Off-fault damage and acoustic emission distributions during the evolution of structurally complex faults over series of stick-slip events

Variations in fault structure, for example, surface roughness and deformation zone width, influence the location and dynamics of large earthquakes as well as the distribution of small seismic events. In nature, changes in fault roughness and seismicity characteristics can rarely be studied simultaneously, so that little is known about their interaction and evolution. Here, we investigate the connection between fault structure and near-fault distributions of seismic events over series of stick-slip cycles in the laboratory. We conducted a set of experiments on rough faults that developed from incipient fracture surfaces. We monitored stress and seismic activity which occurred in the form of acoustic emissions (AEs). We determined AE density distributions as a function of fault normal distance based on high-accuracy hypocentre locations during subsequent interslip periods. The characteristics of these distributions were closely connected to different structural units of the faults, that is, the fault core, off-fault and background damage zone. The core deformation zone was characterized by consistently high seismic activity, whereas the off-fault damage zone displayed a power-law decay of seismic activity with increasing distance from the fault core. The exponents of the power-law-distributed off-fault activity increased with successive stick-slip events so that later interslip periods showed a more rapid spatial decay of seismic activity from the fault. The increase in exponents was strongest during the first one to three interslip periods and reached approximately constant values thereafter. The relatively rapid spatial decay of AE events during later interslip periods is likely an expression of decreasing fault zone complexity and roughness. Our results indicate a close relationship between fault structure, stress and seismic off-fault activity. A more extensive mapping of seismic off-fault activity-decay has the potential to significantly advance the understanding of fault zone properties including variations in fault roughness and stress

Impact of irrigation scheduling practices on pesticide leaching at a regional level

A modelling approach was used to evaluate the scheduling practices of local farmers and two other irrigation scheduling practices for their potential impact on groundwater pollution in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USA. The irrigation scheduling practices were: tensiometer-based with the tensiometers placed at 50 or 75% of the root-zone depth and irrigations started when tensiometer readings reached 6 kPa for sandy soils, 23 kPa for sandy loam soils, 44 kPa for loamy soils, and 74 kPa for clay loam soils; and at 50% plant available water depletion (PAWD) level regardless of soil type. The objective was to use irrigation scheduling model IRRSCHM, a volume balance, mixing-cell, type irrigation scheduling and pesticide transport model, to assess and compare the impact of different irrigation scheduling practices on cyanazine and metolachlor concentrations at 180 cm below the soil surface during a 30-year cropping sequence. The region was divided into different soil textural classes to facilitate rapid estimation of soil parameters needed for the model. Very low pesticide concentrations were predicted at 180 cm below the soil surface. However, the predicted pesticide concentrations increased as soil sand fractions increased, regardless of the irrigation scheduling practice. The tensiometer based irrigation scheduling resulted in the highest pesticide concentrations. The lowest concentrations were predicted under the farmer's practices due to deficit irrigation. Dual concentrations at 180 cm depth of the sandy soil class were ~20 times less than the Health Advisory Level under the tensiometer-based irrigation scheduling practices, while the farmer's practices resulted in metolachlor concentrations ~625 times less than the Health Advisory Level. Similarly, the predicted cyanazine concentration in sandy soil class was 3125 times less than the Health Advisory Level under the tensiometer-based irrigation scheduling and ~416 000 times less than the Health Advisory Level under farmer's practices. Simulation results suggested that current farmer's practices do not pose a threat to the area's groundwater quality and result in a 15-40% leaching fraction depending on soil type. Tensiometer-based irrigation scheduling was similar to scheduling irrigations at 50% plant available water depletion and resulted in a 35-50% leaching fraction depending on soil type as long as the tensiometer was placed in the proper root zone depth. The model's calculated leaching fractions using farmer's practices were similar to measured leaching fractions in Doña Ana County, giving credibility to the use of simulation models for assessing and comparing the potential impact of different irrigation scheduling practices on environmental quality at a regional level

What is the relationship between photospheric flow fields and solar flares?

