Electron plasma oscillations in the Venus foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crawford, G.K.; Strangeway, R.J.; Russell, C.T.

1990-01-01

Plasma waves are observed in the solar wind upstream of the Venus bow shock by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. These wave signatures occur during periods when the interplanetary magnetic field through the spacecraft position intersects the bow shock, thereby placing the spacecraft in the foreshock region. The electron foreshock boundary is clearly evident in the data as a sharp onset in wave activity and a peak in intensity. Wave intensity is seen to drop rapidly with increasing penetration into the foreshock. The peak wave electric field strength at the electron foreshock boundary is found to be similar to terrestrial observations. A normalized wave spectrum was constructed using measurements of the electron plasma frequency and the spectrum was found to be centered about this value. These results, along with polarization studies showing the wave electric field to be field aligned, are consistent with the interpretation of the waves as electron plasma oscillations

Foreshock Langmuir Waves for Unusually Constant Solar Wind Conditions: Data and Implications for Foreshock Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.; Anderson, Roger R.; Strangeway, R. J.

1997-01-01

Plasma wave data are compared with ISEE 1's position in the electron foreshock for an interval with unusually constant (but otherwise typical) solar wind magnetic field and plasma characteristics. For this period, temporal variations in the wave characteristics can be confidently separated from sweeping of the spatially varying foreshock back and forth across the spacecraft. The spacecraft's location, particularly the coordinate D(sub f) downstream from the foreshock boundary (often termed DIFF), is calculated by using three shock models and the observed solar wind magnetometer and plasma data. Scatterplots of the wave field versus D(sub f) are used to constrain viable shock models, to investigate the observed scatter in the wave fields at constant D(sub f), and to test the theoretical predictions of linear instability theory. The scatterplots confirm the abrupt onset of the foreshock waves near the upstream boundary, the narrow width in D(sub f) of the region with high fields, and the relatively slow falloff of the fields at large D(sub f), as seen in earlier studies, but with much smaller statistical scatter. The plots also show an offset of the high-field region from the foreshock boundary. It is shown that an adaptive, time-varying shock model with no free parameters, determined by the observed solar wind data and published shock crossings, is viable but that two alternative models are not. Foreshock wave studies can therefore remotely constrain the bow shock's location. The observed scatter in wave field at constant D(sub f) is shown to be real and to correspond to real temporal variations, not to unresolved changes in D(sub f). By comparing the wave data with a linear instability theory based on a published model for the electron beam it is found that the theory can account qualitatively and semiquantitatively for the abrupt onset of the waves near D(sub f) = 0, for the narrow width and offset of the high-field region, and for the decrease in wave intensity

MESSENGER Observations of ULF Waves in Mercury's Foreshock Region

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Guan; Chi, Peter J.; Bardsen, Scott; Blanco-Cano, Xochitl; Slavin, James A.; Korth, Haje

2012-01-01

The region upstream from a planetary bow shock is a natural plasma laboratory containing a variety of wave particle phenomena. The study of foreshocks other than the Earth s is important for extending our understanding of collisionless shocks and foreshock physics since the bow shock strength varies with heliocentric distance from the Sun, and the sizes of the bow shocks are different at different planets. The Mercury s bow shock is unique in our solar system as it is produced by low Mach number solar wind blowing over a small magnetized body with a predominately radial interplanetary magnetic field. Previous observations of Mercury upstream ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves came exclusively from two Mercury flybys of Mariner 10. The MESSENGER orbiter data enable us to study of upstream waves in the Mercury s foreshock in depth. This paper reports an overview of upstream ULF waves in the Mercury s foreshock using high-time resolution magnetic field data, 20 samples per second, from the MESSENGER spacecraft. The most common foreshock waves have frequencies near 2 Hz, with properties similar to the 1-Hz waves in the Earth s foreshock. They are present in both the flyby data and in every orbit of the orbital data we have surveyed. The most common wave phenomenon in the Earth s foreshock is the large-amplitude 30-s waves, but similar waves at Mercury have frequencies at 0.1 Hz and occur only sporadically with short durations (a few wave cycles). Superposed on the "30-s" waves, there are spectral peaks at 0.6 Hz, not reported previously in Mariner 10 data. We will discuss wave properties and their occurrence characteristics in this paper.

Spatio-temporal foreshock activity during stick-slip experiments of large rock samples

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujimura, Y.; Kawakata, H.; Fukuyama, E.; Yamashita, F.; Xu, S.; Mizoguchi, K.; Takizawa, S.; Hirano, S.

2016-12-01

Foreshock activity has sometimes been reported for large earthquakes, and has been roughly classified into the following two classes. For shallow intraplate earthquakes, foreshocks occurred in the vicinity of the mainshock hypocenter (e.g., Doi and Kawakata, 2012; 2013). And for intraplate subduction earthquakes, foreshock hypocenters migrated toward the mainshock hypocenter (Kato, et al., 2012; Yagi et al., 2014). To understand how foreshocks occur, it is useful to investigate the spatio-temporal activities of foreshocks in the laboratory experiments under controlled conditions. We have conducted stick-slip experiments by using a large-scale biaxial friction apparatus at NIED in Japan (e.g., Fukuyama et al., 2014). Our previous results showed that stick-slip events repeatedly occurred in a run, but only those later events were preceded by foreshocks. Kawakata et al. (2014) inferred that the gouge generated during the run was an important key for foreshock occurrence. In this study, we proceeded to carry out stick-slip experiments of large rock samples whose interface (fault plane) is 1.5 meter long and 0.5 meter wide. After some runs to generate fault gouge between the interface. In the current experiments, we investigated spatio-temporal activities of foreshocks. We detected foreshocks from waveform records of 3D array of piezo-electric sensors. Our new results showed that more than three foreshocks (typically about twenty) had occurred during each stick-slip event, in contrast to the few foreshocks observed during previous experiments without pre-existing gouge. Next, we estimated the hypocenter locations of the stick-slip events, and found that they were located near the opposite end to the loading point. In addition, we observed a migration of foreshock hypocenters toward the hypocenter of each stick-slip event. This suggests that the foreshock activity observed in our current experiments was similar to that for the interplate earthquakes in terms of the

On the upstream boundary of electron foreshocks in the solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimbardo, G.; Veltri, P.

1996-01-01

The backstreaming of electrons from planetary and interplanetary shocks creates foreshocks of fast particles propagating along the magnetic field. The effect of low frequency magnetic fluctuations is to create both a broadening and a fine structure of the foreshock upstream boundary. This is studied by means of a newly developed 3-D numerical simulation of turbulent magnetic fields. Applications to the Earth and to the termination shock electron foreshocks are done, and some implications on the observations of the spreading and of the bursty structure of the foreshocks are discussed

Foreshock patterns preceding large earthquakes in the subduction zone of Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Minadakis, George; Papadopoulos, Gerassimos A.

2016-04-01

Some of the largest earthquakes in the globe occur in the subduction zone of Chile. Therefore, it is of particular interest to investigate foreshock patterns preceding such earthquakes. Foreshocks in Chile were recognized as early as 1960. In fact, the giant (Mw9.5) earthquake of 22 May 1960, which was the largest ever instrumentally recorded, was preceded by 45 foreshocks in a time period of 33h before the mainshock, while 250 aftershocks were recorded in a 33h time period after the mainshock. Four foreshocks were bigger than magnitude 7.0, including a magnitude 7.9 on May 21 that caused severe damage in the Concepcion area. More recently, Brodsky and Lay (2014) and Bedford et al. (2015) reported on foreshock activity before the 1 April 2014 large earthquake (Mw8.2). However, 3-D foreshock patterns in space, time and size were not studied in depth so far. Since such studies require for good seismic catalogues to be available, we have investigated 3-D foreshock patterns only before the recent, very large mainshocks occurring on 27 February 2010 (Mw 8.8), 1 April 2014 (Mw8.2) and 16 September 2015 (Mw8.4). Although our analysis does not depend on a priori definition of short-term foreshocks, our interest focuses in the short-term time frame, that is in the last 5-6 months before the mainshock. The analysis of the 2014 event showed an excellent foreshock sequence consisting by an early-weak foreshock stage lasting for about 1.8 months and by a main-strong precursory foreshock stage that was evolved in the last 18 days before the mainshock. During the strong foreshock period the seismicity concentrated around the mainshock epicenter in a critical area of about 65 km mainly along the trench domain to the south of the mainshock epicenter. At the same time, the activity rate increased dramatically, the b-value dropped and the mean magnitude increased significantly, while the level of seismic energy released also increased. In view of these highly significant seismicity

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Billingham

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into the surrounding ambient solar wind plasma. Foreshock cavities exhibit depressions in magnetic field magnitude and thermal ion density, associated with enhanced fluxes of energetic ions. We find typical cavity duration to be few minutes with interior densities and magnetic field magnitudes dropping to ~60% of those in the surrounding solar wind. Cavities are found to occur preferentially in fast, moderate magnetic field strength solar wind streams. Cavities are observed in all parts of the Cluster orbit upstream of the bow shock. When localised in a coordinate system organised by the underlying physical processes in the foreshock, there is a systematic change in foreshock cavity location with IMF cone angle. At low (high cone angles foreshock cavities are observed outside (inside the expected upstream boundary of the intermediate ion foreshock.

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Billingham

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into the surrounding ambient solar wind plasma. Foreshock cavities exhibit depressions in magnetic field magnitude and thermal ion density, associated with enhanced fluxes of energetic ions. We find typical cavity duration to be few minutes with interior densities and magnetic field magnitudes dropping to ~60% of those in the surrounding solar wind. Cavities are found to occur preferentially in fast, moderate magnetic field strength solar wind streams. Cavities are observed in all parts of the Cluster orbit upstream of the bow shock. When localised in a coordinate system organised by the underlying physical processes in the foreshock, there is a systematic change in foreshock cavity location with IMF cone angle. At low (high cone angles foreshock cavities are observed outside (inside the expected upstream boundary of the intermediate ion foreshock.

Detailed observations of California foreshock sequences: Implications for the earthquake initiation process

Science.gov (United States)

Dodge, D.A.; Beroza, G.C.; Ellsworth, W.L.

1996-01-01

We find that foreshocks provide clear evidence for an extended nucleation process before some earthquakes. In this study, we examine in detail the evolution of six California foreshock sequences, the 1986 Mount Lewis (ML, = 5.5), the 1986 Chalfant (ML = 6.4), the. 1986 Stone Canyon (ML = 4.7), the 1990 Upland (ML = 5.2), the 1992 Joshua Tree (MW= 6.1), and the 1992 Landers (MW = 7.3) sequence. Typically, uncertainties in hypocentral parameters are too large to establish the geometry of foreshock sequences and hence to understand their evolution. However, the similarity of location and focal mechanisms for the events in these sequences leads to similar foreshock waveforms that we cross correlate to obtain extremely accurate relative locations. We use these results to identify small-scale fault zone structures that could influence nucleation and to determine the stress evolution leading up to the mainshock. In general, these foreshock sequences are not compatible with a cascading failure nucleation model in which the foreshocks all occur on a single fault plane and trigger the mainshock by static stress transfer. Instead, the foreshocks seem to concentrate near structural discontinuities in the fault and may themselves be a product of an aseismic nucleation process. Fault zone heterogeneity may also be important in controlling the number of foreshocks, i.e., the stronger the heterogeneity, the greater the number of foreshocks. The size of the nucleation region, as measured by the extent of the foreshock sequence, appears to scale with mainshock moment in the same manner as determined independently by measurements of the seismic nucleation phase. We also find evidence for slip localization as predicted by some models of earthquake nucleation. Copyright 1996 by the American Geophysical Union.

Compressional boundaries in the Earth's foreshock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rojas-Castillo, D.; Blanco-Cano, X. [Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Coyoacan (Mexico); Kajdic, P. [Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie, Toulouse (France); Omidi, N. [Solana Scientific Inc., Solana Beach, California (United States)

2013-06-13

The terrestrial foreshock is a highly dynamic region populated by particles, waves and non-linear structures such as shocklets, SLAMS, hot flow anomalies, cavities and cavitons. Recently a new structure named foreshock compressional boundary (FCB) was reported in global hybrid simulations by Omidi et al. (2009). This structure represents a transition region that separates the highly disturbed foreshock plasma from pristine solar wind or from the region of field-aligned ion beams. The FCB is associated with a strong compression of magnetic field and density. Besides the enhancements in the field and density, the FCB also shows a region where these two quantities decrease below the ambient solar wind (SW) values. Here, we study a FCB observed by Cluster-1. This FCB shows that although sometimes FCBs are transition regions between the pristine solar wind plasma and the foreshock plasma, in this case the FCB separates a region with large amplitude waves from regions with high frequency (f{approx}1.7 Hz) small amplitude waves. We analyze the FCB properties, ion distributions inside them, and the waves near the structure.

Foreshocks, aftershocks, and earthquake probabilities: Accounting for the landers earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Lucile M.

1994-01-01

The equation to determine the probability that an earthquake occurring near a major fault will be a foreshock to a mainshock on that fault is modified to include the case of aftershocks to a previous earthquake occurring near the fault. The addition of aftershocks to the background seismicity makes its less probable that an earthquake will be a foreshock, because nonforeshocks have become more common. As the aftershocks decay with time, the probability that an earthquake will be a foreshock increases. However, fault interactions between the first mainshock and the major fault can increase the long-term probability of a characteristic earthquake on that fault, which will, in turn, increase the probability that an event is a foreshock, compensating for the decrease caused by the aftershocks.

The debate on the prognostic value of earthquake foreshocks: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mignan, Arnaud

2014-02-14

The hypothesis that earthquake foreshocks have a prognostic value is challenged by simulations of the normal behaviour of seismicity, where no distinction between foreshocks, mainshocks and aftershocks can be made. In the former view, foreshocks are passive tracers of a tectonic preparatory process that yields the mainshock (i.e., loading by aseismic slip) while in the latter, a foreshock is any earthquake that triggers a larger one. Although both processes can coexist, earthquake prediction is plausible in the first case while virtually impossible in the second. Here I present a meta-analysis of 37 foreshock studies published between 1982 and 2013 to show that the justification of one hypothesis or the other depends on the selected magnitude interval between minimum foreshock magnitude m(min) and mainshock magnitude M. From this literature survey, anomalous foreshocks are found to emerge when m(min) < M - 3.0. These results suggest that a deviation from the normal behaviour of seismicity may be observed only when microseismicity is considered. These results are to be taken with caution since the 37 studies do not all show the same level of reliability. These observations should nonetheless encourage new research in earthquake predictability with focus on the potential role of microseismicity.

Statistical study of particle acceleration in the core of foreshock transients

OpenAIRE

Liu, Terry Z.; Angelopoulos, Vassilis; Hietala, Heli; Wilson III, Lynn B.

2017-01-01

Several types of foreshock transients upstream of Earth's bow shock possessing a tenuous, hot core have been observed and simulated. Because of the low dynamic pressure in their cores, these phenomena can significantly disturb the bow shock and the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Recent observations have also demonstrated that foreshock transients can accelerate particles which, when transported earthward, can affect space weather. Understanding the potential of foreshock transients to accel...

FORESHOCKS AND TIME-DEPENDENT EARTHQUAKE HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Lucile M.

1985-01-01

The probability that an earthquake in southern California (M greater than equivalent to 3. 0) will be followed by an earthquake of larger magnitude within 5 days and 10 km (i. e. , will be a foreshock) is 6 plus or minus 0. 5 per cent (1 S. D. ), and is not significantly dependent on the magnitude of the possible foreshock between M equals 3 and M equals 5. The probability that an earthquake will be followed by an M greater than equivalent to 5. 0 main shock, however, increases with magnitude of the foreshock from less than 1 per cent at M greater than equivalent to 3 to 6. 5 plus or minus 2. 5 per cent (1 S. D. ) at M greater than equivalent to 5. The main shock will most likely occur in the first hour after the foreshock, and the probability that a main shock will occur in the first hour decreases with elapsed time from the occurrence of the possible foreshock by approximately the inverse of time. Thus, the occurrence of an earthquake of M greater than equivalent to 3. 0 in southern California increases the earthquake hazard within a small space-time window several orders of magnitude above the normal background level.

Correlation of Foreshock Occurrence with Mainshock Depth, Rake, and Magnitude from the High Precision Catalog for Northern California

Science.gov (United States)

Schaff, D. P.; Waldhauser, F.; Lerner-Lam, A.

2010-12-01

Foreshocks are perhaps the best-documented and most undisputed precursors to some large earthquakes. The question remains, however, if foreshocks have any more predictive power for future mainshocks than any other earthquake. Several researchers argue for a single unifying triggering law for foreshocks, mainshocks, and aftershocks. An alternate model is that foreshocks are the byproduct of an aseismic pre-slip phase that scales with mainshock magnitude. In this case foreshocks are different than other earthquakes and have predictive value for the mainshock location, origin time, and magnitude. We examine 612 mainshocks with M ≥ 4 from the cross-correlation double-difference catalog for northern California. 235 (44%) of these had foreshock sequences, providing us with a data set more than an order of magnitude larger than those used in previous studies. We are able to confirm with improved accuracy correlations of foreshock occurrence and characteristics with depth. The proportion of mainshocks with associated foreshocks, the number of foreshocks in the sequence, the foreshock duration, and the foreshock radius in map view all decrease with increasing depth, all with statistical significance above 95%. This supports models where increasing normal stress due to lithostatic load inhibits foreshock occurrence. Other M ≥ 4 events that were classified as aftershocks of larger events did not show the depth dependence. However, our analysis does not confirm a previous observation that increased normal stress due to tectonic loading appears to inhibit foreshock occurrence. We observe a negative correlation of foreshock magnitude with foreshock duration which is consistent with a model of mainshocks triggered by increased pore pressure. We observe a statistically significant relationship between foreshock magnitude and mainshock magnitude, lending support to the pre-slip model.

The Downshift of Electron Plasma Oscillations in the Electron Foreshock Region.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-10-10

Ii D-Ai50 52 THE DOWNSHIFT OF ELECTRON PLASMA OSCILLATIONS IN THE i/1. ELECTRON FORESHOCK R.. (U) I0MM UNIV 10MM CITY DEPT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY 5...OSCILLATIONS 0 IN THE ELECTRON FORESHOCK REGION In by S. A. Fuselierl, D. A. Gurnett 1 , Ace NTI 0. and R. J. Fitzenreiter 2 DTI I ,3WERSflY o. 06UNDED ISAI...geleasel Ditibto Unlimited 02 1 16 U. of Iowa 84-21 THE DOWNSHIFT OF ELECTRON PLASMA OSCILLATIONSJ / IN THE ELECTRON FORESHOCK REGION t - by Z I S. A

Excitation of compressional waves and the formation of shocklets in the earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hada, T.; Kennel, C.F.; Teresawa, T.

1987-01-01

Large-amplitude waves with typical frequencies of 0.01--0.05 Hz are often observed in the foreshocks of earth and other planets. Large-amplitude waves in the earth's foreshock are sometimes (but not always) observed in a highly time-developed form, either as steepened pulses or as discrete oscillatory wave packets of finite length. This implies that nonlinearities are strong enough to modify their waveforms before the solar wind carries them out the foreshock. The instabilities and steepening of upstream waves in the earth's foreshock caused by backstreaming ions are discussed in the first part of the paper. For typical foreshock ''diffuse'' ion distributions, right and left-hand polarized(RHP and LHP) waves propagating parallel to the local magnetic field are preferentially excited. Such noncompressional waves neither steepen nor grow fast enough to account for the amplitude polarizations and waveforms observed in the diffuse ion foreshock. Oblique waves develop a density compression and their magnetic field polarization is elliptical. Although these characteristics match the observations of the steepened waves in the diffuse ion zone, the growth rates of those waves oblique enough to steepen are too small to account for observed amplitudes

Foreshocks and aftershocks in the Olami-Feder-Christensen model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hergarten, Stefan; Neugebauer, Horst J.

2002-01-01

With the help of numerical simulations we show that the established Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model exhibits sequences of foreshocks and aftershocks; this behavior has not been recognized in previous studies. Our results are consistent with Omori's empirical law, but the exponents predicted by the model are lower than observed in nature. The occurrence of foreshocks and aftershocks can be attributed to the nonconservative character of the Olami-Feder-Christensen model

On the upstream boundary of electron foreshocks in the solar wind

Science.gov (United States)

Zimbardo, G.; Veltri, P.

1995-01-01

The upstream boundary of electron foreshocks is defined as the path of the fastest electrons reflected by collisionless shocks and moving along the magnetic field in the solar wind. Considerable levels of magnetic fluctuations are found in these regions of the solar wind, and their effect is to create both a broadening and a fine structure of the electron foreshock boundary. The magnetic structure is studied by means of a 3-D numerical simulation of a turbulent magnetic field. Enhanced, anomalous diffusion is found, (Delta x(exp 2)) varies as s(sup alpha), where alpha is greater than 1 for typical values of the parameters (here, Delta x(exp 2) is the mean square width of the tangent magnetic surface and s is the field line length). This corresponds to a Levy flight regime for the magnetic field line random walk, and allows very efficient electron propagation perpendicular to the magnetic field. Implications on the observations of planetary foreshocks and of the termination shock foreshock are considered.

On the edge of the foreshock: model-data comparisons

OpenAIRE

D. G. Sibeck; N. Omidi; I. Dandouras; E. Lucek

2008-01-01

We present the results of a global hybrid code simulation for the solar wind-interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere during an interval of steady radial IMF. The model predicts a foreshock marked by innumerable localized, correlated, and large amplitude, density and magnetic field strength variations, depressed velocities, and enhanced temperatures. The foreshock is bounded by a broad (~0.8 R_E) region of enhanced densities, temperatures, and m...

Simulations relevant to the beam instability in the foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, I.H.; Nishikawa, K.I.

1989-01-01

Electrons backstreaming into Earth's foreshock generate waves near the plasma frequency f p by the beam instability. Tow versions of the beam instability exist: the reactive version, in which narrow-band waves grow by bunching the electrons in space, and the kinetic version, in which broadband growth occurs by a maser mechanism. Recently, it has been suggested that (1) the backstreaming electrons have steep-sided cutoff distributions which are initially unstable to the reactive instability, (2) the back reaction to the wave growth causes the instability to pass into its kinetic phase, and (3) the kinetic instability saturates by quasi-linear relaxation. In this paper the authors present two-dimensional simulations of the reactive instability for Maxwellian beams and cutoff distributions. They demonstrate that the reactive instability is a bunching instability and that the reactive instability saturates and passes over into the kinetic phase by particle trapping.A reactive/kinetic transition is shown to most likely occur within 1 km and 50 km of the bow shock. They suggest that the frequency of the intense narrow-band waves decrease from above f p to perhaps 0.9f p (dependent on the beam density) with increasing penetration into the high beam speed region of the foreshock, before the wave frequency rises again as the waves become broadband deeper in the foreshock. Both the simulation results and numerical solutions of the dispersion equation indicate that for the observed beam parameters the center frequency of the waves near the foreshock boundary should be between 0.9f p and 0.98f p , rather than above f p as previously believed. The simulation results indicate that the effects of spatial inhomogeneity are vital for a quantitative understanding of the foreshock waves

Foreshock search over a long duration using a method of setting appropriate criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Toyomoto, Y.; Kawakata, H.; Hirano, S.; Doi, I.

2016-12-01

Recently, small foreshocks have been detected using cross-correlation techniques (e.g., Bouchon et al., 2011) in which the foreshocks are identified when the cross-correlation coefficient (CC) exceeded a certain threshold. For some shallow intraplate earthquakes, foreshocks whose hypocenters were estimated to be adjacent to the main shock hypocenter were detected from several tens of minutes before the main shock occurrence (Doi and Kawakata, 2012; 2013). At least two problems remain in the cross-correlation techniques employed. First, previous studies on foreshocks used data whose durations are at most a month (Kato et al., 2013); this is insufficient to check if such events occurred only before the main shock occurrence or not. Second, CC is used for detection criteria without considering validity of the threshold. In this study, we search for foreshocks of an M 5.4 earthquake in central Nagano prefecture in Japan on June 30, 2011 with a vertical-component waveform at N.MWDH (Hi-net) station due to one of the cataloged foreshocks (M 1) as a template to calculate CC. We calculate CC between the template and continuous waveforms of the same component at the same station for two years before the main shock occurrence, and we try to overcome the problems mentioned above. We find that histogram of CC is well modeled with the normal distribution, which is similar to previous studies on tremors (e.g., Ohta and Ide, 2008). According to the model, the expected number of misdetection is less than 1 when CC > 0.63. Therefore, we regard that the waveform is due to a foreshock when CC > 0.63. As a result, foreshocks are detected only within thirteen hours immediately before the main shock occurrence for the two years. By setting an appropriate threshold, we conclude that foreshocks just before the main shock occurrence are not stationary events. Acknowledgments: We use continuous waveform records of NIED high sensitivity seismograph network in Japan (Hi-net) and the JMA

Evidence for transient, local ion foreshocks caused by dayside magnetopause reconnection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Pfau-Kempf

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We present a scenario resulting in time-dependent behaviour of the bow shock and transient, local ion reflection under unchanging solar wind conditions. Dayside magnetopause reconnection produces flux transfer events driving fast-mode wave fronts in the magnetosheath. These fronts push out the bow shock surface due to their increased downstream pressure. The resulting bow shock deformations lead to a configuration favourable to localized ion reflection and thus the formation of transient, travelling foreshock-like field-aligned ion beams. This is identified in two-dimensional global magnetospheric hybrid-Vlasov simulations of the Earth's magnetosphere performed using the Vlasiator model (http://vlasiator.fmi.fi. We also present observational data showing the occurrence of dayside reconnection and flux transfer events at the same time as Geotail observations of transient foreshock-like field-aligned ion beams. The spacecraft is located well upstream of the foreshock edge and the bow shock, during a steady southward interplanetary magnetic field and in the absence of any solar wind or interplanetary magnetic field perturbations. This indicates the formation of such localized ion foreshocks.

A study of the solar wind deceleration in the Earth's foreshock region

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, T.-L.; Schwingenschuh, K.; Russell, C. T.

1995-01-01

Previous observations have shown that the solar wind is decelerated and deflected in the earth's upstream region populated by long-period waves. This deceleration is corelated with the 'diffuse' but not with the 'reflected' ion population. The speed of the solar wind may decrease tens of km/s in the foreshock region. The solar wind dynamic pressure exerted on the magnetopause may vary due to the fluctuation of the solar wind speed and density in the foreshock region. In this study, we examine this solar wind deceleration and determine how the solar wind deceleration varies in the foreshock region.

Strong Evidence for Stochastic Growth of Langmuir-Like Waves in Earth's Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.

1999-01-01

Bursty Langmuir-like waves driven by electron beams in Earth's foreshock have properties which are inconsistent with the standard plasma physics paradigm of uniform exponential growth saturated by nonlinear processes. Here it is demonstrated for a specific period that stochastic growth theory (SGT) quantitatively describes these waves throughout a large fraction of the foreshock. The statistical wave properties are inconsistent with nonlinear processes or self-organized criticality being important. SGT's success in explaining the foreshock waves and type III solar bursts suggests that SGT is widely applicable to wave growth in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas.

Strong plasma turbulence in the earth's electron foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, P. A.; Newman, D. L.

1991-01-01

A quantitative model is developed to account for the distribution in magnitude and location of the intense plasma waves observed in the earth's electron foreshock given the observed rms levels of waves. In this model, nonlinear strong-turbulence effects cause solitonlike coherent wave packets to form and decouple from incoherent background beam-excited weak turbulence, after which they convect downstream with the solar wind while collapsing to scales as short as 100 m and fields as high as 2 V/m. The existence of waves with energy densities above the strong-turbulence wave-collapse threshold is inferred from observations from IMP 6 and ISEE 1 and quantitative agreement is found between the predicted distribution of fields in an ensemble of such wave packets and the actual field distribution observed in situ by IMP 6. Predictions for the polarization of plasma waves and the bandwidth of ion-sound waves are also consistent with the observations. It is shown that strong-turbulence effects must be incorporated in any comprehensive theory of the propagation and evolution of electron beams in the foreshock. Previous arguments against the existence of strong turbulence in the foreshock are refuted.

Strong plasma turbulence in the earth's electron foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, P.A.; Newman, D.L.

1991-01-01

A quantitative model is developed to account for the distribution in magnitude and location of the intense plasma waves observed in the Earth's electron foreshock given the observed rms levels of waves. In this model, nonlinear strong-turbulence effects cause solitonlike coherent wave packets to form and decouple from incoherent background beam-excited weak turbulence, after which they convect downstream with the solar wind while collapsing to scales as short as 100 m and fields as high as 2 V m -1 . The existence of waves with energy densities above the strong-turbulence wave-collapse threshold is inferred from observations from IMP 6 and ISEE 1 and quantitative agreement is found between the predicted distribution of fields in an ensemble of such wave packets and the actual field distribution observed in situ by IMP 6. Predictions for the polarization of plasma waves and the bandwidth of ion-sound waves are also consistent with the observations. It is shown that strong-turbulence effects must be incorporated in any comprehensive theory of the propagation and evolution of electron beams in the foreshock. Previous arguments against the existence of strong turbulence in the foreshock are refuted

Evidence for Neutrals-Foreshock Electrons Impact at Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Mazelle, C. X.; Meziane, K.; Mitchell, D. L.; Garnier, P.; Espley, J. R.; Hamza, A. M.; Halekas, J.; Jakosky, B. M.

2018-05-01

Backstreaming electrons emanating from the bow shock of Mars reported from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN/Solar Wind Electron Analyzer observations show a flux fall off with the distance from the shock. This feature is not observed at the terrestrial foreshock. The flux decay is observed only for electron energy E ≥ 29 eV. A reported recent study indicates that Mars foreshock electrons are produced at the shock in a mirror reflection of a portion of the solar wind electrons. In this context, and given that the electrons are sufficiently energetic to not be affected by the interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations, the observed flux decrease appears problematic. We investigate the possibility that the flux fall off with distance results from the impact of backstreaming electrons with Mars exospheric neutral hydrogen. We demonstrate that the flux fall off is consistent with the electron-atomic hydrogen impact cross section for a large range of energy. A better agreement is obtained for energy where the impact cross section is the highest. One important consequence is that foreshock electrons can play an important role in the production of pickup ions at Mars far exosphere.

MAGNETIC FIELDS AND COSMIC RAYS IN GRBs: A SELF-SIMILAR COLLISIONLESS FORESHOCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedev, Mikhail V.; Zakutnyaya, Olga V.

2009-01-01

Cosmic rays accelerated by a shock form a streaming distribution of outgoing particles in the foreshock region. If the ambient fields are negligible compared to the shock and cosmic ray energetics, a stronger magnetic field can be generated in the shock upstream via the streaming (Weibel-type) instability. Here we develop a self-similar model of the foreshock region and calculate its structure, e.g., the magnetic field strength, its coherence scale, etc., as a function of the distance from the shock. Our model indicates that the entire foreshock region of thickness ∼R/(2Γ 2 sh ), being comparable to the shock radius in the late afterglow phase when Γ sh ∼ 1, can be populated with large-scale and rather strong magnetic fields (of subgauss strengths with the coherence length of order 10 16 cm) compared with the typical interstellar medium magnetic fields. The presence of such fields in the foreshock region is important for high efficiency of Fermi acceleration at the shock. Radiation from accelerated electrons in the foreshock fields can constitute a separate emission region radiating in the UV/optical through radio band, depending on time and shock parameters. We also speculate that these fields being eventually transported into the shock downstream can greatly increase radiative efficiency of a gamma-ray burst afterglow shock.

Relativistic Electrons Produced by Foreshock Disturbances Observed Upstream of Earth's Bow Shock

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, L. B., III; Sibeck, D. G.; Turner, D. L.; Osmane, A.; Caprioli, D.; Angelopoulos, V.

2016-01-01

Charged particles can be reflected and accelerated by strong (i.e., high Mach number) astrophysical collisionless shock waves, streaming away to form a foreshock region in communication with the shock. Foreshocks are primarily populated by suprathermal ions that can generate foreshock disturbances-largescale (i.e., tens to thousands of thermal ion Larmor radii), transient (approximately 5-10 per day) structures. They have recently been found to accelerate ions to energies of several keV. Although electrons in Saturn's high Mach number (M > 40) bow shock can be accelerated to relativistic energies (nearly 1000 keV), it has hitherto been thought impossible to accelerate electrons beyond a few tens of keV at Earth's low Mach number (1 =M foreshock disturbances to energies up to at least approximately 300 keV. Although such energetic electrons have been previously observed, their presence has been attributed to escaping magnetospheric particles or solar events. These relativistic electrons are not associated with any solar or magnetospheric activity. Further, due to their relatively small Larmor radii (compared to magnetic gradient scale lengths) and large thermal speeds (compared to shock speeds), no known shock acceleration mechanism can energize thermal electrons up to relativistic energies. The discovery of relativistic electrons associated with foreshock structures commonly generated in astrophysical shocks could provide a new paradigm for electron injections and acceleration in collisionless plasmas.

First Observations of a Foreshock Bubble at Earth: Implications for Magnetospheric Activity and Energetic Particle Acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, D. L.; Omidi, N.; Sibeck, D. G.; Angelopoulos, V.

2011-01-01

Earth?s foreshock, which is the quasi-parallel region upstream of the bow shock, is a unique plasma region capable of generating several kinds of large-scale phenomena, each of which can impact the magnetosphere resulting in global effects. Interestingly, such phenomena have also been observed at planetary foreshocks throughout our solar system. Recently, a new type of foreshock phenomena has been predicted: foreshock bubbles, which are large-scale disruptions of both the foreshock and incident solar wind plasmas that can result in global magnetospheric disturbances. Here we present unprecedented, multi-point observations of foreshock bubbles at Earth using a combination of spacecraft and ground observations primarily from the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission, and we include detailed analysis of the events? global effects on the magnetosphere and the energetic ions and electrons accelerated by them, potentially by a combination of first and second order Fermi and shock drift acceleration processes. This new phenomena should play a role in energetic particle acceleration at collisionless, quasi-parallel shocks throughout the Universe.

Downshift of electron plasma oscillations in the electron foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuselier, S.A.

1984-01-01

Electron plasma oscillations in the Earth's electron foreshock region are observed to shift above and below the local electron plasma frequency. As plasma oscillations shift from the plasma frequency, their bandwidth increases and their wavelength decreases. Observations of plasma oscillations well below the plasma frequency are correlated with times when ISEE-I is far downstream of the electron foreshock boundary. Although wavelengths of plasma oscillations below the plasma frequency satisfy klambda/sub De/ approx. = 1, the Doppler shift due to the motion of the solar wind is not sufficient to produce the observed frequency shifts. A beam-plasma interaction with beam velocities on the order of the electron thermal velocity is suggested as an explanation for plasma oscillations above and below the plasma frequency. Frequency, bandwidth, and wavelength changes predicted from the beam-plasma interaction are in good agreement with the observed characteristics of plasma oscillations in the foreshock region

A non-accelerating foreshock sequence followed by a short period of quiescence for a large inland earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Doi, I.; Kawakata, H.

2012-12-01

Laboratory experiments [e.g. Scholz, 1968; Lockner et al., 1992] and field observations [e.g. Dodge et al., 1996; Helmstetter and Sornette, 2003; Bouchon et al., 2011] have elucidated part of foreshock behavior and mechanism, but we cannot identify foreshocks while they are occurring. Recently, in Japan, a dense seismic network, Hi-net (High Sensitivity Seismograph Network), provides continuous waveform records for regional seismic events. The data from this network enable us to analyze small foreshocks which occur on long period time scales prior to a major event. We have an opportunity to grasp the more detailed pattern of foreshock generation. Using continuous waveforms recorded at a seismic station located in close proximity to the epicenter of the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi inland earthquake, we conducted a detailed investigation of its foreshocks. In addition to the two officially recognized foreshocks, calculation of cross-correlation coefficients between the continuous waveform record and one of the previously recognized foreshocks revealed that 20 micro foreshocks occurred within the same general area. Our analysis also shows that all of these foreshocks occurred within the same general area relative to the main event. Over the two week period leading up to the Iwate-Miyagi earthquake, such foreshocks only occurred during the last 45 minutes, specifically over a 35 minute period followed by a 10 minute period of quiescence just before the mainshock. We found no evidence of acceleration of this foreshock sequence. Rock fracturing experiments using a constant loading rate or creep tests have consistently shown that the occurrence rate of small fracturing events (acoustic emissions; AEs) increases before the main rupture [Scholz, 1968]. This accelerative pattern of preceding events was recognized in case of the 1999 Izmit earthquake [Bouchon et al., 2011]. Large earthquakes however need not be accompanied by acceleration of foreshocks if a given fault's host rock

Foreshock sequences and short-term earthquake predictability on East Pacific Rise transform faults.

Science.gov (United States)

McGuire, Jeffrey J; Boettcher, Margaret S; Jordan, Thomas H

2005-03-24

East Pacific Rise transform faults are characterized by high slip rates (more than ten centimetres a year), predominantly aseismic slip and maximum earthquake magnitudes of about 6.5. Using recordings from a hydroacoustic array deployed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we show here that East Pacific Rise transform faults also have a low number of aftershocks and high foreshock rates compared to continental strike-slip faults. The high ratio of foreshocks to aftershocks implies that such transform-fault seismicity cannot be explained by seismic triggering models in which there is no fundamental distinction between foreshocks, mainshocks and aftershocks. The foreshock sequences on East Pacific Rise transform faults can be used to predict (retrospectively) earthquakes of magnitude 5.4 or greater, in narrow spatial and temporal windows and with a high probability gain. The predictability of such transform earthquakes is consistent with a model in which slow slip transients trigger earthquakes, enrich their low-frequency radiation and accommodate much of the aseismic plate motion.

