Earthquake-induced changes in a hydrothermal system on the Juan de Fuca mid-ocean ridge

Hydrothermal vents on mid-ocean ridges of the northeast Pacific Ocean are known to respond to seismic disturbances, with observed changes in vent temperature. But these disturbances resulted from submarine volcanic activity; until now, there have been no observations of the response of a vent system to non-magmatic, tectonic events. Here we report measurements of hydrothermal vent temperature from several vents on the Juan de Fuca ridge in June 1999, before, during and after an earthquake swarm of apparent tectonic origin. Vent fluid temperatures began to rise 4-11 days after the first earthquake. Following this initial increase, the vent temperatures oscillated for about a month before settling down to higher values. We also observed a tenfold increase in fluid output from the hydrothermal system over a period of at least 80 days, extending along the entire ridge segment. Such a large, segment-wide thermal response to relatively modest tectonic activity is surprising, and raises questions about the sources of excess heat and fluid, and the possible effect on vent biological communities.     

Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean

Submarine hydrothermal venting along mid-ocean ridges is an important contributor to ridge thermal structure, and the global distribution of such vents has implications for heat and mass fluxes from the Earth's crust and mantle and for the biogeography of vent-endemic organisms. Previous studies have predicted that the incidence of hydrothermal venting would be extremely low on ultraslow-spreading ridges (ridges with full spreading rates <2 cm x yr(-1)-which make up 25 per cent of the global ridge length), and that such vent systems would be hosted in ultramafic in addition to volcanic rocks. Here we present evidence for active hydrothermal venting on the Gakkel ridge, which is the slowest spreading (0.6-1.3 cm x yr(-1)) and least explored mid-ocean ridge. On the basis of water column profiles of light scattering, temperature and manganese concentration along 1,100 km of the rift valley, we identify hydrothermal plumes dispersing from at least nine to twelve discrete vent sites. Our discovery of such abundant venting, and its apparent localization near volcanic centres, requires a reassessment of the geologic conditions that control hydrothermal circulation on ultraslow-spreading ridges.     

强震孕育过程中地震类型的动态变化及实验研究

 讨论了1965年以来云南地区强震孕育过程中地震类型的动态变化,发现:云南地区发生6.7级以上强震前数月至数年,云南省内均有2次以上5级双震或群震型地震发生;部分强震前数月至数年,至少有3次以上前主震型地震密集发生.强震发生在这些前主震、双震、群震型地震150 km以外地区.典型地区地震类型的追踪研究也表明:宁蒗地区发生5级双震、前主震型地震以及腾冲地区发生6级群震型地震,云南地区均发生6.5级和7级以上强震,但地点远在宁蒗、腾冲200 km以外地区.实验中,随着载荷的增大,岩样的破裂类型经历了主余破、孤立破→群破→前主破→破裂类型多元化的过程.震例和实验研究结果的对照显示:地震的类型不仅与发震地区地质构造有关,也与地壳介质所处的应力状态有关.     

An off-axis hydrothermal vent field near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 30 degrees N.

Evidence is growing that hydrothermal venting occurs not only along mid-ocean ridges but also on old regions of the oceanic crust away from spreading centres. Here we report the discovery of an extensive hydrothermal field at 30 degrees N near the eastern intersection of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Atlantis fracture zone. The vent field--named 'Lost City'--is distinctly different from all other known sea-floor hydrothermal fields in that it is located on 1.5-Myr-old crust, nearly 15 km from the spreading axis, and may be driven by the heat of exothermic serpentinization reactions between sea water and mantle rocks. It is located on a dome-like massif and is dominated by steep-sided carbonate chimneys, rather than the sulphide structures typical of 'black smoker' hydrothermal fields. We found that vent fluids are relatively cool (40-75 degrees C) and alkaline (pH 9.0-9.8), supporting dense microbial communities that include anaerobic thermophiles. Because the geological characteristics of the Atlantis massif are similar to numerous areas of old crust along the Mid-Atlantic, Indian and Arctic ridges, these results indicate that a much larger portion of the oceanic crust may support hydrothermal activity and microbial life than previously thought.     

