Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Identifying shale sweet spots by 3D microseismic imaging
Published: 2021-01-02
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Several studies suggest that shale sweet spots are likely associated with low Poisson’s ratio in the shale layer. Compared with conventional geophysical techniques with active seismic data, it is straightforward and cost effective to delineate the distribution of 3D Poisson’s ratio using microseismic data. In this study, we develop a method for determining microseismic event locations, 3D P-wave [...]
Vertical slowness constrained joint anisotropic parameters and event locations inversion for downhole microseismic monitoring
Published: 2020-12-31
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The construction of accurate anisotropic velocity models plays a very important role in microseismic monitoring of hydraulic fracturing. Due to ignorance of anisotropy, severe distortions may happen in the results of microseismic location and interpretation. While the methods are existing that invert for anisotropic parameters and event locations simultaneously with microseismic traveltime, the [...]
Automatic microseismic stacking location with a multi-cross-correlation imaging condition
Published: 2020-12-31
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Source scanning algorithm (SSA) has been recognized as a valid technique to automatically detect and locate passive seismic events. The imaging condition of this algorithm is the linear stack of the amplitudes along the traveltime curve from trial locations. However, the linear stacking condition may cause the location uncertainty due to the polarity reversal and low signal-to-noise ratio of the [...]
Samples, Symmetries and Extensions: Exploring Parameter Space in Nonlinear Problems
Published: 2020-12-31
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Many scientific and technological advances require the values of a set of parameters to be constrained or estimated using recorded data. It is often possible to model data that would be recorded for particular parameter values using a computable and in general nonlinear function, where its inverse is unknown and does not exist as a unique-valued mapping. The space of parameter values must then be [...]
Bayesian Seismic Tomography using Normalizing Flows
Published: 2020-12-28
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We test a fully non-linear method to solve seismic tomographic problems using data consisting of observed travel times of first-arriving waves. We use variational inference to calculate the posterior probability distribution which describes the solution to the Bayesian tomographic inverse problem. The variational method is an efficient alternate to Monte Carlo methods, which seeks the best [...]
Climate as a Stratigraphic Tool for Basin Margin Deposition in Intracontinental Basins
Published: 2020-12-23
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In intracontinental basins stratigraphic packages are not as predictable as those deposited in marine settings, namely due to a lack over an overriding control on deposition. Deposition in intracontinental basins is controlled by tectonics, climatic variations, and sediment supply. Complexity is added as deposition is affected by both autocyclic localised variations (e.g., lobe switching) and [...]
Yield estimation of the 2020 Beirut explosion using open access waveform and remote sensing data
Published: 2020-12-22
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Probability
We report on a multi-technique analysis using publicly available data for investigating the huge, accidental explosion that struck the city of Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4, 2020. Its devastating shock wave led to thousands of injured with more than two hundred fatalities and caused immense damage to buildings and infrastructure. Our combined analysis of seismological, hydroacoustic, infrasonic [...]
Tidal dynamics in palaeo-seas in response to changes in physiography, tidal forcing, and bed shear stress
Published: 2020-12-21
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Simulating hydrodynamic conditions in palaeo-ocean basins is needed to better understand the effects of tidal forcing on the sedimentary record. When combined with sedimentary analyses, hydrodynamic modelling can help inform complex temporal and spatial variability in the sediment distribution of tide-dominated palaeo-ocean basins. Herein, palaeotidal modelling of the epicontinental Upper [...]
Small-scale lithospheric heterogeneity characterization using Bayesian inference
Published: 2020-12-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Observations from different disciplines have shown that our planet is highly heterogeneous at multiple scale lengths. Still, many seismological Earth models tend not to include any small-scale heterogeneity or lateral velocity variations, which can affect measurements and predictions based on these homogeneous models. In this study, we describe the lithospheric small-scale heterogeneity structure [...]
Given that the Paris Agreement is unlikely to prevent dangerous climate overshoot, an alternative risk management strategy is urgently needed
Published: 2020-12-18
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Because the 2015 Paris Agreement will not prevent dangerous climate change, there is an urgent need to develop an alternative mitigation strategy. Even if most countries greatly increase their commitments and technological breakthroughs accelerate the transition to emission-free technologies, the 2°C target will still be overshot due to systemic inertia from existing greenhouse gases, warming [...]
Constraining the 410-km Discontinuity and Slab Structure in the Kuril Subduction Zone with Triplication Waveforms
Published: 2020-12-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The detailed structure near the 410-km discontinuity provides key constraints of the dynamic interactions between the upper mantle and the lower mantle through the mantle transition zone (MTZ) via mass and heat exchange. Meanwhile, the temperature of the subducting slab, which can be derived from its fast wave speed perturbation, is critical for understanding the mantle dynamics in subduction [...]
Future changes in Northern Hemisphere summer weather persistence linked to projected Arctic warming.
Published: 2020-12-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Understanding the response of the large-scale atmospheric circulation to climatic change remains a key challenge. Specifically, changes in the equator-to-pole temperature difference have been suggested to affect the mid-latitudes, potentially leading to more persistent extreme weather, but a scientific consensus has not been established so far. Here we quantify summer weather persistence by [...]
Assessing geomorphic change in restored coastal dune ecosystems using a multi-platform aerial approach
Published: 2020-12-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) provide an effective method to examine geomorphic and vegetation change in restored coastal dune ecosystems. Coupling structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry with RGB orthomosaic imagery allows researchers to characterize spatial-temporal geomorphic responses associated with differences in vegetation cover. Such approaches provide quantitative data on landscape [...]
Mechanisms for avulsion on alluvial fans: insights from high-frequency topographic data
Published: 2020-12-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Avulsion is a key process in building alluvial fans, but it is also a formidable natural hazard. Based on laboratory experiments monitored with novel high-frequency photogrammetry, we present a new model for avulsion on widely graded gravel fans. Previous experimental studies of alluvial fans have suggested that avulsion occurs in a periodic autogenic cycle, that is thought to be mediated by the [...]
Quantitative uncertainty analysis of gravity disturbance. The case of the Geneva Basin (Switzerland)
Published: 2020-12-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Gravity data from the International Gravimetric Bureau and the Gravimetric Atlas of Switzerland have been used to evaluate their application and limitations as a subsurface investigation tool to constrain key geological structures in support of the georesources exploration in the Geneva Basin (GB). In this context, the application of an effective processing workflow able to produce a [...]