Downshift of electron plasma oscillations in the electron foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuselier, S.A.; Gurnett, D.A.; Fitzenreiter, R.J.; NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD)

1985-01-01

Electron plasma oscillations in the earth's electron foreshock region are observed to shift above and below the local electron plasma frequency. As plasma oscillations shift downward from the plasma frequency, their bandwidth increases and their wavelength decreases. Observations of plasma oscillations well below the plasma frequency are correlated with times when ISEE 1 is far downstream of the electron foreshock boundary. Although wavelengths of plasma oscillations below the plasma frequency satisfy k x lambda-De approximately 1 the Doppler shift due to the motion of the solar wind is not sufficient to produce the observed frequency shifts. A beam-plasma interaction with beam velocities on the order of the electron thermal velocity is suggested as an explanation for plasma oscillations above and below the plasma frequency. Frequency, bandwidth, and wavelength changes predicted from the beam-plasma interaction are in good agreement with the observed characteristics of plasma oscillations in the foreshock region. 28 references

Foreshock-like density cavity in the outflow region of magnetotail reconnection

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C. L. Cai

2009-08-01

Full Text Available During Cluster spacecraft crossing of the magnetotail, a novel density depleted cavity in association with magnetic compressions in the outflow region of reconnection was observed. It contains intense reflected field-aligned particles, which are produced by a generation mechanism similar to that of the terrestrial foreshock, and hence manifests a foreshock-like morphology. In this cavity, reflected field-aligned proton beams were observed and simultaneously the feature of magnetic-mirror loss-cone proton distributions were found. Magnetic field fluctuations, especially quasi-monochromatic oscillations, were recorded. Both the leading egde and the ULF wave boundary of the ion foreshock are identified from the time sequence of proton and magnetic field observations. Just upstream of the leading egde of the ion foreshock, reflected field-aligned electrons were detected, whose distribution has a narrow bump-on-tail pattern. However, close to the shock front, reflected electrons with a broad bump-on-tail pattern was measured. These two different manifestations of reflected electrons reveal the differences in their microscopic physics of the reflecting process. Moreover, a part of incident ions was further accelerated in the cavity due to trans-time magnetic pumping which provides another possible mechanism in the multi-step acceleration processes in reconnection.

On the persistence of unstable bump-on-tail electron velocity distributions in the earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Klimas, Alexander J.; Fitzenreiter, Richard J.

1988-01-01

This paper presents further evidence for the persistence of bump-on-tail unstable reduced velocity distributions in the earth's electron foreshock, which contradicts the understanding of quasi-linear saturation of the bump-on-tail instability. A modified theory for the saturation of the bump-on-tail instability in the earth's foreshock is proposed to explain the mechanism of this persistence, and the predictions are compared to the results of a numerical simulation of the electron plasma in the foreshock. The results support the thesis that quasi-linear saturation of the bump-on-tail instability is modified in the foreshock, due to the driven nature of the region, so that at saturation the stabilized velocity distribution still appears bump-on-tail unstable to linear plasma analysis.

VLF emissions in the Venus foreshock - Comparison with terrestrial observations

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, G. K.; Strangeway, R. J.; Russell, C. T.

1993-01-01

An examination is conducted of ELF/VLF emissions observed in the solar wind upstream of the Venus shock, for the 100 Hz-30 kHz range, using data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter's electric field detector and magnetometer instruments. Detailed comparisons are made with terrestrial measurements for both the electron and ion foreshocks. The results obtained support the Crawford et al. (1990) identification of the Venus electron foreshock emissions as electron plasma oscillations, whose waves are generated in situ and act to isotropize the electron distributions.

First Identification of Foreshock Plasma Populations at Mercury

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, A. N.; Tracy, P. J.; Raines, J. M.

2018-05-01

Observations of foreshock populations at Mercury are presented for the first time utilizing measurements from the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) aboard MESSENGER, and plausible energization mechanisms are suggested and evaluated.

Dayside magnetospheric and ionospheric responses to a foreshock transient on June 25, 2008: 2. 2-D evolution based on dayside auroral imaging

OpenAIRE

Wang, Boyi; Nishimura, Yukitoshi; Hietala, Heli; Shen, Xiao-Chen; Shi, Quanqi; Zhang, Hui; Lyons, Larry; Zou, Ying; Angelopoulos, Vassilis; Ebihara, Yusuke; Weatherwax, Allan

2018-01-01

The foreshock region involves localized and transient structures such as foreshock cavities and hot flow anomalies due to solar wind-bow shock interactions, and foreshock transients have been shown to lead to magnetospheric and ionospheric responses. In this paper, the interaction between a foreshock transient and the magnetosphere-ionosphere system is investigated using dayside aurora imagers revealing structures and propagation in greater detail than previously possible. A foreshock transie...

Foreshock activity and its probabilistic relation to earthquake occurrence in Albania and the surrounding area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Irikura

1999-06-01

Full Text Available We investigate some characteristics of foreshock activity of moderate and large earthquakes which occurred in the present century in Albania and the surrounding area. Using a prediction algorithm, based on possible foreshocks, we obtained a probabilistic relation between possible foreshocks and mainshocks. From documentary and instrumental data for the period 1901-1994 for the area between 39.0°- 43.0°N and 18.5°-21.5°E we evaluated the probability of the occurrence of mainshocks immediately after their possible foreshocks. The result shows that the probability that mainshocks with magnitude M ³ 6.0 are preceded by a foreshock with magnitude M ³ 4.4, distance £ about 50 km and time £ 10 days is 38% (6/16. The probability that one earthquake with M ³ 4.4 will be followed by a larger earthquake with M ³ 6.0 within about 50 km and 10 days is 1.3% (6/468, but the probability increases to 33% (1/3 if 7 earthquakes with M ³ 4.4 occur within about 50 km and 10 days. From instrumental data for the period 1971-1994, the probability that mainshocks with M ³ 5.0 are preceded by a foreshock with magnitude M ³ 4.0 is 33% (5/15. The probability that one earthquake with M ³ 4.0 will be followed by a larger earthquake with M ³ 5.0 within about 50 km and 10 days is 1.9% (5/262, but the probability increase to 5.6% (1/18 if 3 earthquakes with M ³ 4.0 occur within about 50 km and 10 days. We also found a regional variation of foreshock activity with activity decreasing from the Vlora-Elbasani-Dibra transversal seismic belt to the Ionian-Adriatic seismic zone to the interior part of Albania seismic zone.

Spatial organization of foreshocks as a tool to forecast large earthquakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lippiello, E; Marzocchi, W; de Arcangelis, L; Godano, C

2012-01-01

An increase in the number of smaller magnitude events, retrospectively named foreshocks, is often observed before large earthquakes. We show that the linear density probability of earthquakes occurring before and after small or intermediate mainshocks displays a symmetrical behavior, indicating that the size of the area fractured during the mainshock is encoded in the foreshock spatial organization. This observation can be used to discriminate spatial clustering due to foreshocks from the one induced by aftershocks and is implemented in an alarm-based model to forecast m > 6 earthquakes. A retrospective study of the last 19 years Southern California catalog shows that the daily occurrence probability presents isolated peaks closely located in time and space to the epicenters of five of the six m > 6 earthquakes. We find daily probabilities as high as 25% (in cells of size 0.04 × 0.04deg(2)), with significant probability gains with respect to standard models.

Langmuir-like waves and radiation in planetary foreshocks

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.; Anderson, R. R.; Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.

1995-01-01

The basic objectives of this NASA Grant are to develop theoretical understandings (tested with spacecraft data) of the generation and characteristics of electron plasma waves, commonly known as Langmuir-like waves, and associated radiation near f(sub p) and 2f(sub p) in planetary foreshocks. (Here f(sub p) is plasma frequency.) Related waves and radiation in the source regions of interplanetary type III solar radio bursts provide a simpler observational and theoretical context for developing and testing such understandings. Accordingly, applications to type III bursts constitute a significant fraction of the research effort. The testing of the new Stochastic Growth Theory (SGT) for type III bursts, and its extension and testing for foreshock waves and radiation, constitutes a major longterm strategic goal of the research effort.

Seismic amplitude measurements suggest foreshocks have different focal mechanisms than aftershocks

Science.gov (United States)

Lindh, A.; Fuis, G.; Mantis, C.

1978-01-01

The ratio of the amplitudes of P and S waves from the foreshocks and aftershocks to three recent California earthquakes show a characteristic change at the time of the main events. As this ratio is extremely sensitive to small changes in the orientation of the fault plane, a small systematic change in stress or fault configuration in the source region may be inferred. These results suggest an approach to the recognition of foreshocks based on simple measurements of the amplitudes of seismic waves. Copyright ?? 1978 AAAS.

Foreshock density holes in the context of known upstream plasma structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Wilber

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We present case examples of foreshock density holes and results from a statistical survey, which provide additional characterizations of these recently-described structures. Specific effort is made to place these objects into context with well-studied foreshock phenomena, such as hot flow anomalies (HFAs and large-amplitude magnetic pulsations (SLAMS. Density holes are observed during higher-than-average solar wind speeds (~620 km s−1, have well-correlated density and magnetic field intensities, and anti-correlated density and temperature variations. Like HFAs, these structures occur over a wide range of foreshock geometries, suggesting that this is not a determining factor. They are embedded within IMF current sheets, but their cross-structure magnetic shears are considerably lower than for HFAs. When the Cluster spacecraft are widely separated, they are able to measure structure time development, with substantial changes occurring over 10s of seconds, confirming an earlier case study, and possibly indicating short lifetimes as well. We find that density holes can occur in the absence of strong upstream magnetic pulsations and/or density enhancements, which rules out a "wake effect" as the sole explanation for their formation. Most important is the observation that the observed solar wind motional electric fields tend to have components pointing away from the embedding IMF current sheets. Density holes have no connection with magnetic holes and foreshock cavities, and appear not to be early-stage or weakly-formed HFAs.

Foreshock density holes in the context of known upstream plasma structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Wilber

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We present case examples of foreshock density holes and results from a statistical survey, which provide additional characterizations of these recently-described structures. Specific effort is made to place these objects into context with well-studied foreshock phenomena, such as hot flow anomalies (HFAs and large-amplitude magnetic pulsations (SLAMS. Density holes are observed during higher-than-average solar wind speeds (~620 km s⁻¹, have well-correlated density and magnetic field intensities, and anti-correlated density and temperature variations. Like HFAs, these structures occur over a wide range of foreshock geometries, suggesting that this is not a determining factor. They are embedded within IMF current sheets, but their cross-structure magnetic shears are considerably lower than for HFAs. When the Cluster spacecraft are widely separated, they are able to measure structure time development, with substantial changes occurring over 10s of seconds, confirming an earlier case study, and possibly indicating short lifetimes as well. We find that density holes can occur in the absence of strong upstream magnetic pulsations and/or density enhancements, which rules out a "wake effect" as the sole explanation for their formation. Most important is the observation that the observed solar wind motional electric fields tend to have components pointing away from the embedding IMF current sheets. Density holes have no connection with magnetic holes and foreshock cavities, and appear not to be early-stage or weakly-formed HFAs.

Imaging and Understanding Foreshock and Aftershock Behavior Around the 2014 Iquique, Northern Chile, Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, H.; Meng, X.; Peng, Z.; Newman, A. V.; Hu, S.; Williamson, A.

2014-12-01

On April 1st, 2014, a moment magnitude (MW) 8.2 earthquake occurred offshore Iquique, Northern Chile. There were numerous smaller earthquakes preceding and following the mainshock, making it an ideal case to study the spatio-temporal relation among these events and their association with the mainshock. We applied a matched-filter technique to detect previously missing foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2014 Iquique earthquake. Using more than 900 template events recorded by 19 broadband seismic stations (network code CX) operated by the GEOFON Program of GFZ Potsdam, we found 4392 earthquakes between March 1st and April 3rd, 2014, including more than 30 earthquakes with magnitude larger than 4 that were previously missed in the catalog from the Chile National Seismological Center. Additionally, we found numerous small earthquakes with magnitudes between 1 and 2 preceding the largest foreshock, an MW 6.7 event occurring on March 16th, approximately 2 weeks before the Iquique mainshock. We observed that the foreshocks migrated northward at a speed of approximately 6 km/day. Using a finite fault slip model of the mainshock determined from teleseismic waveform inversion (Hayes, 2014), we calculated the Coulomb stress changes in the nearby regions of the mainshock. We found that there was ~200% increase in seismicity in the areas with increased Coulomb stress. Our next step is to evaluate the Coulomb stress changes associated with earlier foreshocks and their roles in triggering later foreshocks, and possibly the mainshock. For this, we plan to create a fault model of the temporal evolution of the Coulomb behavior along the interface with time, assuming Wells and Coppersmith (1994) type fault parameters. These results will be compared with double-difference relocations (using HypoDD), presenting a more accurate understanding of the spatial-temporal evolution of foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2014 Iquique earthquake.

Suprathermal He2+ in the Earth's foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuselier, S.A.; Thomsen, M.F.; Ipavich, F.M.; Schmidt, W.K.H.

1995-01-01

ISEE 1 and 2 H + and He 2+ observations upstream from the Earth's bow shock are used to investigate the origin of energetic (or diffuse) ion distributions. Diffuse ion distributions have energies from a few keV/e to > 100 keV/e and have near solar wind concentrations (i.e., an average of about 4% He 2+ ). These distributions may evolve from suprathermal ion distributions that have energies between 1 and a few keV/e. Upstream intervals were selected from the ISEE data to determine which suprathermal distributions have He 2+ concentrations similar to those of diffuse ion distributions. The type of distribution and the location in the foreshock were similar in all events studied. Two intervals that represent the results from this study are discussed in detail. The results suggest that diffuse ion distributions evolve from suprathermal distributions in the region upstream from the quasi-parallel bow shock. For He 2+ , the suprathermal distribution is a nongyrotropic partial ring beam and has characteristics consistent with specular reflection off the quasi-parallel bow shock. The suprathermal proton distributions associated with these He 2+ distributions are nongyrotropic partial ring beams or nearly gyrotropic ring beams also approximately consistent with specular reflection. The location in the quasi-parallel foreshock and the similarity of the suprathermal He 2+ and H + distributions suggest that these are the seed population for diffuse distributions in the foreshock region. 30 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Strong foreshock signal preceding the L'Aquila (Italy earthquake (Mw 6.3 of 6 April 2009

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G. Minadakis

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We used the earthquake catalogue of INGV extending from 1 January 2006 to 30 June 2009 to detect significant changes before and after the 6 April 2009 L'Aquila mainshock (Mw=6.3 in the seismicity rate, r (events/day, and in b-value. The statistical z-test and Utsu-test were applied to identify significant changes. From the beginning of 2006 up to the end of October 2008 the activity was relatively stable and remained in the state of background seismicity (r=1.14, b=1.09. From 28 October 2008 up to 26 March 2009, r increased significantly to 2.52 indicating weak foreshock sequence; the b-value did not changed significantly. The weak foreshock sequence was spatially distributed within the entire seismogenic area. In the last 10 days before the mainshock, strong foreshock signal became evident in space (dense epicenter concentration in the hanging-wall of the Paganica fault, in time (drastic increase of r to 21.70 events/day and in size (b-value dropped significantly to 0.68. The significantly high seismicity rate and the low b-value in the entire foreshock sequence make a substantial difference from the background seismicity. Also, the b-value of the strong foreshock stage (last 10 days before mainshock was significantly lower than that in the aftershock sequence. Our results indicate the important value of the foreshock sequences for the prediction of the mainshock.

Wave-Number Spectra and Intermittency in the Terrestrial Foreshock Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narita, Y.; Glassmeier, K.-H.; Treumann, R. A.

2006-01-01

Wave-number spectra of magnetic field fluctuations are directly determined in the terrestrial foreshock region (upstream of a quasiparallel collisionless shock wave) using four-point Cluster spacecraft measurements. The spectral curve is characterized by three ranges reminiscent of turbulence: energy injection, inertial, and dissipation range. The spectral index for the inertial range spectrum is close to Kolmogorov's slope, -5/3. On the other hand, the fluctuations are highly anisotropic and intermittent perpendicular to the mean magnetic field direction. These results suggest that the foreshock is in a weakly turbulent and intermittent state in which parallel propagating Alfven waves interact with one another, resulting in the phase coherence or the intermittency

Don't go with the Flow: An Invitation to Magnetosheath and Foreshock Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Sibeck, D. G.

2010-01-01

This talk reviews the predictions of gasdynamic, magnetohydrodynamic, and kinetic models for the magnetosheath and foreshock and compares these predictions with observations by the recent Cluster and THEMIS missions. Topics of interest include: the depletion layer, dawn/dusk asymmetries, the transmission of solar wind discontinuities, the formation of hot flow anomalies and cavities in the foreshock, and flows accelerated by field-line tension. We conclude by discussing opportunities for magnetosheath imaging.

Wave-number spectra and intermittency in the terrestrial foreshock region.

Science.gov (United States)

Narita, Y; Glassmeier, K-H; Treumann, R A

2006-11-10

Wave-number spectra of magnetic field fluctuations are directly determined in the terrestrial foreshock region (upstream of a quasiparallel collisionless shock wave) using four-point Cluster spacecraft measurements. The spectral curve is characterized by three ranges reminiscent of turbulence: energy injection, inertial, and dissipation range. The spectral index for the inertial range spectrum is close to Kolmogorov's slope, -5/3. On the other hand, the fluctuations are highly anisotropic and intermittent perpendicular to the mean magnetic field direction. These results suggest that the foreshock is in a weakly turbulent and intermittent state in which parallel propagating Alfvén waves interact with one another, resulting in the phase coherence or the intermittency.

TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY IN THE PRESENCE OF ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY WAVES IN THE TERRESTRIAL FORESHOCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selzer, L. A.; Hnat, B.; Osman, K. T.; Nakariakov, V. M.; Eastwood, J. P.; Burgess, D.

2014-01-01

We report the first study of the correlation between elevated solar wind core plasma temperatures and temperature anisotropy in the terrestrial foreshock. Plasma temperature is enhanced near the fire hose marginal stability threshold in the presence of ultra low frequency (ULF) large amplitude magnetic perturbations, which are intrinsically right-hand circularly polarized. Direct comparison of contemporaneous anisotropic temperatures in the upstream solar wind and the foreshock suggests that the net heating of plasma is mediated via increase of the parallel temperature in the foreshock region where the ULF waves are present. We consider the possibility that a mechanism based on Landau damping, where solar wind plasma temperature parallel to the background magnetic field is increased by interaction with oblique compressible fast magneto-acoustic ULF waves, influences temperature anisotropy

TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY IN THE PRESENCE OF ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY WAVES IN THE TERRESTRIAL FORESHOCK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Selzer, L. A.; Hnat, B.; Osman, K. T.; Nakariakov, V. M. [Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Eastwood, J. P. [Space and Atmospheric Physics, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom); Burgess, D., E-mail: L.A.Selzer@warwick.ac.uk [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom)

2014-06-10

We report the first study of the correlation between elevated solar wind core plasma temperatures and temperature anisotropy in the terrestrial foreshock. Plasma temperature is enhanced near the fire hose marginal stability threshold in the presence of ultra low frequency (ULF) large amplitude magnetic perturbations, which are intrinsically right-hand circularly polarized. Direct comparison of contemporaneous anisotropic temperatures in the upstream solar wind and the foreshock suggests that the net heating of plasma is mediated via increase of the parallel temperature in the foreshock region where the ULF waves are present. We consider the possibility that a mechanism based on Landau damping, where solar wind plasma temperature parallel to the background magnetic field is increased by interaction with oblique compressible fast magneto-acoustic ULF waves, influences temperature anisotropy.

Dynamics of delayed triggering in multi-segmented foreshock sequence: Evidence from the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Arai, H.; Ando, R.; Aoki, Y.

2017-12-01

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence hit the SW Japan, from April 14th to 16th and its sequence includes two M6-class foreshocks and the main shock (Mw 7.0). Importantly, the detailed surface displacement caused solely by the two foreshocks could be captured by a SAR observation isolated from the mainshock deformation. The foreshocks ruptured the previously mapped Hinagu fault and their hypocentral locations and the aftershock distribution indicates the involvement of two different subparallel faults. Therefore we assumed that the 1st and the 2nd foreshocks respectively ruptured each of the subparallel faults (faults A and B). One of the interesting points of this earthquake is that the two major foreshocks had a temporal gap of 2.5 hours even though the fault A and B are quite close by each other. This suggests that the stress perturbation due to the 1st foreshock is not large enough to trigger the 2nd one right away but that it's large enough to bring about the following earthquake after a delay time.We aim to reproduce the foreshock sequence such as rupture jumping over the subparallel faults by using dynamic rupture simulations. We employed a spatiotemporal-boundary integral equation method accelerated by the Fast Domain Partitioning Method (Ando, 2016, GJI) since this method allows us to construct a complex fault geometry in 3D media. Our model has two faults and a free ground surface. We conducted rupture simulation with various sets of parameters to identify the optimal condition describing the observation.Our simulation results are roughly categorized into 3 cases with regard to the criticality for the rupture jumping. The case 1 (supercritical case) shows the fault A and B ruptured consecutively without any temporal gap. In the case 2 (nearly critical), the rupture on the fault B started with a temporal gap after the fault A finished rupturing, which is what we expected as a reproduction. In the case 3 (subcritical), only the fault A ruptured and its

The East Aegean Sea strong earthquake sequence of October–November 2005: lessons learned for earthquake prediction from foreshocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. A. Papadopoulos

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The seismic sequence of October–November 2005 in the Samos area, East Aegean Sea, was studied with the aim to show how it is possible to establish criteria for (a the rapid recognition of both the ongoing foreshock activity and the mainshock, and (b the rapid discrimination between the foreshock and aftershock phases of activity. It has been shown that before the mainshock of 20 October 2005, foreshock activity is not recognizable in the standard earthquake catalogue. However, a detailed examination of the records in the SMG station, which is the closest to the activated area, revealed that hundreds of small shocks not listed in the standard catalogue were recorded in the time interval from 12 October 2005 up to 21 November 2005. The production of reliable relations between seismic signal duration and duration magnitude for earthquakes included in the standard catalogue, made it possible to use signal durations in SMG records and to determine duration magnitudes for 2054 small shocks not included in the standard catalogue. In this way a new catalogue with magnitude determination for 3027 events was obtained while the standard catalogue contains 1025 events. At least 55 of them occurred from 12 October 2005 up to the occurrence of the two strong foreshocks of 17 October 2005. This implies that foreshock activity developed a few days before the strong shocks of 17 October 2005 but it escaped recognition by the routine procedure of seismic analysis. The onset of the foreshock phase of activity is recognizable by the significant increase of the mean seismicity rate which increased exponentially with time. According to the least-squares approach the b-value of the magnitude-frequency relation dropped significantly during the foreshock activity with respect to the b-value prevailing in the declustered background seismicity. However, the maximum likelihood approach does not indicate such a drop of b. The b-value found for the aftershocks that

Measurement of the electron beam mode in earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Onsager, T. G.; Holzworth, R. H.

1990-01-01

High frequency electric field measurements from the AMPTE IRM plasma wave receiver are used to identify three simultaneously excited electrostatic wave modes in the earth's foreshock region: the electron beam mode, the Langmuir mode, and the ion acoustic mode. A technique is developed which allows the rest frame frequecy and wave number of the electron beam waves to be determined. It is shown that the experimentally determined rest frame frequency and wave number agree well with the most unstable frequency and wave number predicted by linear homogeneous Vlasov theory for a plasma with Maxwellian background electrons and a Lorentzian electron beam. From a comparison of the experimentally determined and theoretical values, approximate limits are put on the electron foreshock beam temperatures. A possible generation mechanism for ion acoustic waves involving mode coupling between the electron beam and Langmuir modes is also discussed.

Lunar Surface Electric Potential Changes Associated with Traversals through the Earth's Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, Michael R.; Hills, H. Kent; Stubbs, Timothy J.; Halekas, Jasper S.; Delory, Gregory T.; Espley, Jared; Farrell, William M.; Freeman, John W.; Vondrak, Richard

2011-01-01

We report an analysis of one year of Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) Total Ion Detector (TID) resonance events observed between January 1972 and January 1973. The study includes only those events during which upstream solar wind conditions were readily available. The analysis shows that these events are associated with lunar traversals through the dawn flank of the terrestrial magnetospheric bow shock. We propose that the events result from an increase in lunar surface electric potential effected by secondary electron emission due to primary electrons in the Earth's foreshock region (although primary ions may play a role as well). This work establishes (1) the lunar surface potential changes as the Moon moves through the terrestrial bow shock, (2) the lunar surface achieves potentials in the upstream foreshock region that differ from those in the downstream magnetosheath region, (3) these differences can be explained by the presence of energetic electron beams in the upstream foreshock region and (4) if this explanation is correct, the location of the Moon with respect to the terrestrial bow shock influences lunar surface potential.

First Test of Stochastic Growth Theory for Langmuir Waves in Earth's Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.

1997-01-01

This paper presents the first test of whether stochastic growth theory (SGT) can explain the detailed characteristics of Langmuir-like waves in Earth's foreshock. A period with unusually constant solar wind magnetic field is analyzed. The observed distributions P(logE) of wave fields E for two intervals with relatively constant spacecraft location (DIFF) are shown to agree well with the fundamental prediction of SGT, that P(logE) is Gaussian in log E. This stochastic growth can be accounted for semi-quantitatively in terms of standard foreshock beam parameters and a model developed for interplanetary type III bursts. Averaged over the entire period with large variations in DIFF, the P(logE) distribution is a power-law with index approximately -1; this is interpreted in terms of convolution of intrinsic, spatially varying P(logE) distributions with a probability function describing ISEE's residence time at a given DIFF. Wave data from this interval thus provide good observational evidence that SGT can sometimes explain the clumping, burstiness, persistence, and highly variable fields of the foreshock Langmuir-like waves.

Foreshocks during the nucleation of stick-slip instability

Science.gov (United States)

McLaskey, Gregory C.; Kilgore, Brian D.

2013-01-01

We report on laboratory experiments which investigate interactions between aseismic slip, stress changes, and seismicity on a critically stressed fault during the nucleation of stick-slip instability. We monitor quasi-static and dynamic changes in local shear stress and fault slip with arrays of gages deployed along a simulated strike-slip fault (2 m long and 0.4 m deep) in a saw cut sample of Sierra White granite. With 14 piezoelectric sensors, we simultaneously monitor seismic signals produced during the nucleation phase and subsequent dynamic rupture. We observe localized aseismic fault slip in an approximately meter-sized zone in the center of the fault, while the ends of the fault remain locked. Clusters of high-frequency foreshocks (Mw ~ −6.5 to −5.0) can occur in this slowly slipping zone 5–50 ms prior to the initiation of dynamic rupture; their occurrence appears to be dependent on the rate at which local shear stress is applied to the fault. The meter-sized nucleation zone is generally consistent with theoretical estimates, but source radii of the foreshocks (2 to 70 mm) are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the theoretical minimum length scale over which earthquake nucleation can occur. We propose that frictional stability and the transition between seismic and aseismic slip are modulated by local stressing rate and that fault sections, which would typically slip aseismically, may radiate seismic waves if they are rapidly stressed. Fault behavior of this type may provide physical insight into the mechanics of foreshocks, tremor, repeating earthquake sequences, and a minimum earthquake source dimension.

Elsaesser variable analysis of fluctuations in the ion foreshock and undisturbed solar wind

Science.gov (United States)

Labelle, James; Treumann, Rudolf A.; Marsch, Eckart

1994-01-01

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) fluctuations in the solar wind have been investigated previously by use of Elsaesser variables. In this paper, we present a comparison of the spectra of Elsaesser variables in the undisturbed solar wind at 1 AU and in the ion foreshock in front of the Earth. Both observations take place under relatively strong solar wind flow speed conditions (approximately equal 600 km/s). In the undisturbed solar wind we find that outward propagating Alfven waves dominate, as reported by other observers. In the ion foreshock the situation is more complex, with neither outward nor inward propagation dominating over the entire range investigated (1-10 mHz). Measurements of the Poynting vectors associated with the fluctuations are consistent with the Elsaesser variable analysis. These results generally support interpretations of the Elsaesser variables which have been made based strictly on solar wind data and provide additional insight into the nature of the ion foreshock turbulence.

Variations in plasma wave intensity with distance along the electron foreshock boundary at Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, G. K.; Strangeway, R. J.; Russell, C. T.

1991-01-01

Plasma waves are observed in the solar wind upstream of the Venus bow shock by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. These wave signatures occur during periods when the interplanetary magnetic field through the spacecraft position intersects the bow shock, thereby placing the spacecraft in the foreshock region. Wave intensity is analyzed as a function of distance along the electron foreshock boundary. It is found that the peak wave intensity may increase along the foreshock boundary from the tangent point to a maximum value at several Venus radii, then decrease in intensity with subsequent increase in distance. These observations could be associated with the instability process: the instability of the distribution function increasing with distance from the tangent point to saturation at the peak. Thermalization of the beam for distances beyond this point could reduce the distribution function instability resulting in weaker wave signatures.

Foreshock waves as observed in energetic ion flux

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Petrukovich, A. A.; Chugunova, O. M.; Inamori, T.; Kudela, Karel; Štetiarová, J.

2017-01-01

Roč. 122, č. 5 (2017), s. 4895-4904 ISSN 2169-9380 R&D Projects: GA MŠk EF15_003/0000481 Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : foreshock * waves * bow shock * energetic particles Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology OBOR OECD: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences Impact factor: 2.733, year: 2016

Properties of foreshocks and aftershocks of the nonconservative self-organized critical Olami-Feder-Christensen model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helmstetter, Agnes; Hergarten, Stefan; Sornette, Didier

2004-01-01

Following Hergarten and Neugebauer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 238501, 2002] who discovered aftershocks and foreshocks in the Olami-Feder-Christensen (OFC) discrete block-spring earthquake model, we investigate to what degree the simple toppling mechanism of this model is sufficient to account for the clustering of real seismicity in time and space. We find that synthetic catalogs generated by the OFC model share many properties of real seismicity at a qualitative level: Omori's law (aftershocks) and inverse Omori's law (foreshocks), increase of the number of aftershocks and of the aftershock zone size with the mainshock magnitude. There are, however, significant quantitative differences. The number of aftershocks per mainshock in the OFC model is smaller than in real seismicity, especially for large mainshocks. We find that foreshocks in the OFC catalogs can be in large part described by a simple model of triggered seismicity, such as the epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model. But the properties of foreshocks in the OFC model depend on the mainshock magnitude, in qualitative agreement with the critical earthquake model and in disagreement with real seismicity and with the ETAS model

Rupture directivity and slip distribution of the M 4.3 foreshock to the 1992 Joshua Tree earthquake, Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, J.

1996-01-01

Details of the M 4.3 foreshock to the Joshua Tree earthquake were studied using P waves recorded on the Southern California Seismic Network and the Anza network. Deconvolution, using an M 2.4 event as an empirical Green's function, corrected for complicated path and site effects in the seismograms and produced simple far-field displacement pulses that were inverted for a slip distribution. Both possible fault planes, north-south and east-west, for the focal mechanism were tested by a least-squares inversion procedure with a range of rupture velocities. The results showed that the foreshock ruptured the north-south plane, similar to the mainshock. The foreshock initiated a few hundred meters south of the mainshock and ruptured to the north, toward the mainshock hypocenter. The mainshock (M 6.1) initiated near the northern edge of the foreshock rupture 2 hr later. The foreshock had a high stress drop (320 to 800 bars) and broke a small portion of the fault adjacent to the mainshock but was not able to immediately initiate the mainshock rupture.

Observations of the magnetic fluctuation enhancement in the earth's foreshock region

Science.gov (United States)

Le, G.; Russell, C. T.

1990-01-01

Upstream waves have been postulated to be a major source of energy for the dayside magnetic pulsations within the magnetosphere. Thus, it is of interest to determine over what frequency range in the ion foreshock the power of fluctuations in the solar wind is enhanced. The magnetic field data from pairs of spacecraft, when they stay on either side of the ion foreshock boundary, were examined. It was found that the power of magnetic fluctuations is enhanced only at periods less than about two minutes, not at longer periods. Thus the upstream waves may contribute to Pc 3 and Pc 4 pulsations in the dayside magnetosphere, but they cannot be directly responsible for the longer-period waves.

Upstream particles observed in the earth's foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastman, T.E.; Anderson, R.R.; Frank, L.A.; Parks, G.K.

1981-01-01

On the basis of primarily an extensive study of fully three-dimensional plasma data, we describe the interrelationships of the upstream particles and plasma waves observed in the earth's foreshock region. The University of Iowa LEPEDEAs detect ions and electrons from 1 eV to 45 keV over all except approx.2% of the unit sphere. Comparisons are made with high time resolution particle data obtained by the University of California (Berkeley) instruments and plasma wave data collected by the University of Iowa plasma wave instruments on the two ISEE spacecraft. The presence of ion beams or dispersed ion distributions is found to be a sufficient condition for the presence of electrostatic and electromagnetic wave emissions. Detailed correlations of ions with plasma waves down to a tenth of an ion gyroperiod indicate that ion acoustic emission is enhanced when increased anisotropies and gyrophase organization are observed. Time aliasing effects limit the interpretation of velocity distributions taken within the foreshock region. High time resolution correlations between the different instruments, however, demonstrate that time variations of a single isotropic or anisotropic distribution cannot produce the dispersed ion distributions. Detailed analysis of high time resolution data reveals that the upstream particles undergo significant spatial and temporal variations including gyrophase organization. Gyrophase organization comprises groups of ion clusters each one of which includes ions with similar pitch angles that gyrate together about a common guiding center. On the basis of our high time resolution analysis of three-dimensional plasma data combined with magnetic field and plasma wave data, we conclude that (1) ions observed in the foreshock region display gyrophase organization produced by ion clusters with a spatial scale <1 R/sub g/, and (2) dispersed ion distributions are produced primarily by direct sources at or near the bow shock

The Pawnee earthquake as a result of the interplay among injection, faults and foreshocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaowei; Nakata, Nori; Pennington, Colin; Haffener, Jackson; Chang, Jefferson C; He, Xiaohui; Zhan, Zhongwen; Ni, Sidao; Walter, Jacob I

2017-07-10

The Pawnee M5.8 earthquake is the largest event in Oklahoma instrument recorded history. It occurred near the edge of active seismic zones, similar to other M5+ earthquakes since 2011. It ruptured a previously unmapped fault and triggered aftershocks along a complex conjugate fault system. With a high-resolution earthquake catalog, we observe propagating foreshocks leading to the mainshock within 0.5 km distance, suggesting existence of precursory aseismic slip. At approximately 100 days before the mainshock, two M ≥ 3.5 earthquakes occurred along a mapped fault that is conjugate to the mainshock fault. At about 40 days before, two earthquakes clusters started, with one M3 earthquake occurred two days before the mainshock. The three M ≥ 3 foreshocks all produced positive Coulomb stress at the mainshock hypocenter. These foreshock activities within the conjugate fault system are near-instantaneously responding to variations in injection rates at 95% confidence. The short time delay between injection and seismicity differs from both the hypothetical expected time scale of diffusion process and the long time delay observed in this region prior to 2016, suggesting a possible role of elastic stress transfer and critical stress state of the fault. Our results suggest that the Pawnee earthquake is a result of interplay among injection, tectonic faults, and foreshocks.

Outer heliospheric radio emissions. II - Foreshock source models

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Kurth, William S.; Gurnett, Donald A.

1992-01-01

Observations of LF radio emissions in the range 2-3 kHz by the Voyager spacecraft during the intervals 1983-1987 and 1989 to the present while at heliocentric distances greater than 11 AU are reported. New analyses of the wave data are presented, and the characteristics of the radiation are reviewed and discussed. Two classes of events are distinguished: transient events with varying starting frequencies that drift upward in frequency and a relatively continuous component that remains near 2 kHz. Evidence for multiple transient sources and for extension of the 2-kHz component above the 2.4-kHz interference signal is presented. The transient emissions are interpreted in terms of radiation generated at multiples of the plasma frequency when solar wind density enhancements enter one or more regions of a foreshock sunward of the inner heliospheric shock. Solar wind density enhancements by factors of 4-10 are observed. Propagation effects, the number of radiation sources, and the time variability, frequency drift, and varying starting frequencies of the transient events are discussed in terms of foreshock sources.

On the persistence of unstable bump-on-tail electron velocity distributions in the earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klimas, A.J.; Fitzenreiter, R.J.

1988-01-01

Further evidence for the persistence of bump-on-tail unstable reduced velocity distribution in the Earth's electron foreshock is presented. This persistence contradicts our understanding of quasi-linear saturation of the bump-on-tail instability; the distributions should be stabilized through velocity space diffusion too quickly to allow an observation of their unstable form. A modified theory for the saturation of the bump-on-tail instability in the Earth's foreshock is proposed and examined using numerical simulation and quasi-linear theoretical techniques. It is argued the mechanism due to Filbert and Kellogg and to Cairns which is responsible for the creation of the bump-on-tail velocity distribution in the foreshock is still operative during the evolution of the bump-on-tail instability. The saturated state of the plasma must represent a balance between this creation mechanism and velocity space diffusion; the saturated state is not determined by velocity space diffusion alone. Thus the velocity distribution of the saturated stat may still appear bump-on-tail unstable to standard linear analysis which does not take the creation mechanism into account. The bump-on-tail velocity distributions in the foreshock would then represent the state of the plasma after saturation of the bump-on-tail instability, not before

Observations of the magnetic fluctuation enhancement in the Earth's foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le, G.; Russell, C.T.

1990-01-01

Upstream waves have been postulated to be a major source of energy for the dayside magnetic pulsations within the magnetosphere. Thus it is of interest to determine over what frequency range in the ion foreshock the power of fluctuations in the solar wind is enhanced. The authors have examined the magnetic field data from pairs of spacecraft when they are on either side of the ion fore-shock boundary. They find that the power of magnetic fluctuations is enhanced only at periods less than about two minutes, not at longer periods. Thus the upstream waves may contribute to Pc 3 and Pc 4 pulsations in the dayside magnetosphere, but they can not be directly responsible for the longer period waves

A change in fault-plane orientation between foreshocks and aftershocks of the Galway Lake earthquake, ML = 5.2, 1975, Mojave desert, California

Science.gov (United States)

Fuis, G.S.; Lindh, A.G.