Arctic Ocean: hydrothermal activity on Gakkel Ridge

In the hydrothermal circulation at mid-ocean ridges, sea water penetrates the fractured crust, becomes heated by its proximity to the hot magma, and returns to the sea floor as hot fluids enriched in various chemical elements. In contradiction to earlier results that predict diminishing hydrothermal activity with decreasing spreading rate, a survey of the ultra-slowly spreading Gakkel Ridge (Arctic Ocean) by Edmonds et al. and Michael et al. suggests that, instead of being rare, the hydrothermal activity is abundant--exceeding by at least a factor of two to three what would be expected by extrapolation from observation on faster spreading ridges. Here we use helium-3 (3He), a hydrothermal tracer, to show that this abundance of venting sites does not translate, as would be expected, into an anomalous hydrothermal 3He output from the ridge. Because of the wide implications of the submarine hydrothermal processes for mantle heat and mass fluxes to the ocean, these conflicting results call for clarification of the link between hydrothermal activity and crustal production at mid-ocean ridges.     

The role of crustal quartz in controlling Cordilleran deformation

Large-scale deformation of continents remains poorly understood more than 40 years after the plate tectonic revolution. Rock flow strength and mass density variations both contribute to stress, so both are certain to be important, but these depend (somewhat nebulously) on rock type, temperature and whether or not unbound water is present. Hence, it is unclear precisely how Earth material properties translate to continental deformation zones ranging from tens to thousands of kilometres in width, why deforming zones are sometimes interspersed with non-deforming blocks and why large earthquakes occasionally rupture in otherwise stable continental interiors. An important clue comes from observations that mountain belts and rift zones cyclically form at the same locations despite separation across vast gulfs of time (dubbed the Wilson tectonic cycle), accompanied by inversion of extensional basins and reactivation of faults and other structures formed in previous deformation events. Here we show that the abundance of crustal quartz, the weakest mineral in continental rocks, may strongly condition continental temperature and deformation. We use EarthScope seismic receiver functions, gravity and surface heat flow measurements to estimate thickness and seismic velocity ratio, v(P)/v(S), of continental crust in the western United States. The ratio v(P)/v(S) is relatively insensitive to temperature but very sensitive to quartz abundance. Our results demonstrate a surprising correlation of low crustal v(P)/v(S) with both higher lithospheric temperature and deformation of the Cordillera, the mountainous region of the western United States. The most plausible explanation for the relationship to temperature is a robust dynamical feedback, in which ductile strain first localizes in relatively weak, quartz-rich crust, and then initiates processes that promote advective warming, hydration and further weakening. The feedback mechanism proposed here would not only explain stationarity and spatial distributions of deformation, but also lend insight into the timing and distribution of thermal uplift and observations of deep-derived fluids in springs.     

Evidence for fault weakness and fluid flow within an active low-angle normal fault.

Determining the composition and physical properties of shallow-dipping, active normal faults (dips < 35 degrees with respect to the horizontal) is important for understanding how such faults slip under low resolved shear stress and accommodate significant extension of the crust and lithosphere. Seismic reflection images and earthquake source parameters show that a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred at about 5 km depth on or close to a normal fault with a dip of 25-30 degrees located ahead of a propagating spreading centre in the Woodlark basin. Here we present results from a genetic algorithm inversion of seismic reflection data, which shows that the fault at 4-5 km depth contains a 33-m-thick layer with seismic velocities of about 4.3 km s(-1), which we interpret to be composed of serpentinite fault gouge. Isolated zones exhibit velocities as low as approximately 1.7 km s(-1) with high porosities, which we suggest are maintained by high fluid pressures. We propose that hydrothermal fluid flow, possibly driven by a deep magmatic heat source, and high extensional stresses ahead of the ridge tip have created conditions for fault weakness and strain localization on the low-angle normal fault.     

软土地层隧道抗震稳定分析

结合上海某地铁隧道工程，研究了隧道结构，周围土体及注浆材料的动剪应力，孔隙水压力及沉降量等的分布特征，评价了该隧道的抗震稳定性，采用了几种典型的地震波输入，对处于粘性土地层和砂性土地层中的隧道分别进行了动力响应分析，计算中，采用有效应力动力分析方法，并考虑了饱和软土的震陷对地下结构物抗震稳定的影响。     

水库群预报调度系统业务层重构研究

为解决业务漉程逻辑与业务单元相耦合影响基于图论的水库群预报系统的通用性问题,引入重构技术隔离业务漉程逻辑与业务单元,提高流程逻辑的重用与重组能力;利用有向图中并行拓扑排序算法重组流程逻辑,改善系统的计算速度;形成通用的水库群业务组件,屏蔽图的操作,让应用开发人员更关注于水库预报调度模型的研究.最后探讨了与已有系统的集成问题.实例证明,重构业务层可显著提高水库群预报调度系统的通用性.     

Remote triggering of deep earthquakes in the 2002 Tonga sequences

It is well established that an earthquake in the Earth's crust can trigger subsequent earthquakes, but such triggering has not been documented for deeper earthquakes. Models for shallow fault interactions suggest that static (permanent) stress changes can trigger nearby earthquakes, within a few fault lengths from the causative earthquake, whereas dynamic (transient) stresses carried by seismic waves may trigger earthquakes both nearby and at remote distances. Here we present a detailed analysis of the 19 August 2002 Tonga deep earthquake sequences and show evidence for both static and dynamic triggering. Seven minutes after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurred at a depth of 598 km, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake (664 km depth) occurred 300 km away, in a previously aseismic region. We found that nearby aftershocks of the first mainshock are preferentially located in regions where static stresses are predicted to have been enhanced by the mainshock. But the second mainshock and other triggered events are located at larger distances where static stress increases should be negligible, thus suggesting dynamic triggering. The origin times of the triggered events do not correspond to arrival times of the main seismic waves from the mainshocks and the dynamically triggered earthquakes frequently occur in aseismic regions below or adjacent to the seismic zone. We propose that these events are triggered by transient effects in regions near criticality, but where earthquakes have difficulty nucleating without external influences.     

中国震积作用和震积岩研究进展

震积岩是在地层中具有古地震事件记录的岩层,对其进行研究可为地壳构造演化提供动力学解释。目前国内外学者对震积岩的研究主要集中在古生代以前的海相地层。对中国在海相和陆相地层的震积岩与震积作用、地震-海啸序列、碳酸盐岩振动液化地震序列、震积岩与震积不整合序列、萨布哈震积岩序列以及中生代陆相地层中碎屑岩原地系统的地震液化序列等方面的研究成果进行了综述。对惠民凹陷古近纪陆相碎屑岩地层的研究结果表明,该区发育微同沉积断裂和震裂缝、卷曲变形构造、水下岩脉和泄水构造、震积枕状及伴生构造等典型的地震成因变形构造。震积岩垂向序列自下而上为:A段为下伏未震层,B段为微同沉积断裂层,C段为微褶皱变形层,D段为枕状及伴生构造层,E段为液化均一层,F段为上覆未震层。深入开展新生代陆相断陷湖盆震积作用和震积岩研究,能为盆地构造演化提供动力学解释,如果能与岩性、成岩作用史、孔隙演化史相匹配研究震积岩,将具有一定的石油地质意义。     

Study on seismogenesis of the 1997 Jiashi earthquake swarm, western China

The 1997 Jiashi swarm earthquakes are relocated using the master event method improved by the authors. From the relocated hypocenters and focal mechanisms of the earthquakes, it is inferred that a pair of echelon faults, striking in northern north-west direction, right-step allocated and right-laterally moved, may exist in the earthquake swarm region. The composite focal mechanism obtained by analyzing the data of 2177 P-wave first motion polarities indicates that both mean P- and T-axis are horizontal, orienting in N19°E and N110°E respectively, and the mean B-axis is nearly vertical. The co-seismic deformation caused by this earthquake swarm is compressive nearly in North-South and extensional nearly in East-West. Obviously low earthquake stress drops are found via analyzing the source spectra of the swarm earthquakes, which may be one of the main reasons why the Jiashi earthquake swarm has lasted for a long period of time. The interaction between discontinuous segments of the echelon fault has been discussed. The result indicates that the stress drop is usually low for the earthquakes occurring on the right step echelon faults.     

地下核燃烧假说的重要证据

本文提供了多方面证据论证地下核燃烧假说是符合客观实际的.第一,氡增多和汞增多是确定无疑的地震前兆,对这两种地震前兆的唯一合理的解释是地内存在着铀、钍元素的核裂变燃烧.第二,通过对五种现象的分析,因为它们都要用氢聚变才能得到合理的解释,所以地球内部也存在着核聚变燃烧.第三,地震前地表及浅层热异常是被大量观测结果证实的地震前兆,这种地震前兆也只有用地下核燃烧才能得到合理的解释.第四,地震前兆成带性、大区域前兆场、映震灵敏区和映震灵敏井、震源附近流体、地壳中高导低速层控制强震、地热带和地震带密切相关、地震引起地面沉降等地震研究中发现的七种对于目前占主导地位的地震理论来说都无法解释的现象用地下核燃烧假说都得到了合理的解释.第五,活断层表面现象和板块运动表面现象的成因用地下核燃烧也都得到了清楚的解释.本文提出,用“地壳视运动”来代替“地壳运动”才是对这种现象的科学表述.此外,还要加上我们以前已经提供的证据.第六,在非洲加蓬的奥克洛铀矿发生过公认的地下核裂变燃烧.第七,通过对1995年日本神户大地震观测资料的分析,证明了该地区地下是一个天然的聚变裂变混合反应堆.第八,通过对我国2008年汶川大地震观测资料的分析,证明了在汶川大地震震源的下面存在着一个异常高温区.这么多的证据足以证明,地下核燃烧假说是能够成立的.从而,建立在地下核燃烧假说基础上、由中国人提出的地质学的宇宙线环境学说和地震学的宇宙线环境学说就有了稳固的基础.     

Inconsistent correlation of seismic layer 2a and lava layer thickness in oceanic crust

At mid-ocean ridges with fast to intermediate spreading rates, the upper section of oceanic crust is composed of lavas overlying a sheeted dyke complex. These units are formed by dykes intruding into rocks overlying a magma chamber, with lavas erupting at the ocean floor. Seismic reflection data acquired over young oceanic crust commonly image a reflector known as 'layer 2A', which is typically interpreted as defining the geologic boundary between lavas and dykes. An alternative hypothesis is that the reflector is associated with an alteration boundary within the lava unit. Many studies have used mapped variability in layer 2A thickness to make inferences regarding the geology of the oceanic crust, including volcanic construction, dyke intrusion and faulting. However, there has been no link between the geologic and seismological structure of oceanic crust except at a few deep drill holes. Here we show that, although the layer 2A reflector is imaged near the top of the sheeted dyke complex at fast-spreading crust located adjacent to the Hess Deep rift, it is imaged significantly above the sheeted dykes section at intermediate-spreading crust located near the Blanco transform fault. Although the lavas and underlying transition zone thicknesses differ by about a factor of two, the shallow seismic structure is remarkably similar at the two locations. This implies that seismic layer 2A cannot be used reliably to map the boundary between lavas and dykes in young oceanic crust. Instead we argue that the seismic layer 2A reflector corresponds to an alteration boundary that can be located either within the lava section or near the top of the sheeted dyke complex of oceanic crust.     

联合slipBERI与D-InSAR技术的青海省玛多县地震形变场提取与模拟

针对2021年5月22日青海玛多县Ms7.4地震震区形变信息、形变特征以及滑动断裂特性的提取与模拟等问题,获取了玛多县地震区的Sentinel-1A影像,采用双轨差分干涉法,并优化各项参数,提取出同震形变场,利用slipBERI(slip from Bayesian Regularized Inversion)方法对断层的几何参数及形变场进行反演和模拟。结果表明：玛多地震同震形变场的形状近似于一个椭圆,断层整体呈西北-东南走向,其上部为沉降区,下部为隆升区,最大LOS(line of sight,视线向)形变分别为0.65m和0.81m。地震形变场的运动主要以东西方向的水平运动为主,并伴有明显的左旋走滑,断层上下方相对视线向运动可达1.50m,表明此次地震的地表破裂有明显的错位移动。通过分析形变信息和地表破裂特征,可以判断该破裂带位于巴颜喀拉块体,为昆仑山口-江口断裂,反演结果与观测结果相符,这表明观测结果较可靠。     

Using quasi ionosphere-free post-processing algorithm on the medium-range kinematic high accuracy GPS relative positioning

We utilize Quasi Ionosphere-Free (QIF) post-processing algorithm to account for ionosphere delay and use addition parameters to solve for tropospheric bias. Then the estimated integer ambiguities and troposphere parameters are fixed to acquire kinematic relative positions at every epoch.Using kinematic relative positioning, data from the Taiwan continuous GPS network (TCGN) are utilized to analyze the co-seismic displacements associated with the 21 September 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (ML=7.3). The station near the highest peak of Taiwan, Yushan (YUSN) and a station ineastem Taiwan, Fenglin (FLNM) show significant co-seismic displacements of 18 and 12 cm in the north direction as well as 16 and 24 cm in the west direction, respectively. Comparing the co-seismic displacements estimated from daily solutions with those from kinematic results, the differences are less than 2 cm in the horizontal components. The impact of the major aftershocks occurred immediately after the mainshock can be identified from the kinematic positioning. The same algorithm is also applied to study the 1 Hz sampling rate data related to 31 March 2002 off Hualien earthquake (ML=6.8), seven stations of the TCGN are analyzed to study the co-seismic deformation. With the higher sampling rate data, the instantaneous ground motion caused by the propagation of seismic waves can be observed.     

