Paleoseismic events and ages revealed by the Lianhuashan trench in the western section of the Tuyouqi of the Daqingshan piedmont fault

Daqingshan piedmont fault is located in the northern margin of Hetao basin and has been active strongly since the Late Quaternary. Previous researchers had conducted extensive research on the characteristics of paleoseismic in this area, but limited by the dating techniques and the fact that there were fewer data available on the same fault profile that can effectively constrain paleoseismic events, and fewer profiles that can reveal more paleoseismic events. This paper explores the excavation of an paleoseismic trench on the east side of Lianhuashan in the western section of Tuyouqi of the Daqingshan piedmont fault, using Optically Stimulated Luminescence data, and combineing with the age data of previous exploration trenches. By using the fault successive limit method, it is found that the western section of the Tuyouqi fault has experienced five paleoseismic events approximately 11500 years ago, with an average recurrence interval of 2260 years. The five paleoseismic events in this section of the fault, from new to old, are 1.28 to 1.42 ka, 3.41 to 3.60 ka, 4.08 to 5.01 ka, 8.26 to 9.32 ka, and 10.70 to 11.30 ka, respectively. The latest event of activity should be the earthquake of 849 AD. Meanwhile, the trench exploration revealed that the fault in this section exhibits a normal fault nature, with an inclination angle between 58 and 77 degrees. According to empirical formula, the potential seismic capacity of the Baotou section, the western section of Tuyouqi, and the western section of Tuzuoqi are around MW6.8～7.1, MW6.8～7.1 and MW7.1～7.2, respectively. The magnitude obtained by the empirical formula in this paper is relatively small, and there may be cascade rupture. In the later stage, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the risk of the western section of Daqingshan piedmont fault combined with other means

The western extension of Xiahe fault in West Qinling：Discussion on seismogenic structure of Qinghai Zeku MS4.9 earthquake in 2017

The epicenter of the 2017 Qinghai Zeku MS4.9 earthquake was located near the SN-striking Riyueshan fault, while the focal mechanism solutions and the dominant arrangement of seismic sequence are inconsistent with the Riyueshan fault. In this paper, we have discovered EW- and NW-trending faults near the epicenter, by methods of remote sensing interpretation and field investigation. These faults are western terminal structures of Xiahe fault, in which the EW-trending faults are north-dipping and associated with kinematics including both left-lateral and vertical slip. Meanwhile, we use double differential positioning to relocate seismic sequences of Zeku MS4.9 earthquake. Results show that seismic arrangements consist of two segments striking NW and EW. The seismic profile crossing EW-striking segment indicates a north-dipping fault plane. Well consistence is found between Xiahe fault and seismic arrangements of Zeku MS4.9 earthquake, which leads us to the speculation that the seismogenic fault of Zeku earthquake is Xiahe fault. From a regional perspective, the Xiahe fault might be one strand of dissipating faults in the western end of the West Qinling fault, and the Zeku MS4.9 earthquake represents tectonic activity of the western end of the West Qinling fault. Besides，the northwestward turn of fault striking and reverse slipping of Xiahe fault might also be attributed to the right-lateral shearing effects of Riyueshan fault. Results of this paper highlight the significance of improving active fault traces, especially for the secondary or pre-existing faults in a tectonic active area

Properties and microstructure of alkali-activated red clay brick waste

Sintered red clay ceramic is used to produce hollow bricks which are manufactured in enormous quantities in Spain. They also constitute a major fraction of construction and demolition waste. The aim of this research was to investigate the properties and microstructure of alkali-activated cement pastes and mortars produced using red clay brick waste. The work shows that the type and concentration of alkali activator can be optimised to produce mortar samples with compressive strengths up to 50 MPa after curing for 7 days at 65 C. This demonstrates a new potential added value reuse application for this important waste material.The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for supporting this study through Project GEOCEDEM BIA 2011-26947, and to FEDER funding. They also thank the Institute for Science and Technology of Concrete - ICITECH, for providing the means to carry out this investigation; and Universitat Jaume I, for supporting this research through the research stay granted.Reig Cerdá, L.; Tashima, MM.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Cheeseman, C.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). Properties and microstructure of alkali-activated red clay brick waste. Construction and Building Materials. 43:98-106. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.01.031S981064

Terrestrial laser scanning in forest inventories

AbstractDecision making on forest resources relies on the precise information that is collected using inventory. There are many different kinds of forest inventory techniques that can be applied depending on the goal, scale, resources and the required accuracy. Most of the forest inventories are based on field sample. Therefore, the accuracy of the forest inventories depends on the quality and quantity of the field sample. Conventionally, field sample has been measured using simple tools. When map is required, remote sensing materials are needed. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) provides a measurement technique that can acquire millimeter-level of detail from the surrounding area, which allows rapid, automatic and periodical estimates of many important forest inventory attributes. It is expected that TLS will be operationally used in forest inventories as soon as the appropriate software becomes available, best practices become known and general knowledge of these findings becomes more wide spread. Meanwhile, mobile laser scanning, personal laser scanning, and image-based point clouds became capable of capturing similar terrestrial point cloud data as TLS. This paper reviews the advances of applying TLS in forest inventories, discusses its properties with reference to other related techniques and discusses the future prospects of this technique

