Geodynamic implications from satellite GOCE in Tibet-Kohistan-Ladakh-Himalayas

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 A

Exploration of tectonic structures with GOCE in Africa and across-continents

The gravity anomaly field over the whole Earth obtained by the GOCE satellite is a revolutionary tool to reveal geologic information on a continental scale for the large areas where conventional gravity measurements have yet to be made. It is, however, necessary to isolate the nearsurface geologic signal from the contributions of thickness variations in the crust and lithosphere and the isostatic compensation of surface relief. Here Africa is studied with particular emphasis on selected geological features which are expected to appear as density inhomogeneities. These include cratons and fold belts in the Precambrian basement, the overlying sedimentary basins and magmatism, as well as the continental margins. Regression analysis between gravity and topography shows coefficients that are consistently positive for the free air gravity anomaly and negative for the Bouguer gravity anomaly. The error and scatter on the regression is smallest in oceanic areas, where it is a possible tool for identifying changes in crustal type. The regression analysis allows the large gradient in the Bouguer anomaly signal across continental margins to be removed. After subtracting the predicted effect of known topography from the original Bouguer anomaly field, the residual field shows a continent-wide pattern of anomalies that could be attributed to regional geological structures. A few of these are highlighted, such as those representing Karoo magmatism, the Kibalian foldbelt, the Zimbabwe Craton, the Cameroon and Tibesti volcanic deposits, the Benue Trough and the Luangwa Rift. A reconstruction of the pre-break up position of Africa and South America (the plates forming West Gondwana) is made for the residual GOCE gravity field. The reconstruction allows the positive and negative anomalies to be compared across the continental fragments, and so helps identify common geologic units that extend across both the now-separate continents

Illustrating the superposition of signals recorded by the Grotta Gigante pendulums with musical analogues

The Grotta Gigante houses a geodetic station since 1959,  which has the goal to observe deformation of the cave. The instrumentation consists of two ultra-broad-band pendulum type tiltmeters, and two medium-to-longperiod tiltmeters, next to thermometer and pressure gauge. The exceptionally long and continuous time-series of the tiltmeters allows us to demonstrate the existence of several astonishing phenomena that cause the cave to change continuously in shape, also if only to a small amount and which can be recorded with sophisticated instruments, as the ones installed. The movements due to the different causes sum up to produce the complete observed signal, and our goal is to separate and identify the different phenomena. To illustrate the work we do in identifying the different agents, the analogy holds to a musician listening to a symphony-concert and identifying the melody of the first violin, flute, triangle, the violoncello and the double bass, and then identifying the corresponding musicians and instruments on stage. As the music has high and low tones, the deformation of the cave is composed of slow and fast movements, continuous movements, or abrupt, sudden events, that repeat very rarely. Here we  show the observation sequence of tilt for the time interval 1966-2012, and discuss the deformation due to the following causes: temperature, underground water-level, sea level of the Adriatic sea, position of sun and moon and vibration of the Earth due some of the greatest mega-earthquakes ever recorded. To illustrate the analogues to music we use to explain the association of different frequency ranges to different causes of deformation signal to the general public of the cave. The results show an excellent example of scientifically sound and important instrumentation installed in a show-cave visited regularly by the public

Lithosphere density structure beneath the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas derived from GOCE gradients data

Abstract A three-dimensional density model of the crust and uppermost mantle is determined by the inversion of a set of GOCE gravity and gradients residual anomalies beneath the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas. In our work, we choose five independent gravity gradients (Txx, Tzz, Txy, Txz, Tyz) to perform density inversion. Objective function is given based on Tikhonov regularization theory. Seismic S-wave velocities play the role of initial constraint for the inversion based on a relationship between density and S-wave velocity. Damped Least Square method is used during the inversion. The final density results offer some insights into understanding the underlying geodynamic processes: (1) Low densities in the margin of the Tibet, along with low wave velocity and resistivity results, yield conversions from soft and weak Tibet to the hard and rigid cratons. (2)The lowest densities are found in the boundary of the plateau, instead of the whole Tibet indicates that the effects of extrusion stress environment in the margin affect the changes of the substance there. The substances and environments conditioning for the earthquake preparations and strong deformation in this transitional zone. (3) Evident low-D anomaly in the upper and middle crust in the Lasha terrane and Songpan-Ganzi terrane illustrated the eastward sub-ducted of southeastern Tibet, which could be accounts for the frequent volcano and earthquakes there

