509 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kulikova, Galina A1 - Krüger, Frank T1 - Source process of the 1911 M8.0 Chon-Kemin earthquake: investigation results by analogue seismic records JF - Geophysical journal international N2 - Several destructive earthquakes have occurred in Tien-Shan region at the beginning of 20th century. However, the detailed seismological characteristics, especially source parameters of those earthquakes are still poorly investigated. The Chon-Kemin earthquake is the strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Tien-Shan region. This earthquake has produced an approximately 200 km long system of surface ruptures along Kemin-Chilik fault zone and killed about similar to 400 people. Several studies presented the different information on the earthquake epicentre location and magnitude, and two different focal mechanisms were also published. The reason for the limited knowledge of the source parameters for the Chon-Kemin earthquake is the complexity of old analogue records processing, digitization and analysis. In this study the data from 23 seismic stations worldwide were collected and digitized. The earthquake epicentre was relocated to 42.996NA degrees and 77.367EA degrees, the hypocentre depth is estimated between 10 and 20 km. The magnitude was recalculated to m(B) 8.05, M-s 7.94 and M-w 8.02. The focal mechanism, determined from amplitude ratios comparison of the observed and synthetic seismograms, was: str = 264A degrees, dip = 52A degrees, rake = 98A degrees. The apparent source time duration was between similar to 45 and similar to 70 s, the maximum slip occurred 25 s after the beginning of the rupture. Two subevents were clearly detected from the waveforms with the scalar moment ratio between them of about 1/3, the third subevent was also detected with less certainty. Taking into account surface rupture information, the fault geometry model with three patches was proposed. Based on scaling relations we conclude that the total rupture length was between similar to 260 and 300 km and a maximum rupture width could reach similar to 70 km. KW - Earthquake source observations KW - Seismicity and tectonics KW - Body waves KW - Theoretical seismology Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv091 SN - 0956-540X SN - 1365-246X VL - 201 IS - 3 SP - 1891 EP - 1911 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matos, Catarina A1 - Silveira, Graca A1 - Matias, Luis A1 - Caldeira, Rita A1 - Ribeiro, M. Luisa A1 - Dias, Nuno A. A1 - Krüger, Frank A1 - Bento dos Santos, Telmo T1 - Upper crustal structure of Madeira Island revealed from ambient noise tomography JF - Journal of volcanology and geothermal research N2 - We present the first image of the Madeira upper crustal structure, using ambient seismic noise tomography. 16 months of ambient noise, recorded in a dense network of 26 seismometers deployed across Madeira, allowed reconstructing Rayleigh wave Green's functions between receivers. Dispersion analysis was performed in the short period band from 1.0 to 4.0 s. Group velocity measurements were regionalized to obtain 20 tomographic images, with a lateral resolution of 2.0 km in central Madeira. Afterwards, the dispersion curves, extracted from each cell of the 2D group velocity maps, were inverted as a function of depth to obtain a 3D shear wave velocity model of the upper crust, from the surface to a depth of 2.0 km. The obtained 3D velocity model reveals features throughout the island that correlates well with surface geology and island evolution. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Madeira island KW - Volcanic rift zone KW - Crustal structure KW - Ambient noise tomography Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.03.017 SN - 0377-0273 SN - 1872-6097 VL - 298 SP - 136 EP - 145 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lontsi, Agostiny Marrios A1 - Jose Sanchez-Sesma, Francisco A1 - Camillo Molina-Villegas, Juan A1 - Ohrnberger, Matthias A1 - Krüger, Frank T1 - Full microtremor H/V(z,f) inversion for shallow subsurface characterization JF - Geophysical journal international N2 - The H/V spectral ratio has emerged as a single station method within the seismic ambient noise analysis field by its capability to quickly estimate the frequency of resonance at a site and through inversion the average profile information. Although it is easy to compute from experimental data, its counter theoretical part is not obvious when building a forward model which can help in reconstructing the derived H/V spectrum. This has led to the simplified assumption that the noise wavefield is mainly composed of Rayleigh waves and the derived H/V often used without further correction. Furthermore, only the right (and left) flank around the H/V peak frequency is