1979-01-01

A marked change is observed in P/SV amplitude ratios, measured at station TPC, from foreshocks to aftershocks of the Galway Lake earthquake. This change is interpreted to be the result of a change in fault-plane orientation occurring between foreshocks and aftershocks. The Galway Lake earthquake, ML= 5.2, occurred on June 1, 1975. The first-motion fault-plane solutions for the main shock and most foreshocks and aftershocks indicate chiefly right-lateral strike-slip on NNW-striking planes that dip steeply, 70-90??, to the WSW. The main event was preceded by nine located foreshocks, ranging in magnitude from 1.9 to 3.4, over a period of 12 weeks, starting on March 9, 1975. All of the foreshocks form a tight cluster approximately 1 km in diameter. This cluster includes the main shock. Aftershocks are distributed over a 6-km-long fault zone, but only those that occurred inside the foreshock cluster are used in this study. Seismograms recorded at TPC (?? = 61 km), PEC (?? = 93 km), and CSP (?? = 83 km) are the data used here. The seismograms recorded at TPC show very consistent P/SV amplitude ratios for foreshocks. For aftershocks the P/SV ratios are scattered, but generally quite different from foreshock ratios. Most of the scatter for the aftershocks is confined to the two days following the main shock. Thereafter, however, the P/SV ratios are consistently half as large as for foreshocks. More subtle (and questionable) changes in the P/SV ratios are observed at PEC and CSP. Using theoretical P/SV amplitude ratios, one can reproduce the observations at TPC, PEC and CSP by invoking a 5-12?? counterclockwise change in fault strike between foreshocks and aftershocks. This interpretation is not unique, but it fits the data better than invoking, for example, changes in dip or slip angle. First-motion data cannot resolve this small change, but they permit it. Attenuation changes would appear to be ruled out by the fact that changes in the amplitude ratios, PTPC/PPEC and ptpc

Trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability and electrostatic harmonic excitation in Earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klimas, A.J.

1990-01-01

Trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability is discussed using electron plasma Vlasov simulation results. The role of electrostatic harmonic excitation is considered in detail and shown to play a decisive role in the saturation of the instability. An extensive discussion of the simulation results is given to show that the results are not significantly limited by the finite number of Fourier modes used nor by the discrete distribution of those modes in wave number. It is argued that in the leading edge of Earth's electron foreshock a narrow wave number band of unstable field modes leads to trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability while simultaneously exciting electrostatic plasma waves at harmonics of the plasma frequency in simialr narrow bands of shorter wavelengths. The argument is based (1) on the observations of Lacombe et al. (1985), who found intense plasma waves at the leading edge of the foreshock with a spectral distribution sufficiently narrow to trap particles in resonance with the waves, and (2) on numerical simulations of the foreshock electron plasma which indicate that trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability leads to phase space vortex formation with consequent excitation of electrostatic harmonics. Thus it is suggested that observations of electrostatic harmonics in the leading edge of the foreshock would strongly implicate trapping as the saturation mechanism for the bump-on-tail instability in that region

Anomalous foreshock field-aligned beams observed by Cluster

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K. Meziane

2011-10-01

Full Text Available We report occasional observations of two simultaneously distinct ion foreshock components recorded by the Cluster spacecraft upstream of the Earth's bow shock. In most occurrences, the lower-energy population originates as a field-aligned beam (FAB associated with quasi-perpendicular regions, which loses energy as the IMF rotates into oblique geometries. A second beam, with energies in excess of ~10 keV, appears sometimes in association with the onset of ultra-low frequency (ULF waves, and sometimes ahead of the appearance of the latter. Measurements from the mass spectrometer indicate that both beams consist of protons. While the lower-speed beam is well-accounted for by a known reflection mechanism, the non-radial IMF orientations as well as other arguments seem to rule out magnetosheath or magnetospheric sources for the higher energy component. The wave characteristics are typical of the oblique foreshock and we have found that they are in cyclotron-resonance with the low speed beam (FAB. These observations constitute a theoretical challenge since conventional mechanisms described in the literature cannot account for the production of beams at two different energies.

Radial dependence of foreshock cavities: a case study

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D. G. Sibeck

2004-12-01

Full Text Available We present a case study of Geotail, Interball-1, IMP-8, and Wind observations of density and magnetic field strength cavities excavated by the enhanced pressures associated with bursts of energetic ions in the foreshock. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the pressure of the energetic ions diminishes rapidly with upstream distance due to a decrease in the flux of energetic ions and a transition from near-isotropic to streaming pitch angle distributions. Consequently, the cavities can only be observed immediately upstream from the bow shock. A comparison of conditions upstream from the pre- and post-noon bow shock demonstrates that foreshock cavities introduce perturbations into the oncoming solar wind flow with dimensions smaller than those of the magnetosphere. Dayside geosynchronous magnetic field strength variations observed by GOES-8 do not track the density variations seen by any of the spacecraft upstream from the bow shock in a one-to-one manner, indicating that none of these spacecraft observed the precise sequence of density variations that actually struck the subsolar magnetopause. Key words. Interplanetary physics (energetic particles; planetary bow shocks – Magnetospheric physics (solar wind-magnetosphere interactions

Radial dependence of foreshock cavities: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. G. Sibeck

2004-12-01

Full Text Available We present a case study of Geotail, Interball-1, IMP-8, and Wind observations of density and magnetic field strength cavities excavated by the enhanced pressures associated with bursts of energetic ions in the foreshock. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the pressure of the energetic ions diminishes rapidly with upstream distance due to a decrease in the flux of energetic ions and a transition from near-isotropic to streaming pitch angle distributions. Consequently, the cavities can only be observed immediately upstream from the bow shock. A comparison of conditions upstream from the pre- and post-noon bow shock demonstrates that foreshock cavities introduce perturbations into the oncoming solar wind flow with dimensions smaller than those of the magnetosphere. Dayside geosynchronous magnetic field strength variations observed by GOES-8 do not track the density variations seen by any of the spacecraft upstream from the bow shock in a one-to-one manner, indicating that none of these spacecraft observed the precise sequence of density variations that actually struck the subsolar magnetopause.

Key words. Interplanetary physics (energetic particles; planetary bow shocks – Magnetospheric physics (solar wind-magnetosphere interactions

Suprathermal He{sup 2+} in the Earth`s foreshock region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuselier, S.A. [Lockheed Palo Alto Research Lab., CA (United States); Thomsen, M.F. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Ipavich, F.M. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Schmidt, W.K.H. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany)

1995-09-01

ISEE 1 and 2 H{sup +} and He{sup 2+} observations upstream from the Earth`s bow shock are used to investigate the origin of energetic (or diffuse) ion distributions. Diffuse ion distributions have energies from a few keV/e to > 100 keV/e and have near solar wind concentrations (i.e., an average of about 4% He{sup 2+}). These distributions may evolve from suprathermal ion distributions that have energies between 1 and a few keV/e. Upstream intervals were selected from the ISEE data to determine which suprathermal distributions have He{sup 2+} concentrations similar to those of diffuse ion distributions. The type of distribution and the location in the foreshock were similar in all events studied. Two intervals that represent the results from this study are discussed in detail. The results suggest that diffuse ion distributions evolve from suprathermal distributions in the region upstream from the quasi-parallel bow shock. For He{sup 2+}, the suprathermal distribution is a nongyrotropic partial ring beam and has characteristics consistent with specular reflection off the quasi-parallel bow shock. The suprathermal proton distributions associated with these He{sup 2+} distributions are nongyrotropic partial ring beams or nearly gyrotropic ring beams also approximately consistent with specular reflection. The location in the quasi-parallel foreshock and the similarity of the suprathermal He{sup 2+} and H{sup +} distributions suggest that these are the seed population for diffuse distributions in the foreshock region. 30 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

Formation of the wave compressional boundary in the earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skadron, G.; Holdaway, R.D.; Lee, M.A.

1988-01-01

The authors analyze the interaction between energetic protons and hydromagnetic waves in the Earth's ion foreshock and locate compressional wave boundaries corresponding to interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) inclinations to the solar wind of θ BV equal to 45 degree and 25 degree. Protons injected into the solar wind at the bow shock interact with MHD waves traveling along the IMF lines intersecting the shock. Starting with the quasi-linear pitch angle diffusion equation, they obtain fluid equations for the densities and mean velocities of outward and inward streaming energetic protons. The excitation and damping of waves by these protons are described by linear growth rates for parallel propagation and evaluated using a model proton distribution function controlled by the local fluid variables. The coupled equations for the evolution of the wave intensities, proton densities, and mean velocities are solved numerically assuming a prescribed proton injection rate at the shock. They find that in the solar wind frame, (1) the dominant wave-particle interaction in the outer foreshock is the damping of inward propagating (toward the shock) left-polarized waves, producing a magnetically quiet region immediately downstream of the foreshock boundary; (2) excitation of outward propagating right-polarized waves farther downstream leads to the recovery of δ|B| and to an upstream boundary for enhanced compressional wave activity; (3) at θ BV = 45 degree, the calculated compressional boundary has a mean inclination of 78 degree from the Earth-Sun axis, compared with the observed range of 85 degree ± 3 degree

Statistical behavior of foreshock Langmuir waves observed by the Cluster wideband data plasma wave receiver

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K. Sigsbee

2004-07-01

Full Text Available We present the statistics of Langmuir wave amplitudes in the Earth's foreshock using Cluster Wideband Data (WBD Plasma Wave Receiver electric field waveforms from spacecraft 2, 3 and 4 on 26 March 2002. The largest amplitude Langmuir waves were observed by Cluster near the boundary between the foreshock and solar wind, in agreement with earlier studies. The characteristics of the waves were similar for all three spacecraft, suggesting that variations in foreshock structure must occur on scales greater than the 50-100km spacecraft separations. The electric field amplitude probability distributions constructed using waveforms from the Cluster WBD Plasma Wave Receiver generally followed the log-normal statistics predicted by stochastic growth theory for the event studied. Comparison with WBD receiver data from 17 February 2002, when spacecraft 4 was set in a special manual gain mode, suggests non-optimal auto-ranging of the instrument may have had some influence on the statistics.

Statistical behavior of foreshock Langmuir waves observed by the Cluster wideband data plasma wave receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Sigsbee

2004-07-01

Full Text Available We present the statistics of Langmuir wave amplitudes in the Earth's foreshock using Cluster Wideband Data (WBD Plasma Wave Receiver electric field waveforms from spacecraft 2, 3 and 4 on 26 March 2002. The largest amplitude Langmuir waves were observed by Cluster near the boundary between the foreshock and solar wind, in agreement with earlier studies. The characteristics of the waves were similar for all three spacecraft, suggesting that variations in foreshock structure must occur on scales greater than the 50-100km spacecraft separations. The electric field amplitude probability distributions constructed using waveforms from the Cluster WBD Plasma Wave Receiver generally followed the log-normal statistics predicted by stochastic growth theory for the event studied. Comparison with WBD receiver data from 17 February 2002, when spacecraft 4 was set in a special manual gain mode, suggests non-optimal auto-ranging of the instrument may have had some influence on the statistics.

Spatial distribution of electron plasma oscillations in the Earth`s foreshock at ISEE 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greenstadt, E.W.; Moses, S.L.; Coroniti, F.V. [TRW, Redondo Beach, CA (United States)] [and others

1995-10-01

Electric field oscillations recorded by the 10-56 kHz channels of TRW`s plasma wave detector during parts of two of the ISEE 3 circumterrestrial orbits in 1983 have been used to make the first mapping of Earth`s electron plasma wave foreshock. By combining data from the two trajectory segments, each of which provided relatively meager spatial sampling outside the bow shock, but high variation of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction, a first-order pattern of occurrence of electron plasma waves, hence also backstreaming electrons, has been determined. The authors depict the pattern with an adaptation of the mapping program previously used for the Venus electron foreshock. As at Venus, plasma wave activity was concentrated most densely along the IMF line tangent to the bow shock. Their mappings with three additional ISEE 3 channels surrounding the local electron plasma frequency indicate a richer distribution of waves in the foreshock than the single electron frequency channel of Pioneer Venus Orbiter could detect around Venus. 14 refs., 4 figs.

Stochastic Growth Theory of Spatially-Averaged Distributions of Langmuir Fields in Earth's Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Boshuizen, Christopher R.; Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.

2001-01-01

Langmuir-like waves in the foreshock of Earth are characteristically bursty and irregular, and are the subject of a number of recent studies. Averaged over the foreshock, it is observed that the probability distribution is power-law P(bar)(log E) in the wave field E with the bar denoting this averaging over position, In this paper it is shown that stochastic growth theory (SGT) can explain a power-law spatially-averaged distributions P(bar)(log E), when the observed power-law variations of the mean and standard deviation of log E with position are combined with the log normal statistics predicted by SGT at each location.

Formation of the wave compressional boundary in the earth's foreshock

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Skadron, George; Holdaway, Robert D.; Lee, Martin A.

1988-01-01

Using an evolutionary model and allowing for nonuniform proton injection and wave growth rates, the compressional wave boundaries corresponding to IMF inclinations to the solar wind of theta(BV) equal to 45 and 25 deg were located. The compressional boundaries deduced from this model were found to support the results of Greenstadt and Baum (1986) who have concluded that the observed compressional boundaries are incompatible with wave growth at a fixed growth rate, due to the interaction of a uniform beam with the solar wind. The results indicate, however, that the compressional boundaries are quite compatible with nonuniform beams and growth rates which result from the coupled evolution of the energetic protons and the waves with which they interact. It was found that, in the solar wind frame, the dominant wave-particle interaction in the outer foreshock is the damping of inward propagating (toward the shock) left-polarized waves, producing a magnetically quiet region immediately downstream of the foreshock boundary.

Detection of bump-on-tail reduced electron velocity distributions at the electron foreshock boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzenreiter, R.J.; Klimas, A.J.; Scudder, J.D.

1984-02-01

Reduced velocity distributions are derived from three-dimensional measurements of the velocity distribution of electrons in the 7 to 500 eV range in the electron foreshock. Bump-on-tail reduced distributions are presented for the first time at the foreshock boundary consistent with Filbert and Kellogg's proposed time-of-flight mechanism for generating the electron beams. In a significant number of boundary crossings, bump-on-tail reduced distributions were found in consecutive 3 sec measurements made 9 sec apart. It is concluded that, although the beams are linearly unstable to plasma waves according to the Penrose criterion, they persist on a time scale of 3 to 15 sec

Alfvén waves in the foreshock propagating upstream in the plasma rest frame: statistics from Cluster observations

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Y. Narita

2004-07-01

Full Text Available We statistically study various properties of low-frequency waves such as frequencies, wave numbers, phase velocities, and polarization in the plasma rest frame in the terrestrial foreshock. Using Cluster observations the wave telescope or k-filtering is applied to investigate wave numbers and rest frame frequencies. We find that most of the foreshock waves propagate upstream along the magnetic field at phase velocity close to the Alfvén velocity. We identify that frequencies are around 0.1xΩcp and wave numbers are around 0.1xΩcp/VA, where Ωcp is the proton cyclotron frequency and VA is the Alfvén velocity. Our results confirm the conclusions drawn from ISEE observations and strongly support the existence of Alfvén waves in the foreshock.

Initiation process of the Mw 6.2 central Tottori, Japan, earthquake on October 21, 2016: Stress transfer due to its largest foreshock of Mw 4.1

Science.gov (United States)

Noda, S.; Ellsworth, W. L.

2017-12-01

On October 21, 2016, a strike-slip earthquake with Mw 6.2 occurred in the central Tottori prefecture, Japan. It was preceded by a foreshock sequence that began with a Mw 4.1 event, the largest earthquake for the sequence, and lasted about two hours. According to the JMA catalog, the largest foreshock had a similar focal mechanism as the mainshock and was located in the immediate vicinity of the mainshock hypocenter. The goal of this study is to understand the relationship between the foreshock and the initial rupture of the mainshock. We first determine the relative hypocenter distance between the foreshock and mainshock using the P-wave onsets on Hi-net station records. The initiation points of the two events are likely about 100 m apart according to the current results, but could be closer. Within the location uncertainty, they might either be coplanar or on subparallel planes. Next, we obtain the slip-history models from a kinematic inversion method using empirical Green's functions derived from other foreshocks with M 2.2 - 2.4. The Mw 4.1 foreshock and Mw 6.2 mainshock started in a similar way until approximately 0.2 s after their onsets. For the foreshock, the rapid growth stage completed by 0.2 s even though the rupture propagation continued for 0.4 - 0.5 s longer (note that 0.2 s is significantly shorter than the typical source duration of a Mw 4.1 earthquake). On the other hand, the mainshock rupture continued to grow rapidly after 0.2 s. The comparison between the relative hypocenter locations and the slip models shows that the mainshock nucleated within the area strongly effected by both static and dynamic stress changes created by the foreshock. We also find that the mainshock initially propagated away from the foreshock hypocenter. We consider that the stress transfer process is a key to understand the mainshock nucleation as well as its rupture growth process.

The Kumamoto Mw7.1 mainshock: deep initiation triggered by the shallow foreshocks

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Shi, Q.; Wei, S.

2017-12-01

The Kumamoto Mw7.1 earthquake and its Mw6.2 foreshock struck the central Kyushu region in mid-April, 2016. The surface ruptures are characterized with multiple fault segments and a mix of strike-slip and normal motion extended from the intersection area of Hinagu and Futagawa faults to the southwest of Mt. Aso. Despite complex surface ruptures, most of the finite fault inversions use two fault segments to approximate the fault geometry. To study the rupture process and the complex fault geometry of this earthquake, we performed a multiple point source inversion for the mainshock using the data on 93 K-net and Kik-net stations. With path calibration from the Mw6.0 foreshock, we selected the frequency ranges for the Pnl waves (0.02 0.26 Hz) and surface waves (0.02 0.12 Hz), as well as the components that can be well modeled with the 1D velocity model. Our four-point-source results reveal a unilateral rupture towards Mt. Aso and varying fault geometries. The first sub-event is a high angle ( 79°) right-lateral strike-slip event at the depth of 16 km on the north end of the Hinagu fault. Notably the two M>6 foreshocks is located by our previous studies near the north end of the Hinagu fault at the depth of 5 9 km, which may give rise to the stress concentration at depth. The following three sub-events are distributed along the surface rupture of the Futagawa fault, with focal depths within 4 10 km. Their focal mechanisms present similar right-lateral fault slips with relatively small dip angles (62 67°) and apparent normal-fault component. Thus, the mainshock rupture initiated from the relatively deep part of the Hinagu fault and propagated through the fault-bend toward NE along the relatively shallow part of the Futagawa fault until it was terminated near Mt. Aso. Based on the four-point-source solution, we conducted a finite-fault inversion and obtained a kinematic rupture model of the mainshock. We then performed the Coulomb Stress analyses on the two foreshocks

Foreshocks and Aftershocks Detected from Stick-slip Events on a 3 m Biaxial Apparatus and their Relationship to Quasistatic Nucleation and Wear Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, S.; Mclaskey, G.

2017-12-01

We investigate foreshocks and aftershocks of dynamic stick-slip events generated on a newly constructed 3 m biaxial friction apparatus at Cornell University (attached figure). In a typical experiment, two rectangular granite blocks are squeezed together under 4 or 7 MPa of normal pressure ( 4 or 7 million N on a 1 m2 fault surface), and then shear stress is increased until the fault slips 10 - 400 microns in a dynamic rupture event similar to a M -2 to M -3 earthquake. Some ruptures nucleate near the north end of the fault, where the shear force is applied, other ruptures nucleate 2 m from the north end of the fault. The samples are instrumented with 16 piezoelectric sensors, 16 eddy current sensors, and 8 strain gage rosettes, evenly placed along the fault to measure vertical ground motion, local slip, and local stress, respectively. We studied sequences of tens of slip events and identified a total of 194 foreshocks and 66 aftershocks located within 6 s time windows around the stick-slip events and analyzed their timing and locations relative to the quasistatic nucleation process. We found that the locations of the foreshocks and aftershocks were distributed all along the length of the fault, with the majority located at the ends of the fault where local normal and shear stress is highest (caused by both edge effects and the finite stiffness of the steel frame surrounding the granite blocks). We also opened the laboratory fault and inspected the fault surface and found increased wear at the sample ends. To explore the foreshocks' and aftershocks' relationship to the nucleation and afterslip, we compared the occurrence of foreshocks to the local slip rate on the laboratory fault closest to each foreshock in space and time. We found that that majority of foreshocks were generated from local slip rates between 1 and 100 microns/s, though we were not able to resolve slip rate lower than about 1 micron/s. Our experiments provide insight into how foreshocks and

Alfvén waves in the foreshock propagating upstream in the plasma rest frame: statistics from Cluster observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2004-07-01

Full Text Available We statistically study various properties of low-frequency waves such as frequencies, wave numbers, phase velocities, and polarization in the plasma rest frame in the terrestrial foreshock. Using Cluster observations the wave telescope or k-filtering is applied to investigate wave numbers and rest frame frequencies. We find that most of the foreshock waves propagate upstream along the magnetic field at phase velocity close to the Alfvén velocity. We identify that frequencies are around 0.1xΩ_cp and wave numbers are around 0.1xΩ_cp/V_A, where Ω_cp is the proton cyclotron frequency and V_A is the Alfvén velocity. Our results confirm the conclusions drawn from ISEE observations and strongly support the existence of Alfvén waves in the foreshock.

Perturbation of the solar wind in a model terrestrial foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skadron, G.; Holdaway, R.D.; Scholer, M.

1986-01-01

We analyze the perturbation of the solar wind in the earth's foreshock. The foreshock is modulated as a planar magnetic flux tube having a 15 R/sub E/ half width. Within the flux tube the upstream energetic particle pressure is assumed to fall monotonically to zero at the flux tube boundary and decline in the upstream direction with a scale length of 8 R/sub E/. The incident solar wind is assumed to flow uniformly with a velocity of 400 km s -1 , a density of 8 cm -3 , a pressure of 50 eV cm -3 , and a magnetic field of 4γ directed parallel to the flow. The solar wind density, velocity, and magnetic field within the foreshock are described by the steady state ideal MHD equations. We find that (1) the vector solar wind velocity perturbation rotates from the sunward to the transverse direction with increasing distance from the axis of the flux tube, (2) the peak solar wind deflection is located --3R/sub E/ within the flux tube boundary, (3) a central upstream pressure of 200 eV cm -3 produces a maxium deceleration of 6 km s -1 and a maximum deflection of 1.3 0 , (4) a central upstream pressure of 600 eV cm -3 produces a maximum deceleration of 19 km s -1 and a maximum deflection of 3.6 0 , and (5) the deflection and deceleration are accompanied by perturbations of the solar wind density and magnetic field. These perturbations are largest near the flux tube boundary where both form spikes having a width of --2R/sub E/. For a 600 eV cm -3 central pressure those spikes have amplitudes of 2 cm -3 and lγ, respectively. We have analyzed the linearized flow problem analytically and reduced the solutions to quadrature. These solutions are found to be good approximations to the numerical nonlinear solutions for moderate values of the upstream particle pressure

Thermal and Driven Stochastic Growth of Langmuir Waves in the Solar Wind and Earth's Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.; Anderson, R. R.

2000-01-01

Statistical distributions of Langmuir wave fields in the solar wind and the edge of Earth's foreshock are analyzed and compared with predictions for stochastic growth theory (SGT). SGT quantitatively explains the solar wind, edge, and deep foreshock data as pure thermal waves, driven thermal waves subject to net linear growth and stochastic effects, and as waves in a pure SGT state, respectively, plus radiation near the plasma frequency f(sub p). These changes are interpreted in terms of spatial variations in the beam instability's growth rate and evolution toward a pure SGT state. SGT analyses of field distributions are shown to provide a viable alternative to thermal noise spectroscopy for wave instruments with coarse frequency resolution, and to separate f(sub p) radiation from Langmuir waves.

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock - The generation of Langmuir waves by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Dum, C. T.

1990-01-01

Particle simulation experiments were used to study the basic physical ingredients needed for building a global model of foreshock wave phenomena. In particular, the generation of Langmuir waves by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution is analyzed. It is shown that, with appropriately designed simulations experiments, quasi-linear theory can be quantitatively verified for parameters corresponding to the electron foreshock.

Stress rotations due to the M6.5 foreshock and M7.3 main shock in the 2016 Kumamoto, SW Japan, earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Keisuke; Hasegawa, Akira; Saito, Tatsuhiko; Asano, Youichi; Tanaka, Sachiko; Sawazaki, Kaoru; Urata, Yumi; Fukuyama, Eiichi

2016-10-01

A shallow M7.3 event with a M6.5 foreshock occurred along the Futagawa-Hinagu fault zone in Kyushu, SW Japan. We investigated the spatiotemporal variation of the stress orientations in and around the source area of this 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence by inverting 1218 focal mechanisms. The results show that the σ3 axis in the vicinity of the fault plane significantly rotated counterclockwise after the M6.5 foreshock and rotated clockwise after the M7.3 main shock in the Hinagu fault segment. This observation indicates that a significant portion of the shear stress was released both by the M6.5 foreshock and M7.3 main shock. It is estimated that the stress release by the M6.5 foreshock occurred in the shallower part of the Hinagu fault segment, which brought the stress concentration in its deeper part. This might have caused the M7.3 main shock rupture mainly along the deeper part of the Hinagu fault segment after 28 h.

A statistical study of the upstream intermediate ion boundary in the Earth's foreshock

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K. Meziane

1998-02-01

Full Text Available A statistical investigation of the location of onset of intermediate and gyrating ion populations in the Earth's foreshock is presented based on Fixed Voltage Analyzer data from ISEE 1. This study reveals the existence of a spatial boundary for intermediate and gyrating ion populations that coincides with the reported ULF wave boundary. This boundary position in the Earth's foreshock depends strongly upon the magnetic cone angle θBX and appears well defined for relatively large cone angles, though not for small cone angles. As reported in a previous study of the ULF wave boundary, the position of the intermediate-gyrating ion boundary is not compatible with a fixed growth rate of the waves resulting from the interaction between a uniform beam and the ambient plasma. The present work examines the momentum associated with protons which travel along this boundary, and we show that the variation of the boundary position (or equivalently, the associated particle momentum with the cone angle is related to classical acceleration mechanisms at the bow shock surface. The same functional behavior as a function of the cone angle is obtained for the momentum predicted by an acceleration model and for the particle momentum associated with the boundary. However, the model predicts systematically larger values of the momentum than the observation related values by a constant amount; we suggest that this difference may be due to some momentum exchange between the incident solar-wind population and the backstreaming particles through a wave-particle interaction resulting from a beam plasma instability.Key words. Intermediate ion boundary · Statistical investigation · Earth's foreshock · ISEE 1 spacecraft

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

OpenAIRE

L. Billingham; S. J. Schwartz; D. G. Sibeck

2008-01-01

We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into th...

Asperity-Type Potential Foreshock Sources Driven by Nucleation-Induced Creep within a Rate-and-State Fault Model

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Higgins, N.; Lapusta, N.

2016-12-01

What physical mechanism drives the occurrence of foreshocks? Many studies have suggested that slow slip from the mainshock nucleation is a necessary ingredient for explaining foreshock observations. We explore this view, investigating asperity-type foreshock sources driven by nucleation-induced creep using rate-and-state fault models, and numerically simulatie their behavior over many rupture cycles. Inspired by the unique laboratory experiments of earthquake nucleation and rupture conducted on a meter-scale slab of granite by McLaskey and colleagues, we model potential foreshock sources as "bumps" on the fault interface by assigning a significantly higher normal compression and, in some cases, increased smoothness (lower characteristic slip) over small patches within a seismogenic fault. In order to study the mechanics of isolated patch-induced seismic events preceding the mainshock, we separate these patches sufficiently in space. The simulation results show that our rate-and-state fault model with patches of locally different properties driven by the slow nucleation of the mainshock is indeed able to produce isolated microseismicity before the mainshock. Remarkably, the stress drops of these precursory events are compatible with observations and approximately independent of the patch compression, despite the wide range of the elevated patch compression used in different simulations. We find that this unexpected property of stress drops for this type of model is due to two factors. Firstly, failure of stronger patches results in rupture further into the surrounding fault, keeping the average stress drop down. Secondly, patches close to their local nucleation size relieve a significant amount of stress via aseismic pre-slip, which also helps to keep the stress drop down. Our current work is directed towards investigating the seismic signature of such events and the potential differences with other types of microseismicity.

Simulations relevant to the beam instability in the foreshock

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Cairns, I. H.; Nishikawa, K.-I.

1989-01-01

The results presently obtained from two-dimensional simulations of the reactive instability for Maxwellian beams and cutoff distributions are noted to be consistent with recent suggestions that electrons backstreaming into earth's foreshock have steep-sided cutoff distributions, which are initially unstable to the reactive instability, and that the back-reaction to the wave growth causes the instability to pass into its kinetic phase. It is demonstrated that the reactive instability is a bunching instability, and that the reactive instability saturates and passes over into the kinetic phase by particle trapping.

A theory for the Langmuir waves in the electron foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, I.H.

1987-01-01

A theory for the Langmuir (L) waves observed in the electron foreshock is suggested. Free energy for the Langmuir wave growth is contained in cutoff distributions of energetic electrons streaming from the bow shock. These cutoff distributions drive Langmuir wave growth primarily by the kinetic version of the beam instability, and wave growth is limited by quasi-linear relaxation. The observed bump-on-tail electron distributions are interpreted as the remnants of cutoff distributions after quasi-linear relaxation has limited the wave growth. Only plausibility arguments for this theory are given since suitable treatments of quasi-linear relaxation are not presently available. However, it is shown that the wave processes L ± S → L' and L ± S → T (where S and T denote ion sound and transverse waves, respectively), refraction in steady-state density structures, diffusion due to interactions with ion sound turbulence, and effects due to wave convection and spatial gradients in the beam velocity, are unable to suppress the beam instability. The theory leads to natural interpretations of the Langmuir electric field waveforms observed and of the decrease in the Langmuir wave electric fields with increasing distance from the foreshock boundary. The theory for the beam instability is reviewed, and previous analytic and numerical treatments of the beam instability are related

Statistical properties of small-amplitude Langmuir waves in the Earth’s electron foreshock

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Musatenko, K.; Lobzin, V.; Souček, Jan; Krasnoselskikh, V. V.; Décréau, P.

2007-01-01

Roč. 55, č. 15 (2007), s. 2273-2280 ISSN 0032-0633 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : Langmuir waves * Electron foreshock * Density inhomogeneities * Probability density functions * Beam-plasma instability * Plasma waves * Kinetic waves and instabilities Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.842, year: 2007

Nonlinear low frequency (LF) waves - Comets and foreshock phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Tsurutani, Bruce T.

1991-01-01

A review is conducted of LF wave nonlinear properties at comets and in the earth's foreshock, engaging such compelling questions as why there are no cometary cyclotron waves, the physical mechanism responsible for 'dispersive whiskers', and the character of a general description of linear waves. Attention is given to the nonlinear properties of LF waves, whose development is illustrated by examples of waves and their features at different distances from the comet, as well as by computer simulation results. Also discussed is a curious wave mode detected from Comet Giacobini-Zinner, both at and upstream of the bow shock/wave.

Volumetric Studies of Earth's Electron Foreshock Using PEACE Data

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Melvyn L.; Gurgiolo, Chris; Fazakersley, Andrew

2010-01-01

We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) electron data from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. What is found is that much of the measured vorticity, under nominal conditions, appears to be caused by changes in the flow direction of the return (either reflected or leakage from the magnetosheath) and strahl electron populations as they couple to changes in the magnetic field orientation. This in turn results in deflections in the total bulk velocity.

Nonlinear Waves in the Terrestrial Quasiparallel Foreshock.

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Hnat, B; Kolotkov, D Y; O'Connell, D; Nakariakov, V M; Rowlands, G

2016-12-02

We provide strongly conclusive evidence that the cubic nonlinearity plays an important part in the evolution of the large amplitude magnetic structures in the terrestrial foreshock. Large amplitude nonlinear wave trains at frequencies above the proton cyclotron frequency are identified after nonharmonic slow variations are filtered out by applying the empirical mode decomposition. Numerical solutions of the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation, predicted analytically by the use of a pseudopotential approach, are found to be consistent with the observed wave forms. The approximate phase speed of these nonlinear waves, indicated by the parameters of numerical solutions, is of the order of the local Alfvén speed. We suggest that the feedback of the large amplitude fluctuations on background plasma is reflected in the evolution of the pseudopotential.

A Bayesian theory for seismic foreshocks and aftershocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostol, B.-F.

2006-01-01

Statistical distributions in time, magnitude and energy are derived for seismic foreshocks and aftershocks accompanying a main seismic shock, as based on the Bayesian theory of probabilities and on a model introduced recently for the accumulation of energy in a seismic focus. Omori's law is obtained as a self-replication of a generating distribution, the self-consistency of the process requiring an exponential law for this generating distribution. The two distributions are interrelated by Euler's transform, which provides also a generalized form of Omori's law. The regime of the accompanying seismic events is characterized as fully as possible, including the time dependence of the magnitude and the rate of released energy. (author)

Measurement of the electron beam mode in the Earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onsager, T.G.; Holzworth, R.H.

1990-01-01

High frequency electric field measurements from the AMPTE IRM plasma wave receiver are used to identify three simultaneously excited electrostatic wave modes in the Earth's foreshock region: the electron beam mode the Langmuir mode, and the ion acoustic mode. A technique is developed which allows the rest frame frequency and wave number of the electron beam waves to be determined. Plasma wave and magnetometer data are used to determine the interplanetary magnetic field direction at which the spacecraft becomes magnetically connected to the Earth's bow shock. From the knowledge of this direction, the upstreaming electron cutoff velocity can be calculated. The authors take this calculated cutoff velocity to be the flow velocity of an electron beam in the plasma. Assuming that the wave phase speed is approximately equal to the beam speed and using the measured electric field frequency, they determine the plasma rest frame frequency and the wave number. They then show that the experimentally determined rest frame frequency and wave number agree well with the most unstable frequency and wave number predicted by linear homogeneous Vlasov theory for a plasma with Maxwellian background electrons and a Lorentzian electron beam. From a comparison of the experimentally determined and theoretical values, approximate limits are put on the electron foreshock beam temperatures. A possible generation mechanism for ion acoustic waves involving mode coupling between the electron beam and Langmuir modes is also discussed

Plasma waves in the Earth's foreshock, bow shock, and magnetosheath

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onsager, T.G.

1988-01-01

The research presented in this dissertation is a detailed analysis of electrostatic waves in the Earth's foreshock, bow shock, and magnetosheath. The wave modes measured in these regions, the possible generation mechanisms, and the process which drive the plasma to its unstable state are investigated. The measurements used in this study were obtained from the plasma wave receiver, the particle instrument, and the magnetometer on board the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorer (AMPTE) Ion Release Module (IRM). Electron beam mode waves have been identified in the Earth's foreshock. A technique is developed which allows the rest frame frequency and wave number of the electron beam mode waves to be determined from the measurements. The experimentally determined values are compared with theoretical predictions, and approximate limits are put on the beam temperatures. It is demonstrated that electrostatic waves are present in the bow shock and magnetosheath with frequencies above the maximum frequency for Doppler shifted ion acoustic waves, yet below the Langmuir frequency. Waves in this frequency range are tentatively identified as electron beam mode waves. This identification is based on the measured frequencies and electric field polarization directions. Data from 45 bow shock crossings are then used to investigate possible correlations between the electron beam mode waves and the near shock plasma parameters. The best correlations are found with Alfven Mach number and electron beta. Possible mechanism which might produce electron beams in the shock and magnetosheath are discussed in terms of the correlation study results

Maximum Langmuir Fields in Planetary Foreshocks Determined from the Electrostatic Decay Threshold

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Robinson, P. A.; Cairns, Iver H.

1995-01-01

Maximum electric fields of Langmuir waves at planetary foreshocks are estimated from the threshold for electrostatic decay, assuming it saturates beam driven growth, and incorporating heliospheric variation of plasma density and temperature. Comparisons with spacecraft observations yields good quantitative agreement. Observations in type 3 radio sources are also in accord with this interpretation. A single mechanism can thus account for the highest fields of beam driven waves in both contexts.

Solar wind deceleration and MHD turbulence in the earth's foreshock region: ISEE 1 and 2 and IMP 8 observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonifazi, C.; Moreno, G.; Russell, C.T.; Lazarus, A.J.; Sullivan, J.D.

1983-01-01

The interaction of the solar wind with ions backstreaming from the earth's bow shock is investigated using plasma and magnetic field measurements on ISEE 1 and 2 and IMP 8 at widely separated positions in the earth's foreshock. This technique separates temporal and spatial variations within the foreshock. It is found that the solar wind acceleration associated with backstreaming ions is correlated with the amplitude of the MHD turbulence and that the largest decelerations are seen close to the bow shock. The density of the backstreaming ion beam is stronly correlated with distance from the shock and decreases by about a factor of 3 in a distance of about 3 R/sub E/

Solar wind deceleration and MHD turbulence in the earth's foreshock region - ISEE 1 and 2 and IMP 8 observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bonifazi, C.; Moreno, G.; Russell, C. T.; Lazarus, A. J.; Sullivan, J. D.

1983-01-01

The interaction of the solar wind with ions backstreaming from the earth's bow shock is investigated using plasma and magnetic field measurements on ISEE 1 and 2 and IMP 8 at widely separated positions in the earth's foreshock. This technique separates temporal and spatial variations within the foreshock. It is found that the solar wind acceleration associated with backstreaming ions is correlated with the amplitude of the MHD turbulence, and that the largest decelerations are seen close to the bow shock. The density of the backstreaming ion beam is strongly correlated with distance from the shock, and decreases by about a factor of three in a distance of about 3R(e).

Properties of the probability distribution associated with the largest event in an earthquake cluster and their implications to foreshocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuang Jiancang; Ogata, Yosihiko

2006-01-01

The space-time epidemic-type aftershock sequence model is a stochastic branching process in which earthquake activity is classified into background and clustering components and each earthquake triggers other earthquakes independently according to certain rules. This paper gives the probability distributions associated with the largest event in a cluster and their properties for all three cases when the process is subcritical, critical, and supercritical. One of the direct uses of these probability distributions is to evaluate the probability of an earthquake to be a foreshock, and magnitude distributions of foreshocks and nonforeshock earthquakes. To verify these theoretical results, the Japan Meteorological Agency earthquake catalog is analyzed. The proportion of events that have 1 or more larger descendants in total events is found to be as high as about 15%. When the differences between background events and triggered event in the behavior of triggering children are considered, a background event has a probability about 8% to be a foreshock. This probability decreases when the magnitude of the background event increases. These results, obtained from a complicated clustering model, where the characteristics of background events and triggered events are different, are consistent with the results obtained in [Ogata et al., Geophys. J. Int. 127, 17 (1996)] by using the conventional single-linked cluster declustering method

Properties of the probability distribution associated with the largest event in an earthquake cluster and their implications to foreshocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Jiancang; Ogata, Yosihiko

2006-04-01

The space-time epidemic-type aftershock sequence model is a stochastic branching process in which earthquake activity is classified into background and clustering components and each earthquake triggers other earthquakes independently according to certain rules. This paper gives the probability distributions associated with the largest event in a cluster and their properties for all three cases when the process is subcritical, critical, and supercritical. One of the direct uses of these probability distributions is to evaluate the probability of an earthquake to be a foreshock, and magnitude distributions of foreshocks and nonforeshock earthquakes. To verify these theoretical results, the Japan Meteorological Agency earthquake catalog is analyzed. The proportion of events that have 1 or more larger descendants in total events is found to be as high as about 15%. When the differences between background events and triggered event in the behavior of triggering children are considered, a background event has a probability about 8% to be a foreshock. This probability decreases when the magnitude of the background event increases. These results, obtained from a complicated clustering model, where the characteristics of background events and triggered events are different, are consistent with the results obtained in [Ogata, Geophys. J. Int. 127, 17 (1996)] by using the conventional single-linked cluster declustering method.