We estimated photospheric velocities by separately applying the Fourier Local Correlation Tracking (FLCT) and Differential Affine Velocity Estimator (DAVE) methods to 2708 co-registered pairs of SOHO/MDI magnetograms, with nominal 96-minute cadence and ~2" pixels, from 46 active regions (ARs) from 1996-1998 over the time interval t45 when each AR was within 45^o of disk center. For each magnetogram pair, we computed the average estimated radial magnetic field, B; and each tracking method produced an independently estimated flow field, u. We then quantitatively characterized these magnetic and flow fields by computing several extensive and intensive properties of each; extensive properties scale with AR size, while intensive properties do not depend directly on AR size. Intensive flow properties included moments of speeds, horizontal divergences, and radial curls; extensive flow properties included sums of these properties over each AR, and a crude proxy for the ideal Poynting flux, the total |u| B^2. Several magnetic quantities were also computed, including: total unsigned flux; a measure of the amount of unsigned flux near strong-field polarity inversion lines, R; and the total B^2. Next, using correlation and discriminant analysis, we investigated the associations between these properties and flares from the GOES flare catalog, when averaged over both t45 and shorter time windows, of 6 and 24 hours. We found R and total |u| B^2 to be most strongly associated with flares; no intensive flow properties were strongly associated with flares.Comment: 57 pages, 13 figures; revised content; added URL to manuscript with higher-quality image

Two-Dimensional Spectroscopy of Photospheric Shear Flows in a Small delta Spot

In recent high-resolution observations of complex active regions, long-lasting and well-defined regions of strong flows were identified in major flares and associated with bright kernels of visible, near-infrared, and X-ray radiation. These flows, which occurred in the proximity of the magnetic neutral line, significantly contributed to the generation of magnetic shear. Signatures of these shear flows are strongly curved penumbral filaments, which are almost tangential to sunspot umbrae rather than exhibiting the typical radial filamentary structure. Solar active region NOAA 10756 was a moderately complex, beta-delta sunspot group, which provided an opportunity to extend previous studies of such shear flows to quieter settings. We conclude that shear flows are a common phenomenon in complex active regions and delta spots. However, they are not necessarily a prerequisite condition for flaring. Indeed, in the present observations, the photospheric shear flows along the magnetic neutral line are not related to any change of the local magnetic shear. We present high-resolution observations of NOAA 10756 obtained with the 65-cm vacuum reflector at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). Time series of speckle-reconstructed white-light images and two-dimensional spectroscopic data were combined to study the temporal evolution of the three-dimensional vector flow field in the beta-delta sunspot group. An hour-long data set of consistent high quality was obtained, which had a cadence of better than 30 seconds and sub-arcsecond spatial resolution.Comment: 23 pages, 6 gray-scale figures, 4 color figures, 2 tables, submitted to Solar Physic

Evolution and Flare Activity of Delta-Sunspots in Cycle 23

The emergence and magnetic evolution of solar active regions (ARs) of beta-gamma-delta type, which are known to be highly flare-productive, were studied with the SOHO/MDI data in Cycle 23. We selected 31 ARs that can be observed from their birth phase, as unbiased samples for our study. From the analysis of the magnetic topology (twist and writhe), we obtained the following results. i) Emerging beta-gamma-delta ARs can be classified into three topological types as "quasi-beta", "writhed" and "top-to-top". ii) Among them, the "writhed" and "top-to-top" types tend to show high flare activity. iii) As the signs of twist and writhe agree with each other in most cases of the "writhed" type (12 cases out of 13), we propose a magnetic model in which the emerging flux regions in a beta-gamma-delta AR are not separated but united as a single structure below the solar surface. iv) Almost all the "writhed"-type ARs have downward knotted structures in the mid portion of the magnetic flux tube. This, we believe, is the essential property of beta-gamma-delta ARs. v) The flare activity of beta-gamma-delta ARs is highly correlated not only with the sunspot area but also with the magnetic complexity. vi) We suggest that there is a possible scaling-law between the flare index and the maximum umbral area

Rupture by damage accumulation in rocks

The deformation of rocks is associated with microcracks nucleation and propagation, i.e. damage. The accumulation of damage and its spatial localization lead to the creation of a macroscale discontinuity, so-called "fault" in geological terms, and to the failure of the material, i.e. a dramatic decrease of the mechanical properties as strength and modulus. The damage process can be studied both statically by direct observation of thin sections and dynamically by recording acoustic waves emitted by crack propagation (acoustic emission). Here we first review such observations concerning geological objects over scales ranging from the laboratory sample scale (dm) to seismically active faults (km), including cliffs and rock masses (Dm, hm). These observations reveal complex patterns in both space (fractal properties of damage structures as roughness and gouge), time (clustering, particular trends when the failure approaches) and energy domains (power-law distributions of energy release bursts). We use a numerical model based on progressive damage within an elastic interaction framework which allows us to simulate these observations. This study shows that the failure in rocks can be the result of damage accumulation