A search for evidence of nonlinear elasticity in the earth

Attempts to observe nonlinear elasticity in seismic wave propagation have been made in recent years. The sought-after nonlinear effects include harmonic distortion of a monofrequency wave and nonenear superposition of two waves of differing frequencies. Most recent work has focused on laboratory measurements in rock samples, and there has been no definitive publication of nonlinear wave propagation in situ in rocks of the earth. Because LBL research has involved crustal seismic experiments over a wide range of scales, there exists an excellent data base from which we can draw appropriate experimental data. In mid 1991, we proceeded to use in-house data in a search for effects of nonlinear elasticity. The data sets selected include seismic reflection profiles from the Tehachapi Mountains area of California and seismic wave monitoring data from the Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment. In addition, we conducted one field experiment explicitly for detection of nonlinear wave propagation in conjunction with a previously planned Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) at the Dept. of Energy's Nevada Test Site (NTS), and we analyzed a special data set acquired recently by Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) in West Texas in an attempt to verify nonlinear wave propagation during a seismic reflection profile. These data sets used Vibroseis energy sources which allowed analysis of time-separated frequency-domain data

Parkfield earthquakes of June 27-29, 1966, Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, California—Preliminary report

Two earthquakes, M = 5.3 and 5.5, shook the Parkfield area in southern Monterey County, California, at 0409:56.5 and 0426:13.8 GMT, 28 June 1966. They were preceded by foreshocks on the same day at 0100 and 0115. A third shock, M = 5.0, occurred in the same area at 1953:26.2 on 29 June. The earthquakes were followed by a heavy sequence of aftershocks with epicenters along the San Andreas fault zone extending for about 15 miles southward beyond Cholame in San Luis Obispo County. A P-wave first-motion fault plane solution shows strike of vertical fault plane is N 33°W, coinciding with a surface zone of en echelon fault fractures in the pattern characteristic of right-lateral, strike-slip movement. The motion appears to have an upward component on the west side, at about 20° from pure strike slip. Extensive instrumentation within a few miles of the epicentral district gave unusually complete records from foreshock to aftershock sequence. A strong-motion instrument in the fault zone near Cholame recorded the unusually high horizontal acceleration of 0.5 g. The epicentral region of the earthquakes is on a known active segment of the San Andreas fault. Earthquakes in 1901, 1922, and 1934 in this region were also accompanied by surface faulting. On the published State geologic map, scale 1:250,000, the San Andreas fault zone shows a braided pattern of several branching en echelon major faults. Topographic forms, typical of the features of rift valleys, testify to the recency of fault movements. Small right-lateral surficial displacements had been recognized prior to the late June earthquakes in at least three places on the Parkfield-Cholame trace of the fault. Similar creep, or slippage, has continued since the earthquakes. Extensive nets of survey markers installed by 30 June across the active fault trace had recorded slippage as great as 0.1 inch per day by 12 July. The fault trace associated with the earthquakes is principally in alluvium of unknown depth in Cholame Valley, apparently a faulted graben within the San Andreas fault zone. Under a blanket of Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary rocks in this part of the southern Coast Ranges, the great fault separates Jurassic-Cretaceous granitic and metamorphic rocks in the western block from Late Jurassic eugeosynclinal sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Franciscan Formation in the eastern block. In spite of the large horizontal acceleration recorded near the fault, very little building damage occurred in this sparsely populated region. Small concrete and steel bridges in, and adjacent to the fault trace, did not have their structural strength impaired

Optimization and geophysical inverse problems

A fundamental part of geophysics is to make inferences about the interior of the earth on the basis of data collected at or near the surface of the earth. In almost all cases these measured data are only indirectly related to the properties of the earth that are of interest, so an inverse problem must be solved in order to obtain estimates of the physical properties within the earth. In February of 1999 the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored a workshop that was intended to examine the methods currently being used to solve geophysical inverse problems and to consider what new approaches should be explored in the future. The interdisciplinary area between inverse problems in geophysics and optimization methods in mathematics was specifically targeted as one where an interchange of ideas was likely to be fruitful. Thus about half of the participants were actively involved in solving geophysical inverse problems and about half were actively involved in research on general optimization methods. This report presents some of the topics that were explored at the workshop and the conclusions that were reached. In general, the objective of a geophysical inverse problem is to find an earth model, described by a set of physical parameters, that is consistent with the observational data. It is usually assumed that the forward problem, that of calculating simulated data for an earth model, is well enough understood so that reasonably accurate synthetic data can be generated for an arbitrary model. The inverse problem is then posed as an optimization problem, where the function to be optimized is variously called the objective function, misfit function, or fitness function. The objective function is typically some measure of the difference between observational data and synthetic data calculated for a trial model. However, because of incomplete and inaccurate data, the objective function often incorporates some additional form of regularization, such as a measure of smoothness or distance from a prior model. Various other constraints may also be imposed upon the process. Inverse problems are not restricted to geophysics, but can be found in a wide variety of disciplines where inferences must be made on the basis of indirect measurements. For instance, most imaging problems, whether in the field of medicine or non-destructive evaluation, require the solution of an inverse problem. In this report, however, the examples used for illustration are taken exclusively from the field of geophysics. The generalization of these examples to other disciplines should be straightforward, as all are based on standard second-order partial differential equations of physics. In fact, sometimes the non-geophysical inverse problems are significantly easier to treat (as in medical imaging) because the limitations on data collection, and in particular on multiple views, are not so severe as they generally are in geophysics. This report begins with an introduction to geophysical inverse problems by briefly describing four canonical problems that are typical of those commonly encountered in geophysics. Next the connection with optimization methods is made by presenting a general formulation of geophysical inverse problems. This leads into the main subject of this report, a discussion of methods for solving such problems with an emphasis upon newer approaches that have not yet become prominent in geophysics. A separate section is devoted to a subject that is not encountered in all optimization problems but is particularly important in geophysics, the need for a careful appraisal of the results in terms of their resolution and uncertainty. The impact on geophysical inverse problems of continuously improving computational resources is then discussed. The main results are then brought together in a final summary and conclusions section