Statistics of Langmuir wave amplitudes observed inside Saturn's foreshock by the Cassini spacecraft

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Píša, David; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Kurth, W. S.; Santolík, Ondřej; Souček, Jan; Gurnett, D. A.; Masters, A.; Hill, M. E.

2015-01-01

Roč. 120, č. 4 (2015), s. 2531-2542 ISSN 2169-9380 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP205/10/2279; GA ČR(CZ) GAP209/12/2394 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : Langmuir waves * foreshock * Saturn * Cassini Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.318, year: 2015 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JA020560/abstract

Foreshocks and aftershocks of the Great 1857 California earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzner, A.J.; Wald, D.J.

1999-01-01

The San Andreas fault is the longest fault in California and one of the longest strike-slip faults anywhere in the world, yet we know little about many aspects of its behavior before, during, and after large earthquakes. We conducted a study to locate and to estimate magnitudes for the largest foreshocks and aftershocks of the 1857 M 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake on the central and southern segments of the fault. We began by searching archived first-hand accounts from 1857 through 1862, by grouping felt reports temporally, and by assigning modified Mercalli intensities to each site. We then used a modified form of the grid-search algorithm of Bakum and Wentworth, derived from empirical analysis of modern earthquakes, to find the location and magnitude most consistent with the assigned intensities for each of the largest events. The result confirms a conclusion of Sieh that at least two foreshocks ('dawn' and 'sunrise') located on or near the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas fault preceded the mainshock. We estimate their magnitudes to be M ~ 6.1 and M ~ 5.6, respectively. The aftershock rate was below average but within one standard deviation of the number of aftershocks expected based on statistics of modern southern California mainshock-aftershock sequences. The aftershocks included two significant events during the first eight days of the sequence, with magnitudes M ~ 6.25 and M ~ 6.7, near the southern half of the rupture; later aftershocks included a M ~ 6 event near San Bernardino in December 1858 and a M ~ 6.3 event near the Parkfield segment in April 1860. From earthquake logs at Fort Tejon, we conclude that the aftershock sequence lasted a minimum of 3.75 years.

A statistical study of the upstream intermediate ion boundary in the Earth's foreshock

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K. Meziane

Full Text Available A statistical investigation of the location of onset of intermediate and gyrating ion populations in the Earth's foreshock is presented based on Fixed Voltage Analyzer data from ISEE 1. This study reveals the existence of a spatial boundary for intermediate and gyrating ion populations that coincides with the reported ULF wave boundary. This boundary position in the Earth's foreshock depends strongly upon the magnetic cone angle θ_BX and appears well defined for relatively large cone angles, though not for small cone angles. As reported in a previous study of the ULF wave boundary, the position of the intermediate-gyrating ion boundary is not compatible with a fixed growth rate of the waves resulting from the interaction between a uniform beam and the ambient plasma. The present work examines the momentum associated with protons which travel along this boundary, and we show that the variation of the boundary position (or equivalently, the associated particle momentum with the cone angle is related to classical acceleration mechanisms at the bow shock surface. The same functional behavior as a function of the cone angle is obtained for the momentum predicted by an acceleration model and for the particle momentum associated with the boundary. However, the model predicts systematically larger values of the momentum than the observation related values by a constant amount; we suggest that this difference may be due to some momentum exchange between the incident solar-wind population and the backstreaming particles through a wave-particle interaction resulting from a beam plasma instability.

Key words. Intermediate ion boundary · Statistical investigation · Earth's foreshock · ISEE 1 spacecraft

Plasma rest frame distributions of suprathermal ions in the earth's foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sentman, D.D.; Kennel, C.F.; Frank, L.A.

1981-01-01

We present rest frame ion distributions computed from three-dimensional observations of upstream superthermal ions gained by the Universtiy of Iowa Quadrispherical Lepedea on ISEE-1. The observations are for a single inbound, midmorning pass starting upstream from the ion foreshock and continuing across the quasiparallel bow shock into the magnetosheath. The crossing of the ion foreshock boundary is marked by a several minute burst of ions of temperature 100--200 eV moving along the IMF away from the bow shock at 500 km/s relative to the solar wind. The observation of these 'reflected' ions is followed by an extended interval of 'diffuse' ions of temperatures 2--3 keV flowing at approx.250 km/s relative to the solar wind and persisting until the bow shock is crossed. The diffuse ion β has a value of approximately 6 in the region of the superthermal ions, exceeding the normal thermal β of the solar wind by roughly an order of magnitude. Both types of superthermal ions constitute roughly 2% of the total ion density and carry a parallel heat flux of approx.2 x 10 -2 ergs cm -2 s -2 . When integrated over an assumed 10 x 10 R/sub E/ bow shock emission area, this implies an upstream dissipation that may approach 10 17 to 10 18 ergs/s, comparable to a modest substorm

Exploring Potential Foreshocks on Highly Compressed Patches in a Rate-and-State Fault Model

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, N.; Lapusta, N.

2015-12-01

On both natural and laboratory faults, some mainshocks are preceded by foreshocks. Such foreshocks may be triggered by aseismic processes of the mainshock nucleation at fault heterogeneities such as bumps, as inferred in some laboratory experiments. We explore a rate-and-state fault model in which potential foreshocks occur on patches of elevated normal compression (by a factor of 5 to 10) within a larger velocity-weakening (VW) region, using 3D numerical simulations of long-term earthquake sequences and aseismic slip. We find that this model produces isolated microseismicity during the nucleation of a larger-scale seismic event, under the following conditions: (i) Patch diameter D is comparable to or larger than the patch nucleation size h*patch; (ii) D is much smaller than the nucleation size h*main for the larger-scale VW region; otherwise, a patch-hosted event simply starts the larger-scale event; (iii) the patches are sufficiently separated to prevent them triggering each other nearly instantaneously. Hence the nucleation sizes h*main and h*patch need to be substantially different, by a factor of around 10 in our simulations so far, and potentially much more. The aforementioned separation of scales can be achieved by assigning high levels of compression on the patches. However, one would expect unrealistically large stress drops for events on such patches. Remarkably, in this model, we find that the stress drops of the patch-hosted events are reasonable and roughly constant, despite a wide variation in the patch compression, due to patch ruptures extending into the surrounding VW region. Furthermore, for D close to h*patch, a substantial part of the stress change on the patch occurs aseismically. Our current work is directed towards quantifying and explaining these trends, as well as exploring whether the microseismicity occurring on highly compressed patches due to nucleation-induced creep has any observable differences from other events.

Proton beam generation of whistler waves in the earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, H. K.; Goldstein, M. L.

1987-01-01

It is shown that proton beams, often observed upstream of the earth's bow shock and associated with the generation of low-frequency hydromagnetic fluctuations, are also capable of generating whistler waves. The waves can be excited by an instability driven by two-temperature streaming Maxwellian proton distributions which have T (perpendicular)/T(parallel) much greater than 1. It can also be excited by gyrating proton beam distributions. These distributions generate whistler waves with frequencies ranging from 10 to 100 times the proton cyclotron frequency (in the solar wind reference frame) and provide another mechanism for generating the '1-Hz' waves often seen in the earth's foreshock.

Proton beam generation of whistler waves in the Earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, H.K.; Goldstein, M.L.

1987-01-01

We show that proton beams, often observed upstream of the Earth's bow shock and associated with the generation of low-frequency hydromagnetic fluctuations, are also capable of generating whistler waves. The waves can be excited by an instability driven by two-temperature streaming Maxwellian proton distributions which have T/sub perpendicular//T/sub parallel/>>1. It can also be excited by gyrating proton beam distributions. These distributions generate whistler waves with frequencies ranging from 10 to 100 times the proton cyclotron frequency (in the solar wind reference frame) and provide another mechanism for generating the ''1-Hz'' waves often seen in the Earth's foreshock

Fine structure in plasma waves and radiation near the plasma frequency in Earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.

1994-01-01

Novel observations are presented of intrunsic fine structure in the frequency spectrum of electomagnetic (EM) radiation and plasma waves near the electron plasma frequency f(sub p) during a period of unusually high interplanetary magnetic field strength. Measured using the wideband receiver on the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) 1 spacecraft, fine-structured emissions are observed both in the solar wind and the foreshock, The fine structure is shown to correspond to emissions spaced above f(sub p) near half harmonies of the electon cyclotron frequency f(sub ce), i.e., near f(sub p) + nf(sub ce)/2. These appear to be the first space physics observations of emissions spaced by f(sub ce)/2. Indirect but strong arguments are used to discriminate between EM and electrostatic (ES) signals, to identify whether ISEE 1 is in the solar wind or the foreshock, and to determine the relative frequencies of the emissions and the local f(sub p). The data are consistent with generation of the ES and EM emissions in the foreshock, with subsequent propagation of the EM emissions into the solar wind. It remains possible that some emissions currently identified as ES have significant EM character. The ES and EM emisions often merge into one another with minimal changes in frequency, arguing that their source regions and generation mechanisms are related and imposing significant constraints on theories. The f(sub ce)/2 ES and EM fine structures observed may be intrinsic to the emission mechanisms or to superposition of two series of signals with f(sub ce) spacing that differ in starting frequency by f(sub ce)/2. Present theories for nonlinear wave coupling processes, cyclotron maser emission, and other linear instability processes are all unable to explain multiple EM and/or ES components spaced by approximately f(sub ce)/2 above f(sub p) for f(sub p)/f(sub ce) much greater than 1 and typical for shock beams parameters. Suitable avenues for further theoretical research are

Oblique whistler instability in the earth's foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sentman, D.D.; Thomsen, M.F.; Gary, S.P.; Feldman, W.C.; Hoppe, M.M.

1983-01-01

The linear Vlasov stability properties of electron velocity distributions, similar to those observed in the upstream foreshock region in association with obliquely propagating whistler waves at approximately 1 Hz, are studied. These distributions are modeled by a sum of bi-Maxwellians with drift speeds parallel to the magnetic field B. We find such distributions to be stable to modes with wavevectors k parallel to B but unstable to whistler waves propagating obliquely to the magnetic field. The frequencies and wavelengths of these unstable modes agree well with those of whistlers observed upstream of the earth's bow shock. The free energy source driving the instability is a region of positive parallel slope partialf/sub e//partialv/sub parallel/>0 at large pitch angles (about 85 0 ) and intermediate energies (about 20 eV), probably corresponding to the solar wind electrons magnetostatically reflected from the magnetic ramp of the bow shock. The whistlers grow via electromagnetic Landau resonance with this free energy source

On certain aftershock and foreshock parameters in the area of Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. C. PAPAZACHOS

1974-06-01

Full Text Available Published information (l2 on the aftershocks and foreshocks of many principal shallow earthquakes occurred in the area of Greece between 1911 and 1973 constitutes a more or less homogeneous and complete sample of data in respect to some properties of these seismic sequences. These data have been used to determine certain parameters of these sequences. The value of the decay parameter p, in the time distribution law of aftershocks, is independent of the magnitude range and varies between 0.7 and 1.9 in this area. The smallest value was found for the aftershock sequence of an earthquake believed to be associated with the Kremasta artificial lake, while the largest value was found for the aftershock sequence of an earthquake occurred in the volcanic part of the Hellenic arc. The probability, N, that the largest aftershock will occur Tl days after the main shock or later is given by a relation of the form N = c — k log Tl. Representative values of the parameter b, in the frequency-magnitude relation, have been found for the foreshocks as well as for the aftershocks of the same main shocks, by a proper grouping of the data. This value is equal to 0.67 for foresliocks and equal to 0.92 for the corresponding aftershocks. The difference in magnitude between the main shock and the largest aftershock is almost independent of the magnitude of the main shock. The relation M0 — = 1.1 holds on an average.

Growth of electron plasma waves above and below f/sub p/ in the electron foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, I.H.; Fung, S.F.

1988-01-01

With increasing penetration into the electron foreshock the characteristics of the electrostatic waves driven by streaming electrons change continuously from the familiar intense waves near the electron plasma frequency f/sub p/ to weak bursts of broadband waves initially significantly above f/sub p/ and then well below f/sub p/. Growth well below f/sub p/ has been demonstrated theoretically for slow, cold electron beams, and the broadband waves below f/sub p/ in the foreshock have been interpreted in terms of the very cold or sharp ''cutoff'' feature of a cutoff distribution for small cutoff speeds. However, an approximate theoretical criterion indicates that the electron beams studied hitherto are unstable to reactive rather than kinetic growth, thereby favoring very narrow-band growth contrary to the observed broadband growth. In this paper we determine conditions for kinetic growth well above and below f/sub p/ for both cold and warm beams over a wide range of beam densities and speeds. We verify that kinetic growth below f/sub p/ is possible for cold, slow beams and for warm, dense beams (over wide range of beam velocities)

Phase Coherence of Large Amplitude MHD Waves in the Earth's Foreshock: Geotail Observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hada, Tohru; Koga, Daiki; Yamamoto, Eiko

2003-01-01

Large amplitude MHD turbulence is commonly found in the earth's foreshock region. It can be represented as a superposition of Fourier modes with characteristic frequency, amplitude, and phase. Nonlinear interactions between the Fourier modes are likely to produce finite correlation among the wave phases. For discussions of various transport processes of energetic particles, it is fundamentally important to determine whether the wave phases are randomly distributed (as assumed in quasi-linear theories) or they have a finite coherence. However, naive inspection of wave phases does not reveal anything, as the wave phase is sensitively related to the choice of origin of the coordinate, which should be arbitrary. Using a method based on a surrogate data technique and a fractal analysis, we analyzed Geotail magnetic field data to evaluate the phase coherence among the MHD waves in the earth's foreshock region. We show that the correlation of wave phases does exist, indicating that the nonlinear interactions between the waves is in progress. Furthermore, by introducing an index to represent the degree of the phase coherence, we discuss that the wave phases become more coherent as the turbulence amplitude increases, and also as the propagation angle of the most dominant wave mode becomes oblique. Details of the analysis as well as implications of the present results to transport processes of energetic particles will be discussed

Observations of large-amplitude MHD waves in Jupiter's foreshock in connection with a quasi-perpendicular shock structure

Science.gov (United States)

Bavassano-Cattaneo, M. B.; Moreno, G.; Scotto, M. T.; Acuna, M.

1987-01-01

Plasma and magnetic field observations performed onboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft have been used to investigate Jupiter's foreshock. Large-amplitude waves have been detected in association with the quasi-perpendicular structure of the Jovian bow shock, thus proving that the upstream turbulence is not a characteristic signature of the quasi-parallel shock.

First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurgiolo, C.; Goldstein, M.L.; Vinas, A.F.; Fazakerley, A.N.

2010-01-01

We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. We find that much of the measured vorticity, under nominal conditions, appears to be caused by changes in the flow direction of the return (either reflected or leakage from the magnetosheath) and strahl electron populations as they couple to changes in the magnetic field orientation. This in turn results in deflections in the total bulk velocity producing the measured vorticity. (orig.)

First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gurgiolo, C. [Bitterroot Basic Research, Hamilton, MT (United States); Goldstein, M.L.; Vinas, A.F. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Geospace Science Lab.; Fazakerley, A.N. [University College London (United Kingdom). Mullard Space Science Lab.

2010-07-01

We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. We find that much of the measured vorticity, under nominal conditions, appears to be caused by changes in the flow direction of the return (either reflected or leakage from the magnetosheath) and strahl electron populations as they couple to changes in the magnetic field orientation. This in turn results in deflections in the total bulk velocity producing the measured vorticity. (orig.)

First measurements of electron vorticity in the foreshock and solar wind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Gurgiolo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available We describe the methodology used to set up and compute spatial derivatives of the electron moments using data acquired by the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE from the four Cluster spacecraft. The results are used to investigate electron vorticity in the foreshock. We find that much of the measured vorticity, under nominal conditions, appears to be caused by changes in the flow direction of the return (either reflected or leakage from the magnetosheath and strahl electron populations as they couple to changes in the magnetic field orientation. This in turn results in deflections in the total bulk velocity producing the measured vorticity.

Langmuir waves excitation by electron beam with the limited cross-section in the near-earth electron foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anisimov, I.O.; Musatenko, K.S.; Krasnosselskikh, V.V.

2005-01-01

Model of the stripped monoenergetic electron beam with the sharp boundaries based on the results of CLUSTER measurements is proposed for the near-Earth foreshock vicinity. Dispersion equation is obtained and analyzed using numerical methods. Dependency of the equation roots corresponding to kinetic mechanism of beam-plasma instability on the model parameters is studied

A semi-analytical foreshock model for energetic storm particle events inside 1 AU

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Vainio Rami

2014-02-01

Full Text Available We have constructed a semi-analytical model of the energetic-ion foreshock of a CME-driven coronal/interplanetary shock wave responsible for the acceleration of large solar energetic particle (SEP events. The model is based on the analytical model of diffusive shock acceleration of Bell (1978, appended with a temporal dependence of the cut-off momentum of the energetic particles accelerated at the shock, derived from the theory. Parameters of the model are re-calibrated using a fully time-dependent self-consistent simulation model of the coupled particle acceleration and Alfvén-wave generation upstream of the shock. Our results show that analytical estimates of the cut-off energy resulting from the simplified theory and frequently used in SEP modelling are overestimating the cut-off momentum at the shock by one order magnitude. We show also that the cut-off momentum observed remotely far upstream of the shock (e.g., at 1 AU can be used to infer the properties of the foreshock and the resulting energetic storm particle (ESP event, when the shock is still at small distances from the Sun, unaccessible to the in-situ observations. Our results can be used in ESP event modelling for future missions to the inner heliosphere, like the Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus as well as in developing acceleration models for SEP events in the solar corona.

Three-dimensional analytical model for the spatial variation of the foreshock electron distribution function - Systematics and comparisons with ISEE observations

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzenreiter, R. J.; Scudder, J. D.; Klimas, A. J.

1990-01-01

A model which is consistent with the solar wind and shock surface boundary conditions for the foreshock electron distribution in the absence of wave-particle effects is formulated for an arbitrary location behind the magnetic tangent to the earth's bow shock. Variations of the gyrophase-averaged velocity distribution are compared and contrasted with in situ ISEE observations. It is found that magnetic mirroring of solar wind electrons is the most important process by which nonmonotonic reduced electron distributions in the foreshock are produced. Leakage of particles from the magnetosheath is shown to be relatively unimportant in determining reduced distributions that are nonmonotonic. The two-dimensional distribution function off the magnetic field direction is the crucial contribution in producing reduced distributions which have beams. The time scale for modification of the electron velocity distribution in velocity space can be significantly influenced by steady state spatial gradients in the background imposed by the curved shock geometry.

Effect of upstream ULF waves on the energetic ion diffusion at the earth's foreshock: Theory, Simulation, and Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Otsuka, F.; Matsukiyo, S.; Kis, A.; Hada, T.

2017-12-01

Spatial diffusion of energetic particles is an important problem not only from a fundamental physics point of view but also for its application to particle acceleration processes at astrophysical shocks. Quasi-linear theory can provide the spatial diffusion coefficient as a function of the wave turbulence spectrum. By assuming a simple power-law spectrum for the turbulence, the theory has been successfully applied to diffusion and acceleration of cosmic rays in the interplanetary and interstellar medium. Near the earth's foreshock, however, the wave spectrum often has an intense peak, presumably corresponding to the upstream ULF waves generated by the field-aligned beam (FAB). In this presentation, we numerically and theoretically discuss how the intense ULF peak in the wave spectrum modifies the spatial parallel diffusion of energetic ions. The turbulence is given as a superposition of non-propagating transverse MHD waves in the solar wind rest frame, and its spectrum is composed of a piecewise power-law spectrum with different power-law indices. The diffusion coefficients are then estimated by using the quasi-linear theory and test particle simulations. We find that the presence of the ULF peak produces a concave shape of the diffusion coefficient when it is plotted versus the ion energy. The results above are used to discuss the Cluster observations of the diffuse ions at the Earth's foreshock. Using the density gradients of the energetic ions detected by the Cluster spacecraft, we determine the e-folding distances, equivalently, the spatial diffusion coefficients, of ions with their energies from 10 to 32 keV. The observed e-folding distances are significantly smaller than those estimated in the past statistical studies. This suggests that the particle acceleration at the foreshock can be more efficient than considered before. Our test particle simulation explains well the small estimate of the e-folding distances, by using the observed wave turbulence spectrum

Observations of linear and nonlinear processes in the foreshock wave evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Waves in the foreshock region are studied on the basis of a hypothesis that the linear process first excites the waves and further wave-wave nonlinearities distribute scatter the energy of the primary waves into a number of daughter waves. To examine this wave evolution scenario, the dispersion relations, the wave number spectra of the magnetic field energy, and the dimensionless cross helicity are determined from the observations made by the four Cluster spacecraft. The results confirm that the linear process is the ion/ion right-hand resonant instability, but the wave-wave interactions are not clearly identified. We discuss various reasons why the test for the wave-wave nonlinearities fails, and conclude that the higher order statistics would provide a direct evidence for the wave coupling phenomena.

Ion distributions in the Earth's foreshock upstream from the bow shock

Science.gov (United States)

Fuselier, S. A.

1995-01-01

A variety of suprathermal and energetic ion distributions are found upstream from shocks. Some distributions, such as field-aligned beams, are generated directly at the shock either through reflection processes or through leakage from the hotter downstream region. Other distributions, such as intermediate distributions, evolve from these parent distributions through wave-particle interactions. This paper reviews our current understanding of the creation and evolution of suprathermal distributions at shocks. Examples of suprathermal ion distributions are taken from observations at the Earth's bow shock. Particular emphasis is placed on the creation of field-aligned beams and specularly reflected ion distributions and on the evolution of these distributions in the Earth's ion foreshock. However, the results from this heavily studied region are applicable to interplanetary shocks, bow shocks at other planets, and comets.

Comparison of the dynamical processes in plasma turbulence observed in the high- and low-β regions of the terrestrial foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coca, D.; Balikhin, M.; Billings, S.

2001-01-01

This paper highlights the fact that the dynamical processes that characterise plasma turbulence observed in the high-β region of the terrestrial foreshock are significantly different from the dynamical processes identified in the low-β region. The study is based on a time-domain model identified from measurements taken by AMPTE-UKS and AMPTE-IRM satellites. (author)

Comparison of the dynamical processes in plasma turbulence observed in the high- and low-{beta} regions of the terrestrial foreshock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coca, D.; Balikhin, M.; Billings, S

2001-06-01

This paper highlights the fact that the dynamical processes that characterise plasma turbulence observed in the high-{beta} region of the terrestrial foreshock are significantly different from the dynamical processes identified in the low-{beta} region. The study is based on a time-domain model identified from measurements taken by AMPTE-UKS and AMPTE-IRM satellites. (author)

Foreshock and aftershock sequences of the Cremasta earthquake and their relation to the waterloading of the Cremasta artificial lake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. PAPAZACHOS

1968-06-01

Full Text Available Investigation of the time and magnitude distribution
of the fore- and aftershocks of the Cremasta lake earthquake which occurred
on February 5, 1966 is made. The deformation characteristics and
spatial distribution of these shocks is also studied. Strong evidence is presented
that the foreshocks and the main shock have been triggered by the
waterloading of the Cremasta artificial lake.

Foreshock and aftershocks in simple earthquake models.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazemian, J; Tiampo, K F; Klein, W; Dominguez, R

2015-02-27

Many models of earthquake faults have been introduced that connect Gutenberg-Richter (GR) scaling to triggering processes. However, natural earthquake fault systems are composed of a variety of different geometries and materials and the associated heterogeneity in physical properties can cause a variety of spatial and temporal behaviors. This raises the question of how the triggering process and the structure interact to produce the observed phenomena. Here we present a simple earthquake fault model based on the Olami-Feder-Christensen and Rundle-Jackson-Brown cellular automata models with long-range interactions that incorporates a fixed percentage of stronger sites, or asperity cells, into the lattice. These asperity cells are significantly stronger than the surrounding lattice sites but eventually rupture when the applied stress reaches their higher threshold stress. The introduction of these spatial heterogeneities results in temporal clustering in the model that mimics that seen in natural fault systems along with GR scaling. In addition, we observe sequences of activity that start with a gradually accelerating number of larger events (foreshocks) prior to a main shock that is followed by a tail of decreasing activity (aftershocks). This work provides further evidence that the spatial and temporal patterns observed in natural seismicity are strongly influenced by the underlying physical properties and are not solely the result of a simple cascade mechanism.

Identification of low-frequency kinetic wave modes in the Earth's ion foreshock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Blanco-Cano

1997-03-01

Full Text Available In this work we use ion and magnetic field data from the AMPTE-UKS mission to study the characteristics of low frequency (ωr « Ωp waves observed upstream of the Earth's bow shock. We test the application of various plasma-field correlations and magnetic ratios derived from linear Vlasov theory to identify the modes in this region. We evaluate (for a parameter space consistent with the ion foreshock the Alfvén ratio, the parallel compressibility, the cross-helicity, the noncoplanar ratio, the magnetic compression and the polarization for the two kinetic instabilities that can be generated in the foreshock by the interaction of hot diffuse ions with the solar wind: the left-hand resonant and the right-hand resonant ion beam instabilities. Comparison of these quantities with the observed plasma-field correlations and various magnetic properties of the waves observed during 10 intervals on 30 October 1984, where the waves are associated with diffuse ions, allows us to identify regions with Alfvénic waves and regions where the predominant mode is the right-hand resonant instability. In all the cases the waves are transverse, propagating at angles ≤ 33° and are elliptically polarized. Our results suggest that while the observed Alfvén waves are generated locally by hot diffuse ions, the right-handed waves may result from the superposition of waves generated by two different types of beam distribution (i.e. cold beam and diffuse ions. Even when there was good agreement between the values of observed transport ratios and the values given by the theory, some discrepancies were found. This shows that the observed waves are different from the theoretical modes and that mode identification based only on polarization quantities does not give a complete picture of the waves' characteristics and can lead to mode identification of waves whose polarization may agree with theoretical predictions even when other properties can diverge from those of the

Nonlinear decay of foreshock Langmuir waves in the presence of plasma inhomogeneities: Theory and Cluster observations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Souček, Jan; Krasnoselskikh, V.; Dudok de Wit, T.; Pickett, J.; Kletzing, C.

2005-01-01

Roč. 110, A8 (2005), A08102/1-A08102/10 ISSN 0148-0227 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME 650; GA ČR GA202/03/0832 Grant - others:CNRS(FR) PICS 1175; ESA PRODEX(XE) 14529; NSF(US) 0307319; NASA (US) NAG5-9974; NASA (US) NNG04GB98G; European Comunity(XE) HPRN-CT-2001-00314 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : plasma waves * kinetic waves and instabilities * foreshock * solar wind Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.784, year: 2005

Two-stream instability in collisionless shocks and foreshock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckmann, M E; Eliasson, B; Shukla, P K; Sircombe, N J; Dendy, R O

2006-01-01

Shocks play a key role in plasma thermalization and particle acceleration in the near Earth space plasma, in astrophysical plasma and in laser plasma interactions. An accurate understanding of the physics of plasma shocks is thus of immense importance. We give an overview over some recent developments in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma shocks and foreshock dynamics. We focus on ion reflection by shocks and on the two-stream instabilities these beams can drive, and these are placed in the context of experimental observations, e.g. by the Cluster mission. We discuss how we may expand the insight gained from the observation of proton beam driven instabilities at near Earth plasma shocks to better understand their astrophysical counterparts, such as ion beam instabilities triggered by internal and external shocks in the relativistic jets of gamma ray bursts, shocks in the accretion discs of micro-quasars and supernova remnant shocks. It is discussed how and why the peak energy that can be reached by particles that are accelerated by two-stream instabilities increases from keV energies to GeV energies and beyond, as we increase the streaming speed to relativistic values, and why the particle energy spectrum sometimes resembles power law distributions

Two-stream instability in collisionless shocks and foreshock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dieckmann, M E [Institute of Theoretical Physics IV and Centre for Plasma Science and Astrophysics, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Eliasson, B [Institute of Theoretical Physics IV and Centre for Plasma Science and Astrophysics, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Shukla, P K [Institute of Theoretical Physics IV and Centre for Plasma Science and Astrophysics, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Sircombe, N J [Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Warwick University, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Dendy, R O [Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Warwick University, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)

2006-12-15

Shocks play a key role in plasma thermalization and particle acceleration in the near Earth space plasma, in astrophysical plasma and in laser plasma interactions. An accurate understanding of the physics of plasma shocks is thus of immense importance. We give an overview over some recent developments in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma shocks and foreshock dynamics. We focus on ion reflection by shocks and on the two-stream instabilities these beams can drive, and these are placed in the context of experimental observations, e.g. by the Cluster mission. We discuss how we may expand the insight gained from the observation of proton beam driven instabilities at near Earth plasma shocks to better understand their astrophysical counterparts, such as ion beam instabilities triggered by internal and external shocks in the relativistic jets of gamma ray bursts, shocks in the accretion discs of micro-quasars and supernova remnant shocks. It is discussed how and why the peak energy that can be reached by particles that are accelerated by two-stream instabilities increases from keV energies to GeV energies and beyond, as we increase the streaming speed to relativistic values, and why the particle energy spectrum sometimes resembles power law distributions.

Variable field-to-normal angles in the shock foreshock boundary observed by ISEE 1 and 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenstadt, E.W.; Mellot, M.M.

1985-01-01

Saturated ULF waves in the foreshock, with amplitudes comparable to the magnitude of the average field, are convected by the solar wind to the quasi-parallel shock where the average field-normal angle is less than, or about, 45 0 . Several examples from ISEE 1 and 2 magnetometer data show waves that defined local, instantaneous field-normal angles very different periodically from the average. Local geometric conditions at the nominally quasi-parallel shock varied from nearly parallel to nearly perpendicular, at the periods of typical upstream waves. Clear magnetic shock transitions occurred under temporarily quasi-perpendicular geometry

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock - The transition from reactive to kinetic instability

Science.gov (United States)

Dum, C. T.

1990-01-01

Particle simulation experiments were used to analyze the electron beam-plasma instability. It is shown that there is a transition from the reactive state of the electron beam-plasma instability to the kinetic instability of Langmuir waves. Quantitative tests, which include an evaluation of the dispersion relation for the evolving non-Maxwellian beam distribution, show that a quasi-linear theory describes the onset of this transition and applies again fully to the kinetic stage. This stage is practically identical to the late stage seen in simulations of plasma waves in the electron foreshock described by Dum (1990).

Including foreshocks and aftershocks in time-independent probabilistic seismic hazard analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Oliver S.

2012-01-01

Time‐independent probabilistic seismic‐hazard analysis treats each source as being temporally and spatially independent; hence foreshocks and aftershocks, which are both spatially and temporally dependent on the mainshock, are removed from earthquake catalogs. Yet, intuitively, these earthquakes should be considered part of the seismic hazard, capable of producing damaging ground motions. In this study, I consider the mainshock and its dependents as a time‐independent cluster, each cluster being temporally and spatially independent from any other. The cluster has a recurrence time of the mainshock; and, by considering the earthquakes in the cluster as a union of events, dependent events have an opportunity to contribute to seismic ground motions and hazard. Based on the methods of the U.S. Geological Survey for a high‐hazard site, the inclusion of dependent events causes ground motions that are exceeded at probability levels of engineering interest to increase by about 10% but could be as high as 20% if variations in aftershock productivity can be accounted for reliably.

A study of the coherence length of ULF waves in the earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Le, G.; Russell, C. T.

1990-01-01

High-time-resolution magnetic-field data for different separations of ISEE 1 and 2 in the earth's ion foreshock region are examined to study the coherence length of upstream ULF waves. Examining the correlation coefficients of the low-frequency waves as a function of separation distance shows that the correlation coefficient depends mainly on the separation distance of ISEE 1 and 2 transverse to the solar-wind flow. It drops to about 0.5 when the transverse separation is about 1 earth radius, a distance much larger than the proton thermal gyroradius in the solar wind. Thus the coherence length of the low-frequency waves is about one earth radius, which is of the order of the wavelength, and is consistent with that estimated from the bandwidth of the waves.

Beam-plasma interaction in randomly inhomogeneous plasmas and statistical properties of small-amplitude Langmuir waves in the solar wind and electron foreshock

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Krasnoselskikh, V. V.; Lobzin, V. V.; Musatenko, K.; Souček, Jan; Pickett, J. S.; Cairns, I. H.

2007-01-01

Roč. 112, A10 (2007), A10109/1-A10109/12 ISSN 0148-0227 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA301120601; GA AV ČR IAA300420602 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : plasma waves * kinetic waves and instabilities * foreshock * solar wind Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.953, year: 2007

On the existence of Alfvén waves in the terrestrial foreshock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. P. Eastwood

2003-07-01

Full Text Available The terrestrial foreshock is characterised by the existence of large amplitude ultra low frequency waves. The majority of such waves are observed to be left-handed in the spacecraft frame, but are in fact intrinsically right-handed and have been identified as fast-magnetosonic waves. More rarely observed are waves that are right-handed in the spacecraft frame. Cluster four spacecraft observations of such waves are presented and analysed using multi-spacecraft techniques; in particular the k-filtering/wave telescope technique is used. The waves are found to be left-handed and propagating sunwards in the plasma rest frame, and are, therefore, identified as Alfvénic. The convection of the waves anti-sunward in the solar wind flow causes the observed polarisation to be reversed. Generation mechanisms are discussed.Key words. Interplanetary physics (MHD waves and turbulence; planetary bow shocks – Space plasma physics (wave particle interactions

Nonlinear low-frequency wave aspect of foreshock density holes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Lin

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Recent observations have uncovered short-duration density holes in the Earth's foreshock region. There is evidence that the formation of density holes involves non-linear growth of fluctuations in the magnetic field and plasma density, which results in shock-like boundaries followed by a decrease in both density and magnetic field. In this study we examine in detail a few such events focusing on their low frequency wave characteristics. The propagation properties of the waves are studied using Cluster's four point observations. We found that while these density hole-structures were convected with the solar wind, in the plasma rest frame they propagated obliquely and mostly sunward. The wave amplitude grows non-linearly in the process, and the waves are circularly or elliptically polarized in the left hand sense. The phase velocities calculated from four spacecraft timing analysis are compared with the velocity estimated from δE/δB. Their agreement justifies the plane electromagnetic wave nature of the structures. Plasma conditions are found to favor firehose instabilities. Oblique Alfvén firehose instability is suggested as a possible energy source for the wave growth. Resonant interaction between ions at certain energy and the waves could reduce the ion temperature anisotropy and thus the free energy, thereby playing a stabilizing role.

Identification of low-frequency kinetic wave modes in the Earth's ion foreshock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Blanco-Cano

Full Text Available In this work we use ion and magnetic field data from the AMPTE-UKS mission to study the characteristics of low frequency (ω_r « Ω_p waves observed upstream of the Earth's bow shock. We test the application of various plasma-field correlations and magnetic ratios derived from linear Vlasov theory to identify the modes in this region. We evaluate (for a parameter space consistent with the ion foreshock the Alfvén ratio, the parallel compressibility, the cross-helicity, the noncoplanar ratio, the magnetic compression and the polarization for the two kinetic instabilities that can be generated in the foreshock by the interaction of hot diffuse ions with the solar wind: the left-hand resonant and the right-hand resonant ion beam instabilities. Comparison of these quantities with the observed plasma-field correlations and various magnetic properties of the waves observed during 10 intervals on 30 October 1984, where the waves are associated with diffuse ions, allows us to identify regions with Alfvénic waves and regions where the predominant mode is the right-hand resonant instability. In all the cases the waves are transverse, propagating at angles ≤ 33° and are elliptically polarized. Our results suggest that while the observed Alfvén waves are generated locally by hot diffuse ions, the right-handed waves may result from the superposition of waves generated by two different types of beam distribution (i.e. cold beam and diffuse ions. Even when there was good agreement between the values of observed transport ratios and the values given by the theory, some discrepancies were found. This shows that the observed waves are different from the theoretical modes and that mode identification based only on polarization quantities does not give a complete picture of the waves' characteristics and can lead to mode identification of waves whose polarization may agree with theoretical predictions even when

On the existence of Alfvén waves in the terrestrial foreshock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. P. Eastwood

Full Text Available The terrestrial foreshock is characterised by the existence of large amplitude ultra low frequency waves. The majority of such waves are observed to be left-handed in the spacecraft frame, but are in fact intrinsically right-handed and have been identified as fast-magnetosonic waves. More rarely observed are waves that are right-handed in the spacecraft frame. Cluster four spacecraft observations of such waves are presented and analysed using multi-spacecraft techniques; in particular the k-filtering/wave telescope technique is used. The waves are found to be left-handed and propagating sunwards in the plasma rest frame, and are, therefore, identified as Alfvénic. The convection of the waves anti-sunward in the solar wind flow causes the observed polarisation to be reversed. Generation mechanisms are discussed.

Key words. Interplanetary physics (MHD waves and turbulence; planetary bow shocks – Space plasma physics (wave particle interactions

STATISTICALLY DETERMINED DISPERSION RELATIONS OF MAGNETIC FIELD FLUCTUATIONS IN THE TERRESTRIAL FORESHOCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hnat, B.; O’Connell, D.; Nakariakov, V. M.; Sundberg, T.

2016-01-01

We obtain dispersion relations of magnetic field fluctuations for two crossings of the terrestrial foreshock by Cluster spacecraft. These crossings cover plasma conditions that differ significantly in their plasma β and in the density of the reflected ion beam, but not in the properties of the encountered ion population, both showing shell-like distribution function. Dispersion relations are reconstructed using two-point instantaneous wave number estimations from pairs of Cluster spacecraft. The accessible range of wave vectors, limited by the available spacecraft separations, extends to ≈2 × 10 4 km. Results show multiple branches of dispersion relations, associated with different powers of magnetic field fluctuations. We find that sunward propagating fast magnetosonic waves and beam resonant modes are dominant for the high plasma β interval with a dense beam, while the dispersions of the interval with low beam density include Alfvén and fast magnetosonic modes propagating sunward and anti-sunward.

STATISTICALLY DETERMINED DISPERSION RELATIONS OF MAGNETIC FIELD FLUCTUATIONS IN THE TERRESTRIAL FORESHOCK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hnat, B.; O’Connell, D.; Nakariakov, V. M. [Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, University of Warwick (United Kingdom); Sundberg, T., E-mail: B.Hnat@warwick.ac.uk [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom)

2016-08-20

We obtain dispersion relations of magnetic field fluctuations for two crossings of the terrestrial foreshock by Cluster spacecraft. These crossings cover plasma conditions that differ significantly in their plasma β and in the density of the reflected ion beam, but not in the properties of the encountered ion population, both showing shell-like distribution function. Dispersion relations are reconstructed using two-point instantaneous wave number estimations from pairs of Cluster spacecraft. The accessible range of wave vectors, limited by the available spacecraft separations, extends to ≈2 × 10{sup 4} km. Results show multiple branches of dispersion relations, associated with different powers of magnetic field fluctuations. We find that sunward propagating fast magnetosonic waves and beam resonant modes are dominant for the high plasma β interval with a dense beam, while the dispersions of the interval with low beam density include Alfvén and fast magnetosonic modes propagating sunward and anti-sunward.

Foreshocks and aftershocks of strong earthquakes in the light of catastrophe theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guglielmi, A V

2015-01-01

In this review, general ideas and specific results from catastrophe theory and the theory of critical phenomena are applied to the analysis of strong earthquakes. Aspects given particular attention are the sharp rise in the fluctuation level, the increased reactivity of dynamical systems in the near-threshold region, and other anomalous phenomena similar to critical opalescence. Given the lack of a sufficiently complete theory of earthquakes, this appears to be a valid approach to the analysis of observations. The study performed brought out some nontrivial properties of a strong-earthquake source that manifest themselves both before and after the main rupture discontinuity forms at the mainshock. In the course of the analysis of the foreshocks and aftershocks, such concepts as the round-the-world seismic echo, the cumulative effect of converging surface waves on the epicentral zone, and global seismicity modulation by Earth's free oscillations are introduced. Further research in this field is likely to be interesting and promising. (methodological notes)

Foreshocks and aftershocks of strong earthquakes in the light of catastrophe theory

Science.gov (United States)

Guglielmi, A. V.

2015-04-01

In this review, general ideas and specific results from catastrophe theory and the theory of critical phenomena are applied to the analysis of strong earthquakes. Aspects given particular attention are the sharp rise in the fluctuation level, the increased reactivity of dynamical systems in the near-threshold region, and other anomalous phenomena similar to critical opalescence. Given the lack of a sufficiently complete theory of earthquakes, this appears to be a valid approach to the analysis of observations. The study performed brought out some nontrivial properties of a strong-earthquake source that manifest themselves both before and after the main rupture discontinuity forms at the mainshock. In the course of the analysis of the foreshocks and aftershocks, such concepts as the round-the-world seismic echo, the cumulative effect of converging surface waves on the epicentral zone, and global seismicity modulation by Earth's free oscillations are introduced. Further research in this field is likely to be interesting and promising.

Mechanism for plasma waves at the harmonics of the plasma frequency in the electron foreshock boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klimas, A.J.

1983-01-01

A bump-on-tail unstable reduced velocity distribution has been constructed from data obtained at the upstream boundary of the electron foreshock by the GSFC electron spectrometer experiment on the ISEE 1 satellite. This distribution is used as the initial plasma state for a numerical integration of the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations. The integration is carried through the growth of the instability, beyond its saturation, and well into the stabilized plasma regime. A power spectrum for the electric field of the stabilized plasma is computed. The spectrum is dominated by a narrow peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency of the unstable field mode but it also contain significant power at the harmonics of the Bohm-Gross frequency. The harmonic power is in sharp peaks which are split into closely spaced doublets. The fundamental peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency is also split, in this case into a closely space triplet. The fundamental peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency is also split, in this case into a closely space triplet. The splitting is due to slow modulations of the stabilized electric field oscillations which, it is thought, are caused by wave-particle trapping. The wavelength of mth harmonic of the Bohm-Gross frequency is given by lambda/sub u//m, where lambda/sub u/ is the wavelength of the unstable mode. The mechanism for excitation of the second harmonic is shwn to be second-order wave-wave coupling which takes place during that period in the evolution of the instability which would otherwise be called the linear growth phase. It is conjectured that the higher harmonics are excited by the same mechanism. It is further argued that harmonic excitation at the boundary of the electron foreshock should be a common occurrence

Fundamental questions of earthquake statistics, source behavior, and the estimation of earthquake probabilities from possible foreshocks

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Andrew J.

2012-01-01

Estimates of the probability that an ML 4.8 earthquake, which occurred near the southern end of the San Andreas fault on 24 March 2009, would be followed by an M 7 mainshock over the following three days vary from 0.0009 using a Gutenberg–Richter model of aftershock statistics (Reasenberg and Jones, 1989) to 0.04 using a statistical model of foreshock behavior and long‐term estimates of large earthquake probabilities, including characteristic earthquakes (Agnew and Jones, 1991). I demonstrate that the disparity between the existing approaches depends on whether or not they conform to Gutenberg–Richter behavior. While Gutenberg–Richter behavior is well established over large regions, it could be violated on individual faults if they have characteristic earthquakes or over small areas if the spatial distribution of large‐event nucleations is disproportional to the rate of smaller events. I develop a new form of the aftershock model that includes characteristic behavior and combines the features of both models. This new model and the older foreshock model yield the same results when given the same inputs, but the new model has the advantage of producing probabilities for events of all magnitudes, rather than just for events larger than the initial one. Compared with the aftershock model, the new model has the advantage of taking into account long‐term earthquake probability models. Using consistent parameters, the probability of an M 7 mainshock on the southernmost San Andreas fault is 0.0001 for three days from long‐term models and the clustering probabilities following the ML 4.8 event are 0.00035 for a Gutenberg–Richter distribution and 0.013 for a characteristic‐earthquake magnitude–frequency distribution. Our decisions about the existence of characteristic earthquakes and how large earthquakes nucleate have a first‐order effect on the probabilities obtained from short‐term clustering models for these large events.

Nonlinear low-frequency wave aspect of foreshock density holes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Lin

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Recent observations have uncovered short-duration density holes in the Earth's foreshock region. There is evidence that the formation of density holes involves non-linear growth of fluctuations in the magnetic field and plasma density, which results in shock-like boundaries followed by a decrease in both density and magnetic field. In this study we examine in detail a few such events focusing on their low frequency wave characteristics. The propagation properties of the waves are studied using Cluster's four point observations. We found that while these density hole-structures were convected with the solar wind, in the plasma rest frame they propagated obliquely and mostly sunward. The wave amplitude grows non-linearly in the process, and the waves are circularly or elliptically polarized in the left hand sense. The phase velocities calculated from four spacecraft timing analysis are compared with the velocity estimated from δE/δB. Their agreement justifies the plane electromagnetic wave nature of the structures. Plasma conditions are found to favor firehose instabilities. Oblique Alfvén firehose instability is suggested as a possible energy source for the wave growth. Resonant interaction between ions at certain energy and the waves could reduce the ion temperature anisotropy and thus the free energy, thereby playing a stabilizing role.

Constraining the magnitude of the largest event in a foreshock-main shock-aftershock sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Shcherbakov, Robert; Zhuang, Jiancang; Ogata, Yosihiko

2018-01-01

Extreme value statistics and Bayesian methods are used to constrain the magnitudes of the largest expected earthquakes in a sequence governed by the parametric time-dependent occurrence rate and frequency-magnitude statistics. The Bayesian predictive distribution for the magnitude of the largest event in a sequence is derived. Two types of sequences are considered, that is, the classical aftershock sequences generated by large main shocks and the aftershocks generated by large foreshocks preceding a main shock. For the former sequences, the early aftershocks during a training time interval are used to constrain the magnitude of the future extreme event during the forecasting time interval. For the latter sequences, the earthquakes preceding the main shock are used to constrain the magnitudes of the subsequent extreme events including the main shock. The analysis is applied retrospectively to past prominent earthquake sequences.

Kaguya observations of the lunar wake in the terrestrial foreshock: Surface potential change by bow-shock reflected ions

Science.gov (United States)

Nishino, Masaki N.; Harada, Yuki; Saito, Yoshifumi; Tsunakawa, Hideo; Takahashi, Futoshi; Yokota, Shoichiro; Matsushima, Masaki; Shibuya, Hidetoshi; Shimizu, Hisayoshi

2017-09-01

There forms a tenuous region called the wake behind the Moon in the solar wind, and plasma entry/refilling into the wake is a fundamental problem of the lunar plasma science. High-energy ions and electrons in the foreshock of the Earth's magnetosphere were detected at the lunar surface in the Apollo era, but their effects on the lunar night-side environment have never been studied. Here we show the first observation of bow-shock reflected protons by Kaguya (SELENE) spacecraft in orbit around the Moon, confirming that solar wind plasma reflected at the terrestrial bow shock can easily access the deepest lunar wake when the Moon stays in the foreshock (We name this mechanism 'type-3 entry'). In a continuous type-3 event, low-energy electron beams from the lunar night-side surface are not obvious even though the spacecraft location is magnetically connected to the lunar surface. On the other hand, in an intermittent type-3 entry event, the kinetic energy of upward-going field-aligned electron beams decreases from ∼ 80 eV to ∼ 20 eV or electron beams disappear as the bow-shock reflected ions come accompanied by enhanced downward electrons. According to theoretical treatment based on electric current balance at the lunar surface including secondary electron emission by incident electron and ion impact, we deduce that incident ions would be accompanied by a few to several times higher flux of an incident electron flux, which well fits observed downward fluxes. We conclude that impact by the bow-shock reflected ions and electrons raises the electrostatic potential of the lunar night-side surface.

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock: The generation of downshifted oscillations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dum, C.T.

1990-01-01

The generation of waves with frequencies downshifted from the plasma frequency, as observed in the electron foreshock, is analyzed by particle simulation. Wave excitation differs fundamentally from the familiar excitation of the plasma eigenmodes by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution. Beam modes are destabilized by resonant interaction with bulk electrons, provided the beamvelocity spread is very small. These modes are stabilized, starting with the higher frequencies, as the beam is broadened and slowed down by the interaction with the wave spectrum. Initially, a very cold beam is also capable of exciting frequencies considerably above the plasma frequency, but such oscillations are quickly stabilized. Low-frequency modes persist for a long time, until the bump in the electron distribution is completely ironed out. This diffusion process also is quite different from the familiar case of well-separated beam and bulk electrons. A quantitative analysis of these processes is carried out

Upstream region, foreshock and bow shock wave at Halley's Comet from plasma electron measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, K.A.; Carlson, C.W.; Curtis, D.W.

1986-01-01

Halley plasma electron parameters from 2.7 million km from the comet nucleus to the bow shock wave at 1.1 million km and beyond are surveyed. The features of the electron foreshock lying outside the shock to a distance of 230,000 km are described. It is a region of intense solar wind-comet plasma interaction in which energetic electrons are prominent. Several spikes of electrons whose energies extend to 2.5 keV appear in front of the shock. These energetic electrons may be accelerated in the same way electrons are accelerated at the Earth's bow shock to energies of 1 to 10 keV. The direction of the electron bulk flow direction changes abruptly between 1920 and 1922 UT, and the flow speed begins a sharp decline at the same time. It is suggested that the spacecraft entered the bow shock wave between 1920 and 1922 UT. Electron density variations at Halley are very much smaller than those at Giacobini-Zinner

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock - The generation of downshifted oscillations

Science.gov (United States)

Dum, C. T.

1990-01-01

The generation of waves with frequencies downshifted from the plasma frequency, as observed in the electron foreshock, is analyzed by particle simulation. Wave excitation differs fundamentally from the familiar excitation of the plasma eigenmodes by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution. Beam modes are destabilized by resonant interaction with bulk electrons, provided the beam velocity spread is very small. These modes are stabilized, starting with the higher frequencies, as the beam is broadened and slowed down by the interaction with the wave spectrum. Initially a very cold beam is also capable of exciting frequencies considerably above the plasma frequency, but such oscillations are quickly stabilized. Low-frequency modes persist for a long time, until the bump in the electron distribution is completely 'ironed' out. This diffusion process also is quite different from the familiar case of well-separated beam and bulk electrons. A quantitative analysis of these processes is carried out.

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock: The generation of Langmuir waves by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dum, C.T.

1990-01-01

The generation of Langmuir waves by a gentle bump-on-tail electron distribution is analyzed. It is shown that with appropriately designed simulation experiments, quasi-linear theory can be quantitatively verified for parameters corresponding to the electron foreshock. The distribution function develops a plateau by resonant diffusion, and changes outside this velocity range are negligible, except for the contribution of nonresonant diffusion to acceleration of bulk electrons. The dispersion relation is solved for the evolving distribution function and exhibits the dynamics of wave growth and changes in real frequency. The integral of the quasi-linear equations is also used to relate the evolution of distribution function and wave spectrum and gives agreement with the simulations. Even in extremely long simulation runs there is practically no evolution in wave energy or the distribution function, once a plateau has been formed. the saturated field levels are much lower than the estimates that are generally used to assess the importance of additional weak or strong turbulence effects. These effects cannot prevent plateau formation and are only noticeable if ions are also included in the model. They then lead to a redistribution of the spectrum toward low wave number modes which propagate mainly opposite to the beam. This occurs long after plateau formation and plays no significant role in the overall system dynamics or energy balance. One will have to live with quasi-linear theory as a key ingredient for a global model of foreshock wave phenomena

Far-field triggering of foreshocks near the nucleation zone of the 5 September 2012 (MW 7.6) Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Jacob I.; Meng, Xiaofeng; Peng, Zhigang; Schwartz, Susan Y.; Newman, Andrew V.; Protti, Marino

2015-12-01

On 5 September 2012, a moment magnitude (MW) 7.6 earthquake occurred directly beneath the Nicoya Peninsula, an area with dense seismic and geodetic network coverage. The mainshock ruptured a portion of a previously identified locked patch that was recognized due to a decade-long effort to delineate the megathrust seismic and aseismic processes in this area. Here we conduct a comprehensive study of the seismicity prior to this event utilizing a matched-filter analysis that allows us to decrease the magnitude of catalog completeness by 1 unit. We observe a statistically significant increase in seismicity rate below the Nicoya Peninsula following the 27 August 2012 (MW 7.3) El Salvador earthquake (about 450 km to the northwest and 9 days prior to the Nicoya earthquake). Additionally, we identify a cluster of small-magnitude (earthquakes preceding the mainshock by about 35 min and within 15 km of its hypocenter. The immediate foreshock sequence occurred in the same area as those earthquakes triggered shortly after the El Salvador event; though it is not clear whether the effect of triggering from the El Salvador event persisted until the foreshock sequence given the uncertainties in seismicity rates from a relatively small number of earthquakes. If megathrust earthquakes at such distances can induce significant increases in seismicity during the days before another larger event, this sequence strengthens the need for real-time seismicity monitoring for large earthquake forecasting.

Voyager 1 in the foreshock, termination shock, and heliosheath.

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, R B; Krimigis, S M; Roelof, E C; Hill, M E; Armstrong, T P; Gloeckler, G; Hamilton, D C; Lanzerotti, L J

2005-09-23

Voyager 1 (V1) began measuring precursor energetic ions and electrons from the heliospheric termination shock (TS) in July 2002. During the ensuing 2.5 years, average particle intensities rose as V1 penetrated deeper into the energetic particle foreshock of the TS. Throughout 2004, V1 observed even larger, fluctuating intensities of ions from 40 kiloelectron volts (keV) to >/=50 megaelectron volts per nucleon and of electrons from >26 keV to >/=350 keV. On day 350 of 2004 (2004/350), V1 observed an intensity spike of ions and electrons that was followed by a sustained factor of 10 increase at the lowest energies and lesser increases at higher energies, larger than any intensities since V1 was at 15 astronomical units in 1982. The estimated solar wind radial flow speed was positive (outward) at approximately +100 kilometers per second (km s(-1)) from 2004/352 until 2005/018, when the radial flows became predominantly negative (sunward) and fluctuated between approximately -50 and 0 km s(-1) until about 2005/110; they then became more positive, with recent values (2005/179) of approximately +50 km s(-1). The energetic proton spectrum averaged over the postshock period is apparently dominated by strongly heated interstellar pickup ions. We interpret these observations as evidence that V1 was crossed by the TS on 2004/351 (during a tracking gap) at 94.0 astronomical units, evidently as the shock was moving radially inward in response to decreasing solar wind ram pressure, and that V1 has remained in the heliosheath until at least mid-2005.

Three-dimensional analytical model for the spatial variation of the foreshock electron distribution function: Systematics and comparisons with ISEE observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzenreiter, R.J.; Scudder, J.D.; Klimas, A.J.

1990-01-01

A model of the gyrophase-averaged electron distribution in the Earth's foreshock consistent with boundary conditions at the bow shock and in the solar wind has been constructed according to the reversible guiding center characteristics and compared with ISEE electron and wave observations. This model demonstrates (1) that the basic features and morphology of beams in the observed and reduced distributions F(υ parallel ) are determined almost exclusively by the solar wind electrons mirrored at the shock's magnetic ramp and are relatively insensitive to the leakage fluxes from the magnetosheath, (2) that the wave particle modifications have been detected by contrasting the reversible model with the direct observations, (3) that the nonmonotonic reduced distributions F(υ parallel ) are rarely the result of a nonmonotonic energy spectra but are rather the result of the transverse velocity space integration necessary to produce F(υ parallel ) from the directly observed electron distribution function f(v), (4) that the time scale for beam resupply to F(υ parallel ) from the dc spatial gradients of the self-consistent reversible distribution function can have a factor of 100 variation across the foreshock, being shortest within a few degrees of the magnetic tangent surface, (5) that the beams predicted by the model have strongly varying and correlated variations of mean energy, thermal spread, and number density with angular departure from the magnetic tangent with the coldest, most tenuous, and lowest mean energy beams suggested to be present deep behind the magnetic tangent (≅5 degree-10 degree), and (6) that the lowest-energy beams have low contrast to the background solar wind distributing and although difficult to detect have beam density and temperature parameters compatible with ω pe growth of electrostatic waves

Source of the backstreaming ion beams in the foreshock region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, M.; Goodrich, C.C.; Winske, D.; Papadopoulos, K.

1983-01-01

A new source mechanism is proposed for the 'reflected' ion beams observed in the foreshock region of the earth's bow shock. In our model the beams originate in the magnetosheath downstream of the qausi-perpendicular portion of the shock. The quasi-perpendicular shock transition is characterized by two downstream ion populations including high-energy gyrating ions in addition to the directly transmitted anisotropic ions. We show by particle simulations that this highly anisotropic downstream ion distribution (T/sub perpendicular//T/sub parallel/ >>1) can excite electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves which, in turn, pitch angle scatter the gyrating ions in a few ion gyroperiods. As a result, some ions acquire large parallel velocities and move fast enough along the convecting downstream magnetic field to escape back across the bow shock into the upstream region. The distribution of escaping ions calculated by using the pitch-angle-scattered ions, as a source, becomes a beam with a large temperature anisotropy T/sub perpendicular/ approx.3--5 T/sub parallel/ and a mean velocity along the magnetic field of about twice that of the solar wind velocity. A significant result is the presence of the maximum angle theta/sub n/B = theta/sub c/ above which no ions can escape, where theta/sub n/B is the angle between the shock normal and the interplanetary magnetic field. A wide peak of constant escaping ion flux is formed below theta/sub c/ whose number density is 1--2% of that of the solar wind. These results are in general agreement with the ISEE observations of the 'reflected' ions

The quasiperpendicular environment of large magnetic pulses in Earth's quasiparallel foreshock - ISEE 1 and 2 observations

Science.gov (United States)

Greenstadt, E. W.; Moses, S. L.; Coroniti, F. V.; Farris, M. H.; Russell, C. T.

1993-01-01

ULF waves in Earth's foreshock cause the instantaneous angle theta-B(n) between the upstream magnetic field and the shock normal to deviate from its average value. Close to the quasi-parallel (Q-parallel) shock, the transverse components of the waves become so large that the orientation of the field to the normal becomes quasi-perpendicular (Q-perpendicular) during applicable phases of each wave cycle. Large upstream pulses of B were observed completely enclosed in excursions of Theta-B(n) into the Q-perpendicular range. A recent numerical simulation included Theta-B(n) among the parameters examined in Q-parallel runs, and described a similar coincidence as intrinsic to a stage in development of the reformation process of such shocks. Thus, the natural environment of the Q-perpendicular section of Earth's bow shock seems to include an identifiable class of enlarged magnetic pulses for which local Q-perpendicular geometry is a necessary association.

Foreshocks and aftershocks locations of the 2014 Pisagua, N. Chile earthquake: history of a megathrust earthquake nucleation

Science.gov (United States)

Fuenzalida Velasco, Amaya; Rietbrock, Andreas; Tavera, Hernando; Ryder, Isabelle; Ruiz, Sergio; Thomas, Reece; De Angelis, Silvio; Bondoux, Francis

2015-04-01

The April 2014 Mw 8.1 Pisagua earthquake occurred in the Northern Chile seismic gap: a region of the South American subduction zone lying between Arica city and the Mejillones Peninsula. It is believed that this part of the subduction zone has not experienced a large earthquake since 1877. Thanks to the identification of this seismic gap, the north of Chile was well instrumented before the Pisagua earthquake, including the Integrated Plate boundary Observatory Chile (IPOC) network and the Chilean local network installed by the Centro Sismologico Nacional (CSN). These instruments were able to record the full foreshock and aftershock sequences, allowing a unique opportunity to study the nucleation process of large megathrust earthquakes. To improve azimuthal coverage of the Pisagua seismic sequence, after the earthquake, in collaboration with the Instituto Geofisico del Peru (IGP) we installed a temporary seismic network in south of Peru. The network comprised 12 short-period stations located in the coastal area between Moquegua and Tacna and they were operative from 1st May 2014. We also installed three stations on the slopes of the Ticsiani volcano to monitor any possible change in volcanic activity following the Pisagua earthquake. In this work we analysed the continuous seismic data recorded by CSN and IPOC networks from 1 March to 30 June to obtain the catalogue of the sequence, including foreshocks and aftershocks. Using an automatic algorithm based in STA/LTA we obtained the picks for P and S waves. Association in time and space defined the events and computed an initial location using Hypo71 and the 1D local velocity model. More than 11,000 events were identified with this method for the whole period, but we selected the best resolved events that include more than 7 observed arrivals with at least 2 S picks of them, to relocate these events using NonLinLoc software. For the main events of the sequence we carefully estimate event locations and we obtained

3-D Dynamic rupture simulation for the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence: Foreshocks and M6 dynamically triggered event

Science.gov (United States)

Ando, R.; Aoki, Y.; Uchide, T.; Imanishi, K.; Matsumoto, S.; Nishimura, T.

2016-12-01

A couple of interesting earthquake rupture phenomena were observed associated with the sequence of the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence. The sequence includes the April 15, 2016, Mw 7.0, mainshock, which was preceded by multiple M6-class foreshock. The mainshock mainly broke the Futagawa fault segment striking NE-SW direction extending over 50km, and it further triggered a M6-class earthquake beyond the distance more than 50km to the northeast (Uchide et al., 2016, submitted), where an active volcano is situated. Compiling the data of seismic analysis and InSAR, we presumed this dynamic triggering event occurred on an active fault known as Yufuin fault (Ando et al., 2016, JPGU general assembly). It is also reported that the coseismic slip was significantly large at a shallow portion of Futagawa Fault near Aso volcano. Since the seismogenic depth becomes significantly shallower in these two areas, we presume the geothermal anomaly play a role as well as the elasto-dynamic processes associated with the coseismic rupture. In this study, we conducted a set of fully dynamic simulations of the earthquake rupture process by assuming the inferred 3D fault geometry and the regional stress field obtained referring the stress tensor inversion. As a result, we showed that the dynamic rupture process was mainly controlled by the irregularity of the fault geometry subjected to the gently varying regional stress field. The foreshocks ruptures have been arrested at the juncture of the branch faults. We also show that the dynamic triggering of M-6 class earthquakes occurred along the Yufuin fault segment (located 50 km NE) because of the strong stress transient up to a few hundreds of kPa due to the rupture directivity effect of the M-7 event. It is also shown that the geothermal condition may lead to the susceptible condition of the dynamic triggering by considering the plastic shear zone on the down dip extension of the Yufuin segment, situated in the vicinity of an

Effect of field-aligned-beam in parallel diffusion of energetic particles in the Earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Matsukiyo, S.; Nakanishi, K.; Otsuka, F.; Kis, A.; Lemperger, I.; Hada, T.

2016-12-01

Diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) is one of the plausible acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays. In the standard DSA model the partial density of the accelerated particles, diffused into upstream, exponentially decreases as the distance to the shock increases. Kis et al. (GRL, 31, L20801, 2004) examined the density gradients of energetic ions upstream of the bow shock with high accuracy by using Cluster data. They estimated the diffusion coefficients of energetic ions for the event in February 18, 2003 and showed that the obtained diffusion coefficients are significantly smaller than those estimated in the past statistical study. This implies that particle acceleration at the bow shock can be more efficient than considered before. Here, we focus on the effect of the field-aligned-beam (FAB) which is often observed in the foreshock, and examine how the FAB affects the efficiency of diffusion of the energetic ions by performing test particle simulations. The upstream turbulence is given by the superposition of parallel Alfven waves with power-law energy spectrum with random phase approximation. In the spectrum we further add a peak corresponding to the waves resonantly generated by the FAB. The dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the presence of the FAB as well as total energy of the turbulence, power-law index of the turbulence, and intensity of FAB oriented waves are discussed.

Fundamentals of Non-relativistic Collisionless Shock Physics: IV. Quasi-Parallel Supercritical Shocks

OpenAIRE

Treumann, R. A.; Jaroschek, C. H.

2008-01-01

1. Introduction, 2. The (quasi-parallel) foreshock; Ion foreshock, Ion foreshock boundary region; Diffuse ions;Low-frequency upstream waves; Ion beam waves; The expected wave modes; Observations; Diffuse ion waves; Electron foreshock; Electron beams; Langmuir waves; stability of the electron beam; Electron foreshock boundary waves; Nature of electron foreshock waves; Radiation; Observations; Interpretation; 3. Quasi-parallel shock reformation; Low-Mach number quasi-parallel shocks; Turbulent ...

Effect of Upstream ULF Waves on the Energetic Ion Diffusion at the Earth's Foreshock. I. Theory and Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Otsuka, Fumiko; Matsukiyo, Shuichi; Kis, Arpad; Nakanishi, Kento; Hada, Tohru

2018-02-01

Field-aligned diffusion of energetic ions in the Earth’s foreshock is investigated by using the quasi-linear theory (QLT) and test particle simulation. Non-propagating MHD turbulence in the solar wind rest frame is assumed to be purely transverse with respect to the background field. We use a turbulence model based on a multi-power-law spectrum including an intense peak that corresponds to upstream ULF waves resonantly generated by the field-aligned beam (FAB). The presence of the ULF peak produces a concave shape of the diffusion coefficient when it is plotted versus the ion energy. The QLT including the effect of the ULF wave explains the simulation result well, when the energy density of the turbulent magnetic field is 1% of that of the background magnetic field and the power-law index of the wave spectrum is less than 2. The numerically obtained e-folding distances from 10 to 32 keV ions match with the observational values in the event discussed in the companion paper, which contains an intense ULF peak in the spectra generated by the FAB. Evolution of the power spectrum of the ULF waves when approaching the shock significantly affects the energy dependence of the e-folding distance.

Simulation studies of plasma waves in the electron foreshock: The transition from reactive to kinetic instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dum, C.T.

1990-01-01

The electron beam-plasma instability is analyzed in particle simulation experiments, starting with a beam of small velocity spread. The dispersion relation is solved for snapshots of the actual evolving electron distribution function, rather than for the usual models consisting of Maxwellians. As the beam broadens, the analysis shows a transition from reactive beam modes, with frequencies extending much below the plasma frequency ω e , to kinetic instability of Langmuir waves, ω∼ω e , which is in agreement with the frequencies and growth rates observed in the simulation. Beam evolution is also in agreement with quasi-linear theory, except at the end of the reactive phase when trapping of beam electrons is seen. Although the spectrum temporarily narrows at this stage, there are, in contrast to previous simulations, still many modes present. the system then can proceed to a kinetic phase in which quasi-linear theory is again applicable. This stage is identical with the evolution starting from a gentle broad beam, except that wave levels are several times higher. With higher wave levels, mode coupling effects are also more prominent, but are still unable to prevent plateau formation. In contrast to the Langmuir wave regime, the reactive broadband wave regime lasts only for a relatively short period. In the electron foreshock it could only persist if a narrow beam or a sharp cutoff feature were maintained by continued beam injection and the time-of-flight mechanism

Parametric decay of current-driven Langmuir waves in plateau plasmas: Relevance to solar wind and foreshock events

Science.gov (United States)

Sauer, Konrad; Malaspina, David M.; Pulupa, Marc; Salem, Chadi S.

2017-07-01

Langmuir amplitude modulation in association with type III radio bursts is a well-known phenomenon since the beginning of space observations. It is commonly attributed to the superposition of beam-excited Langmuir waves and their backscattered counterparts as a result of parametric decay. The dilemma, however, is the discrepancy between fast beam relaxation and long-lasting Langmuir wave activity. Instead of starting with an unstable electron beam, our focus in this paper is on the nonlinear response of Langmuir oscillations that are driven after beam stabilization by the still persisting current of the (stable) two-electron plasma. The velocity distribution function of the second population forms a plateau (index h) with a point at which ∂fh/∂v ˜0 associated with weak damping over a more or less extended wave number range k. As shown by particle-in-cell simulations, this so-called plateau plasma drives primarily Langmuir oscillations at the plasma frequency (ωe) with k = 0 over long times without remarkable change of the distribution function. These Langmuir oscillations act as a pump wave for parametric decay by which an electron-acoustic wave slightly below ωe and a counterstreaming ion-acoustic wave are generated. Both high-frequency waves have nearly the same amplitude, which is given by the product of plateau density and velocity. Beating of these two wave types leads to pronounced Langmuir amplitude modulation, in reasonable agreement with solar wind and terrestrial foreshock observations made by the Wind spacecraft.

Waves and Instabilities in Collisionless Shocks

Science.gov (United States)

1984-04-01

occur in the electron foreshock and are driven by suprathermal electrons escaping into the region upstream of the shock. Both the ion-acoustic and...ULF waves occur in the ion foreshock and are associated with ions streaming into the region upstream of 11 the shock. The region downstream of the...the discussion of these waves it is useful to distinguish two regions, called the electron foreshock and the ion foreshock . Because the particles

Broadband Discrimination Studies

Science.gov (United States)

1976-03-01

Oroville. This low seismicity continued through initial loading of nearby Oroville Dam in 1967-68 and until the first foreshock on June 28, 1975...Twenty-one foreshocks (ML > 1.6), the largest of magnitude 4.7, preceded the magnitude 5.7 main shock of 01 August. All foreshocks and aftershocks of ML...preceded by foreshocks beginning on June 28, 1975, the largest of which had ML = 3.5 (Table 1); the sequence appeared to have died out (only five events

State-of-the-Art for Assessing Earthquake Hazards in the United States. Report 19. The Evidence for Reservoir-Induced Macroearthquakes.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-06-01

Water Level ....... ..................... . 63 6 Regional and Aftershock b Values ... ............. . 98 7 Foreshock and Aftershock b Values...140 57 Relation between water elevation and number of shocks ........ .................... ... 141 58 Foreshock groups, Kremasta...relationship, (b) the relationship of the magnitude of the main shock and the largest aftershock, (c) the time distribution of the foreshocks and

Numerical Investigation of Earthquake Nucleation on a Laboratory-Scale Heterogeneous Fault with Rate-and-State Friction

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, N.; Lapusta, N.

2014-12-01

Many large earthquakes on natural faults are preceded by smaller events, often termed foreshocks, that occur close in time and space to the larger event that follows. Understanding the origin of such events is important for understanding earthquake physics. Unique laboratory experiments of earthquake nucleation in a meter-scale slab of granite (McLaskey and Kilgore, 2013; McLaskey et al., 2014) demonstrate that sample-scale nucleation processes are also accompanied by much smaller seismic events. One potential explanation for these foreshocks is that they occur on small asperities - or bumps - on the fault interface, which may also be the locations of smaller critical nucleation size. We explore this possibility through 3D numerical simulations of a heterogeneous 2D fault embedded in a homogeneous elastic half-space, in an attempt to qualitatively reproduce the laboratory observations of foreshocks. In our model, the simulated fault interface is governed by rate-and-state friction with laboratory-relevant frictional properties, fault loading, and fault size. To create favorable locations for foreshocks, the fault surface heterogeneity is represented as patches of increased normal stress, decreased characteristic slip distance L, or both. Our simulation results indicate that one can create a rate-and-state model of the experimental observations. Models with a combination of higher normal stress and lower L at the patches are closest to matching the laboratory observations of foreshocks in moment magnitude, source size, and stress drop. In particular, we find that, when the local compression is increased, foreshocks can occur on patches that are smaller than theoretical critical nucleation size estimates. The additional inclusion of lower L for these patches helps to keep stress drops within the range observed in experiments, and is compatible with the asperity model of foreshock sources, since one would expect more compressed spots to be smoother (and hence have

A Project to Develop an Index of PC 3,4,5 Geomagnetic Pulsations and to Study Their control by Solar Wind Parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-04-01

source of Pc 3,4 pulsations in foreshock signals, shock pulsations, and magnetosheath turbulence, and several groups are actively exanining this...link between wavetrains in the sheath and Pc 3,4 has ever been proved, however, althugh the possibility that foreshock waves, which resemble pulsations...shock and foreshock reglons con- variations in wave correlation observable in the stitute the essential tool for distingi.shing running 12-second

A Matched Field Processing Framework for Coherent Detection Over Local and Regional Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-01

Sensors for a One-Hour Time Interval Around the Largest Foreshock of the Odaesan Earthquake Sequence. .......................53 37 Detector...cluster consists of the so-called Odaesan earthquake with foreshock and aftershock sequences described by Kim and Park (2010), located at a distance of...As first test, we selected one of the larger foreshocks occurring on 17 January as the processing template. The corresponding waveforms at the

Body and Surface Wave Modeling of Observed Seismic Events

Science.gov (United States)

1981-04-30

mechanisms for foreshock , mainshock, and aftershock sequences using Seismic Research Observatory (SRO) data, EOS, 57(12), p. 954, 1976. Bache, T.C., W.L...the event as well as that of the immediate foreshock were 95 located (Allen and Nordquist, 1972) and where the largest surface displacements were...1972). Foreshock , main shock and larger aftershocks of the Borrego Mountain earthquake, U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 787, 16-23. Bache

The Shock and Vibration Digest. Volume 17, Number 2

Science.gov (United States)

1985-02-01

Amplitude Measurements Suggest Assoc.) (1984). Foreshocks Have Different Focal Mecha- nisms than Aftershocks," Science, 201, pp (197) Mogi, K., "Some... Foreshock Sequence of Haicheng Earthquake pp 305-308 (1983). and Earthquake Swarm - the Use of Fore- shock Sequences in Earthquake Prediction...L (3), pp 281- quake and Its Foreshocks and Aftershocks," 293 (1980). Seismol. Geol., J. (1), pp 1-9 (1981). * (346) Rong, W., "Continuous Prediction

ULF Waves Upstream from Planetary Bow Shocks: Application to the Interball-Tail Observations at the Earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trotignon, J.G.; Rauch, J.L.; Klimov, S.; Nozdrachev, M.; Romanov, S.; Savin, S.; Skalsky, A.; Blecki, J.; Juchniewicz, J.; Amata, E.

1999-01-01

One of the outstanding problems in solar system plasma physics is the morphology of planetary and cometary foreshocks. A large variety of electron and ion velocity distribution functions, as well as electrostatic and electromagnetic waves phenomena, are indeed currently observed in these regions located upstream from, and magnetically connected to, bow shocks. Foreshocks being complex and highly dynamic, it is not easy to get a comprehensive description of them. Nevertheless, simple geometrical considerations can be of help to order foreshock structures. In light of the great number of results obtained in planetary foreshocks, which are briefly reviewed, we present an ongoing study of the upstream waves observed by the INTERBALL-TAIL magnetometers in the Ultra Low Frequency range. (author)

The Role of Hydromagnetic Waves in the Magnetosphere and the Ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-31

of right-hand-polarized waves in instabilities, we follow the examples discussed by Wong interplanetary shocks and in the terrestrial foreshock and... foreshock , (Received January 14, 1988;J. Geophys. Res., 90, 1429, 1985. Spangler, S.R., and J.P. Sheerin, Alfv6.n wave revised April 15, 1988;collapse...bow shocks,2 and in the interplanetary shocks and the a four-wave parametric coupling process is a.alyzed for the terrestrial foreshock .3 .4 Moreover

Annual Technical Report Number 2 for Grant Number AFOSR-90-0085, Center for Theoretical Geoplasma Physics, Center for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Science.gov (United States)

1992-02-15

Magnetohydrodynamic Plasma", D. Tetreault, Phys. Fluids B, 2, 53, 1990. I 34, "Simulation Studies of Plasma Waves in the Electron Foreshock ; The Generation...in the Electron Foreshock . The Transition from Reactive to Kinetic Instability", C.T. Dum, J, Geophys. Research, 95, 8111, 1990. 36. "Simulation...Studies of Plasma Waves in the Electron Foreshock : The Generation of Downshifted Oscillations", C.T. Dum. J. Geophys. Res., 95, 8123, 1990. 37

A Regional Seismic Experiment in India to Increase Knowledge of Velocity Structure

Science.gov (United States)

2006-05-01

was preceeded by a foreshock , and therefore that the location of the maindock derived from these first arrivals (e.g. Engdahl and Bergman 2001) is...actually the location of the foreshock . The observed difference in first arrival time between two events that are separated horizon- tally can be...teleseimic waveforms for the Bhqj mainshock, the foreshock discussed above is no longer visible. The waveforms are easily fit by a single double couple

A Study of the Association of Pc 3, 4 Micropulsations with Interplanetary Magnetic Field Orientation & Other Solar Wind Parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

1977-11-13

Streams in the Earths’s Foreshock Appendix H. Current Investigation of the Mid-Period Geomagnetic Pulsations and Potential Use of the AFGL Network Appendix...the top, Solar Wind, Foreshock , Magnetosheath, etc., represent distinct regimes forming the plasma-physical chain linking the solar wind with the...VSW -] IMF. Foreshock Magnetosheath S V 68 I i Ii Ii I Magnetopause SR I! ! oB MP IMP Magnetosphere 3B M,6j I 9 Earth Surface IB S ....._ Symbols

Investigation of an Unusually Shallow Earthquake Sequence in Mogul, NV from a Discrimination Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-31

the fault area that was active in the foreshock sequence. For this source dimension, a stress drop of 17.5 MPa was estimated, which is about 25% of...described by Anderson et al. (2009). Our relocation of the largest earthquake places the hypocenter 2.7 km below the surface. The foreshocks and...occurred after a sequence of foreshocks initiated on February 29, 56 days before the main shock (Figures 2 and 3). The triangular-shaped bounds for

Effects of Nonconvective Electric Fields on Magnetospheric Plasma Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-31

I.S.E.E. data (June, 1981 issue J. Geophys. Res.) has made a large contribution toward describing the structure of the foreshock region just upstream from...narrow layer on the most sunward region of the foreshock [Bonifazi and Moreno, 1981a,b] and form the distribution which is classified as "reflected...the foreshock region toughes the quasi perpendicular bow shock [Eastman et. al., 1981]. Therefore, ions reflected at this point may run along the

Plasma Waves Associated with Energetic Particles Streaming into the Solar Wind from the Earth’s Bow Shock.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-12-08

when the magnetic field changed in such a way that the ISEE spacecraft were brought into the ion foreshock region. The lower panels of Figures 1 and 2...electrons in the absence of ions usually occurs when the spacecraft is downstream from the electron foreshock boundary but upstream of the ion... foreshock boundary. Two well-defined upstream ion events occur in the following hour as shown in Figure 5. The top panel shows that a moderately intense ion

Rupture distribution of the 1977 western Argentina earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Langer, C.J.; Hartzell, S.

1996-01-01

Teleseismic P and SH body waves are used in a finite-fault, waveform inversion for the rupture history of the 23 November 1977 western Argentina earthquake. This double event consists of a smaller foreshock (M0 = 5.3 ?? 1026 dyn-cm) followed about 20 s later by a larger main shock (M0 = 1.5 ?? 1027 dyn-cm). Our analysis indicates that these two events occurred on different fault segments: with the foreshock having a strike, dip, and average rake of 345??, 45??E, and 50??, and the main shock 10??, 45??E, and 80??, respectively. The foreshock initiated at a depth of 17 km and propagated updip and to the north. The main shock initiated at the southern end of the foreshock zone at a depth of 25 to 30 km, and propagated updip and unilaterally to the south. The north-south separation of the centroids of the moment release for the foreshock and main shock is about 60 km. The apparent triggering of the main shock by the foreshock is similar to other earthquakes that have involved the failure of multiple fault segments, such as the 1992 Landers, California, earthquake. Such occurrences argue against the use of individual, mapped, surface fault or fault-segment lengths in the determination of the size and frequency of future earthquakes.

MESSENGER Magnetic Field Observations of Upstream Ultra-Low Frequency Waves at Mercury

Science.gov (United States)

Le, G.; Chi, P. J.; Boardsen, S.; Blanco-Cano, X.; Anderosn, B. J.; Korth, H.

2012-01-01

The region upstream from a planetary bow shock is a natural plasma laboratory containing a variety of wave particle phenomena. The study of foreshocks other than the Earth's is important for extending our understanding of collisionless shocks and foreshock physics since the bow shock strength varies with heliocentric distance from the Sun, and the sizes of the bow shocks are different at different planets. The Mercury's bow shock is unique in our solar system as it is produced by low Mach number solar wind blowing over a small magnetized body with a predominately radial interplanetary magnetic field. Previous observations of Mercury upstream ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves came exclusively from two Mercury flybys of Mariner 10. The MESSENGER orbiter data enable us to study of upstream waves in the Mercury's foreshock in depth. This paper reports an overview of upstream ULF waves in the Mercury's foreshock using high-time resolution magnetic field data, 20 samples per second, from the MESSENGER spacecraft. The most common foreshock waves have frequencies near 2 Hz, with properties similar to the I-Hz waves in the Earth's foreshock. They are present in both the flyby data and in every orbit of the orbital data we have surveyed. The most common wave phenomenon in the Earth's foreshock is the large-amplitude 30-s waves, but similar waves at Mercury have frequencies at near 0.1 Hz and occur only sporadically with short durations (a few wave cycles). Superposed on the "30-s" waves, there are spectral peaks at near 0.6 Hz, not reported previously in Mariner 10 data. We will discuss wave properties and their occurrence characteristics in this paper.

Determination of Focal Depths of Earthquakes in the Mid-Oceanic Ridges from Amplitude Spectra of Surface Waves

Science.gov (United States)

1969-06-01

Foreshock , mainshock and aftershock of the Parkfield, California earthquake of June 28, 1966. b. The Denver earthquake of August 9, 1967. Let us look...into the results of these tests in more details. (1) Test on the main shock, foreshock and aftershock of the Parkfield earthquake of June 28, 1966...According to McEvilly et. al. (1967), the origin times and locations of.these events were the following: Foreshock June 28, 1966, 04:08:56.2 GMT; 350 57.6

Short Wavelength Electrostatic Waves in the Earth’s Magnetosheath.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-07-01

to an antenna effect. Emissions likely to be ion-acoustic mode waves have been found up- stream of the bow shock ( foreshock ) in the solar wind...particles apparently reflected at the bow shock and associated with ion- acoustic mode waves in the Earth’s foreshock are also observed [Eastman et al...Res., 86, A 4493-4510, 1981. Eastman, T.E., 1.R. Anderson, L.A. Frank, and G.K. Parks, Upstream particles observed in the Earth’s foreshock region

Velocity- and slip-dependent weakening on the Tohoku plate boundary fault: shallow coseismic slip facilitated by foreshock afterslip

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Y.; Ikari, M.; Ujiie, K.; Kopf, A.

2016-12-01

Understanding of role of slow earthquakes as they relate to the occurrence of both megathrust earthquakes and tsunami earthquakes is necessary to mitigate these disasters in the near future. Laboratory shearing experiments is one of important approach to evaluate these relationships. Here, we use powdered gouge samples from JFAST (IODP Expedition 343) Hole C0019E, core sample 17R-1, which is the plate boundary fault zone in the Japan Trench subduction zone. In this region, both large coseismic slip during the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake as well as discrete slow slip events (SSE) have occurred. Experiments were conducted in a single-direct shear apparatus under normal stress of 16 MPa, with total shear displacements of up to 16 mm. We evaluate both the velocity- and slip-dependence of friction by extracting the velocity-dependent friction parameters a, b, and Dc, and measuring the rate of change in friction coefficient with shear displacement as the slip-dependence of friction. We report that in friction experiments using the Tohoku fault zone samples, an increase in sliding velocity exceeding that of earthquake afterslip can induce a change from steady-state frictional strength or slip hardening friction to slip-weakening frictional behavior. Our results show that the slip weakening is observed when the slip velocity exceeds 1 x 10-6 m/s during our experiments, while steady-state frictional strength or slip hardening is observed below 1x10-6 m/s. In the Japan Trench region, two slow events were observed at the downdip edge of the mainshock coseismic slip zone (< 30 m) were observed. These are an episodic SSE with a slip velocity of 0.1 x 10-6, and afterslip after the largest foreshock with a slip velocity of 2 x 10-6 m/s. This suggests that the afterslip may have facilitated the large coseismic slip during the mainshock on the plate boundary fault of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake.

Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Sumy, Danielle F.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Keranen, Katie M.; Wei, Maya; Abers, Geoffrey A.

2014-01-01

In November 2011, a M5.0 earthquake occurred less than a day before a M5.7 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma, which may have promoted failure of the mainshock and thousands of aftershocks along the Wilzetta fault, including a M5.0 aftershock. The M5.0 foreshock occurred in close proximity to active fluid injection wells; fluid injection can cause a buildup of pore fluid pressure, decrease the fault strength, and may induce earthquakes. Keranen et al. [2013] links the M5.0 foreshock with fluid injection, but the relationship between the foreshock and successive events has not been investigated. Here we examine the role of coseismic Coulomb stress transfer on earthquakes that follow the M5.0 foreshock, including the M5.7 mainshock. We resolve the static Coulomb stress change onto the focal mechanism nodal plane that is most consistent with the rupture geometry of the three M ≥ 5.0 earthquakes, as well as specified receiver fault planes that reflect the regional stress orientation. We find that Coulomb stress is increased, e.g., fault failure is promoted, on the nodal planes of ~60% of the events that have focal mechanism solutions, and more specifically, that the M5.0 foreshock promoted failure on the rupture plane of the M5.7 mainshock. We test our results over a range of effective coefficient of friction values. Hence, we argue that the M5.0 foreshock, induced by fluid injection, potentially triggered a cascading failure of earthquakes along the complex Wilzetta fault system.

Two dimensional hybrid simulation of a curved bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, V.A.; Winske, D.

1990-01-01

Results are presented from two dimensional hybrid simulations of curved collisionless supercritical shocks, retaining both quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel sections of the shock in order to study the character and origin of the foreshock ion population. The simulations demonstrate that the foreshock ion population is dominated by ions impinging upon the quasi-parallel side of the shock, while nonlocal transport from the quasi-perpendicular side of the shock into the foreshock region is minimal. Further, it is shown that the ions gain energy by drifting significantly in the direction of the convection electric field through multiple shock encounters

Acceleration Processes in the Earth’s Magnetosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-05-17

Hada, T. and T. Terasawa, Nonlinear evolution of low frequency waves in the foreshock region of earth’s bow shock, American Geophysical Union...low-frequency waves in the earth’s foreshock , American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, December 1984. 14) Ogino, T., R.J. Walker and M. Ashour

Near Field Small Earthquake Long Period Spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

1976-04-01

L. Fredrickson, personal communication). The main shock occurred eight seconds after a magnitude 4.5 foreshock , and according to T. V. McEvilly...the strike (but rat the dip) of this plar^e is in good agreenant with that (IT C90 W) obtained from a faultplane solution for a large foreshock 0

Collaborative Research: Ground Truth of African and Eastern Mediterranean Shallow Seismicity Using SAR Interferometry and Gibbs Sampling Inversion

Science.gov (United States)

2006-10-05

the likely existence of a small foreshock . 2. BACKGROUND 2.1. InSAR The most well-known examples of InSAR used as a geodetic tool involve...the event. We have used the seismic waveforms in the Sultan Dag event to identify a small foreshock preceding the main shock by about 3 seconds

Slip-dependent weakening on shallow plate boundary fault in the Japan subduction zone: shallow coseismic slip facilitated by foreshock afterslip

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Yoshi; Ikari, Matt; Ujiie, Kohtaro; Kopf, Achim

2017-04-01

Understanding of role of slow earthquakes as they relate to the occurrence of both megathrust earthquakes and tsunami earthquakes is necessary to mitigate these disasters in the near future. Laboratory shearing experiments is one of important approach to evaluate these relationships. Here, we use powdered gouge samples from JFAST (IODP Expedition 343) Hole C0019E, core sample 17R-1, which is the plate boundary fault zone in the Japan Trench subduction zone. In this region, both large coseismic slip during the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake as well as discrete slow slip events (SSE) have occurred. Experiments were conducted in a single-direct shear apparatus under normal stress of 16 MPa, with total shear displacements of up to 16 mm. We evaluate the slip-dependence of friction by extracting the velocity-dependent friction parameters a, b, and Dc , and also measure the rate of change in friction coefficient with shear displacement as the slip-dependence of friction. We report that in friction experiments using the Tohoku fault zone samples, an increase in sliding velocity exceeding that of earthquake afterslip can induce a change from steady-state frictional strength or slip hardening friction to slip-weakening frictional behavior. Our results show that the slip weakening is observed when the slip velocity exceeds 3.7 × 10-6 m/s during our experiments, while steady-state frictional strength or slip hardening is observed below 1 × 10-6 m/s. In the Japan Trench region, two slow events prior to the mainshock were observed in the mainshock area with a coseismic slip exceeding 30 m . One event is an episodic SSE with a slip velocity of 0.1 × 10-6 , and the other is afterslip after the largest Tohoku earthquake foreshock with a slip velocity exceeding 2 × 10-6 m/s. Our experiments show that slip-weakening friction should be expected at the afterslip rate, suggesting that the afterslip may have facilitated the large coseismic slip during the mainshock on the plate boundary

The Effects of Travel Path and Source Structure on the Character of Regional Distance Seismograms from Nuclear Explosions

Science.gov (United States)

1991-12-27

and had a ML of 6.4. The earthquake sequence was very energetic, having a foreshock with a ML of 5.9 and three large aftershocks measuring 5.8, 5.6...regional data-A review, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 72, S89-S129. Smith, K. D., and K. F. Priestley (1988). The foreshock sequence of the 1986 Chalfant

State-of-the-Art for Assessing Earthquake Hazards in the United States. Report 17. Interpretation of Strong Ground Motion Records.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-10-01

foreshock (ML = 2.7) a minute and a half earlier and a sequence of 59 events (ML > 2.5) in the ensuing six days. On the evening of January 26...February 9 through March 1, 1971, Joint Report, U.S. Geological Survey and NOAA, 17-20. Allen, C.R. and J.M. Nordquist (1972). Foreshock , main shock

Prediction of Solar-Terrestrial Disturbances: Decay Phase of Energetic Proton Events.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-10-01

Dependence of 50 keV upstream ion events at IMP 7/8 upon magnetic field-bow shock geometry in the earth’s foreshock : A statistical study, J. Geophys_.Rers...ion events in the F. C. Roelof Earth’s foreshock R. Reinhard ISEE-3/IKtP-8 observations of simultaneous upstream proton T. R. Sanderson events K.-P

Structure of intermediate shocks and slow shocks in a magnetized plasma with heat conduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, C.L.; Wu, B.H.; Lee, L.C.

2005-01-01

The structure of slow shocks and intermediate shocks in the presence of a heat conduction parallel to the local magnetic field is simulated from the set of magnetohydrodynamic equations. This study is an extension of an earlier work [C. L. Tsai, R. H. Tsai, B. H. Wu, and L. C. Lee, Phys. Plasmas 9, 1185 (2002)], in which the effects of heat conduction are examined for the case that the tangential magnetic fields on the two side of initial current sheet are exactly antiparallel (B y =0). For the B y =0 case, a pair of slow shocks is formed as the result of evolution of the initial current sheet, and each slow shock consists of two parts: the isothermal main shock and the foreshock. In the present paper, cases with B y ≠0 are also considered, in which the evolution process leads to the presence of an additional pair of time-dependent intermediate shocks (TDISs). Across the main shock of the slow shock, jumps in plasma density, velocity, and magnetic field are significant, but the temperature is continuous. The plasma density downstream of the main shock decreases with time, while the downstream temperature increases with time, keeping the downstream pressure constant. The foreshock is featured by a smooth temperature variation and is formed due to the heat flow from downstream to upstream region. In contrast to the earlier study, the foreshock is found to reach a steady state with a constant width in the slow shock frame. In cases with B y ≠0, the plasma density and pressure increase and the magnetic field decreases across TDIS. The TDIS initially can be embedded in the slow shock's foreshock structure, and then moves out of the foreshock region. With an increasing B y , the propagation speed of foreshock leading edge tends to decrease and the foreshock reaches its steady state at an earlier time. Both the pressure and temperature downstreams of the main shock decrease with increasing B y . The results can be applied to the shock heating in the solar corona and

Detailed study of electron plasma waves upstream of the earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etcheto, J.; Faucheux, M.

1984-01-01

A detailed study of electron plasma waves observed upstream of the earth's bow shock and of their relationships to the position of the satellite in the foreshock and to the electron measurements has been carried out. The wave characteristics depend on the position in the electron foreshock: a narrow-bnd (a few percent) and intense (a few millivolts per meter) noise is observed at the plasma frequency at the edge of the foreshock while the spectrum widens (Δf/fapprox. =0.3) at the same time as the power decreases (hundreds of microvolts per meter) deeper (a few earth radii) inside the foreshock. Signals below the plasma frequency are also observed. These waves are polarized along the magnetic field, with long wavelengths below and at the plasma frequency and short wavelengths above it. They appear as short bursts, the duration of which depends on the frequency: longer close to the plasma frequency (50 ms), they shorten with increasing separation from the plasma frequency, the usual duration being 15 ms. While the correlation of the wave characteristics with the reflected electrons is good as the satellite moves inside the foreshock, no evolution is found with the distance to the bow shock, neither for the noise nor for the particles. These results are discussed in the frame of various mechanisms which have been proposed to explain these upstream waves but no satisfactory agreement is found with any of them

Implications of fault constitutive properties for earthquake prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieterich, J H; Kilgore, B

1996-04-30

The rate- and state-dependent constitutive formulation for fault slip characterizes an exceptional variety of materials over a wide range of sliding conditions. This formulation provides a unified representation of diverse sliding phenomena including slip weakening over a characteristic sliding distance Dc, apparent fracture energy at a rupture front, time-dependent healing after rapid slip, and various other transient and slip rate effects. Laboratory observations and theoretical models both indicate that earthquake nucleation is accompanied by long intervals of accelerating slip. Strains from the nucleation process on buried faults generally could not be detected if laboratory values of Dc apply to faults in nature. However, scaling of Dc is presently an open question and the possibility exists that measurable premonitory creep may precede some earthquakes. Earthquake activity is modeled as a sequence of earthquake nucleation events. In this model, earthquake clustering arises from sensitivity of nucleation times to the stress changes induced by prior earthquakes. The model gives the characteristic Omori aftershock decay law and assigns physical interpretation to aftershock parameters. The seismicity formulation predicts large changes of earthquake probabilities result from stress changes. Two mechanisms for foreshocks are proposed that describe observed frequency of occurrence of foreshock-mainshock pairs by time and magnitude. With the first mechanism, foreshocks represent a manifestation of earthquake clustering in which the stress change at the time of the foreshock increases the probability of earthquakes at all magnitudes including the eventual mainshock. With the second model, accelerating fault slip on the mainshock nucleation zone triggers foreshocks.

Geological-Seismological Evaluation of Earthquake Hazards at West Thompson Damsite, Connecticut.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-06-01

Connecticut, N of 41.61N 72.12W 1.5 - Norwich ( Foreshock ) 29 Jun 80 Connecticut, N of 41.46N 72.09W 1.8 - Norwich 28 Jul 80 Connecticut, N of 41.52N...the event was judged to be either an aftershock or foreshock ; the geographic location is given as north latitude and west longitude, to the nearest 0.10

Research into Surface Wave Phenomena in Sedimentary Basins.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-12-31

Z 1.0 A (Eocene) - .9 and A (Post-Eocene) - .8 2.4 Golden Seismograms The Pocatello Valley earthquake sequence included a mL - 4.2 foreshock , a 6.0...4.2 foreshock and the 4.7 aftershock as well. The first arrival, at ia30s after the origin time of 1 6h15m6s March 28, is the Pn phase. This is a low

Spatiotemporal Analysis of the Foreshock-Mainshock-Aftershock Sequence of the 6 July 2017 M5.8 Lincoln, Montana Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, N. D.; Stickney, M.; Aster, R. C.; Yeck, W.; Martens, H. R.; Benz, H.

2017-12-01

On 6 July 2017, a Mw 5.8 earthquake occurred 11 km southeast of Lincoln, Montana. The event was widely-felt from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (750 km north), Seattle, Washington (800 km west), the Idaho/Utah and Idaho/Nevada borders (550 km south), and Rapid City, South Dakota (750 km east). This is the largest earthquake to occur in the state since the 1959 M 7.3 Hebgen Lake event 250 km to the southeast. In the three weeks following the 6 July 2017 Mw 5.8 main shock, the U.S. Geological Survey and Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology located more than 300 aftershocks. Preliminary observations show most of these aftershocks form a short NNE zone that suggests that the main shock may have slipped on a NNE left-lateral fault. A smaller number of aftershocks extend along a longer WNW-trending zone. These faults are part of the Lewis and Clark line, a prominent zone of Middle Proterozoic to Holocene age strike-slip, dip slip, and oblique slip faulting trending 400 km east-southeast from northern Idaho to east of Helena, Montana, and terminating southeast of this earthquake. We use identified aftershock waveforms as templates to examine the data from 1 June 2017 through 27 July 2017 with cross-correlation techniques on nearby permanent and temporary seismic stations deployed shortly after the mainshock to identify foreshocks and additional small aftershocks. Locating these events allows us to study subsurface geology, map fault structures, and provide insight on the spatial and temporal evolution of the earthquake sequence, which may continue to produce aftershocks for years. Other notable earthquakes in the region include a damaging M 6.6 earthquake 100 km to the south in June 1925, M 6.2 and M 6.0 earthquakes near Helena, Montana in October 1935 that caused significant damage and four fatalities, and a M 5.6 earthquake 170 km to the south in July 2005 that caused minor damage in Dillon and the surrounding region. We hope this work not only allows us to map the involved

Ion distributions upstream and downstream of the Earth's bow shock: first results from Vlasiator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Pokhotelov

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A novel hybrid-Vlasov code, Vlasiator, is developed for global simulations of magnetospheric plasma kinetics. The code is applied to model the collisionless bow shock on scales of the Earth's magnetosphere in two spatial dimensions and three dimensions in velocity space retrieving ion distribution functions over the entire foreshock and magnetosheath regions with unprecedented detail. The hybrid-Vlasov approach produces noise-free uniformly discretized ion distribution functions comparable to those measured in situ by spacecraft. Vlasiator can reproduce features of the ion foreshock and magnetosheath well known from spacecraft observations, such as compressional magnetosonic waves generated by backstreaming ion populations in the foreshock and mirror modes in the magnetosheath. An overview of ion distributions from various regions of the bow shock is presented, demonstrating the great opportunities for comparison with multi-spacecraft observations.

Synchronization and desynchronization in the Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model and potential implications for real seismicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hergarten

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The Olami-Feder-Christensen model is probably the most studied model in the context of self-organized criticality and reproduces several statistical properties of real earthquakes. We investigate and explain synchronization and desynchronization of earthquakes in this model in the nonconservative regime and its relevance for the power-law distribution of the event sizes (Gutenberg-Richter law and for temporal clustering of earthquakes. The power-law distribution emerges from synchronization, and its scaling exponent can be derived as τ = 1.775 from the scaling properties of the rupture areas' perimeter. In contrast, the occurrence of foreshocks and aftershocks according to Omori's law is closely related to desynchronization. This mechanism of foreshock and aftershock generation differs strongly from the widespread idea of spontaneous triggering and gives an idea why some even large earthquakes are not preceded by any foreshocks in nature.

Gradual unlocking of plate boundary controlled initiation of the 2014 Iquique earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Schurr, Bernd; Asch, Günter; Hainzl, Sebastian; Bedford, Jonathan; Hoechner, Andreas; Palo, Mauro; Wang, Rongjiang; Moreno, Marcos; Bartsch, Mitja; Zhang, Yong; Oncken, Onno; Tilmann, Frederik; Dahm, Torsten; Victor, Pia; Barrientos, Sergio; Vilotte, Jean-Pierre

2014-08-21

On 1 April 2014, Northern Chile was struck by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake following a protracted series of foreshocks. The Integrated Plate Boundary Observatory Chile monitored the entire sequence of events, providing unprecedented resolution of the build-up to the main event and its rupture evolution. Here we show that the Iquique earthquake broke a central fraction of the so-called northern Chile seismic gap, the last major segment of the South American plate boundary that had not ruptured in the past century. Since July 2013 three seismic clusters, each lasting a few weeks, hit this part of the plate boundary with earthquakes of increasing peak magnitudes. Starting with the second cluster, geodetic observations show surface displacements that can be associated with slip on the plate interface. These seismic clusters and their slip transients occupied a part of the plate interface that was transitional between a fully locked and a creeping portion. Leading up to this earthquake, the b value of the foreshocks gradually decreased during the years before the earthquake, reversing its trend a few days before the Iquique earthquake. The mainshock finally nucleated at the northern end of the foreshock area, which skirted a locked patch, and ruptured mainly downdip towards higher locking. Peak slip was attained immediately downdip of the foreshock region and at the margin of the locked patch. We conclude that gradual weakening of the central part of the seismic gap accentuated by the foreshock activity in a zone of intermediate seismic coupling was instrumental in causing final failure, distinguishing the Iquique earthquake from most great earthquakes. Finally, only one-third of the gap was broken and the remaining locked segments now pose a significant, increased seismic hazard with the potential to host an earthquake with a magnitude of >8.5.

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of the Microseismicity Preceding the 2016 M L 6.6 Meinong Earthquake in Southern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Pu, Hsin-Chieh

2018-02-01

Before the M L 6.6 Meinong earthquake in 2016, intermediate-term quiescence (Q i), foreshocks, and short-term quiescence (Q s) were extracted from a comprehensive earthquake catalog. In practice, these behaviors are thought to be the seismic indicators of an earthquake precursor, and their spatiotemporal characteristics may be associated with location, magnitude, and occurrence time of the following main shock. Hence, detailed examinations were carried out to derive the spatiotemporal characteristics of these meaningful seismic behaviors. First, the spatial range of the Q i that occurred for 96 days was revealed in and around the Meinong earthquake. Second, a series of foreshocks was present for 1 day, clustered at the southeastern end of the Meinong earthquake. Third, Q s was present for 3 days and was pronounced after the foreshocks. Although these behaviors were recorded difficultly because the Q i was characterized by microseismicity at the lower cut-off magnitude, between M L 1.2 and 1.6, and most of the foreshocks were comprised of earthquakes with a magnitude lower than 1.8, they carried meaningful precursory indicators preceding the Meinong earthquake. These indicators provide the information of (1) the hypocenter, which was indicated by the area including the Q i, foreshocks, and Q s; (2) the magnitude, which could be associated to the spatial range of the Q i; (3) the asperity locations, which might be related to the areas of extraordinary low seismicity; and (4) a short-term warning leading of 3 days, which could have been announced based on the occurrence of the Q s. Particularly, Q i also appeared before strong inland earthquakes so that Q i might be an anticipative phenomenon before a strong earthquake in Taiwan.

Comparison of aftershock sequences between 1975 Haicheng earthquake and 1976 Tangshan earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, B.

2017-12-01

The 1975 ML 7.3 Haicheng earthquake and the 1976 ML 7.8 Tangshan earthquake occurred in the same tectonic unit. There are significant differences in spatial-temporal distribution, number of aftershocks and time duration for the aftershock sequence followed by these two main shocks. As we all know, aftershocks could be triggered by the regional seismicity change derived from the main shock, which was caused by the Coulomb stress perturbation. Based on the rate- and state- dependent friction law, we quantitative estimated the possible aftershock time duration with a combination of seismicity data, and compared the results from different approaches. The results indicate that, aftershock time durations from the Tangshan main shock is several times of that form the Haicheng main shock. This can be explained by the significant relationship between aftershock time duration and earthquake nucleation history, normal stressand shear stress loading rateon the fault. In fact the obvious difference of earthquake nucleation history from these two main shocks is the foreshocks. 1975 Haicheng earthquake has clear and long foreshocks, while 1976 Tangshan earthquake did not have clear foreshocks. In that case, abundant foreshocks may mean a long and active nucleation process that may have changed (weakened) the rocks in the source regions, so they should have a shorter aftershock sequences for the reason that stress in weak rocks decay faster.

Scattering of field-aligned beam ions upstream of Earth's bow shock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Kis

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Field-aligned beams are known to originate from the quasi-perpendicular side of the Earth's bow shock, while the diffuse ion population consists of accelerated ions at the quasi-parallel side of the bow shock. The two distinct ion populations show typical characteristics in their velocity space distributions. By using particle and magnetic field measurements from one Cluster spacecraft we present a case study when the two ion populations are observed simultaneously in the foreshock region during a high Mach number, high solar wind velocity event. We present the spatial-temporal evolution of the field-aligned beam ion distribution in front of the Earth's bow shock, focusing on the processes in the deep foreshock region, i.e. on the quasi-parallel side. Our analysis demonstrates that the scattering of field-aligned beam (FAB ions combined with convection by the solar wind results in the presence of lower-energy, toroidal gyrating ions at positions deeper in the foreshock region which are magnetically connected to the quasi-parallel bow shock. The gyrating ions are superposed onto a higher energy diffuse ion population. It is suggested that the toroidal gyrating ion population observed deep in the foreshock region has its origins in the FAB and that its characteristics are correlated with its distance from the FAB, but is independent on distance to the bow shock along the magnetic field.

Upstream pressure variations associated with the bow shock and their effects on the magnetosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairfield, D.H.; Baumjohann, W.; Paschmann, G.; Luehr, H.; Sibeck, D.G.

1990-01-01

Magnetic field enhancements and depressions on the time scales of minutes were frequently observed simultaneously by the AMPTE CCE, GOES 5, and GOES 6 spacecraft in the subsolar magnetosphere. The source of these perturbations has been detected in the high time resolution AMPTE IRM measurements of the kinetic pressure of the solar wind upstream of the bow shock. It is argued that these upstream pressure variations are not inherent in the solar wind but rather are associated with the bow shock. This conclusion follows from the facts that (1) the upstream field strength and the density associated with the perturbations are highly correlated with each other whereas these quantities tend to be anticorrelated in the undisturbed solar wind, and (2) the upstream perturbations occur within the foreshock or at its boundary. The results imply a mode of interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere whereby density changes produced in the foreshock subsequently convect through the bow shock and impinge on the magnetosphere. Also velocity decreases deep within the foreshock sometimes reach many tens of kilometers per second and may be associated with further pressure variations as a changing interplanetary field direction changes the foreshock geometry. Upstream pressure perturbations should create significant effects on the magnetopause and at the foot of nearby field lines that lead to the polar cusp ionosphere

3-D Hybrid Simulation of Quasi-Parallel Bow Shock and Its Effects on the Magnetosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Y.; Wang, X.Y.

2005-01-01

A three-dimensional (3-D) global-scale hybrid simulation is carried out for the structure of the quasi-parallel bow shock, in particular the foreshock waves and pressure pulses. The wave evolution and interaction with the dayside magnetosphere are discussed. It is shown that diamagnetic cavities are generated in the turbulent foreshock due to the ion beam plasma interaction, and these compressional pulses lead to strong surface perturbations at the magnetopause and Alfven waves/field line resonance in the magnetosphere

Fault Rupture Model of the 2016 Gyeongju, South Korea, Earthquake and Its Implication for the Underground Fault System

Science.gov (United States)

Uchide, Takahiko; Song, Seok Goo

2018-03-01

The 2016 Gyeongju earthquake (ML 5.8) was the largest instrumentally recorded inland event in South Korea. It occurred in the southeast of the Korean Peninsula and was preceded by a large ML 5.1 foreshock. The aftershock seismicity data indicate that these earthquakes occurred on two closely collocated parallel faults that are oblique to the surface trace of the Yangsan fault. We investigate the rupture properties of these earthquakes using finite-fault slip inversion analyses. The obtained models indicate that the ruptures propagated NNE-ward and SSW-ward for the main shock and the large foreshock, respectively. This indicates that these earthquakes occurred on right-step faults and were initiated around a fault jog. The stress drops were up to 62 and 43 MPa for the main shock and the largest foreshock, respectively. These high stress drops imply high strength excess, which may be overcome by the stress concentration around the fault jog.

Scattering of field-aligned beam ions upstream of Earth's bow shock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Kis

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Field-aligned beams are known to originate from the quasi-perpendicular side of the Earth's bow shock, while the diffuse ion population consists of accelerated ions at the quasi-parallel side of the bow shock. The two distinct ion populations show typical characteristics in their velocity space distributions. By using particle and magnetic field measurements from one Cluster spacecraft we present a case study when the two ion populations are observed simultaneously in the foreshock region during a high Mach number, high solar wind velocity event. We present the spatial-temporal evolution of the field-aligned beam ion distribution in front of the Earth's bow shock, focusing on the processes in the deep foreshock region, i.e. on the quasi-parallel side. Our analysis demonstrates that the scattering of field-aligned beam (FAB ions combined with convection by the solar wind results in the presence of lower-energy, toroidal gyrating ions at positions deeper in the foreshock region which are magnetically connected to the quasi-parallel bow shock. The gyrating ions are superposed onto a higher energy diffuse ion population. It is suggested that the toroidal gyrating ion population observed deep in the foreshock region has its origins in the FAB and that its characteristics are correlated with its distance from the FAB, but is independent on distance to the bow shock along the magnetic field.

3-D dynamic rupture simulations of the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Urata, Yumi; Yoshida, Keisuke; Fukuyama, Eiichi; Kubo, Hisahiko

2017-11-01

Using 3-D dynamic rupture simulations, we investigated the 2016 Mw7.1 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake to elucidate why and how the rupture of the main shock propagated successfully, assuming a complicated fault geometry estimated on the basis of the distributions of the aftershocks. The Mw7.1 main shock occurred along the Futagawa and Hinagu faults. Within 28 h before the main shock, three M6-class foreshocks occurred. Their hypocenters were located along the Hinagu and Futagawa faults, and their focal mechanisms were similar to that of the main shock. Therefore, an extensive stress shadow should have been generated on the fault plane of the main shock. First, we estimated the geometry of the fault planes of the three foreshocks as well as that of the main shock based on the temporal evolution of the relocated aftershock hypocenters. We then evaluated the static stress changes on the main shock fault plane that were due to the occurrence of the three foreshocks, assuming elliptical cracks with constant stress drops on the estimated fault planes. The obtained static stress change distribution indicated that Coulomb failure stress change (ΔCFS) was positive just below the hypocenter of the main shock, while the ΔCFS in the shallow region above the hypocenter was negative. Therefore, these foreshocks could encourage the initiation of the main shock rupture and could hinder the propagation of the rupture toward the shallow region. Finally, we conducted 3-D dynamic rupture simulations of the main shock using the initial stress distribution, which was the sum of the static stress changes caused by these foreshocks and the regional stress field. Assuming a slip-weakening law with uniform friction parameters, we computed 3-D dynamic rupture by varying the friction parameters and the values of the principal stresses. We obtained feasible parameter ranges that could reproduce the characteristic features of the main shock rupture revealed by seismic waveform analyses. We also

3-D Spontaneous Rupture Simulations of the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Urata, Yumi; Yoshida, Keisuke; Fukuyama, Eiichi

2017-04-01

We investigated the M7.3 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake to illuminate why and how the rupture of the main shock propagated successfully by 3-D dynamic rupture simulations, assuming a complicated fault geometry estimated based on the distributions of aftershocks. The M7.3 main shock occurred along the Futagawa and Hinagu faults. A few days before, three M6-class foreshocks occurred. Their hypocenters were located along by the Hinagu and Futagawa faults and their focal mechanisms were similar to those of the main shock; therefore, an extensive stress shadow can have been generated on the fault plane of the main shock. First, we estimated the geometry of the fault planes of the three foreshocks as well as that of the main shock based on the temporal evolution of relocated aftershock hypocenters. Then, we evaluated static stress changes on the main shock fault plane due to the occurrence of the three foreshocks assuming elliptical cracks with constant stress drops on the estimated fault planes. The obtained static stress change distribution indicated that the hypocenter of the main shock is located on the region with positive Coulomb failure stress change (ΔCFS) while ΔCFS in the shallow region above the hypocenter was negative. Therefore, these foreshocks could encourage the initiation of the main shock rupture and could hinder the rupture propagating toward the shallow region. Finally, we conducted 3-D dynamic rupture simulations of the main shock using the initial stress distribution, which was the sum of the static stress changes by these foreshocks and the regional stress field. Assuming a slip-weakening law with uniform friction parameters, we conducted 3-D dynamic rupture simulations by varying the friction parameters and the values of the principal stresses. We obtained feasible parameter ranges to reproduce the rupture propagation of the main shock consistent with those revealed by seismic waveform analyses. We also demonstrated that the free surface encouraged

Kinetic Simulations of Type II Radio Burst Emission Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Ganse, U.; Spanier, F. A.; Vainio, R. O.

2011-12-01

The fundamental emission process of Type II Radio Bursts has been under discussion for many decades. While analytic deliberations point to three wave interaction as the source for fundamental and harmonic radio emissions, sparse in-situ observational data and high computational demands for kinetic simulations have not allowed for a definite conclusion to be reached. A popular model puts the radio emission into the foreshock region of a coronal mass ejection's shock front, where shock drift acceleration can create eletrcon beam populations in the otherwise quiescent foreshock plasma. Beam-driven instabilities are then assumed to create waves, forming the starting point of three wave interaction processes. Using our kinetic particle-in-cell code, we have studied a number of emission scenarios based on electron beam populations in a CME foreshock, with focus on wave-interaction microphysics on kinetic scales. The self-consistent, fully kinetic simulations with completely physical mass-ratio show fundamental and harmonic emission of transverse electromagnetic waves and allow for detailled statistical analysis of all contributing wavemodes and their couplings.

Co- and postseismic slip distribution for the 2011 March 9 earthquake based on the geodetic data: Role on the initiation of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Y.; Hino, R.; Inazu, D.; Ohzono, M.; Mishina, M.; Nakajima, J.; Ito, Y.; Sato, T.; Tamura, Y.; Fujimoto, H.; Tachibana, K.; Demachi, T.; Osada, Y.; Shinohara, M.; Miura, S.

2012-04-01

A large foreshock with M7.3 occurred on March 9, 2011 at the subducting Pacific plate interface followed by the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake 51 hours later. We propose a slip distribution of the foreshock deduced from dense inland GPS sites and Ocean Bottom Pressure gauge (OBP) sites. The multiple OBP gauges were installed before the M7.3 foreshock in and around the focal area. We succeed to collect the OBP gauge data in 9 sites, which included two cabled OBPs in off Kamaishi (TM1, TM2). The inland GPS horizontal coseismic displacements are estimated based on baseline analyses to show the broad area of displacement field up to ~30mm directing to the focal area. In contrast, there is no coherent signal in the vertical components. The several OBP sites, for example, P2 and P6 sites located the westward from the epicenter of the foreshock clearly detected the coseismic displacement. The estimated coseismic displacement reached more than 100mm in P6 sites. Intriguingly, GJT3 sites, which the most nearly OBP sites from the epicenter, did not show the significant displacement. Based on the inland GPS sites and OBPs data, we estimated a coseismic slip distribution in the subducting plate interface. The estimated slip distribution can explain observations including the vertical displacement obtained at the OBP sites. The amount of moment release is equivalent to Mw 7.2. The spatio-temporal aftershock distribution of the foreshock shows a southward migration from our estimated fault model. We suggest that aseismic slip occurred after the M7.3 earthquake. The onshore GPS data also supports the occurrence of the afterslip in the southwestward area of the coseismic fault. We estimated the sub-daily coordinates every three hours at the several coastal GPS sites to reveal the time evolutional sequences suggesting the postseismic deformation, especially in the horizontal components. We also examine volumetric strain data at Kinka-san Island, which is situated at the closest distance

Short Large-Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) at Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Collinson, G. A.; Wilson, L. B.; Sibeck, D. G.; Shane, N.; Zhang, T. L.; Moore, T. E.; Coates, A. J.; Barabash, S.

2012-01-01

We present the first observation of magnetic fluctuations consistent with Short Large-Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) in the foreshock of the planet Venus. Three monolithic magnetic field spikes were observed by the Venus Express on the 11th of April 2009. The structures were approx.1.5->11s in duration, had magnetic compression ratios between approx.3->6, and exhibited elliptical polarization. These characteristics are consistent with the SLAMS observed at Earth, Jupiter, and Comet Giacobini-Zinner, and thus we hypothesize that it is possible SLAMS may be found at any celestial body with a foreshock.

Geodetic characteristic of the postseismic deformation following the interplate large earthquake along the Japan Trench (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Y.; Hino, R.; Ariyoshi, K.; Matsuzawa, T.; Mishina, M.; Sato, T.; Inazu, D.; Ito, Y.; Tachibana, K.; Demachi, T.; Miura, S.

2013-12-01

On March 9, 2011 at 2:45 (UTC), an M7.3 interplate earthquake (hereafter foreshock) occurred ~45 km northeast of the epicenter of the M9.0 2011 Tohoku earthquake. This foreshock preceded the 2011 Tohoku earthquake by 51 hours. Ohta et al., (2012, GRL) estimated co- and postseismic afterslip distribution based on a dense GPS network and ocean bottom pressure gauge sites. They found the afterslip distribution was mainly concentrated in the up-dip extension of the coseismic slip. The coseismic slip and afterslip distribution of the foreshock were also located in the slip deficit region (between 20-40m slip) of the coiseismic slip of the M9.0 mainshock. The slip amount for the afterslip is roughly consistent with that determined by repeating earthquake analysis carried out in a previous study (Kato et al., 2012, Science). The estimated moment release for the afterslip reached magnitude 6.8, even within a short time period of 51 hours. They also pointed out that a volumetric strainmeter time series suggests that this event advanced with a rapid decay time constant (4.8 h) compared with other typical large earthquakes. The decay time constant of the afterslip may reflect the frictional property of the plate interface, especially effective normal stress controlled by fluid. For verification of the short decay time constant of the foreshock, we investigated the postseismic deformation characteristic following the 1989 and 1992 Sanriku-Oki earthquakes (M7.1 and M6.9), 2003 and 2005 Miyagi-Oki earthquakes (M6.8 and M7.2), and 2008 Fukushima-Oki earthquake (M6.9). We used four components extensometer at Miyako (39.59N, 141.98E) on the Sanriku coast for 1989 and 1992 event. For 2003, 2005 and 2008 events, we used volumetric strainmeter at Kinka-zan (38.27N, 141.58E) and Enoshima (38.27N, 141.60E). To extract the characteristics of the postseismic deformation, we fitted the logarithmic function. The estimated decay time constants for each earthquake had almost similar range (1

EARTHQUAKE TRIGGERING AND SPATIAL-TEMPORAL RELATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

na

2001-02-08

It is well accepted that the 1992 M 5.6 Little Skull Mountain earthquake, the largest historical event to have occurred within 25 km of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was triggered by the M 7.2 Landers earthquake that occurred the day before. On the premise that earthquakes can be triggered by applied stresses, we have examined the earthquake catalog from the Southern Great Basin Digital Seismic Network (SGBDSN) for other evidence of triggering by external and internal stresses. This catalog now comprises over 12,000 events, encompassing five years of consistent monitoring, and has a low threshold of completeness, varying from M 0 in the center of the network to M 1 at the fringes. We examined the SGBDSN catalog response to external stresses such as large signals propagating from teleseismic and regional earthquakes, microseismic storms, and earth tides. Results are generally negative. We also examined the interplay of earthquakes within the SGBDSN. The number of ''foreshocks'', as judged by most criteria, is significantly higher than the background seismicity rate. In order to establish this, we first removed aftershocks from the catalog with widely used methodology. The existence of SGBDSN foreshocks is supported by comparing actual statistics to those of a simulated catalog with uniform-distributed locations and Poisson-distributed times of occurrence. The probabilities of a given SGBDSN earthquake being followed by one having a higher magnitude within a short time frame and within a close distance are at least as high as those found with regional catalogs. These catalogs have completeness thresholds two to three units higher in magnitude than the SGBDSN catalog used here. The largest earthquake in the SGBDSN catalog, the M 4.7 event in Frenchman Flat on 01/27/1999, was preceded by a definite foreshock sequence. The largest event within 75 km of Yucca Mountain in historical time, the M 5.7 Scotty's Junction event of 08/01/1999, was also

EARTHQUAKE TRIGGERING AND SPATIAL-TEMPORAL RELATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

It is well accepted that the 1992 M 5.6 Little Skull Mountain earthquake, the largest historical event to have occurred within 25 km of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was triggered by the M 7.2 Landers earthquake that occurred the day before. On the premise that earthquakes can be triggered by applied stresses, we have examined the earthquake catalog from the Southern Great Basin Digital Seismic Network (SGBDSN) for other evidence of triggering by external and internal stresses. This catalog now comprises over 12,000 events, encompassing five years of consistent monitoring, and has a low threshold of completeness, varying from M 0 in the center of the network to M 1 at the fringes. We examined the SGBDSN catalog response to external stresses such as large signals propagating from teleseismic and regional earthquakes, microseismic storms, and earth tides. Results are generally negative. We also examined the interplay of earthquakes within the SGBDSN. The number of ''foreshocks'', as judged by most criteria, is significantly higher than the background seismicity rate. In order to establish this, we first removed aftershocks from the catalog with widely used methodology. The existence of SGBDSN foreshocks is supported by comparing actual statistics to those of a simulated catalog with uniform-distributed locations and Poisson-distributed times of occurrence. The probabilities of a given SGBDSN earthquake being followed by one having a higher magnitude within a short time frame and within a close distance are at least as high as those found with regional catalogs. These catalogs have completeness thresholds two to three units higher in magnitude than the SGBDSN catalog used here. The largest earthquake in the SGBDSN catalog, the M 4.7 event in Frenchman Flat on 01/27/1999, was preceded by a definite foreshock sequence. The largest event within 75 km of Yucca Mountain in historical time, the M 5.7 Scotty's Junction event of 08/01/1999, was also preceded by foreshocks. The

Structure of fast shocks in the presence of heat conduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, C. L.; Chen, H. H.; Wu, B. H.; Lee, L. C.

2007-01-01

There are three types of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks: the fast shock, intermediate shock, and slow shock. The structure of slow shocks and intermediate shocks in the presence of heat conduction has been studied earlier [C. L. Tsai, R. H. Tsai, B. H. Wu, and L. C. Lee, Phys. Plasmas 9, 1185 (2002); C. L. Tsai, B. H. Wu, and L. C. Lee, Phys. Plasmas 12, 82501 (2005)]. Based on one-dimensional MHD numerical simulations with a heat conduction term, the evolution and structure of fast shocks are studied. The fast shock will form a foreshock in the presence of heat conduction. The foreshock is formed due to the heat flow from downstream to upstream and located in the immediate upstream of the main shock. In the steady state, the value of diffusion velocity V d in the foreshock is found to nearly equal the upstream convection velocity in the fast shock frame. It is found that the density jump across the main shock in high Mach number case can be much larger than 4 in the early simulation time. However the density jump will gradually evolve to a value smaller than 4 at steady state. By using the modified Rankine-Hugoniot relations with heat flux, the density jump across the fast shock is examined for various upstream parameters. The results show that the calculated density jump with heat flux is very close to the simulation value and the density jump can far exceed the maximum value of 4 without heat conduction. The structure of foreshock and main shock is also studied under different plasma parameters, such as the heat conductivity K 0 , the ratio of upstream plasma pressure to magnetic pressure β 1 , Alfven Mach number M A1 , and the angle θ 1 between shock normal and magnetic field. It is found that as the upstream shock parameters K 0 , β 1 , and M A1 increase or θ 1 decreases, the width of foreshock L d increases. The present results can be applied to fast shocks in the solar corona, solar wind, and magnetosphere, in which the heat conduction effects are

Theory for the radiation at the third to fifth harmonics of the plasma frequency upstream from the Earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, I.H.

1988-01-01

A theory is presented for the radiation at the third to fifth harmonics of the plasma frequency observed upstream from the Earth's bow shock: the radiation is produced by the process L+T'→T in the foreshock, with the initial T' radiation being the frequently observed second harmonic radiation (generated by another process) and the L waves being products of the decay L'→L+S of L' waves generated by a streaming instability. (Here L, S, and T denote Langmuir, ion acoustic, and 'transverse electromagnetic waves, respectively.) The theory can account for the observed radiation when unusually large levels (electric fields in excess of 10 mV/m) of suitable L waves are present. Such levels of L waves are possible, in principle, but have not been reported before; the radiation is observed quite infrequently, thereby implying a requirement for unusual foreshock conditions. Predictions for the characteristics of the source regions (one to each wing of the foreshock) and the bandwidth of the radiation are given. Potential problems for the theory, relating to the large levels of L waves required to account for the radiation, are discussed. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988

Self-organization of spatio-temporal earthquake clusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hainzl

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Cellular automaton versions of the Burridge-Knopoff model have been shown to reproduce the power law distribution of event sizes; that is, the Gutenberg-Richter law. However, they have failed to reproduce the occurrence of foreshock and aftershock sequences correlated with large earthquakes. We show that in the case of partial stress recovery due to transient creep occurring subsequently to earthquakes in the crust, such spring-block systems self-organize into a statistically stationary state characterized by a power law distribution of fracture sizes as well as by foreshocks and aftershocks accompanying large events. In particular, the increase of foreshock and the decrease of aftershock activity can be described by, aside from a prefactor, the same Omori law. The exponent of the Omori law depends on the relaxation time and on the spatial scale of transient creep. Further investigations concerning the number of aftershocks, the temporal variation of aftershock magnitudes, and the waiting time distribution support the conclusion that this model, even "more realistic" physics in missed, captures in some ways the origin of the size distribution as well as spatio-temporal clustering of earthquakes.

Stress transfer by the 1988-1989 M=5.3 and 5.4 Lake Elsman foreshocks to the Loma Prieta fault: Unclamping at the site of peak mainshock slip

Science.gov (United States)

Perfettini, H.; Stein, R.S.; Simpson, R.; Cocco, M.

1999-01-01

We study the stress transferred by the June 27, 1988, M=5.3 and August 8, 1989, M=5.4 Lake Elsman earthquakes, the largest events to strike within 15 km of the future Loma Prieta rupture zone during 74 years before the 1989 M=6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. We find that the first Lake Elsman event brought the rupture plane of the second event 0.3-1.6 bars (0.03-0.16 MPa) closer to Coulomb failure but that the Lake Elsman events did not bring the future Loma Prieta hypocentral zone closer to failure. Instead, the Lake Elsman earthquakes are calculated to have reduced the normal stress on (or "undamped") the Loma Prieta rupture surface by 0.5-1.0 bar (0.05-0.10 MPa) at the site where the greatest slip subsequently occurred in the Loma Prieta earthquake. This association between the sites of peak unclamping and slip suggests that the Lake Elsman events did indeed influence the Loma Prieta rupture process. Unclamping the fault would have locally lowered the resistance to sliding. Such an effect could have been enhanced if the lowered normal stress permitted fluid infusion into the undamped part of the fault. Although less well recorded, the ML=5.0 1964 and ML=5.3 1967 Corralitos events struck within 10 km of the southwest end of the future Loma Prieta rupture. No similar relationship between the normal stress change and subsequent Loma Prieta slip is observed, although the high-slip patch southwest of the Loma Prieta epicenter corresponds roughly to the site of calculated Coulomb stress increase for a low coefficient of friction. The Lake Elsman-Loma Prieta result is similar to that for the 1987 M=6.2 Elmore Ranch and M=6.7 Superstition Hills earthquakes, suggesting that foreshocks might influence the distribution of mainshock slip rather than the site of mainshock nucleation. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.

Lapse time and frequency-dependent attenuation of coda waves in the Zagros continental collision zone in Southwestern Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahimi, H; Hamzehloo, H

2008-01-01

The coda Q, Q c , were estimated for the Zagros continental collision zone in southwestern Iran by analyzing the coda waves of 51 local earthquakes recorded on the three stations of the Iranian National Seismic Network (INSN) with magnitudes of between 3.1 and 4.9 recorded in the region during March and April 2006. Most of the analyzed events are foreshocks and aftershocks of the Darb-e-Astane earthquake which occurred on 31 March 2006 with a magnitude of 6.1 (IIEES). The earthquakes had an epicentral distance of between 120 and 200 km and a focal depth of about 18 km. The Q c values were computed at nine central frequencies of 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, 12.0, 16.0 and 20.0 Hz through eight lapse time windows from 25 to 60 s starting at double the time of the primary S-wave from the origin time using the time-domain coda-decay method of a single backscattering model. In this study the collected data were compared between the events that occurred before and after the main event (foreshocks and aftershocks). The analysis showed a significant variation in the value of coda, Q, for the study region in different lapse times and frequencies. The variation of the quality factor, Q c , before and after the main event was estimated at different lapse time windows to observe its effect with depth. The estimated average frequency-dependent relation of Q c for foreshocks varies from Q c = (144 ± 24)f (0.42±0.23) at 25 s to Q c = (85 ± 10)f (0.92±0.11) at 60 s lapse window time length, respectively. For aftershocks, it varies from Q c = (121 ± 55)f (0.97±0.26) at 25 s to Q c = (212 ± 59)f (0.82±0.15) at 60 s. The averages of Q c in all stations and lapse times window are obtained as Q c = 99f 0.84 and Q c = 178f 0.86 for foreshocks and aftershocks, respectively. The Q frequency relationship for foreshocks is similar to that for the South Carolina, Koyna, western Anatolia and Aleutian earthquakes, whereas for aftershocks it is similar to the Kumaun, NW Himalaya and

Upstream waves in Saturn's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Bavassano Cattaneo, M. B.; Cattaneo, P.; Moreno, G.; Lepping, R. P.

1991-01-01

An analysis based on plasma and magnetic-field data obtained from Voyager 1 during its Saturn encounter is reported. The plasma data provided every 96 sec and magnetic-field data averaged over 48 sec are utilized. The evidence of upstream waves at Saturn are detected. The waves have a period, in the spacecraft frame, of about 550 sec and a relative amplitude larger than 0.3, are left- and right-hand elliptically polarized, and propagate at about 30 deg with respect to the average magnetic field. The appearance of the waves is correlated with the spacecraft being magnetically connected to the bow shock.

Dual megathrust slip behaviors of the 2014 Iquique earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Lingsen; Huang, Hui; Bürgmann, Roland; Ampuero, Jean Paul; Strader, Anne

2015-02-01

The transition between seismic rupture and aseismic creep is of central interest to better understand the mechanics of subduction processes. A Mw 8.2 earthquake occurred on April 1st, 2014 in the Iquique seismic gap of northern Chile. This event was preceded by a long foreshock sequence including a 2-week-long migration of seismicity initiated by a Mw 6.7 earthquake. Repeating earthquakes were found among the foreshock sequence that migrated towards the mainshock hypocenter, suggesting a large-scale slow-slip event on the megathrust preceding the mainshock. The variations of the recurrence times of the repeating earthquakes highlight the diverse seismic and aseismic slip behaviors on different megathrust segments. The repeaters that were active only before the mainshock recurred more often and were distributed in areas of substantial coseismic slip, while repeaters that occurred both before and after the mainshock were in the area complementary to the mainshock rupture. The spatiotemporal distribution of the repeating earthquakes illustrates the essential role of propagating aseismic slip leading up to the mainshock and illuminates the distribution of postseismic afterslip. Various finite fault models indicate that the largest coseismic slip generally occurred down-dip from the foreshock activity and the mainshock hypocenter. Source imaging by teleseismic back-projection indicates an initial down-dip propagation stage followed by a rupture-expansion stage. In the first stage, the finite fault models show an emergent onset of moment rate at low frequency ( 0.5 Hz). This indicates frequency-dependent manifestations of seismic radiation in the low-stress foreshock region. In the second stage, the rupture expands in rich bursts along the rim of a semi-elliptical region with episodes of re-ruptures, suggesting delayed failure of asperities. The high-frequency rupture remains within an area of local high trench-parallel gravity anomaly (TPGA), suggesting the presence of

Ocean bottom pressure observations near the source of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Inazu, D.; Hino, R.; Suzuki, S.; Osada, Y.; Ohta, Y.; Iinuma, T.; Tsushima, H.; Ito, Y.; Kido, M.; Fujimoto, H.

2011-12-01

A Mw9.0 earthquake occurred off Miyagi, northeast Japan, on 11 March 2011 (hereafter mainshock). An earthquake of M7.3, considered to be the largest foreshock of the mainshock, occurred on 9 March 2011 near the mainshock hypocenter. A suite of seismic and geodetic variations related to these earthquakes was observed by autonomous, ocean bottom pressure (OBP) gauges at multiple sites (4 sites at present) near the sources within a distance of about 100 km. This paper presents the OBP records with a focus on the earthquakes. Thanks to correcting tides, instrumental drifts, and non-tidal oceanic variations, we can detect OBP signals of tsunamis and vertical seafloor deformation of the order of centimeters with timescales of less than months. In the following we review the detected signals and how to correct the OBP data. The coseismic seafloor displacement and the tsunami accompanied by the mainshock were of the order of meters and large enough to be distinctly identified (Ito et al., 2011, GRL). Co- and post-seismic seafloor displacement and tsunami accompanied by the foreshock were of the order of centimeters which is difficult to be identified from the raw OBP records. The first evident pulses of these tsunamis in the deep sea have durations (periods) of ~20 minutes and ~10 minutes, for the mainshock and the foreshock, respectively. Amounts of seafloor vertical displacement due to post-mainshock deformation reached a few tens of centimeters in two months. It is worth noting that elevation and depression of seafloor were detected at rates of a couple of centimeters in a day after the largest foreshock. The seafloor displacement of centimeters between the largest foreshock and the mainshock can be reasonably identified after correcting non-tidal oceanic variations. The oceanic variations are simulated by a barotropic ocean model driven by atmospheric disturbances (Inazu et al., 2011, Ann. Rep. Earth Simulator Center 2011). The model enables residual OBP time series of

Remote sensing of local structure of the quasi-perpendicular Earth's bow shock by using field-aligned beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Miao

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Field-aligned ion beams (FABs originate at the quasi-perpendicular Earth's bow shock and constitute an important ion population in the foreshock region. The bulk velocity of these FABs depends significantly on the shock normal angle, which is the angle between shock normal and upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF. This dependency may therefore be taken as an indicator of the local structure of the shock. Applying the direct reflection model to Cluster measurements, we have developed a method that uses proton FABs in the foreshock region for remote sensing of the local shock structure. The comparison of the model results with the multi-spacecraft observations of FAB events shows very good agreement in terms of wave amplitude and frequency of surface waves at the shock front.

Remote sensing of local structure of the quasi-perpendicular Earth's bow shock by using field-aligned beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Miao

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Field-aligned ion beams (FABs originate at the quasi-perpendicular Earth's bow shock and constitute an important ion population in the foreshock region. The bulk velocity of these FABs depends significantly on the shock normal angle, which is the angle between shock normal and upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF. This dependency may therefore be taken as an indicator of the local structure of the shock. Applying the direct reflection model to Cluster measurements, we have developed a method that uses proton FABs in the foreshock region for remote sensing of the local shock structure. The comparison of the model results with the multi-spacecraft observations of FAB events shows very good agreement in terms of wave amplitude and frequency of surface waves at the shock front.

Statistical short-term earthquake prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Kagan, Y Y; Knopoff, L

1987-06-19

A statistical procedure, derived from a theoretical model of fracture growth, is used to identify a foreshock sequence while it is in progress. As a predictor, the procedure reduces the average uncertainty in the rate of occurrence for a future strong earthquake by a factor of more than 1000 when compared with the Poisson rate of occurrence. About one-third of all main shocks with local magnitude greater than or equal to 4.0 in central California can be predicted in this way, starting from a 7-year database that has a lower magnitude cut off of 1.5. The time scale of such predictions is of the order of a few hours to a few days for foreshocks in the magnitude range from 2.0 to 5.0.

Artificial seismic acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Felzer, Karen R.; Page, Morgan T.; Michael, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

In their 2013 paper, Bouchon, Durand, Marsan, Karabulut, 3 and Schmittbuhl (BDMKS) claim to see significant accelerating seismicity before M 6.5 interplate mainshocks, but not before intraplate mainshocks, reflecting a preparatory process before large events. We concur with the finding of BDMKS that their interplate dataset has significantly more fore- shocks than their intraplate dataset; however, we disagree that the foreshocks are predictive of large events in particular. Acceleration in stacked foreshock sequences has been seen before and has been explained by the cascade model, in which earthquakes occasionally trigger aftershocks larger than themselves4. In this model, the time lags between the smaller mainshocks and larger aftershocks follow the inverse power law common to all aftershock sequences, creating an apparent acceleration when stacked (see Supplementary Information).

Reflected and diffuse ions backstreaming from the earth's bow shock 2. Origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonifazi, C.; Moreno, G.

1981-01-01

The morphology of the foreshock region and the origin of the 'reflected' and 'diffuse' ion populations are investigated for the first time through an extended statistical analysis. Data are supplied by the solar wind experiment on the satellite ISEE 2 in the period November 5 to December 20, 1977. It is confirmed, on a statistical basis, that quasi-perpendicular shock structures generate beams of reflected ions which propagate along the interplanetary magnetic field lines against the incoming solar wind. Diffuse ions are at least in part originated by the disruption of the reflected beams due to some plasma instability, having a growth time of the order of a few tens of seconds. A preliminary energy balance appears to be consistent with the proposed picture of the phenomena occurring in the foreshock region

Faulting Parameters of the January 16, 1994 Wyomissing Hills, Pennsylvania Earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Ammon, C.J.; Herrmann, Robert B.; Langston, C.A.; Benz, H.

1998-01-01

Two events dominated the January 1994, Wyomissing, PA earthquake sequence, an Mw 4.0 foreshock, followed by an Mw 4.6 mainshock. We modeled regional waveforms to estimate the event depth and the moment tensors for the two largest events in the sequence, and examine teleseismic wave-forms recorded on the ARCESS short-period seismic array to estimate the depth and source time function of the mainshock. Our data constrain the depth of the events to be shallower than 5 km, and prefer a depth of 3-5 km. For an assumed depth of 3 km, the mainshock moment tensor is 75% double couple, with (the major double couple) planes striking at 135??N, 347??N, dips of 49??, 46??, and rakes of 68??, 114??. The estimated moment is 8.9 ?? 1022 dyne-cm. The P axis strikes 241??N and plunges 2??, the Tension axis strikes 336??N and plunges 73??. The foreshock inversion results are virtually identical to the mainshock results; for a source depth of three km, we find a major double couple with a strike, dip, and rake of 121??N, 60??, and 66??, respectively. The seismic moment for the foreshock is 1.2 ?? 1022 dyne-cm, which is approximately 13% of the mainshock moment release. These events did not excite high-frequency Lg waves as effectively as typical eastern North American events, and the mainshock had a stress drop in the range of 25-50 bars.

Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

65

Species distributions in the foreshock region are depicted within the transition of the shock ..... Additional considerations are given to handle physical instabilities and to reduce CPU run time. ...... Package: amstext 2000/06/29 v2.01 AMS text.

Laboratory studies of frictional sliding and the implications of precursory seismicity

Science.gov (United States)

Selvadurai, Paul A.

The dynamic transition from slow to rapid sliding along a frictional interface is of interest to geophysicists, engineers and scientists alike. In our direct shear experiment, we simulated a pre-existing frictional fault similar to those occurring naturally in the Earth. The laboratory study reported here has incorporated appropriate sensors that can detect foreshock events on the fringe of a nucleation zone prior to a gross fault rupture (main shock). During loading we observed foreshocks sequences as slip transitioned from slow to rapid sliding. These laboratory-induced foreshocks showed similar acoustic characteristics and spatio-temporal evolution as those detected in nature. Through direct observation (video camera), foreshocks were found to be the rapid, localized (millimeter length scale) failure of highly stresses asperities formed along the interface. The interface was created by the meshing of two rough polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bodies in a direct shear configuration. A carefully calibrated pressure sensitive film was used to map the contact junctions (asperities) throughout the interface at a range of applied normal loads Fn. Foreshocks were found to coalesce in a region of the fault that exhibited a more dense distribution of asperities (referred to as the seismogenic region). Microscopy of the interface in the seismogenic region displayed a variety of surface roughness at various length scales. This may have been introduced from the surface preparation techniques use to create a mature interface. The mature interface consisted of 'flat-topped' asperity regions with separating sharp valleys. The 'flat-topped' sections spanned millimetric length scales and were considerably flatter (nanometric roughness) that the roughness exhibited at longer length scales (tens of millimeters). We believe that the smoother, 'flat-topped' sections were responsible for the individual asperity formation (determining their size and strength), whereas the longer length

Predicting earthquakes by analyzing accelerating precursory seismic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Varnes, D.J.

1989-01-01

During 11 sequences of earthquakes that in retrospect can be classed as foreshocks, the accelerating rate at which seismic moment is released follows, at least in part, a simple equation. This equation (1) is {Mathematical expression},where {Mathematical expression} is the cumulative sum until time, t, of the square roots of seismic moments of individual foreshocks computed from reported magnitudes;C and n are constants; and tfis a limiting time at which the rate of seismic moment accumulation becomes infinite. The possible time of a major foreshock or main shock, tf,is found by the best fit of equation (1), or its integral, to step-like plots of {Mathematical expression} versus time using successive estimates of tfin linearized regressions until the maximum coefficient of determination, r2,is obtained. Analyzed examples include sequences preceding earthquakes at Cremasta, Greece, 2/5/66; Haicheng, China 2/4/75; Oaxaca, Mexico, 11/29/78; Petatlan, Mexico, 3/14/79; and Central Chile, 3/3/85. In 29 estimates of main-shock time, made as the sequences developed, the errors in 20 were less than one-half and in 9 less than one tenth the time remaining between the time of the last data used and the main shock. Some precursory sequences, or parts of them, yield no solution. Two sequences appear to include in their first parts the aftershocks of a previous event; plots using the integral of equation (1) show that the sequences are easily separable into aftershock and foreshock segments. Synthetic seismic sequences of shocks at equal time intervals were constructed to follow equation (1), using four values of n. In each series the resulting distributions of magnitudes closely follow the linear Gutenberg-Richter relation log N=a-bM, and the product n times b for each series is the same constant. In various forms and for decades, equation (1) has been used successfully to predict failure times of stressed metals and ceramics, landslides in soil and rock slopes, and volcanic

Comparison of accelerated ion populations observed upstream of the bow shocks at Venus and Mars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Yamauchi

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Foreshock ions are compared between Venus and Mars at energies of 0.6~20 keV using the same ion instrument, the Ion Mass Analyser, on board both Venus Express and Mars Express. Venus Express often observes accelerated protons (2~6 times the solar wind energy that travel away from the Venus bow shock when the spacecraft location is magnetically connected to the bow shock. The observed ions have a large field-aligned velocity compared to the perpendicular velocity in the solar wind frame, and are similar to the field-aligned beams and intermediate gyrating component of the foreshock ions in the terrestrial upstream region. Mars Express does not observe similar foreshock ions as does Venus Express, indicating that the Martian foreshock does not possess the intermediate gyrating component in the upstream region on the dayside of the planet. Instead, two types of gyrating protons in the solar wind frame are observed very close to the Martian quasi-perpendicular bow shock within a proton gyroradius distance. The first type is observed only within the region which is about 400 km from the bow shock and flows tailward nearly along the bow shock with a similar velocity as the solar wind. The second type is observed up to about 700 km from the bow shock and has a bundled structure in the energy domain. A traversal on 12 July 2005, in which the energy-bunching came from bundling in the magnetic field direction, is further examined. The observed velocities of the latter population are consistent with multiple specular reflections of the solar wind at the bow shock, and the ions after the second reflection have a field-aligned velocity larger than that of the de Hoffman-Teller velocity frame, i.e., their guiding center has moved toward interplanetary space out from the bow shock. To account for the observed peculiarity of the Martian upstream region, finite gyroradius effects of the solar wind protons compared to the radius of the bow shock curvature and

Source characteristics of moderate size events using empirical Green funclions: an application to some Guerrero (Mexico subduction zone earthquakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Singh

1994-06-01

Full Text Available The records of an aftershock (M ~ 4 of a moderate size event (M = 5.9 which occurred along the subduction zone of Guerrero (Mexico, are used as empirical Green functions (EGF to determine the source characteristics of the mainshock and of its smaller size (M = 5.5 foreshock. The data consist of accelerograms recorded by the Guerrero Accelerograph Array, a high dynamic range strong motion array. The three events appear to be located close to each other at distances much smaller than the source to receiver distances. The fault mechanism of the mainshock is computed by non-linear inversion of P polarity readings and S wave polarizations determined at two near source stations. The foreshock and aftershock fault mechanisms are similar to that of the mainshock as inferred from long period data and shear wave polarization analysis. The maximum likelihood solution is well constrained, indicating a typical shallow dipping thrust fault mechanism, with the P-axis approximately oriented in a SSW direction. The source time functions (STFs of the mainshock and foreshock events are determined using a new method of deconvolution of the EGF records at three strong motion sites. In this method the STF of the large event is approximated by a superposition of pseudo triangular pulses whose parameters are determined by a non-linear inversion in frequency domain. The source time function of the mainshock shows the presence of two separate pulses, which can be related to multiple rupture episodes. The relative location of mainshock sub-events is done by using plots of isochrones computed from measurementes of the time delay between pulses on the STF records at each station. The first sub-event is located no more than 2.5-3 km away from the other along the fault strike. The STF retrieved from foreshock records shows single pulse waveforms. The computed STFs are used to estimate seismic moments, source radii and stress release of the events assuming a circular fault

Surface Temperature and Precipitation Affecting GPS Signals Before the 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake (Central Italy).

Science.gov (United States)

Crescentini, L.; Amoruso, A.; Chiaraluce, L.

2017-12-01

This work focuses on GPS time series recorded before the Mw 6.1 earthquake which struck Central Italy in April 2009. It shows how environmental noise effects may be subtle and relevant when investigating relatively small strain signals and how the availability of data from weather stations and water level sensors co-located with GPS stations may provide critical information which must be taken into consideration while dealing with deformation signals.The preparatory phase of a large earthquake may include both seismic (foreshocks) and aseismic (slow slip event, SSE) deforming episodes but, unlike afterslip, no slow event has yet been recorded before moderate earthquakes, even when they occurred close to high-sensitivity strain meters. An exception to this seems to be represented by the 2009 earthquake. The main shock was preceded by a foreshock sequence lasting 6 months; it has been claimed that an analysis of continuous GPS data shows that during the foreshock sequence a 5.9 Mw SSE occurred along a decollement located beneath the reactivated normal fault system. This hypothesized SSE, that started in the middle of February 2009 and lasted for almost two weeks, would have eventually loaded the largest foreshock and the main shock.We show that the strain signal that the SSE would have generated at two laser strainmeters operating at about 20 km NE from the SSE source was essentially undetected. On the contrary, a transient signal is present in temperature and precipitation time series recorded close to the GPS station, MTTO, that has largest signal referred to the SSE, implying that these contaminated the GPS record. This interpretation is corroborated by the strong similarity, during the coldest winter months, between the displacement data of MTTO and a linear combination of filtered temperature and precipitation data, mimicking simple heat conduction and snow accumulation/removal processes. Such a correlation between displacement and environmental data is missing

ISEE observations of radiation at twice the solar wind plasma frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacombe, C.; Harvey, C.C.; Hoang, S.

1988-01-01

Radiation produced in the vicinity of the Earth's bow shock at twice the solar wind electron plasma frequency f p is seen by both ISEE-1 and ISEE-3, respectively at about 20 and about 200 R E from the Earth. This electromagnetic radiation is due to the presence, in the electron foreshock, of electrons reflected and accelerated at the Earth's bow shock. We show that the source is near the upstream boundary of the foreshock, the surface where the magnetic field lines are tangent to the bow shock. A typical diameter of the source is 120-150 R E . Emissivity is given. The angular size of the source, seen by ISEE-3, is increased by scattering of the 2f p radio waves on the solar wind density fluctuations. We examine whether the bandwidth and directivity predicted by current source models are consistent with our observations

Oblique Alfvén instabilities driven by compensated currents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malovichko, P. [Main Astronomical Observatory, NASU, Kyiv (Ukraine); Voitenko, Y.; De Keyser, J., E-mail: voitenko@oma.be [Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Space Physics Division, Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Ringlaan-3-Avenue Circulaire, B-1180 Brussels (Belgium)

2014-01-10

Compensated-current systems created by energetic ion beams are widespread in space and astrophysical plasmas. The well-known examples are foreshock regions in the solar wind and around supernova remnants. We found a new oblique Alfvénic instability driven by compensated currents flowing along the background magnetic field. Because of the vastly different electron and ion gyroradii, oblique Alfvénic perturbations react differently on the currents carried by the hot ion beams and the return electron currents. Ultimately, this difference leads to a non-resonant aperiodic instability at perpendicular wavelengths close to the beam ion gyroradius. The instability growth rate increases with increasing beam current and temperature. In the solar wind upstream of Earth's bow shock, the instability growth time can drop below 10 proton cyclotron periods. Our results suggest that this instability can contribute to the turbulence and ion acceleration in space and astrophysical foreshocks.

Oblique Alfvén instabilities driven by compensated currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malovichko, P.; Voitenko, Y.; De Keyser, J.

2014-01-01

Compensated-current systems created by energetic ion beams are widespread in space and astrophysical plasmas. The well-known examples are foreshock regions in the solar wind and around supernova remnants. We found a new oblique Alfvénic instability driven by compensated currents flowing along the background magnetic field. Because of the vastly different electron and ion gyroradii, oblique Alfvénic perturbations react differently on the currents carried by the hot ion beams and the return electron currents. Ultimately, this difference leads to a non-resonant aperiodic instability at perpendicular wavelengths close to the beam ion gyroradius. The instability growth rate increases with increasing beam current and temperature. In the solar wind upstream of Earth's bow shock, the instability growth time can drop below 10 proton cyclotron periods. Our results suggest that this instability can contribute to the turbulence and ion acceleration in space and astrophysical foreshocks.

Computer simulations of collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leroy, M.M.

1984-01-01

A review of the contributions of particle computer simulations to the understanding of the physics of magnetic shock waves in collisionless plasmas is presented. The emphasis is on the relation between the computer simulation results, spacecraft observations of shocks in space, and related theories, rather than on technical aspects of the numerics. It is shown that much has been learned from the comparison of ISEE spacecraft observations of the terrestrial bow shock and particle computer simulations concerning the quasi-perpendicular, supercritical shock (ion scale structure, ion reflection mechanism and ultimate dissipation processes). Particle computer simulations have also had an appreciable prospective role in the investigation of the physics of quasi-parallel shocks, about which still little is known observationally. Moreover, these numerical techniques have helped to clarify the process of suprathermal ion rejection by the shock into the foreshock, and the subsequent evolution of the ions in the foreshock. 95 references

Precursory slow-slip loaded the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Borghi, A.; Aoudia, A.; Javed, F.; Barzaghi, R.

2016-05-01

Slow-slip events (SSEs) are common at subduction zone faults where large mega earthquakes occur. We report here that one of the best-recorded moderate size continental earthquake, the 2009 April 6 moment magnitude (Mw) 6.3 L'Aquila (Italy) earthquake, was preceded by a 5.9 Mw SSE that originated from the decollement beneath the reactivated normal faulting system. The SSE is identified from a rigorous analysis of continuous GPS stations and occurred on the 12 February and lasted for almost two weeks. It coincided with a burst in the foreshock activity with small repeating earthquakes migrating towards the main-shock hypocentre as well as with a change in the elastic properties of rocks in the fault region. The SSE has caused substantial stress loading at seismogenic depths where the magnitude 4.0 foreshock and Mw 6.3 main shock nucleated. This stress loading is also spatially correlated with the lateral extent of the aftershock sequence.

The Iquique earthquake sequence of April 2014: Bayesian modeling accounting for prediction uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Duputel, Zacharie; Jiang, Junle; Jolivet, Romain; Simons, Mark; Rivera, Luis; Ampuero, Jean-Paul; Riel, Bryan; Owen, Susan E; Moore, Angelyn W; Samsonov, Sergey V; Ortega Culaciati, Francisco; Minson, Sarah E.