Sensitivity to Mass Changes of Lakes, Subsurface Hydrology and Glaciers of the Quantum Technology Gravity Gradients and Time Observations of Satellite MOCAST+

The quantum technology absolute gravimeters, gradiometers, and clocks are at the forefront of the instrumentation to be exploited in a future gravity mission (the QSG mission concept). Apart from the quantum payload, the mission design defines the choice of the number of satellites and the satellite orbit constellation, with the goal of optimizing the observation of the earth's gravity field and reducing aliasing phenomena. Our goal is to define the realistic gravity field changes generated by glaciers and lakes and define the sensitivity of the quantum gravity mission for the detection of hydrologic and cryospheric mass changes. The analysis focuses on mass changes in the high mountains of Asia and the South American continent. The mass changes are based on terrestrial and satellite observations and are of a climatic origin. We show that compared to the existing GRACE-FO mission, a quantum gravity mission significantly improves the detection of the climatic mass gain of lakes and mass loss of glaciers, allowing for smaller mass features to be distinguished, and smaller mass losses to be detected. The greater signal is the seasonal signal with a yearly period, which would be detected at the 10 Gt level for areas > 8000 km(2). The yearly mass loss of the Patagonian glaciers can be detected at the 5 Gt/yr level, an improvement from the 10 Gt/yr detectable by GRACE-FO. Spatial resolution would also be improved, with an increase of about 50% in spatial frequency for the detection of the mass change rate of lakes and glaciers in Tibet. The improved spatial resolution enables an improved localization of the lakes and glaciers affected by climatic mass change. The results will contribute to defining the user requirements of the future QSG missions

Geophysical Challenges for Future Satellite Gravity Missions: Assessing the Impact of MOCASS Mission

AbstractThe GRACE/GRACE-FO satellites have observed large scale mass changes, contributing to the mass budget calculation of the hydro-and cryosphere. The scale of the observable mass changes must be in the order of 300 km or bigger to be resolved. Smaller scale glaciers and hydrologic basins significantly contribute to the closure of the water mass balance, but are not detected with the present spatial resolution of the satellite. The challenge of future satellite gravity missions is to fill this gap, providing higher temporal and spatial resolution. We assess the impact of a geodetic satellite mission carrying on board a cold atom interferometric gradiometer (MOCASS: Mass Observation with Cold Atom Sensors in Space) on the resolution of simulated geophysical phenomena, considering mass changes in the hydrosphere and cryosphere. Moreover, we consider mass redistributions due to seamounts and tectonic movements, belonging to the solid earth processes. The MOCASS type satellite is able to recover 50% smaller deglaciation rates over a mountain range as the High Mountains of Asia compared to GRACE, and to detect the mass of 60% of the cumulative number of glaciers, an improvement respect to GRACE which detects less than 20% in the same area. For seamounts a significantly smaller mass eruption could be detected with respect to GRACE, reaching a level of mass detection of a submarine basalt eruption of 1.6 109 m3. This mass corresponds to the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. The simulations demonstrate that a MOCASS type mission would significantly improve the resolution of mass changes respect to existing geodetic satellite missions

The study of karstic aquifers by geodetic measurements in Bus de la Genziana station – Cansiglio plateau (Northeastern Italy)

We propose an interdisciplinary study of karstic aquifers using tiltmeters and GPS observations. The study region is located in northeastern Italy, in the seismic area of the Cansiglio Plateau. The Zöllner type Marussi tiltmeters are installed in a natural cavity (Bus de la Genziana) that is part of an interesting karstic area of particular hydrogeologic importance. The Livenza river forms from a number of springs at the foothills of the karstic massif and flows throughthe Friuli-Veneto plain into the Adriatic Sea. Comparing the tiltmeter signal recorded at the Genziana station withthe local pluviometrical series and the hydrometric series of the Livenza river, a clear correlation is recognized. Moreover, the data of a permanent GPS station located on the southern slopes of the Cansiglio Massif (CANV) show also a clear correspondence withthe water runoff. Here we present the hydrologic induced deformations as observed by tiltmeter and GPS. After heavy rain events we record rapid deformations bothby tiltmeters and GPS corresponding to the rainfall duration. In the following days a slow geodetic motion recovers the accumulated deformation witha distinctive pattern bothin tilt and GPS data, whichcorrelates withthe runoff of the karstic aquifer. The purpose of this researchis to open a new multidisciplinary frontier between geodetic and karstic systems studies to improve the knowledge of the underground fluid flow circulation in karstic areas. Furthermore a better characterization of the hydrologic effects on GPS and tilt observations will have the benefit that these signals can be corrected when the focus of the study is to recover the tectonic deformation