A Mammalian Conserved Element Derived from SINE Displays Enhancer Properties Recapitulating Satb2 Expression in Early-Born Callosal Projection Neurons

Short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs) are highly repeated sequences that account for a significant proportion of many eukaryotic genomes and are usually considered “junk DNA”. However, we previously discovered that many AmnSINE1 loci are evolutionarily conserved across mammalian genomes, suggesting that they may have acquired significant functions involved in controlling mammalian-specific traits. Notably, we identified the AS021 SINE locus, located 390 kbp upstream of Satb2. Using transgenic mice, we showed that this SINE displays specific enhancer activity in the developing cerebral cortex. The transcription factor Satb2 is expressed by cortical neurons extending axons through the corpus callosum and is a determinant of callosal versus subcortical projection. Mouse mutants reveal a crucial function for Sabt2 in corpus callosum formation. In this study, we compared the enhancer activity of the AS021 locus with Satb2 expression during telencephalic development in the mouse. First, we showed that the AS021 enhancer is specifically activated in early-born Satb2+ neurons. Second, we demonstrated that the activity of the AS021 enhancer recapitulates the expression of Satb2 at later embryonic and postnatal stages in deep-layer but not superficial-layer neurons, suggesting the possibility that the expression of Satb2 in these two subpopulations of cortical neurons is under genetically distinct transcriptional control. Third, we showed that the AS021 enhancer is activated in neurons projecting through the corpus callosum, as described for Satb2+ neurons. Notably, AS021 drives specific expression in axons crossing through the ventral (TAG1−/NPY+) portion of the corpus callosum, confirming that it is active in a subpopulation of callosal neurons. These data suggest that exaptation of the AS021 SINE locus might be involved in enhancement of Satb2 expression, leading to the establishment of interhemispheric communication via the corpus callosum, a eutherian-specific brain structure

SOX2 Co-Occupies Distal Enhancer Elements with Distinct POU Factors in ESCs and NPCs to Specify Cell State

SOX2 is a master regulator of both pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and multipotent neural progenitor cells (NPCs); however, we currently lack a detailed understanding of how SOX2 controls these distinct stem cell populations. Here we show by genome-wide analysis that, while SOX2 bound to a distinct set of gene promoters in ESCs and NPCs, the majority of regions coincided with unique distal enhancer elements, important cis-acting regulators of tissue-specific gene expression programs. Notably, SOX2 bound the same consensus DNA motif in both cell types, suggesting that additional factors contribute to target specificity. We found that, similar to its association with OCT4 (Pou5f1) in ESCs, the related POU family member BRN2 (Pou3f2) co-occupied a large set of putative distal enhancers with SOX2 in NPCs. Forced expression of BRN2 in ESCs led to functional recruitment of SOX2 to a subset of NPC-specific targets and to precocious differentiation toward a neural-like state. Further analysis of the bound sequences revealed differences in the distances of SOX and POU peaks in the two cell types and identified motifs for additional transcription factors. Together, these data suggest that SOX2 controls a larger network of genes than previously anticipated through binding of distal enhancers and that transitions in POU partner factors may control tissue-specific transcriptional programs. Our findings have important implications for understanding lineage specification and somatic cell reprogramming, where SOX2, OCT4, and BRN2 have been shown to be key factors

The application of vertical seismic profiling and cross-hole tomographic imaging for fracture characterization at Yucca Mountain

In order to obtain the necessary characterization for the storage of nuclear waste, much higher resolution of the features likely to affect the transport of radionuclides will be required than is normally achieved in conventional surface seismic reflection used in the exploration and characterization of petroleum and geothermal resources. Because fractures represent a significant mechanical anomaly seismic methods using are being investigated as a means to image and characterize the subsurface. Because of inherent limitations in applying the seismic methods solely from the surface, state-of-the-art borehole methods are being investigated to provide high resolution definition within the repository block. Therefore, Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) and cross-hole methods are being developed to obtain maximum resolution of the features that will possible affect the transport of fluids. Presented here will be the methods being developed, the strategy being pursued, and the rational for using VSP and crosshole methods at Yucca Mountain. The approach is intended to be an integrated method involving improvements in data acquisition, processing, and interpretation as well as improvements in the fundamental understanding of seismic wave propagation in fractured rock. 33 refs., 4 figs

Detailed kinematics, structure and recurrence of micro-seismicity inthe SAFOD target region

Large numbers of small earthquakes recorded over 2 decades and analyzed with advanced techniques are used to characterize the detailed kinematics, structure and recurrence interval scaling properties of micro-seismicity in a 4 4 km lateral and 6 km deep crustal volume encompassing the region of the SAFOD deep drilling experiment. The characterization reveals that the seismically active San Andreas fault in the vicinity of SAFOD’s repeating magnitude 2 target earthquakes is composed of two sub-parallel fault strands that are creeping at comparable rates and that one of the strands lies between the SAFOD drilling platform and SAFOD’s target events. In the region, 55% of the earthquakes are members of 52 characteristically repeating earthquake sequences. The recurrence intervals of the repeating target events are consistent with the interval scaling of the other sequences. However this scaling is contrary to that expected from standard constant stress-drop theory