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B.R. Julian

Publications and source records attributed to B.R. Julian.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1999

Present-day deformation across the Basin and Range Province, western United States

The distribution of deformation within the Basin and Range province was determined from 1992, 1996, and 1998 surveys of a dense, 800-kilometer- aperture, Global Positioning System network, Internal deformation generally follows the pattern of Holocene fault distribution and is concentrated near the western extremity of the province, with lesser amounts focused near the eastern boundary. Little net deformation occurs across the central 500 kilometers of the network in western Utah and eastern Nevada. Concentration of deformation adjacent to the rigid Sierra Nevada block indicates that external plate-driving forces play an important role in driving deformation, modulating the extensional stress field generated by internal buoyancy forces that are due to lateral density gradients and topography near the province boundaries.

Science↗
USGS1999

Source processes of industrially-induced earthquakes at the Geysers geothermal area, California

Microearthquake activity at The Geysers geothermal area, California, mirrors the steam production rate, suggesting that the earthquakes are industrially induced. A 15-station network of digital, three-component seismic stations was operated for one month in 1991, and 3,900 earthquakes were recorded. Highly-accurate moment tensors were derived for 30 of the best recorded earthquakes by tracing rays through tomographically derived 3-D VP and VP / VS structures, and inverting P-and S-wave polarities and amplitude ratios. The orientations of the P-and T-axes are very scattered, suggesting that there is no strong, systematic deviatoric stress field in the reservoir, which could explain why the earthquakes are not large. Most of the events had significant non-double-couple (non-DC) components in their source mechanisms with volumetric components up to ???30% of the total moment. Explosive and implosive sources were observed in approximately equal numbers, and must be caused by cavity creation (or expansion) and collapse. It is likely that there is a causal relationship between these processes and fluid reinjection and steam withdrawal. Compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) components were up to 100% of the deviatoric component. Combinations of opening cracks and shear faults cannot explain all the observations, and rapid fluid flow may also be involved. The pattern of non-DC failure at The Geysers contrasts with that of the Hengill-Grensdalur area in Iceland, a largely unexploited water-dominated field in an extensional stress regime. These differences are poorly understood but may be linked to the contrasting regional stress regimes and the industrial exploitation at The Geysers.

Geophysics↗
USGS1998

Non-double-couple earthquakes. 1. Theory

Historically, most quantitative seismological analyses have been based on the assumption that earthquakes are caused by shear faulting, for which the equivalent force system in an isotropic medium is a pair of force couples with no net torque (a “double couple,” or DC). Observations of increasing quality and coverage, however, now resolve departures from the DC model for many earthquakes and find some earthquakes, especially in volcanic and geothermal areas, that have strongly non-DC mechanisms. Understanding non-DC earthquakes is important both for studying the process of faulting in detail and for identifying nonshear-faulting processes that apparently occur in some earthquakes. This paper summarizes the theory of “moment tensor” expansions of equivalent-force systems and analyzes many possible physical non-DC earthquake processes. Contrary to long-standing assumption, sources within the Earth can sometimes have net force and torque components, described by first-rank and asymmetric second-rank moment tensors, which must be included in analyses of landslides and some volcanic phenomena. Non-DC processes that lead to conventional (symmetric second-rank) moment tensors include geometrically complex shear faulting, tensile faulting, shear faulting in an anisotropic medium, shear faulting in a heterogeneous region (e.g., near an interface), and polymorphic phase transformations. Undoubtedly, many non-DC earthquake processes remain to be discovered. Progress will be facilitated by experimental studies that use wave amplitudes, amplitude ratios, and complete waveforms in addition to wave polarities and thus avoid arbitrary assumptions such as the absence of volume changes or the temporal similarity of different moment tensor components.