Hydrologically induced slope deformations detected by GPS and clinometric surveys in the Cansiglio Plateau, southern Alps

Changes in groundwater or surface water level may cause observable deformation of the drainage basins in different ways. We describe an active slope deformation monitored with GPS and tiltmeter stations in a karstic limestone plateau in southeastern Alps (Cansiglio Plateau). The observed transient GPS deformation clearly correlates with the rainfall. Both GPS and tiltmeter equipments react instantly to heavy rains displaying abrupt offsets, but with different time constants, demonstrating the response to different catchment volumes. The GPS movement is mostly confined in the horizontal plane (SSW direction) showing a systematic tendency to rebound in the weeks following the rain. Four GPS stations concur to define a coherent deformation pattern of a wide area (12 75km2), concerning the whole southeastern slope of the plateau. The plateau expands and rebounds radially after rain by an amount up to a few centimeters and causing only small vertical deformation. The effect is largest where karstic features are mostly developed, at the margin of the plateau where a thick succession of Cretaceous peritidal carbonates faces the Venetian lowland. Acouple of tiltmeters installed in a cave at the top of the plateau, detect a much faster deformation, that has the tendency to rebound in less than 6h. The correlation to rainfall is less straightforward, and shows a more complex behavior during rainy weather. The different responses demonstrate a fast hydrologic flow in the more permeable epikarst for the tiltmeters, drained by open fractures and fissures in the neighborhood of the cave, and a rapid tensile dislocation of the bedrock measured at the GPS stations that affect the whole slope of the mountain. In the days following the rain, both tiltmeter and GPS data show a tendency to retrieve the displacement which is consistent with the phreatic discharge curve. We propose that hydrologically active fractures recharged by rainfall are the most likely features capable to induce the observed strain variations

Coseismic Folding During Ramp Failure at the Front of the Sulaiman Fold-and-Thrust Belt

The Sulaiman Fold Thrust (SFT) in Central Pakistan formed during the India-Eurasia collision in the late Cenozoic. However, the mechanics of shortening of the brittle crust at time scales of seismic cycles is still poorly understood. Here, we use radar interferometry to analyze the deformation associated with the 2015 magnitude (Mw) 5.7 Dajal blind earthquake at the eastern boundary of the SFT. We use kinematic inversions to determine the distribution of slip on the frontal ramp and of flexural slip along active axial surfaces for the forward- and backward-verging two end-member models: a double fault-bend-fold system and a fault-propagation-fold. In both models, a décollement branches into a shallow ramp at approximately 7.5 km depth with coseismic folding in the hanging wall. The Dajal earthquake ruptured the base of the Boundary Thrust buried under the sediment from the Indus-River floodplain, representing fault-bend or fault-propagation folding some 30 km off its nearest surface exposure

Tesseroids: Forward-modeling gravitational fields in spherical coordinates

We have developed the open-source software Tesseroids, a set of command-line programs to perform forward modeling of gravitational fields in spherical coordinates. The software is implemented in the C programming language and uses tesseroids (spherical prisms) for the discretization of the subsurface mass distribution. The gravitational fields of tesseroids are calculated numerically using the Gauss-Legendre quadrature (GLQ). We have improved upon an adaptive discretization algorithm to guarantee the accuracy of the GLQ integration. Our implementation of adaptive discretization uses a “stack-based” algorithm instead of recursion to achieve more control over execution errors and corner cases. The algorithm is controlled by a scalar value called the distance-size ratio (D) that determines the accuracy of the integration as well as the computation time. We have determined optimal values of D for the gravitational potential, gravitational acceleration, and gravity gradient tensor by comparing the computed tesseroids effects with those of a homogenous spherical shell. The values required for a maximum relative error of 0.1% of the shell effects are D ¼ 1 for the gravitational potential, D ¼ 1.5 for the gravitational acceleration, and D ¼ 8 for the gravity gradients. Contrary to previous assumptions, our results show that the potential and its first and second derivatives require different values of D to achieve the same accurac