considered in the inversion for the subsurface 1-D shear wave velocity profile. A new theoretical approach for the interpretation of the H/V spectral ratio has been presented by Sanchez-Sesmaet al. In this paper, the fundamental idea behind their theory is presented as it applies to receivers at depth. A smooth H/V(z, f) spectral curve on a broad frequency range is obtained by considering a fine integration step which is in turn time consuming. We show that for practical purposes and in the context of inversion, this can be considerably optimized by using a coarse integration step combined with the smoothing of the corresponding directional energy density (DED) spectrum. Further analysis shows that the obtained H/V(z, f) spectrum computed by the mean of the imaginary part of Green's function method could also be recovered using the reflectivity method for a medium well illuminated by seismic sources. Inversion of synthetic H/V(z, f) spectral curve is performed for a single layer over a half space. The striking results allow to potentially use the new theory as a forward computation of the H/V(z, f) to fully invert the experimental H/V spectral ratio at the corresponding depth for the shear velocity profile (Vs) and additionally the compressional velocity profile (Vp) using receivers both at the surface and in depth. We use seismic ambient noise data in the frequency range of 0.2-50 Hz recorded at two selected sites in Germany where borehole information is also available. The obtained 1-D Vs and Vp profiles are correlated with geological log information. Results from shallow geophysical experiment are also used for comparison. KW - Inverse theory KW - Interferometry KW - Site effects Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv132 SN - 0956-540X SN - 1365-246X VL - 202 IS - 1 SP - 298 EP - 312 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gassner, Alexandra A1 - Thomas, Christine A1 - Krüger, Frank A1 - Weber, Michael H. T1 - Probing the core-mantle boundary beneath Europe and Western Eurasia: A detailed study using PcP JF - Physics of the earth and planetary interiors N2 - We use PcP (the core reflected P phase) recordings of deep earthquakes and nuclear explosions from the Grafenberg (Germany) and NORSAR (Norway) arrays to investigate the core-mantle boundary region beneath Europe and western Eurasia. We find evidence for a previously unknown ultra-low velocity zone 600 km south-east of Moscow, located at the edge of a middle-size low shear- velocity region imaged in seismic tomography that is located beneath the Volga river region. The observed amplitude variations of PcP can be modelled by velocity reductions of P and S-waves of -5% and -15%, respectively, with a density increase of +15%. Travel time delays of pre-and postcursors are indicating a thickness of about 13 km for this ultra-low velocity region (ULVZ). However, our modelling also reveals highly ambiguous amplitude variations of PcP and a reflection off the top of the anomaly for various ULVZs and topography models. Accordingly, large velocity contrasts of up to -10% in V-P and -20% in Vs cannot be excluded. In general, the whole Volga river region shows a complex pattern of PcP amplitudes caused most likely by CMB undulations. Further PcP probes beneath Paris, Kiev and northern Italy indicate likely normal CMB conditions, whereas the samples below Finland and the Hungary-Slovakia border yield strongly amplified PcP signals suggesting strong CMB topography effects. We evaluate the amplitude behaviour of PcP as a function of distance and several ULVZ models using the 1D reflectivity and the 2D Gauss beam method. The influence of the velocity and density perturbations is analysed as well as the anomaly thickness, the dominant period of the source wavelet and interface topographies. Strong variation of the PcP amplitude are obtained as a function of distance and of the impedance contrast. We also consider two types of topographies: undulations atop the CMB in the presence of flat ULVZs and vice versa. Where a broad range of CMB topography dimensions lead to large PcP amplitude variations, only large ULVZ undulations generate significant amplitude scattering. Consequently, this indicates that topography effects of anomalies may mask the true medium parameters as well as the ULVZ thickness. Moreover, there might be a possibility of misinterpreting the precursor as PcP, in particular for thin ULVZs. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Core-mantle boundary KW - Ultra-low velocity zones KW - Seismology KW - Amplitude and waveform analysis of PcP KW - Earthquakes KW - Nuclear explosions Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2015.06.007 SN - 0031-9201 SN - 1872-7395 VL - 246 SP - 9 EP - 24 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -