Detection of pre-eruptive seismic velocity variations at an andesitic volcano using ambient noise correlation on 3-component stations: Ubinas volcano, Peru, 2014

Seismic noise correlation is a broadly used method to monitor the subsurface, in order to detect physical processes into the surveyed medium such changes in rigidity, fluid injection or cracking (1). The influence of several environmental variables on measured seismic observables were studied, such as temperature, groundwater level fluctuations, and freeze-thawing cycles (2). In mountainous, cold temperate and polar sites, the presence of a snowcover can also affect relative seismic velocity changes (dV/V), but this relation is relatively poorly documented and ambiguous (3)(4). In this study, we analyzed raw seismic recordings from a snowy flat field site located above Davos (Switzerland), during one entire winter season (from December 2018 to June 2019). Our goal was to better understand the effect of snowfall and snowmelt events on dV/V measurements through both seismic and meteorological instrumentation.We identified three snowfall events with a substantial response of dV/V measurements (drops of several percent between 15 and 25 Hz), suggesting a detectable change in elastic properties of the medium due to the additional fresh snow.To better interpret the measurements, we used a physical model to compute frequency dependent changes in the Rayleigh wave velocity computed before and after the events. Elastic parameters of the ground subsurface were obtained from a seismic refraction survey, whereas snow cover properties were obtained from the snow cover model SNOWPACK. The decrease in dV/V due to a snowfall were well reproduced, with the same order of magnitude than observed values, confirming the importance of the effect of fresh and dry snow on seismic measurements.We also observed a decrease in dV/V with snowmelt periods, but we were not able to reproduce those changes with our model. Overall, our results highlight the effect of the snowcover on seismic measurements, but more work is needed to accurately model this response, in particular for the presence of liquid water in the snowcover.&#160;References<ul><li>(1) Larose, E., Carri&#232;re, S., Voisin, C., Bottelin, P., Baillet, L., Gu&#233;guen, P., Walter, F., et al. (2015) Environmental seismology: What can we learn on earth surface processes with ambient noise? Journal of Applied Geophysics, 116, 62&#8211;74. doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2015.02.001</li> <li>(2) Le Breton, M., Larose, &#201;., Baillet, L., Bontemps, N. & Guillemot, A. (2020) Landslide Monitoring Using Seismic Ambient Noise Interferometry: Challenges and Applications. Earth-Science Reviews</li> <li>(3) Hotovec&#8208;Ellis, A.J., Gomberg, J., Vidale, J.E. & Creager, K.C. (2014) A continuous record of intereruption velocity change at Mount St. Helens from coda wave interferometry. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 119, 2199&#8211;2214. doi:10.1002/2013JB010742</li> <li>(4) Wang, Q.-Y., Brenguier, F., Campillo, M., Lecointre, A., Takeda, T. & Aoki, Y. (2017) Seasonal Crustal Seismic Velocity Changes Throughout Japan. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122, 7987&#8211;8002. doi:10.1002/2017JB014307</li> </ul>

Download Full-text

Effect of centimetric freezing of the near subsurface on Rayleigh and Love wave velocity in ambient seismic noise correlations

Geophysical Journal International ◽

10.1093/gji/ggaa406 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 224 (1) ◽

pp. 626-636

Author(s):

René Steinmann ◽

Céline Hadziioannou ◽

Eric Larose

Keyword(s):

Surface Wave ◽

Wave Velocity ◽

Love Wave ◽

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Environmental Parameters ◽

Velocity Variation ◽

Small Scale ◽

Apparent Velocity ◽

Velocity Variations

SUMMARY About a decade ago, noise-based monitoring became a key tool in seismology. One of the tools is passive image interferometry (PII), which uses noise correlation functions (NCF) to retrieve seismic velocity variations. Most studies apply PII to vertical components recording oceanic low-frequent ambient noise ( < 1 Hz). In this work, PII is applied to high-frequent urban ambient noise ( > 1 Hz) on three three-component sensors. With environmental sensors inside the subsurface and in the air, we are able to connect observed velocity variations with environmental parameters. Temperatures below 0 °C correlate well with strong shear wave velocity increases. The temperature sensors inside the ground suggest that a frozen layer of less than 5 cm thickness causes apparent velocity increases above 2 % , depending on the channel pair. The observations indicate that the different velocity variation retrieved from the different channel pairs are due to different surface wave responses inherent in the channel pairs. With dispersion curve modelling in a 1-D medium we can verify that surfaces waves of several tens of metres wavelength experience a velocity increase of several percent due to a centimetres thick frozen layer. Moreover, the model verifies that Love waves show larger velocity increases than Rayleigh waves. The findings of this study provide new insights for monitoring with PII. A few days with temperature below 0 °C can already mask other potential targets (e.g. faults or storage sites). Here, we suggest to use vertical components, which is less sensitive to the frozen layer at the surface. If the target is the seasonal freezing, like in permafrost studies, we suggest to use three-component sensors in order to retrieve the Love wave response. This opens the possibility to study other small-scale processes at the shallow subsurface with surface wave responses.

Download Full-text

Volcano Ambient Noise Interferometry in the Caribbean (VANIC)

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6058 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Reinoud Sleeman

Keyword(s):

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Volcano Seismology ◽

Base Level ◽

Noise Interferometry ◽

Single Station ◽

Cross Correlations ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Velocity Variations ◽

Seismic Networks

The hazardous stratovolcanoes in the Lesser Antilles island arc are monitored with sparse seismic networks. The application of ambient noise interferometry to monitor seismic velocity variations (dv/v) on data from such a sparse instrumented volcanic environment often is a challenge. For the purpose of monitoring it is important a) to analyse the applicability of, and differences between, cross- and single-station cross-correlations, b) to estimate the base level of seismic velocity variations during quiet times and c) to understand the characteristics. Within the EUROVOLC instrument &#8220;Transnational Access (TA)&#8221; a proposal called VANIC was supported to a) use and evaluate different types of ambient noise cross correlations (single stations vs. multiple stations; auto, cross and cross-component correlations) to be applied on seismic recordings from the Guadeloupe seismic network on La Soufriere, b) compare the results with dv/v base level estimates from the sparse Netherlands Caribbean network on The Quill and Mt. Scenery and c) start collaboration between OVSG and KNMI on both monitoring and research levels with a focus on volcano seismology. This presentation will focus is on the results obtained during the TA visit to OVGS.

Download Full-text

Seismic velocity changes caused by the Earth tide: Ambient noise correlation analyses of small-array data

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1002/2014gl060690 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 41 (17) ◽

pp. 6131-6136 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Tomoya Takano ◽

Takeshi Nishimura ◽

Hisashi Nakahara ◽

Yusaku Ohta ◽

Sachiko Tanaka

Keyword(s):

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Earth Tide ◽

Noise Correlation ◽

Array Data ◽

The Earth ◽

Correlation Analyses ◽

Seismic Velocity Changes ◽

Small Array ◽

Velocity Changes

Download Full-text

Studies of Seismic Velocities in Subduction Zones from Continuous Ocean Bottom Seismometer Data

10.26686/wgtn.18131111.v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Weiwei Wang

Keyword(s):

Ambient Noise ◽

Velocity Structure ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Okinawa Trough ◽

Ocean Bottom ◽

Seismic Velocities ◽

Slow Slip ◽

Noise Data ◽

Velocity Variations ◽

Back Arc

This thesis uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) to study seismic velocities in the upper crust of the overriding plate. The first and second projects (Chapters 3 and 4) focus on temporal seismic velocity variations in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone offshore the North Island, New Zealand, while the third project (Chapter 5) focuses on shear wave velocities in the southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. In the first project (Chapters 3), we investigate a region of frequent slow slip events (SSEs) offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. From September to October 2014, an SSE occurred with a slip over 250 mm and was recorded successfully by the Hikurangi Ocean Bottom Investigation of Tremor and Slow Slip deployment II (HOBITSS II). We apply coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by nine OBSs deployed by the HOBITSS II to study the seismic velocity variations related to the SSE. The average velocity variations display a decrease on the order of 0.05% during the SSE, followed by an increase of similar magnitude afterwards. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain our observation. The first hypothesis, which has been suggested by previous studies, considers that the velocity decrease during the SSE is caused by more fluids migrating into the upper plate as the SSE breaks a low-permeability seal on the plate boundary. After the SSE, the fluids in the upper plate diffuse gradually and the velocity increases; The second hypothesis is that before the SSE, elastic strain accumulates causing contraction and reduction of porosity and therefore increase of velocity (the velocity increase between SSEs). During the SSE, the velocity decrease is caused by increased porosity as the SSE relieves the accumulated elastic strain on the plate interface, which results in dilation. After the SSE, stress and strain accumulate again, causing a porosity decrease and a velocity increase back to the original value. This study demonstrates that the velocity variations related to SSEs are observable and provides evidence for slow slip mechanism hypotheses. The second project (Chapter 4) focuses on the temporal seismic velocity variations associated with an SSE in 2019 offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. This is a later SSE in the same area as the first project (Chapters 3). Based on the success of the HOBITSS II, more ocean bottom instruments were deployed in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone from 2018 to 2019 (HOBITSS V). An SSE lasting approximately one month from the end of March to the beginning of May 2019 occurred during the deployment and was recorded by the network. The main slip was south of the deployment and the slip beneath the deployment was up to 150 mm. This study applies coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by five OBSs and computes seismic velocity variations to investigate their relation to the SSE. A velocity decrease on the order of 0.015% during the SSE and an increase back to the original velocity value are observed at 1–2.5 s. This supports the two hypotheses proposed in Chapters 3: fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. In addition, velocity variations computed from individual stations show velocity increases before the SSE, which are destructively interfered in their average. Such a situation could occur if the SSE migrated across the network. If the velocity increases before the SSE from individual stations are real, they can be only explained by the hypothesis of crustal strain changes (the second hypothesis in project 1). However, fluid migration (the first hypothesis in project 1) may still happen concomitantly. The third project focuses on the tectonics in southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. The southwestern Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc basin, extending and rifting within the continental lithosphere. The tectonic development of the back-arc basin is still not well-understood. This study uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by 34 OBSs deployed by Academia Sinica at various periods from 2010 to 2018. Cross-correlations on vertical seismic components and pressure gauges are computed to construct Rayleigh/Scholte waves to study the shear wave velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough. Phase velocities are measured from the Rayleigh/Scholte waves. Shear velocities are inverted from the phase velocities. Results show the velocity in the south of the back-arc rifting axis near the axis is slower than the velocity in the north of the rifting axis, suggesting the velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis. Previous studies have shown high heat flows (about 110mW/m 2 on average) in the south of the rifting axis. The low velocity in the south could be caused by the high heat flow that may be related to asymmetric back-arc extension and/or rifting. This study presents the shear wave velocity structure in the southwest Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis, which implies the back-arc extending/rifting is asymmetric in the study region. This study also suggests effective techniques for OBS noise corrections and unwrapping the cycle skipping of phase velocity measurements. In summary, this thesis represents three projects focusing on seismic velocities in two subduction zones using ambient noise data collected by OBSs. The first and second projects study the temporal velocity variations and the relation to SSEs. Both studies observe velocity decreases during the SSEs and increases after the SSEs, supporting two hypotheses of fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. The third project finds the shear velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting center, which may imply the back-arc extension is asymmetric.

Download Full-text

Monitoring deep fractured reservoirs with ambient noise correlation: importance of acousto-elastic effects

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16260 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jérôme Azzola ◽

Jean Schmittbuhl ◽

Dimitri Zigone ◽

Olivier Lengliné ◽

Frédéric Masson

Keyword(s):

Numerical Model ◽

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Low Cost ◽

Fractured Reservoirs ◽

Coda Wave ◽

Hydraulic Pressure ◽

Noise Correlation ◽

Enhanced Geothermal Systems ◽

Geothermal Systems

An emerging technique for a continuous and low cost geophysical monitoring of deep reservoirs like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) is based on ambient seismic noise correlation and in particular Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) from temporal stacks of ambient noise cross-correlation functions (or ANCCFs). We present here a forward numerical model simulating the propagation of scattered waves through a reservoir during its deformation, including non-linear acousto-elastic effects. Our approach is based on the case study of the Rittershoffen geothermal reservoir (France). We validate the numerical model by reproducing seasonal variations of the relative changes in seismic velocity observed from ANCCFs and provide a physical interpretation of this seismic signal. We extend our modelling to the in-situ deformation of the reservoir by considering either a hydraulic pressure increase or an aseismic shear of an embedded fault. The sensitivity of the scattered waves to small strain perturbations enables to detect small travel time changes as dt/t ~ 10-5, which opens perspectives for the application of ambient noise based techniques to the continuous monitoring of local mechanisms in deep geothermal reservoirs.

Download Full-text

Effect of snowfall on changes in relative seismic velocity measured by ambient noise correlation

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-15-5805-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. 5805-5817

Author(s):

Antoine Guillemot ◽

Alec van Herwijnen ◽

Eric Larose ◽

Stephanie Mayer ◽

Laurent Baillet

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Seismic Refraction ◽

Winter Season ◽

Noise Correlation ◽

Before And After ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Velocity Changes ◽

Seismic Measurements

Abstract. In mountainous, cold temperate and polar sites, the presence of snow cover can affect relative seismic velocity changes (dV/V) derived from ambient noise correlation, but this relation is relatively poorly documented and ambiguous. In this study, we analyzed raw seismic recordings from a snowy flat field site located above Davos (Switzerland), during one entire winter season (from December 2018 to June 2019). We identified three snowfall events with a substantial response of dV/V measurements (drops of several percent between 15 and 25 Hz), suggesting a detectable change in elastic properties of the medium due to the additional fresh snow. To better interpret the measurements, we used a physical model to compute frequency-dependent changes in the Rayleigh wave velocity computed before and after the events. Elastic parameters of the ground subsurface were obtained from a seismic refraction survey, whereas snow cover properties were obtained from the snow cover model SNOWPACK. The decrease in dV/V due to a snowfall was well reproduced, with the same order of magnitude as observed values, confirming the importance of the effect of fresh and dry snow on seismic measurements. We also observed a decrease in dV/V with snowmelt periods, but we were not able to reproduce those changes with our model. Overall, our results highlight the effect of the snow cover on seismic measurements, but more work is needed to accurately model this response, in particular for the presence of liquid water in the snowpack.

Download Full-text

Studies of Seismic Velocities in Subduction Zones from Continuous Ocean Bottom Seismometer Data

10.26686/wgtn.18131111.v2 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Weiwei Wang

Keyword(s):

Ambient Noise ◽

Velocity Structure ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Okinawa Trough ◽

Ocean Bottom ◽

Seismic Velocities ◽

Slow Slip ◽

Noise Data ◽

Velocity Variations ◽

Back Arc

This thesis uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) to study seismic velocities in the upper crust of the overriding plate. The first and second projects (Chapters 3 and 4) focus on temporal seismic velocity variations in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone offshore the North Island, New Zealand, while the third project (Chapter 5) focuses on shear wave velocities in the southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. In the first project (Chapters 3), we investigate a region of frequent slow slip events (SSEs) offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. From September to October 2014, an SSE occurred with a slip over 250 mm and was recorded successfully by the Hikurangi Ocean Bottom Investigation of Tremor and Slow Slip deployment II (HOBITSS II). We apply coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by nine OBSs deployed by the HOBITSS II to study the seismic velocity variations related to the SSE. The average velocity variations display a decrease on the order of 0.05% during the SSE, followed by an increase of similar magnitude afterwards. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain our observation. The first hypothesis, which has been suggested by previous studies, considers that the velocity decrease during the SSE is caused by more fluids migrating into the upper plate as the SSE breaks a low-permeability seal on the plate boundary. After the SSE, the fluids in the upper plate diffuse gradually and the velocity increases; The second hypothesis is that before the SSE, elastic strain accumulates causing contraction and reduction of porosity and therefore increase of velocity (the velocity increase between SSEs). During the SSE, the velocity decrease is caused by increased porosity as the SSE relieves the accumulated elastic strain on the plate interface, which results in dilation. After the SSE, stress and strain accumulate again, causing a porosity decrease and a velocity increase back to the original value. This study demonstrates that the velocity variations related to SSEs are observable and provides evidence for slow slip mechanism hypotheses. The second project (Chapter 4) focuses on the temporal seismic velocity variations associated with an SSE in 2019 offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. This is a later SSE in the same area as the first project (Chapters 3). Based on the success of the HOBITSS II, more ocean bottom instruments were deployed in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone from 2018 to 2019 (HOBITSS V). An SSE lasting approximately one month from the end of March to the beginning of May 2019 occurred during the deployment and was recorded by the network. The main slip was south of the deployment and the slip beneath the deployment was up to 150 mm. This study applies coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by five OBSs and computes seismic velocity variations to investigate their relation to the SSE. A velocity decrease on the order of 0.015% during the SSE and an increase back to the original velocity value are observed at 1–2.5 s. This supports the two hypotheses proposed in Chapters 3: fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. In addition, velocity variations computed from individual stations show velocity increases before the SSE, which are destructively interfered in their average. Such a situation could occur if the SSE migrated across the network. If the velocity increases before the SSE from individual stations are real, they can be only explained by the hypothesis of crustal strain changes (the second hypothesis in project 1). However, fluid migration (the first hypothesis in project 1) may still happen concomitantly. The third project focuses on the tectonics in southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. The southwestern Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc basin, extending and rifting within the continental lithosphere. The tectonic development of the back-arc basin is still not well-understood. This study uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by 34 OBSs deployed by Academia Sinica at various periods from 2010 to 2018. Cross-correlations on vertical seismic components and pressure gauges are computed to construct Rayleigh/Scholte waves to study the shear wave velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough. Phase velocities are measured from the Rayleigh/Scholte waves. Shear velocities are inverted from the phase velocities. Results show the velocity in the south of the back-arc rifting axis near the axis is slower than the velocity in the north of the rifting axis, suggesting the velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis. Previous studies have shown high heat flows (about 110mW/m 2 on average) in the south of the rifting axis. The low velocity in the south could be caused by the high heat flow that may be related to asymmetric back-arc extension and/or rifting. This study presents the shear wave velocity structure in the southwest Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis, which implies the back-arc extending/rifting is asymmetric in the study region. This study also suggests effective techniques for OBS noise corrections and unwrapping the cycle skipping of phase velocity measurements. In summary, this thesis represents three projects focusing on seismic velocities in two subduction zones using ambient noise data collected by OBSs. The first and second projects study the temporal velocity variations and the relation to SSEs. Both studies observe velocity decreases during the SSEs and increases after the SSEs, supporting two hypotheses of fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. The third project finds the shear velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting center, which may imply the back-arc extension is asymmetric.

Download Full-text

Studies of Seismic Velocities in Subduction Zones from Continuous Ocean Bottom Seismometer Data

10.26686/wgtn.18131111 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Weiwei Wang

Keyword(s):

Ambient Noise ◽

Velocity Structure ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Okinawa Trough ◽

Ocean Bottom ◽

Seismic Velocities ◽

Slow Slip ◽

Noise Data ◽

Velocity Variations ◽

Back Arc

This thesis uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) to study seismic velocities in the upper crust of the overriding plate. The first and second projects (Chapters 3 and 4) focus on temporal seismic velocity variations in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone offshore the North Island, New Zealand, while the third project (Chapter 5) focuses on shear wave velocities in the southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. In the first project (Chapters 3), we investigate a region of frequent slow slip events (SSEs) offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. From September to October 2014, an SSE occurred with a slip over 250 mm and was recorded successfully by the Hikurangi Ocean Bottom Investigation of Tremor and Slow Slip deployment II (HOBITSS II). We apply coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by nine OBSs deployed by the HOBITSS II to study the seismic velocity variations related to the SSE. The average velocity variations display a decrease on the order of 0.05% during the SSE, followed by an increase of similar magnitude afterwards. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain our observation. The first hypothesis, which has been suggested by previous studies, considers that the velocity decrease during the SSE is caused by more fluids migrating into the upper plate as the SSE breaks a low-permeability seal on the plate boundary. After the SSE, the fluids in the upper plate diffuse gradually and the velocity increases; The second hypothesis is that before the SSE, elastic strain accumulates causing contraction and reduction of porosity and therefore increase of velocity (the velocity increase between SSEs). During the SSE, the velocity decrease is caused by increased porosity as the SSE relieves the accumulated elastic strain on the plate interface, which results in dilation. After the SSE, stress and strain accumulate again, causing a porosity decrease and a velocity increase back to the original value. This study demonstrates that the velocity variations related to SSEs are observable and provides evidence for slow slip mechanism hypotheses. The second project (Chapter 4) focuses on the temporal seismic velocity variations associated with an SSE in 2019 offshore Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand. This is a later SSE in the same area as the first project (Chapters 3). Based on the success of the HOBITSS II, more ocean bottom instruments were deployed in the northern Hikurangi subduction zone from 2018 to 2019 (HOBITSS V). An SSE lasting approximately one month from the end of March to the beginning of May 2019 occurred during the deployment and was recorded by the network. The main slip was south of the deployment and the slip beneath the deployment was up to 150 mm. This study applies coda wave interferometry on the ambient noise data acquired by five OBSs and computes seismic velocity variations to investigate their relation to the SSE. A velocity decrease on the order of 0.015% during the SSE and an increase back to the original velocity value are observed at 1–2.5 s. This supports the two hypotheses proposed in Chapters 3: fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. In addition, velocity variations computed from individual stations show velocity increases before the SSE, which are destructively interfered in their average. Such a situation could occur if the SSE migrated across the network. If the velocity increases before the SSE from individual stations are real, they can be only explained by the hypothesis of crustal strain changes (the second hypothesis in project 1). However, fluid migration (the first hypothesis in project 1) may still happen concomitantly. The third project focuses on the tectonics in southwestern Okinawa Trough offshore northeastern Taiwan. The southwestern Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc basin, extending and rifting within the continental lithosphere. The tectonic development of the back-arc basin is still not well-understood. This study uses continuous ambient noise data recorded by 34 OBSs deployed by Academia Sinica at various periods from 2010 to 2018. Cross-correlations on vertical seismic components and pressure gauges are computed to construct Rayleigh/Scholte waves to study the shear wave velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough. Phase velocities are measured from the Rayleigh/Scholte waves. Shear velocities are inverted from the phase velocities. Results show the velocity in the south of the back-arc rifting axis near the axis is slower than the velocity in the north of the rifting axis, suggesting the velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis. Previous studies have shown high heat flows (about 110mW/m 2 on average) in the south of the rifting axis. The low velocity in the south could be caused by the high heat flow that may be related to asymmetric back-arc extension and/or rifting. This study presents the shear wave velocity structure in the southwest Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting axis, which implies the back-arc extending/rifting is asymmetric in the study region. This study also suggests effective techniques for OBS noise corrections and unwrapping the cycle skipping of phase velocity measurements. In summary, this thesis represents three projects focusing on seismic velocities in two subduction zones using ambient noise data collected by OBSs. The first and second projects study the temporal velocity variations and the relation to SSEs. Both studies observe velocity decreases during the SSEs and increases after the SSEs, supporting two hypotheses of fluid migration and/or stain changes through the SSE cycle. The third project finds the shear velocity structure in the southwestern Okinawa Trough is asymmetric along the rifting center, which may imply the back-arc extension is asymmetric.

Download Full-text

Effect of snowfall on changes in relative seismic velocity measured by ambient noise correlation

10.5194/tc-2021-108 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antoine Guillemot ◽

Alec van Herwijnen ◽

Eric Larose ◽

Stephanie Mayer ◽

Laurent Baillet

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Ambient Noise ◽

Seismic Velocity ◽

Seismic Refraction ◽

Winter Season ◽

Noise Correlation ◽

Before And After ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Velocity Changes ◽

Seismic Measurements

Abstract. In mountainous, cold temperate and polar sites, the presence of a snow cover can affect relative seismic velocity changes (dV/V) derived from ambient noise correlation, but this relation is relatively poorly documented and ambiguous. In this study, we analyzed raw seismic recordings from a snowy flat field site located above Davos (Switzerland), during one entire winter season (from December 2018 to June 2019). We identified three snowfall events with a substantial response of dV/V measurements (drops of several percent between 15 and 25 Hz), suggesting a detectable change in elastic properties of the medium due to the additional fresh snow. To better interpret the measurements, we used a physical model to compute frequency dependent changes in the Rayleigh wave velocity computed before and after the events. Elastic parameters of the ground subsurface were obtained from a seismic refraction survey, whereas snow cover properties were obtained from the snow cover model SNOWPACK. The decrease in dV/V due to a snowfall were well reproduced, with the same order of magnitude as observed values, confirming the importance of the effect of fresh and dry snow on seismic measurements. We also observed a decrease in dV/V with snowmelt periods, but we were not able to reproduce those changes with our model. Overall, our results highlight the effect of the snowcover on seismic measurements, but more work is needed to accurately model this response, in particular for the presence of liquid water in the snowpack.

Download Full-text