Reviews of Geophysics↗
USGS1998

Non-double-couple earthquakes 2. Observations

Most studies assume that earthquakes have double-couple (DC) source mechanisms, corresponding to shear motion on planar faults. However, many well-recorded earthquakes have radiation patterns that depart radically from this model, indicating fundamentally different source processes. Seismic waves excited by advective processes, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions, are consistent with net forces rather than DCs. Some volcanic earthquakes also have single-force mechanisms, probably because of advection of magmatic fluids. Other volcanic earthquakes have mechanisms close to compensated linear vector dipoles and may be caused by magmatic intrusions. Shallow earthquakes in volcanic or geothermal areas and mines often have mechanisms with isotropic components, indicating volume changes of either explosive or implosive polarity. Such mechanisms are consistent with failure involving both shear and tensile faulting, which may be facilitated by high-pressure, high-temperature fluids. In mines, tunnels are cavities that may close. Deep-focus earthquakes occur within zones of polymorphic phase transformations in the upper mantle at depths where stick-slip instability cannot occur. Their mechanisms tend to be deviatoric (volume conserving), but non-DC, and their source processes are poorly understood. Automatic global moment tensor services routinely report statistically significant non-DC components for large earthquakes, but detailed reexamination of individual events is required to confirm such results.

Reviews of Geophysics↗
USGS1998

Three-dimensional seismic structure and moment tensors of non-double-couple earthquakes at the Hengill-Grensdalur volcanic complex, Iceland

The volcanic and geothermal areas of Iceland are rich sources of non-double-couple (non-DC) earthquakes. A state-of-the-art digital seismometer network deployed at the Hengill–Grensdalur volcanic complex in 1991 recorded 4000 small earthquakes. We used the best recorded of these to determine 3-D V P and V P /V S structure tomographically and accurate earthquake moment tensors. The V P field is dominated by high seismic wave speed bodies interpreted as solidified intrusions. A widespread negative (−4 per cent) V P /V S anomaly in the upper 4km correlates with the geothermal field, but is too strong to be caused solely by the effect of temperature upon liquid water or the presence of vapour, and requires in addition mineralogical or lithological differences between the geothermal reservoir and its surroundings. These may be caused by geothermal alteration. Well-constrained moment tensors were obtained for 70 of the best-recorded events by applying linear programming methods to P - and S -wave polarities and amplitude ratios. About 25 per cent of the mechanisms are, within observational error, consistent with DC mechanisms consistent with shear faulting. The other 75 per cent have significantly non-DC mechanisms. Many have substantial explosive components, one has a substantial implosive component, and the deviatoric component of many is strongly non-DC. Many of the non-DC mechanisms are consistent, within observational error, with simultaneous tensile and shear faulting. However, the mechanisms occupy a continuum in source-type parameter space and probably at least one additional source process is occurring. This may be fluid flow into newly formed cracks, causing partial compensation of the volumetric component. Studying non-shear earthquakes such as these has great potential for improving our understanding of geothermal processes and earthquake source processes in general.

Geophysical Journal International↗
USGS1998

Seismic image of a CO2 reservoir beneath a seismically active volcano

Mammoth Mountain is a seismically active volcano 200 000 to 50 000 years old, situated on the southwestern rim of Long Valley caldera, California. Since 1989 it has shown evidence of unrest in the form of earthquake swarms (Hill et al. 1990), volcanic ‘long-period’ earthquakes (Pitt & Hill 1994), increased output of magmatic 3 He (Sorey et al. 1993) and the emission of about 500 tonnes day −1 of CO 2 (Farrar et al. 1995; Hill 1996; M. Sorey, personal communication, 1997), which has killed trees and poses a threat to human safety. Local-earthquake tomography shows that in mid-1989 areas of subsequent tree-kill were underlain by extensive regions where the ratio of the compressional and shear elastic-wave speeds V P /V S was about 9 per cent lower than in the surrounding rocks. Theory (Mavko & Mukerji 1995), experiment (Ito, DeVilbiss & Nur 1979), and experience at other geothermal/volcanic areas (Julian et al. 1996) and at petroleum reservoirs (Harris et al. 1996) indicate that V P /V S is sensitive to pore-fluid compressibility, through its effect on V P . The observed V P /V S anomaly is probably caused directly by CO 2 , and seismic V P /V S tomography is thus a promising tool for monitoring gas concentration and movement in volcanoes, which may in turn be related to volcanic activity.

Geophysical Journal International↗
USGS1997

Industrially induced changes in Earth structure at the geysers geothermal area, California

Industrial exploitation is causing clearly-measurable changes in Earth structure at The Geysers geothermal area, California. Production at The Geysers peaked in the late 1980s at ∼3.5 × 10³ kg s −1 of steam and 1800 MW of electricity. It subsequently decreased by about 10% per year [ Barker et al. , 1992] because of declining reservoir pressure. The steam reservoir coincides with a strong negative anomaly (∼0.16, ∼9%) in the compressional-to-shear seismic wave speed ratio V P / V S , consistent with the expected effects of low-pressure vapor-phase pore fluid [ Julian et al. , 1996]. Between 1991 and 1994 this anomaly increased in amplitude by up to about 0.07 (∼4%). This is consistent with the expected effects of continued pressure reduction and conversion of pore water to steam as a result of exploitation. These unique results show that V P / V S tomography can easily detect saturation changes caused by exploitation of reservoirs, and is a potentially valuable technique for monitoring environmental change. They also provide geophysical observational evidence that geothermal energy is not a renewable energy source.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS1997

Non-double-couple earthquake mechanisms at the Hengill-Grensdalur volcanic complex, southwest Iceland

The Hengill-Grensdalur area in Iceland generates frequent small non-double-couple earthquakes with explosive volumetric components. We collected high quality three-component digital recordings of 4,000 earthquakes on a purpose-designed, 32-station network in 1991, and determined focal mechanisms for 100 of the best-recorded earthquakes by inverting amplitude ratios. Many of the mechanisms are consistent, within the errors, with simultaneous shear and tensile faulting, with tensile faults parallel to the local spreading ridge, and shear faulting similar to that in the South Iceland transform-fault zone. Some events cannot be explained by this model, however, and require other processes, such as crack closing and partial compensation of tensile cracks by fluid flow.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS1996

Earthquake mechanisms from linear-programming inversion of seismic-wave amplitude ratios

The amplitudes of radiated seismic waves contain far more information about earthquake source mechanisms than do first-motion polarities, but amplitudes are severely distorted by the effects of heterogeneity in the Earth. This distortion can be reduced greatly by using the ratios of amplitudes of appropriately chosen seismic phases, rather than simple amplitudes, but existing methods for inverting amplitude ratios are severely nonlinear and require computationally intensive searching methods to ensure that solutions are globally optimal. Searching methods are particularly costly if general (moment tensor) mechanisms are allowed. Efficient linear-programming methods, which do not suffer from these problems, have previously been applied to inverting polarities and wave amplitudes. We extend these methods to amplitude ratios, in which formulation on inequality constraint for an amplitude ratio takes the same mathematical form as a polarity observation. Three-component digital data for an earthquake at the Hengill-Grensdalur geothermal area in southwestern Iceland illustrate the power of the method. Polarities of P , SH , and SV waves, unusually well distributed on the focal sphere, cannot distinguish between diverse mechanisms, including a double couple. Amplitude ratios, on the other hand, clearly rule out the double-couple solution and require a large explosive isotropic component.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS1996

Non-double-couple earthquake mechanisms at the Geysers geothermal area, California

Inverting P- and S-wave polarities and P:SH amplitude ratios using linear programming methods suggests that about 20% of earthquakes at The Geysers geothermal area have significantly non-double-couple focal mechanisms, with explosive volumetric components as large as 33% of the seismic moment. This conclusion contrasts with those of earlier studies, which interpreted data in terms of double couples. The non-double-couple mechanisms are consistent with combined shear and tensile faulting, possibly caused by industrial water injection. Implosive mechanisms, which might be expected because of rapid steam withdrawal, have not been found. Significant compensated-linear-vector-dipole (CLVD) components in some mechanisms may indicate rapid fluid flow accompanying crack opening. Copyright 1996 by the American Geophysical Union.

California↗
USGS1996

Three-dimensional seismic image of a geothermal reservoir: The Geysers, California

Three-dimensional seismic travel-time tomography of The Geysers geothermal area, in the coast ranges of northern California, shows a strong (−9%) anomaly in V P /V S , the ratio of the compressional and shear wave speeds, that is not evident in V P alone and corresponds closely to the most intensively exploited part of the geothermal reservoir. This anomaly probably indicates low pore pressure and relatively dry conditions, caused partly by boiling of pore water as steam is extracted. Steam pressure decreases over the last decade have probably caused seismologically measurable changes in wave speeds. Tomographic measurement of V P /V S is a promising technique both for identifying geothermal resources and for monitoring them during exploitation.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS1996