Baseline correction for near-fault ground motion recordings of the 2008 Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake

In this study, both records of a digital accelerometer and a seismograph at a far-field station for the 2008 Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake were analyzed, and a pulsive noise model for acceleration record was found. By comparing with the result of a rotary-table tilt test, we concluded that the noises in the acceleration records were caused by ground tilt as a result of rotational ground motion. We analyzed the key noises that may cause baseline offset, and proposed a baseline-correction scheme for preserving the long-period ground motion in accordance with specific pulse positions. We then applied this correction method to some near-field strong-motion acceleration records. The result shows that this method can obtain near-field ground displacements, including permanent displacements, in agreement with GPS data, and that this method is more stable than other methods

Baseline correction for digital strong-motion records by using the pre-event portion

Baseline offset in digital strong-motion acceleration record and initial velocity can produce unrealistic results for ground velocity and displacement derived from the acceleration by integration. A new method is proposed for the baseline correction and initial velocity calculation. It is based on linear least-squares fitting of the pre-event portion of velocity derived from the uncorrected acceleration data. Compared with the conventional method, which is based on removing the mean values of the pre-event portions of the acceleration and velocity traces, this method has clearer physical meaning and better stability

Seismic hazard assessment of the Three Gorges Project

Seismic monitoring data for the past 50 years in the Three Gorges Reservoir area show that the reservoir head area is a typical weak seismic region with low seismicity before impoundment and that the epicenters were concentrated in the east and west sides of the Zigui Basin, most of which were natural tectonic earthquakes. After impoundment, the seismic activity shifted to the segment between Badong and Zigui along the Yangtze River, mainly within 5 km of the reservoir bank. The seismogenesis was categorized into four types; Karst collapse earthquakes, earthquakes caused by Karst gas explosion, mining tunnel collapse earthquakes, and rock (terrane) slip earthquakes, all of which are related to the lithology, structure, and tectonics of near-surface geological bodies of the area. Compared with the seismicity before impoundment, the seismic frequency increase was remarkable, with most of the magnitudes below Ms2. 0. Therefore, the intensity of the earthquakes remained at a low level. On November 22, 2008, a magnitude 4. 1 earthquake, the largest earthquake recorded since impoundment, occurred in Quyuan Town, Zigui County. The intensity and PGA of reservoir-induced earthquakes are higher than those of tectonic earthquakes with equal magnitude, but the peak intensity of reservoir-induced earthquakes is not likely to go beyond that of the estimated range from earlier studies

The origin of the Zhubumafic-ultramafic intrusion of the Emeishan large igneous province, SW China: Insights from volatile compositions and C-Hf-Sr-Nd isotopes

The Zhubu mafic-ultramafic intrusion of the Permian Emeishan large igneous province (LIP), SW China hosts a magmatic Ni, Cu and platinum-group element (PGE) deposit. It consists of a layered sequence with sub-horizontal modal layering wrapped by a sub-vertical marginal zone. Our new zircon U-Pb isotopic dating gives a mean age of 263.2 +/- 5.6 Ma for the layered sequence. The volatiles extracted from the mineral separates of the Zhubu intrusion are composed of predominant H2O (11,769.84 mm(3) . STP/g, STP-standard temperature and pressure) and minor H-2 and CO2. The layered sequence has lower H2O but higher H-2, CO2, H2S and SO2 contents than themarginal zone. The CO2 and CH4 extracted at 400-900 degrees C and 900-1200 degrees C have light delta(CCO2)-C-13 varying from 17.45% to-7.10% and delta(CCH4)-C-13 varying from - 41.35% to - 22.88%. The pyroxene separates have significantly lower (Sr-87/Sr-86)(i) values (0.705882 to 0.708912) and slightly higher e(Nd) (t= 263 Ma) values (-2.8 to 0.7) than the whole rocks. The epsilon(Hf) (t= 263 Ma) values of zircon crystals vary from-3.05 to+1.90. The chemical compositions of volatiles from the Zhubu intrusion indicate a slightly reduced condition and aH(2)O-rich parentalmagma. The C-Hf-Sr-Nd isotopes for the Zhubu intrusion are consistent with similar to 15 wt% assimilation of the upper crust by a mantle-derived magma. The carbon isotopes indicate that a thermogenic component from sedimentary organic materials was present in the contaminated magma. A weak positive correlation between volatile and PGE contents, together with the C-Hf-Sr-Nd isotopes, indicates that sulfide saturation in the Zhubu magmawas triggered by crustal contamination including the addition of volatiles. (C) 2017 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved