@phdthesis{Spooner2021, author = {Spooner, Cameron}, title = {How does lithospheric configuration relate to deformation in the Alpine region?}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-51644}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-516442}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xiv, 138}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Forming as a result of the collision between the Adriatic and European plates, the Alpine orogen exhibits significant lithospheric heterogeneity due to the long history of interplay between these plates, other continental and oceanic blocks in the region, and inherited features from preceeding orogenies. This implies that the thermal and rheological configuration of the lithosphere also varies significantly throughout the region. Lithology and temperature/pressure conditions exert a first order control on rock strength, principally via thermally activated creep deformation and on the distribution at depth of the brittle-ductile transition zone, which can be regarded as the lower bound to the seismogenic zone. Therefore, they influence the spatial distribution of seismicity within a lithospheric plate. In light of this, accurately constrained geophysical models of the heterogeneous Alpine lithospheric configuration, are crucial in describing regional deformation patterns. However, despite the amount of research focussing on the area, different hypotheses still exist regarding the present-day lithospheric state and how it might relate to the present-day seismicity distribution. This dissertaion seeks to constrain the Alpine lithospheric configuration through a fully 3D integrated modelling workflow, that utilises multiple geophysical techniques and integrates from all available data sources. The aim is therefore to shed light on how lithospheric heterogeneity may play a role in influencing the heterogeneous patterns of seismicity distribution observed within the region. This was accomplished through the generation of: (i) 3D seismically constrained, structural and density models of the lithosphere, that were adjusted to match the observed gravity field; (ii) 3D models of the lithospheric steady state thermal field, that were adjusted to match observed wellbore temperatures; and (iii) 3D rheological models of long term lithospheric strength, with the results of each step used as input for the following steps. Results indicate that the highest strength within the crust (~ 1 GPa) and upper mantle (> 2 GPa), are shown to occur at temperatures characteristic for specific phase transitions (more felsic crust: 200 - 400 °C; more mafic crust and upper lithospheric mantle: ~600 °C) with almost all seismicity occurring in these regions. However, inherited lithospheric heterogeneity was found to significantly influence this, with seismicity in the thinner and more mafic Adriatic crust (~22.5 km, 2800 kg m-3, 1.30E-06 W m-3) occuring to higher temperatures (~600 °C) than in the thicker and more felsic European crust (~27.5 km, 2750 kg m-3, 1.3-2.6E-06 W m-3, ~450 °C). Correlation between seismicity in the orogen forelands and lithospheric strength, also show different trends, reflecting their different tectonic settings. As such, events in the plate boundary setting of the southern foreland correlate with the integrated lithospheric strength, occurring mainly in the weaker lithosphere surrounding the strong Adriatic indenter. Events in the intraplate setting of the northern foreland, instead correlate with crustal strength, mainly occurring in the weaker and warmer crust beneath the Upper Rhine Graben. Therefore, not only do the findings presented in this work represent a state of the art understanding of the lithospheric configuration beneath the Alps and their forelands, but also a significant improvement on the features known to significantly influence the occurrence of seismicity within the region. This highlights the importance of considering lithospheric state in regards to explaining observed patterns of deformation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Petersen2021, author = {Petersen, Gesa Maria}, title = {Source studies of small earthquakes in the AlpArray: CMT inversion, seismo-tectonic analysis and methodological developments}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-52563}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-525635}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {151}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Centroid moment tensor inversion can provide insight into ongoing tectonic processes and active faults. In the Alpine mountains (central Europe), challenges result from low signal-to-noise ratios of earthquakes with small to moderate magnitudes and complex wave propagation effects through the heterogeneous crustal structure of the mountain belt. In this thesis, I make use of the temporary installation of the dense AlpArray seismic network (AASN) to establish a work flow to study seismic source processes and enhance the knowledge of the Alpine seismicity. The cumulative thesis comprises four publications on the topics of large seismic networks, seismic source processes in the Alps, their link to tectonics and stress field, and the inclusion of small magnitude earthquakes into studies of active faults. Dealing with hundreds of stations of the dense AASN requires the automated assessment of data and metadata quality. I developed the open source toolbox AutoStatsQ to perform an automated data quality control. Its first application to the AlpArray seismic network has revealed significant errors of amplitude gains and sensor orientations. A second application of the orientation test to the Turkish KOERI network, based on Rayleigh wave polarization, further illustrated the potential in comparison to a P wave polarization method. Taking advantage of the gain and orientation results of the AASN, I tested different inversion settings and input data types to approach the specific challenges of centroid moment tensor (CMT) inversions in the Alps. A comparative study was carried out to define the best fitting procedures. The application to 4 years of seismicity in the Alps (2016-2019) substantially enhanced the amount of moment tensor solutions in the region. We provide a list of moment tensors solutions down to magnitude Mw 3.1. Spatial patterns of typical focal mechanisms were analyzed in the seismotectonic context, by comparing them to long-term seismicity, historical earthquakes and observations of strain rates. Additionally, we use our MT solutions to investigate stress regimes and orientations along the Alpine chain. Finally, I addressed the challenge of including smaller magnitude events into the study of active faults and source processes. The open-source toolbox Clusty was developed for the clustering of earthquakes based on waveforms recorded across a network of seismic stations. The similarity of waveforms reflects both, the location and the similarity of source mechanisms. Therefore the clustering bears the opportunity to identify earthquakes of similar faulting styles, even when centroid moment tensor inversion is not possible due to low signal-to-noise ratios of surface waves or oversimplified velocity models. The toolbox is described through an application to the Zakynthos 2018 aftershock sequence and I subsequently discuss its potential application to weak earthquakes (Mw<3.1) in the Alps.}, language = {en} } @article{KormannFranckeBronstert2015, author = {Kormann, Christoph and Francke, Till and Bronstert, Axel}, title = {Detection of regional climate change effects on alpine hydrology by daily resolution trend analysis in Tyrol, Austria}, series = {Journal of water and climate change}, volume = {6}, journal = {Journal of water and climate change}, number = {1}, publisher = {IWA Publ.}, address = {London}, issn = {2040-2244}, doi = {10.2166/wcc.2014.099}, pages = {124 -- 143}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Owing to average temperature increases of at least twice the global mean, climate change is expected to have strong impacts on local hydrology and climatology in the Alps. Nevertheless, trend analyses of hydro-climatic station data rarely reveal clear patterns concerning climate change signals except in temperature observations. However, trend research has thus far mostly been based on analysing trends of averaged data such as yearly, seasonal or monthly averages and has therefore often not been able to detect the finer temporal dynamics. For this reason, we derived 30-day moving average trends, providing a daily resolution of the timing and magnitude of trends within the seasons. Results are validated by including different time periods. We studied daily observations of mean temperature, liquid and solid precipitation, snow height and runoff in the relatively dry central Alpine region in Tyrol, Austria. Our results indicate that the vast majority of changes are observed throughout spring to early summer, most likely triggered by the strong temperature increase during this season. Temperature, streamflow and snow trends have clearly amplified during recent decades. The overall results are consistent over the entire investigation area and different time periods.