Crustal shear-wave splitting from local earthquakes in the Hengill triple junction, southwest Iceland

The Hengill region in SW Iceland is an unstable ridge-ridge-transform triple junction between an active and a waning segment of the mid-Atlantic spreading center and a transform that is transgressing southward. The triple junction contains active and extinct spreading segments and a widespread geothermal area. We evaluated shear-wave birefringence for locally recorded upper-crustal earthquakes using an array of 30 three-component digital seismographs. Fast-polarization directions, ϕ, are mostly NE to NNE, subparallel to the spreading axis and probably caused by fissures and microcracks related to spreading. However, there is significant variability in ϕ throughout the array. The lag from fast to slow S is not proportional to earthquake depth (ray length), being scattered at all depths. The average wave-speed difference between qS1 and qS2 in the upper 2–5 km of the crust is 2–5%. Our results suggest considerable heterogeneity or strong S scattering.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS1993

Three dimensional images of geothermal systems: local earthquake P-wave velocity tomography at the Hengill and Krafla geothermal areas, Iceland, and The Geysers, California

Local earthquake tomography - the use of earthquake signals to form a 3-dimensional structural image - is now a mature geophysical analysis method, particularly suited to the study of geothermal reservoirs, which are often seismically active and severely laterally inhomogeneous. Studies have been conducted of the Hengill (Iceland), Krafla (Iceland) and The Geysers (California) geothermal areas. All three systems are exploited for electricity and/or heat production, and all are highly seismically active. Tomographic studies of volumes a few km in dimension were conducted for each area using the method of Thurber (1983).

Conference Paper↗
USGS1993

Non-shear focal mechanisms of earthquakes at The Geysers, California and Hengill, Iceland, geothermal areas

Several thousand earthquakes were recorded in each area. We report an initial investigation of the focal mechanisms based on P-wave polarities. Distortion by complicated three-dimensional crustal structure was minimized using tomographically derived three-dimensional crustal models. Events with explosive and implosive source mechanisms, suggesting cavity opening and collapse, have been tentatively identified at The Geysers. The new data show that some of these events do not fit the model of tensile cracking accompanied by isotropic pore pressure decreases that was suggested in earlier studies, but that they may instead involve combination of explosive and shear processes. However, the confirmation of earthquakes dominated by explosive components supports the model that the event are caused by crack opening induced by thermal contraction of the heat source.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1992

Post-rifting stress relaxation at the divergent plate boundary in northeast Iceland

Interaction of the elastic lithosphere with the underlying anelastic asthenosphere causes strain to propagate along the Earth's surface in a diffusion-like manner following tectonism at plate boundaries. This process transfers stress between adjacent tectonic segments and influences the temporal tectonic pattern along a plate boundary. Observations of such strain transients have been rare, and have hitherto been confined to strike-slip and underthrusting plate boundaries 1 . Here we report the observation of a strain transient at the divergent (spreading) plate boundary in Iceland. A Global Positioning System survey undertaken a decade after an episode of dyke intrusion accompanying several metres of crustal spreading reveals a spatially varying strain field with the expected diffusion-pulse shape and an amplitude three times greater than the 5.7 cm that would be expected from the average spreading rate 2 . A simple one-dimensional model with a thin elastic layer overlying a viscous layer fits the data well and yields a stress diffusivity of 1.1 á±0.3 m 2 s −1 . Combined with struc-tural information from magnetotelluric measurements, this implies a viscosity of 0.3−2 × 10 19 Pa s—a value comparable to that derived for Iceland from post-glacial rebound 23 , but low compared with estimates for mantle viscosity obtained elsewhere 3 .

Nature↗
USGS1986

Analysing seismic-source mechanisms by linear-programming methods.

Linear-programming methods are powerful and efficient tools for objectively analysing seismic focal mechanisms and are applicable to a wide range of problems, including tsunami warning and nuclear explosion identification. The source mechanism is represented as a point in the 6-D space of moment-tensor components. The present method can easily be extended to fit observed seismic-wave amplitudes (either signed or absolute) subject to polarity constraints, and to assess the range of mechanisms consistent with a set of measured amplitudes. -from Author

Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Soci↗