考虑地震动空间效应的深水桥梁减震性能

以大跨深水连续梁桥为研究对象,提出了拉索减震体系.对考虑地震动空间效应的不同激励地震动输入的实现方法做了阐述,对比常规体系和弱固定体系,研究考虑地震动空间效应时深水桥梁拉索减震体系的减震效果,并进一步探讨了考虑地震动空间效应时,动水压力对深水桥梁地震响应的影响.研究结果表明,拉索减震支座具有良好的减震性能,且其对地震动空间效应非常敏感;考虑地震动空间效应时,动水压力对拉索减震体系、常规体系动力响应的影响较一致激励有所差异,且该差异随视波速、失相干系数及局部场地条件的不同而变化.     

Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge

Most models of melt generation beneath mid-ocean ridges predict significant reduction of melt production at ultraslow spreading rates (full spreading rates &<20 mm x yr(-1)) and consequently they predict thinned oceanic crust. The 1,800-km-long Arctic Gakkel mid-ocean ridge is an ideal location to test such models, as it is by far the slowest portion of the global mid-ocean-ridge spreading system, with a full spreading rate ranging from 6 to 13 mm x yr(-1) (refs 4, 5). Furthermore, in contrast to some other ridge systems, the spreading direction on the Gakkel ridge is not oblique and the rift valley is not offset by major transform faults. Here we present seismic evidence for the presence of exceptionally thin crust along the Gakkel ridge rift valley with crustal thicknesses varying between 1.9 and 3.3 km (compared to the more usual value of 7 km found on medium- to fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges). Almost 8,300 km of closely spaced aeromagnetic profiles across the rift valley show the presence of discrete volcanic centres along the ridge, which we interpret as evidence for strongly focused, three-dimensional magma supply. The traces of these eruptive centres can be followed to crustal ages of approximately 25 Myr off-axis, implying that these magma production and transport systems have been stable over this timescale.     

Seismic reflection images of the Moho underlying melt sills at the East Pacific Rise

The determination of melt distribution in the crust and the nature of the crust-mantle boundary (the 'Moho') is fundamental to the understanding of crustal accretion processes at oceanic spreading centres. Upper-crustal magma chambers have been imaged beneath fast- and intermediate-spreading centres but it has been difficult to image structures beneath these magma sills. Using three-dimensional seismic reflection images, here we report the presence of Moho reflections beneath a crustal magma chamber at the 9 degrees 03' N overlapping spreading centre, East Pacific Rise. Our observations highlight the formation of the Moho at zero-aged crust. Over a distance of less than 7 km along the ridge crest, a rapid increase in two-way travel time of seismic waves between the magma chamber and Moho reflections is observed, which we suggest is due to a melt anomaly in the lower crust. The amplitude versus offset variation of reflections from the magma chamber shows a coincident region of higher melt fraction overlying this anomalous region, supporting the conclusion of additional melt at depth.     

Spreading-rate dependence of melt extraction at mid-ocean ridges from mantle seismic refraction data

A variety of observations indicate that mid-ocean ridges produce less crust at spreading rates below 20 mm yr(-1) (refs 1-3), reflecting changes in fundamental ridge processes with decreasing spreading rate. The nature of these changes, however, remains uncertain, with end-member explanations being decreasing shallow melting or incomplete melt extraction, each due to the influence of a thicker thermal lid. Here we present results of a seismic refraction experiment designed to study mid-ocean ridge processes by imaging residual mantle structure. Our results reveal an abrupt lateral change in bulk mantle seismic properties associated with a change from slow to ultraslow palaeo-spreading rate. Changes in mantle velocity gradient, basement topography and crustal thickness all correlate with this spreading-rate change. These observations can be explained by variations in melt extraction at the ridge, with a gabbroic phase preferentially retained in the mantle at slower spreading rates. The estimated volume of retained melt balances the approximately 1.5-km difference in crustal thickness, suggesting that changes in spreading rate affect melt-extraction processes rather than total melting.