A Finite Difference Method for Off-fault Plasticity throughout the Earthquake Cycle

We have developed an efficient computational framework for simulating multiple earthquake cycles with off-fault plasticity. The method is developed for the classical antiplane problem of a vertical strike-slip fault governed by rate-and-state friction, with inertial effects captured through the radiationdamping approximation. Both rate-independent plasticity and viscoplasticity are considered, where stresses are constrained by a Drucker-Prager yield condition. The off-fault volume is discretized using finite differences and tectonic loading is imposed by displacing the remote side boundaries at a constant rate. Time-stepping combines an adaptive Runge-Kutta method with an incremental solution process which makes use of an elastoplastic tangent stiffness tensor and the return-mapping algorithm. Solutions are verified by convergence tests and comparison to a finite element solution. We quantify how viscosity, isotropic hardening, and cohesion affect the magnitude and off-fault extent of plastic strain that develops over many ruptures. If hardening is included, plastic strain saturates after the first event and the response during subsequent ruptures is effectively elastic. For viscoplasticity without hardening, however, successive ruptures continue to generate additional plastic strain. In all cases, coseismic slip in the shallow sub-surface is diminished compared to slip accumulated at depth during interseismic loading. The evolution of this slip deficit with each subsequent event, however, is dictated by the plasticity model. Integration of the off-fault plastic strain from the viscoplastic model reveals that a significant amount of tectonic off-set is accommodated by inelastic deformation (~0.1 m per rupture, or ~10% of the tectonic deformation budget)

Community Code Verification Exercise for Simulating Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS)

Numerical simulations of sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS) have made great progress over past decades to address important questions in earthquake physics. However, significant challenges in SEAS modeling remain in resolving multiscale interactions between earthquake nucleation, dynamic rupture, and aseismic slip, and understanding physical factors controlling observables such as seismicity and ground deformation. The increasing complexity of SEAS modeling calls for extensive efforts to verify codes and advance these simulations with rigor, reproducibility, and broadened impact. In 2018, we initiated a community code‐verification exercise for SEAS simulations, supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center. Here, we report the findings from our first two benchmark problems (BP1 and BP2), designed to verify different computational methods in solving a mathematically well‐defined, basic faulting problem. We consider a 2D antiplane problem, with a 1D planar vertical strike‐slip fault obeying rate‐and‐state friction, embedded in a 2D homogeneous, linear elastic half‐space. Sequences of quasi‐dynamic earthquakes with periodic occurrences (BP1) or bimodal sizes (BP2) and their interactions with aseismic slip are simulated. The comparison of results from 11 groups using different numerical methods show excellent agreements in long‐term and coseismic fault behavior. In BP1, we found that truncated domain boundaries influence interseismic stressing, earthquake recurrence, and coseismic rupture, and that model agreement is only achieved with sufficiently large domain sizes. In BP2, we found that complexity of fault behavior depends on how well physical length scales related to spontaneous nucleation and rupture propagation are resolved. Poor numerical resolution can result in artificial complexity, impacting simulation results that are of potential interest for characterizing seismic hazard such as earthquake size distributions, moment release, and recurrence times. These results inform the development of more advanced SEAS models, contributing to our further understanding of earthquake system dynamics

Community Code Verification Exercise for Simulating Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS)

Numerical simulations of sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS) have made great progress over past decades to address important questions in earthquake physics. However, significant challenges in SEAS modeling remain in resolving multiscale interactions between earthquake nucleation, dynamic rupture, and aseismic slip, and understanding physical factors controlling observables such as seismicity and ground deformation. The increasing complexity of SEAS modeling calls for extensive efforts to verify codes and advance these simulations with rigor, reproducibility, and broadened impact. In 2018, we initiated a community code‐verification exercise for SEAS simulations, supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center. Here, we report the findings from our first two benchmark problems (BP1 and BP2), designed to verify different computational methods in solving a mathematically well‐defined, basic faulting problem. We consider a 2D antiplane problem, with a 1D planar vertical strike‐slip fault obeying rate‐and‐state friction, embedded in a 2D homogeneous, linear elastic half‐space. Sequences of quasi‐dynamic earthquakes with periodic occurrences (BP1) or bimodal sizes (BP2) and their interactions with aseismic slip are simulated. The comparison of results from 11 groups using different numerical methods show excellent agreements in long‐term and coseismic fault behavior. In BP1, we found that truncated domain boundaries influence interseismic stressing, earthquake recurrence, and coseismic rupture, and that model agreement is only achieved with sufficiently large domain sizes. In BP2, we found that complexity of fault behavior depends on how well physical length scales related to spontaneous nucleation and rupture propagation are resolved. Poor numerical resolution can result in artificial complexity, impacting simulation results that are of potential interest for characterizing seismic hazard such as earthquake size distributions, moment release, and recurrence times. These results inform the development of more advanced SEAS models, contributing to our further understanding of earthquake system dynamics

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

A Non-stiff Summation-By-Parts Finite Difference Method for the Wave Equation in Second Order Form: Characteristic Boundary Conditions and Nonlinear Interfaces

Curvilinear, multiblock summation-by-parts finite difference methods with the simultaneous approximation term method provide a stable and accurate method for solving the wave equation in second order form. That said, the standard method can become arbitrarily stiff when characteristic boundary conditions and nonlinear interface conditions are used. Here we propose a new technique that avoids this stiffness by using characteristic variables to “upwind” the boundary and interface treatment. This is done through the introduction of an additional block boundary displacement variable. Using a unified energy, which expresses both the standard as well as characteristic boundary and interface treatment, we show that the resulting scheme has semidiscrete energy stability for the anistropic wave equation. The theoretical stability results are confirmed with numerical experiments that also demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed scheme. The numerical results also show that the characteristic scheme has a time step restriction based on standard wave propagation considerations and not the boundary closure.National Science Foundation AwardEAR-1547596EAR-1547603EAR-191699

Stable, high order accurate adaptive schemes for long time, highly intermittent geophysics problems

Many geophysical phenomena are characterized by properties that evolve over a wide range of scales which introduce difficulties when attempting to model these features in one computational method. We have developed a high-order finite difference method for the elastic wave equation that is able to efficiently handle varying temporal and spatial scales in a single, stand-alone framework. We apply this method to earthquake cycle models characterized by extremely long interseismic periods interspersed with abrupt, short periods of dynamic rupture. Through the use of summation-by-parts operators and weak enforcement of boundary conditions we derive a provably stable discretization. Time stepping is achieved through the implicit θθ-method which allows us to take large time steps during the intermittent period between earthquakes and adapts appropriately to fully resolve rupture

Stable, High Order Accurate Adaptive Schemes for Long Time, Highly Intermittent Geophysics Problems

Many geophysical phenomena are characterized by properties that evolve over a wide range of scales which introduce difficulties when attempting to model these features in one computational method. We have developed a high-order finite difference method for the elastic wave equation that is able to efficiently handle varying temporal scales in a single, stand-alone framework. We apply this method to earthquake cycle models characterized by extremely long interseismic periods interspersed with abrupt, short periods of dynamic rupture. Through the use of summation-by-parts operators and weak enforcement of boundary conditions we derive a provably stable discretization. Time stepping is achieved through the implicit θ-method which allows us to take large time steps during the intermittent period between earthquakes and adapts appropriately to fully resolve rupture