}, language = {en} } @misc{HetenyiMolinariClintonetal.2018, author = {Hetenyi, Gyorgy and Molinari, Irene and Clinton, John and Bokelmann, Gotz and Bondar, Istvan and Crawford, Wayne C. and Dessa, Jean-Xavier and Doubre, Cecile and Friederich, Wolfgang and Fuchs, Florian and Giardini, Domenico and Graczer, Zoltan and Handy, Mark R. and Herak, Marijan and Jia, Yan and Kissling, Edi and Kopp, Heidrun and Korn, Michael and Margheriti, Lucia and Meier, Thomas and Mucciarelli, Marco and Paul, Anne and Pesaresi, Damiano and Piromallo, Claudia and Plenefisch, Thomas and Plomerova, Jaroslava and Ritter, Joachim and Rumpker, Georg and Sipka, Vesna and Spallarossa, Daniele and Thomas, Christine and Tilmann, Frederik and Wassermann, Joachim and Weber, Michael and Weber, Zoltan and Wesztergom, Viktor and Zivcic, Mladen and Abreu, Rafael and Allegretti, Ivo and Apoloner, Maria-Theresia and Aubert, Coralie and Besancon, Simon and de Berc, Maxime Bes and Brunel, Didier and Capello, Marco and Carman, Martina and Cavaliere, Adriano and Cheze, Jerome and Chiarabba, Claudio and Cougoulat, Glenn and Cristiano, Luigia and Czifra, Tibor and Danesi, Stefania and Daniel, Romuald and Dannowski, Anke and Dasovic, Iva and Deschamps, Anne and Egdorf, Sven and Fiket, Tomislav and Fischer, Kasper and Funke, Sigward and Govoni, Aladino and Groschl, Gidera and Heimers, Stefan and Heit, Ben and Herak, Davorka and Huber, Johann and Jaric, Dejan and Jedlicka, Petr and Jund, Helene and Klingen, Stefan and Klotz, Bernhard and Kolinsky, Petr and Kotek, Josef and Kuhne, Lothar and Kuk, Kreso and Lange, Dietrich and Loos, Jurgen and Lovati, Sara and Malengros, Deny and Maron, Christophe and Martin, Xavier and Massa, Marco and Mazzarini, Francesco and Metral, Laurent and Moretti, Milena and Munzarova, Helena and Nardi, Anna and Pahor, Jurij and Pequegnat, Catherine and Petersen, Florian and Piccinini, Davide and Pondrelli, Silvia and Prevolnik, Snjezan and Racine, Roman and Regnier, Marc and Reiss, Miriam and Salimbeni, Simone and Santulin, Marco and Scherer, Werner and Schippkus, Sven and Schulte-Kortnack, Detlef and Solarino, Stefano and Spieker, Kathrin and Stipcevic, Josip and Strollo, Angelo and Sule, Balint and Szanyi, Gyongyver and Szucs, Eszter and Thorwart, Martin and Ueding, Stefan and Vallocchia, Massimiliano and Vecsey, Ludek and Voigt, Rene and Weidle, Christian and Weyland, Gauthier and Wiemer, Stefan and Wolf, Felix and Wolyniec, David and Zieke, Thomas}, title = {The AlpArray seismic network}, series = {Surveys in Geophysics}, volume = {39}, journal = {Surveys in Geophysics}, number = {5}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dordrecht}, organization = {ETHZ SED Elect Lab AlpArray Seismic Network Team AlpArray OBS Cruise Crew AlpArray Working Grp}, issn = {0169-3298}, doi = {10.1007/s10712-018-9472-4}, pages = {1009 -- 1033}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The AlpArray programme is a multinational, European consortium to advance our understanding of orogenesis and its relationship to mantle dynamics, plate reorganizations, surface processes and seismic hazard in the Alps-Apennines-Carpathians-Dinarides orogenic system. The AlpArray Seismic Network has been deployed with contributions from 36 institutions from 11 countries to map physical properties of the lithosphere and asthenosphere in 3D and thus to obtain new, high-resolution geophysical images of structures from the surface down to the base of the mantle transition zone. With over 600 broadband stations operated for 2 years, this seismic experiment is one of the largest simultaneously operated seismological networks in the academic domain, employing hexagonal coverage with station spacing at less than 52 km. This dense and regularly spaced experiment is made possible by the coordinated coeval deployment of temporary stations from numerous national pools, including ocean-bottom seismometers, which were funded by different national agencies. They combine with permanent networks, which also required the cooperation of many different operators. Together these stations ultimately fill coverage gaps. Following a short overview of previous large-scale seismological experiments in the Alpine region, we here present the goals, construction, deployment, characteristics and data management of the AlpArray Seismic Network, which will provide data that is expected to be unprecedented in quality to image the complex Alpine mountains at depth.}, language = {en} }