2016-01-01

The subduction zone in northern Chile is a well-identified seismic gap that last ruptured in 1877. On 1 April 2014, this region was struck by a large earthquake following a two week long series of foreshocks. This study combines a wide range of observations, including geodetic, tsunami, and seismic data, to produce a reliable kinematic slip model of the Mw=8.1 main shock and a static slip model of the Mw=7.7 aftershock. We use a novel Bayesian modeling approach that accounts for uncertainty in the Green's functions, both static and dynamic, while avoiding nonphysical regularization. The results reveal a sharp slip zone, more compact than previously thought, located downdip of the foreshock sequence and updip of high-frequency sources inferred by back-projection analysis. Both the main shock and the Mw=7.7 aftershock did not rupture to the trench and left most of the seismic gap unbroken, leaving the possibility of a future large earthquake in the region.

Geodetic constraints on afterslip characteristics following the March 9, 2011, Sanriku-oki earthquake, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Yusaku; Hino, Ryota; Inazu, Daisuke; Ohzono, Mako; Ito, Yoshihiro; Mishina, Masaaki; Iinuma, Takeshi; Nakajima, Junichi; Osada, Yukihito; Suzuki, Kensuke; Fujimoto, Hiromi; Tachibana, Kenji; Demachi, Tomotsugu; Miura, Satoshi

2012-08-01

A magnitude 7.3 foreshock occurred at the subducting Pacific plate interface on March 9, 2011, 51 h before the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan. We propose a coseismic and postseismic afterslip model of the magnitude 7.3 event based on a global positioning system network and ocean bottom pressure gauge sites. The estimated coseismic slip and afterslip areas show complementary spatial distributions; the afterslip distribution is located up-dip of the coseismic slip for the foreshock and northward of hypocenter of the Tohoku earthquake. The slip amount for the afterslip is roughly consistent with that determined by repeating earthquake analysis carried out in a previous study. The estimated moment release for the afterslip reached magnitude 6.8, even within a short time period of 51h. A volumetric strainmeter time series also suggests that this event advanced with a rapid decay time constant compared with other typical large earthquakes.

Renormalization group theory of earthquakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Saleur

1996-01-01

Full Text Available We study theoretically the physical origin of the proposed discrete scale invariance of earthquake processes, at the origin of the universal log-periodic corrections to scaling, recently discovered in regional seismic activity (Sornette and Sammis (1995. The discrete scaling symmetries which may be present at smaller scales are shown to be robust on a global scale with respect to disorder. Furthermore, a single complex exponent is sufficient in practice to capture the essential properties of the leading correction to scaling, whose real part may be renormalized by disorder, and thus be specific to the system. We then propose a new mechanism for discrete scale invariance, based on the interplay between dynamics and disorder. The existence of non-linear corrections to the renormalization group flow implies that an earthquake is not an isolated 'critical point', but is accompanied by an embedded set of 'critical points', its foreshocks and any subsequent shocks for which it may be a foreshock.

Diffuse ions produced by electromagnetic ion beam instabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winske, D.; Leroy, M.M.

1984-01-01

The evolution of the electromagnetic ions beam instability driven by the reflected ion component backstreaming away from the earth's how shock into the foreshock region is studied by means computer simulation. The linear the quasi-linear states of the instability are found to be in good agreement with known results for the resonant model propagating parallel to the beam along the magnetic field and with theory developed in this paper for the nonresonant mode, which propagates antiparallel to the beam direction. The quasi-linear stage, which produces large amplitude 8Bapprox.B, sinusoidal transverse waves and ''intermediate'' ion distribution, is terminated by a nonlinear phase in which strongly nonlinear, compressive waves and ''diffuse'' ion distributions are produced. Additional processes by which the diffuse ions are accelerated to observed high energies are not addressed. The results are discussed in terms of the ion distributions and hydromagnetic waves observed in the foreshock of the earth's bow shock and of interplanetary shocks

Characteristic of the postseismic deformation following the 2011 Sanriku-Oki earthquake (Mw 7.2) by comparing the 1989 and 1992 Sanriku-Oki events

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Yusaku; Hino, Ryota; Ariyoshi, Keisuke; Matsuzawa, Toru; Mishina, Masaaki; Sato, Tadahiro; Tachibana, Kenji; Demachi, Tomotsugu; Miura, Satoshi

2013-04-01

The March 11, 2011, moment magnitude (Mw) 9.0 Tohoku earthquake (hereafter referred to as the mainshock) generated a large tsunami, which caused devastating damage and the loss of more than 15,800 lives. On March 9, 2011 at 2:45 (UTC), an M7.3 interplate earthquake (hereafter referred to as the foreshock) occurred ~45 km northeast of the epicenter of the Mw9.0 mainshock. The focal mechanism estimated by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) incorporates reverse fault motion with a west-northwest to east-southeast compression axis. This foreshock preceded the 2011 Tohoku earthquake by 51 h. Kato et al. [Science, 2012] pointed out aftershock migration after the foreshock along the trench axis toward the epicenter of the Mw9.0 mainshock on the basis of an earthquake catalog, which was created using a waveform correlation technique. They also estimated aseismic slip amount by the repeating earthquake analysis. Ohta et al. [GRL, 2012] proposed a coseismic and postseismic afterslip model of the foreshock based on a GPS network and ocean bottom pressure gauge sites. The estimated coseismic slip and afterslip areas show complementary spatial distributions. The slip amount for the afterslip is roughly consistent with that determined by repeating earthquake analysis carried out by Kato et al. [2012]. Ohta et al. [2012] also pointed out a volumetric strainmeter time series suggests that this event advanced with a rapid decay time constant compared with other typical large earthquakes. For verification of this exception, we investigated the postseismic deformation characteristic following the 1989 and 1992 Sanriku-Oki earthquake, which occurred 100-150 km north of the epicenter of the 2011 Sanriku-Oki event. We used four components extensometer of the Tohoku University at Miyako (39.59N, 141.98E) on the Sanriku coast for these events. To extract the characteristics of the postseismic deformation, we fitted the logarithmic function

Excitation of waves at 2 omega_pe and back propagating waves at omega_pe: a parametric study

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trávníček, Pavel; Hellinger, Petr; Schiver, D.; Taylor, M. G. G. T.

2003-01-01

Roč. 10, - (2003), s. 345-349 ISSN 1023-5809 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAB3042106 Grant - others:ESA PRODEX(NL) 14529/00/NL/SFe Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z3042911 Keywords : plasma * foreshock * Vlasov simulations Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 0.682, year: 2003

Natural hazards and self-organized criticality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krenn, R.

2012-01-01

Several natural hazards exhibit power-law behavior on their frequency-size distributions. Self-organized criticality has become a promising candidate that could offer a more in-depth understanding of the origin of temporal and spatial scaling in dissipative nonequilibrium systems. The outcomes of this thesis are presented in three scientific papers followed by a concluding summary and an appendix.In paper (A) we present a semi-phenomenological approach to explain the complex scaling behavior of the Drossel-Schwabl forest-fire model (DS-FFM) in two dimensions. We derive the scaling exponent solely from the scaling exponent of the clusters' accessible perimeter. Furthermore, the unusual transition to an exponential decay is explained both qualitatively and quantitatively. The exponential decay itself could be reproduced at least qualitatively. In paper (B) we extend the DS-FFM towards anthropogenic ignition factors. The main outcomes are an increase of the scaling exponent with decreasing lightning probability as well as a splitting of the partial frequency-size distributions of lightning induced and man made fires. Lightning is identified as the dominant mechanism in the regime of the largest fires. The results could be validated through an analysis of the Canadian Large Fire Database.In paper (C) we obtain an almost complete theory of the Olami-Feder-Christensen (OFC) model's complex spatio-temporal behavior. Synchronization pushes the system towards a critical state and generates the Gutenberg-Richter law. Desynchronization prevents the system from becoming overcritical and generates foreshocks and aftershocks. Our approach also provides a simple explanation of Omori's law. Beyond this, it explains the phenomena of foreshock migration and aftershock diffusion and the occurrence of large earthquakes without any foreshocks. A novel integer algorithm for the numerics is presented in appendix (A).(author) [de

Bayesian inference and interpretation of centroid moment tensors of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence, Kyushu, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Hallo, Miroslav; Asano, Kimiyuki; Gallovič, František

2017-09-01

On April 16, 2016, Kumamoto prefecture in Kyushu region, Japan, was devastated by a shallow M JMA7.3 earthquake. The series of foreshocks started by M JMA6.5 foreshock 28 h before the mainshock. They have originated in Hinagu fault zone intersecting the mainshock Futagawa fault zone; hence, the tectonic background for this earthquake sequence is rather complex. Here we infer centroid moment tensors (CMTs) for 11 events with M JMA between 4.8 and 6.5, using strong motion records of the K-NET, KiK-net and F-net networks. We use upgraded Bayesian full-waveform inversion code ISOLA-ObsPy, which takes into account uncertainty of the velocity model. Such an approach allows us to reliably assess uncertainty of the CMT parameters including the centroid position. The solutions show significant systematic spatial and temporal variations throughout the sequence. Foreshocks are right-lateral steeply dipping strike-slip events connected to the NE-SW shear zone. Those located close to the intersection of the Hinagu and Futagawa fault zones are dipping slightly to ESE, while those in the southern area are dipping to WNW. Contrarily, aftershocks are mostly normal dip-slip events, being related to the N-S extensional tectonic regime. Most of the deviatoric moment tensors contain only minor CLVD component, which can be attributed to the velocity model uncertainty. Nevertheless, two of the CMTs involve a significant CLVD component, which may reflect complex rupture process. Decomposition of those moment tensors into two pure shear moment tensors suggests combined right-lateral strike-slip and normal dip-slip mechanisms, consistent with the tectonic settings of the intersection of the Hinagu and Futagawa fault zones.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Natural time analysis of critical phenomena: The case of pre-fracture electromagnetic emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potirakis, S. M. [Department of Electronics, Technological Education Institute (TEI) of Piraeus, 250 Thivon and P. Ralli, Aigaleo, Athens GR-12244 (Greece); Karadimitrakis, A. [Department of Physics, Section of Electronics, Computers, Telecommunications and Control, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, Athens GR-15784 (Greece); Eftaxias, K. [Department of Physics, Section of Solid State Physics, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, Athens GR-15784 (Greece)

2013-06-15

Criticality of complex systems reveals itself in various ways. One way to monitor a system at critical state is to analyze its observable manifestations using the recently introduced method of natural time. Pre-fracture electromagnetic (EM) emissions, in agreement to laboratory experiments, have been consistently detected in the MHz band prior to significant earthquakes. It has been proposed that these emissions stem from the fracture of the heterogeneous materials surrounding the strong entities (asperities) distributed along the fault, preventing the relative slipping. It has also been proposed that the fracture of heterogeneous material could be described in analogy to the critical phase transitions in statistical physics. In this work, the natural time analysis is for the first time applied to the pre-fracture MHz EM signals revealing their critical nature. Seismicity and pre-fracture EM emissions should be two sides of the same coin concerning the earthquake generation process. Therefore, we also examine the corresponding foreshock seismic activity, as another manifestation of the same complex system at critical state. We conclude that the foreshock seismicity data present criticality features as well.

Temporal b-Value Variations through out a Seismic Faulting Process: The 2008 Taoyuan Earthquake in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Horng Lin

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Temporal b-value variations have been completely obtained for the seismic faulting process of the 4 March 2008 Taoyuan earthquake (ML = 5.2, southern Taiwan. In addition to triggering several hundred after shocks, the mainshock was preceded by two groups of foreshocks (64 events that clustered along the narrow major fault zone. A high b-value of ~1.25, estimated from the foreshock series, representing fault growth, was significantly larger than the b-values of 0.80 and 0.81, obtained respectively from after shocks and back ground seismicity. Also there were some pre-shocks (i.e., micro-earth quakes that occurred one month before the earthquake sequence, with an extremely high b-value of ~2.1. This number might successfully indicate pre-nucleation seismic features in the vicinity of the fault zone. These seismic characteristics are fundamentally very similar to general features such as fracture nucleation and growth observed in rock samples under controlled stress in laboratory experiments, and thus ought to be considered to improve our understanding of crustal fault growth.

Observations of 35- 10 1600-keV protons and low-frequency waves upstream of interplanetary shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanderson, T.R.; Reinhard, R.; Van Nes, P.; Wenzel, K.P.; Smith, E.J.; Tsurutani, B.T.; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena)

1985-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with a comparison of measurements of energetic protons in the range from 35 to 1600 keV and low-frequency waves (periods of approximately 6 s) on ISEE 3 associated with the passage of the large oblique shock of April 5, 1979, which exhibits an extended foreshock. An attempt is made to identify the energy of the particles which are responsible for the waves. Intensity profiles of both waves and particles as a function of upstream distance are compared, taking into account the relation between the energy of the particles and the period of the waves. The considered approach makes it possible to identify protons with energies of a few hundred keV as being responsible for the waves in the extended foreshock. It is believed that the high energy density of the high-energy solar flare protons preceding the shock could be responsible for seed waves which provide the scattering centers necessary for the acceleration of the lower-energy protons via a first-order Fermi mechanism. 31 references

Natural time analysis of critical phenomena: the case of pre-fracture electromagnetic emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Potirakis, S M; Karadimitrakis, A; Eftaxias, K

2013-06-01

Criticality of complex systems reveals itself in various ways. One way to monitor a system at critical state is to analyze its observable manifestations using the recently introduced method of natural time. Pre-fracture electromagnetic (EM) emissions, in agreement to laboratory experiments, have been consistently detected in the MHz band prior to significant earthquakes. It has been proposed that these emissions stem from the fracture of the heterogeneous materials surrounding the strong entities (asperities) distributed along the fault, preventing the relative slipping. It has also been proposed that the fracture of heterogeneous material could be described in analogy to the critical phase transitions in statistical physics. In this work, the natural time analysis is for the first time applied to the pre-fracture MHz EM signals revealing their critical nature. Seismicity and pre-fracture EM emissions should be two sides of the same coin concerning the earthquake generation process. Therefore, we also examine the corresponding foreshock seismic activity, as another manifestation of the same complex system at critical state. We conclude that the foreshock seismicity data present criticality features as well.

Natural time analysis of critical phenomena: The case of pre-fracture electromagnetic emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potirakis, S. M.; Karadimitrakis, A.; Eftaxias, K.

2013-01-01

Criticality of complex systems reveals itself in various ways. One way to monitor a system at critical state is to analyze its observable manifestations using the recently introduced method of natural time. Pre-fracture electromagnetic (EM) emissions, in agreement to laboratory experiments, have been consistently detected in the MHz band prior to significant earthquakes. It has been proposed that these emissions stem from the fracture of the heterogeneous materials surrounding the strong entities (asperities) distributed along the fault, preventing the relative slipping. It has also been proposed that the fracture of heterogeneous material could be described in analogy to the critical phase transitions in statistical physics. In this work, the natural time analysis is for the first time applied to the pre-fracture MHz EM signals revealing their critical nature. Seismicity and pre-fracture EM emissions should be two sides of the same coin concerning the earthquake generation process. Therefore, we also examine the corresponding foreshock seismic activity, as another manifestation of the same complex system at critical state. We conclude that the foreshock seismicity data present criticality features as well.

Normal faulting in a back arc basin: Seismological characteristics of the March 2, 1987, Edgecumbe, New Zealand, Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Helen; Smith, Euan; Robinson, Russell

1990-04-01

The Edgecumbe earthquake (March 2, 1987, 0142 UT, 37.92°S, 176.76°E) occurred beneath a coastal river plain a the southeastern margin of the Central Volcanic Region (CVR) of the North Island of New Zealand, a back arc basin that is widening at a geodetically determined rate of about 12 mm/yr. Its situation enabled a wide range of geological and geophysical measurements to be made of the preseismic, coseismic and postseismic processes. The estimated hypocenter and fault plane solution are consistent with the observed surface faulting. Various estimates of the seismic moment of the mainshock range from 4.3×1018 N m (from long-period P wave modelling of the first 5 s) to 10×1018 N m (from dislocation modelling of geodetic data). The variation in the values can be reasonably explained in terms of the methods used to determine them. Focal mechanisms of both mainshock and aftershocks were similar to focal mechanisms previously determined for events in the CVR and its offshore extension. Normal faulting mechanisms make up 75% of the events with the remainder strike slip (dextral assuming a northeast striking fault). The distribution of mechanisms is consistent with the regional strain field as previously determined from geodetic observations. The mainshock has been modelled as a complex event with a second subevent about 3 s after the first, with both episodes of moment release initiating at a depth of about 8 km. The Edgecumbe earthquake was preceded by a large number of foreshocks, some near the mainshock, but most in a tight cluster 35 km away to the northwest (i.e., off-strike). After the first half hour following the mainshock, swarms of aftershocks began occurring up to 50 km from the mainshock rupture, mostly along the strike of the faulting. Main rupture aftershocks were mostly located in the footwall of the main fault. A notable gap in the aftershock distribution is coincident with a geothermal field along strike of the main rupture. Swarms are common in the

Earthquake Swarm Along the San Andreas Fault near Palmdale, Southern California, 1976 to 1977.

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, K C; Kanamori, H; Pechmann, J C; Fuis, G

1978-09-01

Between November 1976 and November 1977 a swarm of small earthquakes (local magnitude foreshock sequences, such as tight clustering of hypocenters and time-dependent rotations of stress axes inferred from focal mechanisms. However, because of our present lack of understanding of the processes that precede earthquake faulting, the implications of the swarm for future large earthquakes on the San Andreas fault are unknown.

Distribution of the largest aftershocks in branching models of triggered seismicity: Theory of the universal Baath law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saichev, A.; Sornette, D.

2005-01-01

Using the epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) branching model of triggered seismicity, we apply the formalism of generating probability functions to calculate exactly the average difference between the magnitude of a mainshock and the magnitude of its largest aftershock over all generations. This average magnitude difference is found empirically to be independent of the mainshock magnitude and equal to 1.2, a universal behavior known as Baath's law. Our theory shows that Baath's law holds only sufficiently close to the critical regime of the ETAS branching process. Allowing for error bars ±0.1 for Baath's constant value around 1.2, our exact analytical treatment of Baath's law provides new constraints on the productivity exponent α and the branching ratio n: 0.9 < or approx. α≤1 and 0.8 < or approx. n≤1. We propose a method for measuring α based on the predicted renormalization of the Gutenberg-Richter distribution of the magnitudes of the largest aftershock. We also introduce the 'second Baath law for foreshocks': the probability that a main earthquake turns out to be the foreshock does not depend on its magnitude ρ

Magnetosheath dynamic pressure enhancements: occurrence and typical properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. O. Archer

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The first comprehensive statistical study of large-amplitude (> 100% transient enhancements of the magnetosheath dynamic pressure reveals events of up to ~ 15 times the ambient dynamic pressure with durations up to 3 min and an average duration of around 30 s, predominantly downstream of the quasi-parallel shock. The dynamic pressure transients are most often dominated by velocity increases along with a small fractional increase in the density, though the velocity is generally only deflected by a few degrees. Superposed wavelet transforms of the magnetic field show that, whilst most enhancements exhibit changes in the magnetosheath magnetic field, the majority are not associated with changes in the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF. However, there is a minority of enhancements that do appear to be associated with solar wind discontinuities which cannot be explained simply by random events. In general, it is found that during periods of magnetosheath dynamic pressure enhancements the IMF is steadier than usual. This suggests that a stable foreshock and hence foreshock structures or processes may be important in the generation of the majority of magnetosheath dynamic pressure enhancements.

Evaluation of magnetic helicity density in the wave number domain using multi-point measurements in space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2009-10-01

Full Text Available We develop an estimator for the magnetic helicity density, a measure of the spiral geometry of magnetic field lines, in the wave number domain as a wave diagnostic tool based on multi-point measurements in space. The estimator is numerically tested with a synthetic data set and then applied to an observation of magnetic field fluctuations in the Earth foreshock region provided by the four-point measurements of the Cluster spacecraft. The energy and the magnetic helicity density are determined in the frequency and the wave number domain, which allows us to identify the wave properties in the plasma rest frame correcting for the Doppler shift. In the analyzed time interval, dominant wave components have parallel propagation to the mean magnetic field, away from the shock at about Alfvén speed and a left-hand spatial rotation sense of helicity with respect to the propagation direction, which means a right-hand temporal rotation sense of polarization. These wave properties are well explained by the right-hand resonant beam instability as the driving mechanism in the foreshock. Cluster observations allow therefore detailed comparisons with various theories of waves and instabilities.

Spatial distribution of Langmuir waves observed upstream of Saturn's bow shock by Cassini

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Píša, David; Santolík, Ondřej; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Kurth, W. S.; Gurnett, D. A.; Souček, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 121, č. 8 (2016), s. 7771-7784 ISSN 2169-9380 R&D Projects: GA ČR GJ16-16050Y; GA ČR(CZ) GAP209/12/2394 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : Langmuir waves * Cassini * foreshock * Saturn Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.733, year: 2016 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JA022912/abstract

Nonlinear wave particle interaction in the Earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Mazelle, C.; LeQueau, D.; Meziane, K.; Lin, R. P.; Parks, G.; Reme, H.; Sanderson, T.; Lepping, R. P.

1997-01-01

The possibility that ion beams could provide a free energy source for driving an ion/ion instability responsible for the ULF wave occurrence is investigated. For this, the wave dispersion relation with the observed parameters is solved. Secondly, it is shown that the ring-like distributions could then be produced by a coherent nonlinear wave-particle interaction. It tends to trap the ions into narrow cells in velocity space centered around a well-defined pitch-angle, directly related to the saturation wave amplitude in the analytical theory. The theoretical predictions with the observations are compared.

Characterization of active faulting beneath the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, J.F.; Rogers, Gary C.; Waldhauser, F.

2000-01-01

Southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington State are subject to megathrust earthquakes, deep intraslab events, and earthquakes in the continental crust. Of the three types of earthquakes, the most poorly understood are the crustal events. Despite a high level of seismicity, there is no obvious correlation between the historical crustal earthquakes and the mapped surface faults of the region. On 24 June 1997, a ML = 4.6 earthquake occurred 3-4 km beneath the Strait of Georgia, 30 km to the west of Vancouver, British Columbia. This well-recorded earthquake was preceded by 11 days by a felt foreshock (ML = 3.4) and was followed by numerous small aftershocks. This earthquake sequence occurred in one of the few regions of persistent shallow seismic activity in southwestern British Columbia, thus providing an ideal opportunity to attempt to characterize an active near-surface fault. We have computed focal mechanisms and utilized a waveform cross-correlation and joint hypocentral determination routine to obtain accurate relative hypocenters of the mainshock, foreshock, and 53 small aftershocks in an attempt to image the active fault and the extent of rupture associated with this earthquake sequence. Both P-nodal and CMT focal mechanisms show thrust faulting for the mainshock and the foreshock. The relocated hypocenters delineate a north-dipping plane at 2-4 km depth, dipping at 53??, in good agreement with the focal mechanism nodal plane dipping to the north at 47??. The rupture area is estimated to be a 1.3-km-diameter circular area, comparable to that estimated using a Brune rupture model with the estimated seismic moment of 3.17 ?? 1015 N m and the stress drop of 45 bars. The temporal sequence indicates a downdip migration of the seismicity along the fault plane. The results of this study provide the first unambiguous evidence for the orientation and sense of motion for active faulting in the Georgia Strait area of British Columbia.

Role of collective effects in dominance of scattering off thermal ions over Langmuir wave decay: Analysis, simulations, and space applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, Iver H.

2000-01-01

Langmuir waves driven to high levels by beam instabilities are subject to nonlinear processes, including the closely related processes of scattering off thermal ions (STI) and a decay process in which the ion response is organized into a product ion acoustic wave. Calculations of the nonlinear growth rates predict that the decay process should always dominate STI, creating two paradoxes. The first is that three independent computer simulation studies show STI proceeding, with no evidence for the decay at all. The second is that observations in space of type III solar radio bursts and Earth's foreshock, which the simulations were intended to model, show evidence for the decay proceeding but no evidence for STI. Resolutions to these paradoxes follow from the realization that a nonlinear process cannot proceed when its growth rate exceeds the minimum frequency of the participating waves, since the required collective response cannot be maintained and the waves cannot respond appropriately, and that a significant number of e-foldings and wave periods must be contained in the time available. It is shown that application of these ''collective'' and ''time scale'' constraints to the simulations explains why the decay does not proceed in them, as well as why STI proceeds in specific simulations. This appears to be the first demonstration that collective constraints are important in understanding nonlinear phenomena. Furthermore, applying these constraints to space observations, it is predicted that the decay should proceed (and dominate STI) in type III sources and the high beam speed regions of Earth's foreshock for a specific range of wave levels, with a possible role for STI alone at slightly higher wave levels. Deeper in the foreshock, for slower beams and weaker wave levels, the decay and STI are predicted to become ineffective. Suggestions are given for future testing of the collective constraint and an explanation for why waves in space are usually much weaker than

Role of collective effects in dominance of scattering off thermal ions over Langmuir wave decay: Analysis, simulations, and space applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cairns, Iver H.

2000-12-01

Langmuir waves driven to high levels by beam instabilities are subject to nonlinear processes, including the closely related processes of scattering off thermal ions (STI) and a decay process in which the ion response is organized into a product ion acoustic wave. Calculations of the nonlinear growth rates predict that the decay process should always dominate STI, creating two paradoxes. The first is that three independent computer simulation studies show STI proceeding, with no evidence for the decay at all. The second is that observations in space of type III solar radio bursts and Earth's foreshock, which the simulations were intended to model, show evidence for the decay proceeding but no evidence for STI. Resolutions to these paradoxes follow from the realization that a nonlinear process cannot proceed when its growth rate exceeds the minimum frequency of the participating waves, since the required collective response cannot be maintained and the waves cannot respond appropriately, and that a significant number of e-foldings and wave periods must be contained in the time available. It is shown that application of these ''collective'' and ''time scale'' constraints to the simulations explains why the decay does not proceed in them, as well as why STI proceeds in specific simulations. This appears to be the first demonstration that collective constraints are important in understanding nonlinear phenomena. Furthermore, applying these constraints to space observations, it is predicted that the decay should proceed (and dominate STI) in type III sources and the high beam speed regions of Earth's foreshock for a specific range of wave levels, with a possible role for STI alone at slightly higher wave levels. Deeper in the foreshock, for slower beams and weaker wave levels, the decay and STI are predicted to become ineffective. Suggestions are given for future testing of the collective constraint and an explanation

China Report, Science & Technology

Science.gov (United States)

1987-04-30

Distribution of Scientists, Engineers Discussed (CHINA DAILY, various dates) 37 Little Freedom of Movement , by Niu Qiuxia 37 ’Imbalanced...the masses to monitor foreshocks. "A few years ago we had such concoctions as ’indigenous telluric electricity,’ ’indigenous geomagnetism,’ and...skills. It is easier and more feasible than movements of skilled personnel. One might say that it is using "nearby water to slake nearby thirst

Transient events at the magnetopause and bipolar magnetic signatures

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Krupařová, Oksana; Šafránková, J.; Němeček, Z.; Přech, L.

2015-01-01

Roč. 115, September (2015), s. 19-26 ISSN 0032-0633 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-19376S; GA ČR GP13-37174P Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : flux transfer events * magnetopause deformation * magnetosheath * fluctuations * magnetic reconnection * foreshock bubbles Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.942, year: 2015 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063315000434#

Structure of slow shocks in a magnetized plasma with heat conduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, C.L.; Tsai, R.H.; Wu, B.H.; Lee, L.C.

2002-01-01

The structure of slow shocks in the presence of a heat conduction parallel to the local magnetic field is simulated from the set of magnetohydrodynamic equations. In this study, a pair of slow shocks is formed through the evolution of a current sheet initiated by the presence of a normal magnetic field. It is found that the slow shock consists of two parts: The isothermal main shock and foreshock. Significant jumps in plasma density, velocity and magnetic field occur across the main shock, but the temperature is found to be continuous across the main shock. The foreshock is featured by a smooth temperature variation and is formed due to the heat flow from downstream to upstream region. The plasma density downstream of the main shock decreases with time, while the downstream temperature increases with time, keeping the downstream pressure constant. It is shown that the jumps in plasma density, pressure, velocity, and magnetic field across the main shock are determined by the set of modified isothermal Rankine-Hugoniot conditions. It is also found that a jump in the temperature gradient is present across the main shock in order to satisfy the energy conservation. The present results can be applied to the heating in the solar corona and solar wind

The 2010 M w 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake Sequence, Baja California, Mexico and Southernmost California, USA: Active Seismotectonics along the Mexican Pacific Margin

Science.gov (United States)

Hauksson, Egill; Stock, Joann; Hutton, Kate; Yang, Wenzheng; Vidal-Villegas, J. Antonio; Kanamori, Hiroo

2011-08-01

The El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake sequence started with a few foreshocks in March 2010, and a second sequence of 15 foreshocks of M > 2 (up to M4.4) that occurred during the 24 h preceding the mainshock. The foreshocks occurred along a north-south trend near the mainshock epicenter. The M w 7.2 mainshock on April 4 exhibited complex faulting, possibly starting with a ~M6 normal faulting event, followed ~15 s later by the main event, which included simultaneous normal and right-lateral strike-slip faulting. The aftershock zone extends for 120 km from the south end of the Elsinore fault zone north of the US-Mexico border almost to the northern tip of the Gulf of California. The waveform-relocated aftershocks form two abutting clusters, each about 50 km long, as well as a 10 km north-south aftershock zone just north of the epicenter of the mainshock. Even though the Baja California data are included, the magnitude of completeness and the hypocentral errors increase gradually with distance south of the international border. The spatial distribution of large aftershocks is asymmetric with five M5+ aftershocks located to the south of the mainshock, and only one M5.7 aftershock, but numerous smaller aftershocks to the north. Further, the northwest aftershock cluster exhibits complex faulting on both northwest and northeast planes. Thus, the aftershocks also express a complex pattern of stress release along strike. The overall rate of decay of the aftershocks is similar to the rate of decay of a generic California aftershock sequence. In addition, some triggered seismicity was recorded along the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults to the north, but significant northward migration of aftershocks has not occurred. The synthesis of the El Mayor-Cucapah sequence reveals transtensional regional tectonics, including the westward growth of the Mexicali Valley and the transfer of Pacific-North America plate motion from the Gulf of California in the south into the southernmost San

Evaluation of bispectrum in the wave number domain based on multi-point measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2008-10-01

Full Text Available We present an estimator of the bispectrum, a measure of three-wave couplings. It is evaluated directly in the wave number domain using a limited number of detectors. The ability of the bispectrum estimator is examined numerically and then it is applied to fluctuations of magnetic field and electron density in the terrestrial foreshock region observed by the four Cluster spacecraft, which indicates the presence of a three-wave coupling in space plasma.

Numerical modeling of block structure dynamics: Application to the Vrancea region and study of earthquakes sequences in the synthetic catalogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soloviev, A.A.; Vorobieva, I.A.

1995-08-01

A seismically active region is represented as a system of absolutely rigid blocks divided by infinitely thin plane faults. The interaction of the blocks along the fault planes and with the underlying medium is viscous-elastic. The system of blocks moves as a consequence of prescribed motion of boundary blocks and the underlying medium. When for some part of a fault plane the stress surpasses a certain strength level a stress-drop (''a failure'') occurs. It can cause a failure for other parts of fault planes. The failures are considered as earthquakes. As a result of the numerical simulation a synthetic earthquake catalogue is produced. This procedure is applied for numerical modeling of dynamics of the block structure approximating the tectonic structure of the Vrancea region. By numerical experiments the values of the model parameters were obtained which supplied the synthetic earthquake catalog with the space distribution of epicenters close to the real distribution of the earthquake epicenters in the Vrancea region. The frequency-magnitude relations (Gutenberg-Richter curves) obtained for the synthetic and real catalogs have some common features. The sequences of earthquakes arising in the model are studied for some artificial structures. It is found that ''foreshocks'', ''main shocks'', and ''aftershocks'' could be detected among earthquakes forming the sequences. The features of aftershocks, foreshocks, and catalogs of main shocks are analysed. (author). 5 refs, 12 figs, 16 tabs

A semiquantitative theory for the 2fp radiation observed upstream from the earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cairns, I.H.

1988-01-01

A semiquantitative theory for the 2f p radiation observed upstream from the Earth's bow shock is presented: the radiation is produced by the process L + L → T + S, proceeding as two sequential three-wave steps L → L' + S and L + L' → T, in the foreshock where nonthermal L and S waves are observed. (Here L, S, and T denote Langmuir, ion acoustic, and transverse electromagnetic waves, respectively.) This theory is consistent with all the available wave data, including the characteristics and levels of a class of low-frequency waves identified as S wave products of the process L → L' + S, and the brightness temperature and bandwidth of the 2f p radiation. Indeed the theory could account for higher 2f p brightness temperatures if required. Predictions of the theory suitable for observational testing include (1) the existence of two 2f p sources, one to each wing of the foreshock, (2) the spatial location of the source regions, and (3) the characteristics and levels of the product L' and S waves in the source regions. The radiation should (4) have intrinsic bandwidths of the order of 1 kHz or less, (5) be less than 0.1% circularly polarized, and (6) have a limiting brightness temperature equal to the effective temperature T L of the L waves producing the radiation

The 2009 MW MW 6.1 L'Aquila fault system imaged by 64k earthquake locations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valoroso, Luisa

2016-01-01

On April 6 2009, a MW 6.1 normal-faulting earthquake struck the axial area of the Abruzzo region in central Italy. We investigate the complex architecture and mechanics of the activated fault system by using 64k high-resolution foreshock and aftershock locations. The fault system is composed by two major SW dipping segments forming an en-echelon NW trending system about 50 km long: the high-angle L’Aquila fault and the listric Campotosto fault, located in the first 10 km depth. From the beginning of 2009, fore shocks activated the deepest portion of the main shock fault. A week before the MW 6.1 event, the largest (MW 4.0) foreshock triggered seismicity migration along a minor off-fault segment. Seismicity jumped back to the main plane a few hours before the main shock. High-precision locations allowed to peer into the fault zone showing complex geological structures from the metre to the kilometre scale, analogous to those observed by field studies and seismic profiles. Also, we were able to investigate important aspects of earthquakes nucleation and propagation through the upper crust in carbonate-bearing rocks such as: the role of fluids in normal-faulting earthquakes; how crustal faults terminate at depths; the key role of fault zone structure in the earthquake rupture evolution processes.

Whisper, a resonance sounder and wave analyser: Performances and perspectives for the Cluster mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Decreau, P.M.E.; Fergeau, P.; KrannoselsKikh, V.

1997-01-01

The WHISPER sounder on the Cluster spacecraft is primarily designed to provide an absolute measurement of the total plasma density within the range 0.2-80 cm(-3). This is achieved by means of a resonance sounding technique which has already proved successful in the regions to be explored. The wav...... in the electron foreshock and solar wind, to investigations about small-scale structures via density and high-frequency emission signatures, and to the analysis of the non-thermal continuum in the magnetosphere....

Reassessment of source parameters for three major earthquakes in the East African rift system from historical seismograms and bulletins

OpenAIRE

Ayele, A.; Kulhánek, O.

2000-01-01

Source parameters for three majo earthquakes in the East African rift are re-computed from historical seismograms and bulletins. The main shock and the largest foreshock of the August 25, 1906 earthquake sequence in the main Ethiopian rift are re-located on the eastern shoulder of the rift segment.The magnitude of the main shock is estimated to be 6.5 (Mw) from spectral analysis. The December 13, 1910 earthquake in the Rukwa rift (Western Tanzania) indicated a significant strike-slip componen...

A model of seismic focus and related statistical distributions of earthquakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostol, Bogdan-Felix

2006-01-01

A growth model for accumulating seismic energy in a localized seismic focus is described, which introduces a fractional parameter r on geometrical grounds. The model is employed for deriving a power-type law for the statistical distribution in energy, where the parameter r contributes to the exponent, as well as corresponding time and magnitude distributions for earthquakes. The accompanying seismic activity of foreshocks and aftershocks is discussed in connection with this approach, as based on Omori distributions, and the rate of released energy is derived

The Pocatello Valley, Idaho, earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, A. M.; Langer, C.J.; Bucknam, R.C.

1975-01-01

A Richter magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred at 8:31 p.m mountain daylight time on March 27, 1975, near the Utah-Idaho border in Pocatello Valley. The epicenter of the main shock was located at 42.094° N, 112.478° W, and had a focal depth of 5.5 km. This earthquake was the largest in the continental United States since the destructive San Fernando earthquake of February 1971. The main shock was preceded by a magnitude 4.5 foreshock on March 26. 

Listening to the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Zhigang; Aiken, Chastity; Kilb, Debi; Shelly, David R.; Enescu, Bogdan

2012-01-01

The magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake on 11 March 2011 is the largest earthquake to date in Japan’s modern history and is ranked as the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900. This earthquake occurred within the northeast Japan subduction zone (Figure 1), where the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk plate at rate of ∼8–9 cm/yr (DeMets et al. 2010). This type of extremely large earthquake within a subduction zone is generally termed a “megathrust” earthquake. Strong shaking from this magnitude 9 earthquake engulfed the entire Japanese Islands, reaching a maximum acceleration ∼3 times that of gravity (3 g). Two days prior to the main event, a foreshock sequence occurred, including one earthquake of magnitude 7.2. Following the main event, numerous aftershocks occurred around the main slip region; the largest of these was magnitude 7.9. The entire foreshocks-mainshock-aftershocks sequence was well recorded by thousands of sensitive seismometers and geodetic instruments across Japan, resulting in the best-recorded megathrust earthquake in history. This devastating earthquake resulted in significant damage and high death tolls caused primarily by the associated large tsunami. This tsunami reached heights of more than 30 m, and inundation propagated inland more than 5 km from the Pacific coast, which also caused a nuclear crisis that is still affecting people’s lives in certain regions of Japan.

Source and path characteristics of earthquakes occurring off the Kii peninsula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiba, Yoshiaki; Sato, Hiroaki

2007-01-01

The characteristics of strong ground motions during the 2004 off the Kii peninsula earthquake sequence are examined based on the records observed on the rock outcrops. These events, including the foreshock of M JMA 7.1, the main shock of M JMA 7.4, and the largest aftershock of M JMA 6.5, are all the intra-plate earthquakes occurring in the outer rise region of the Philippine Sea plate close to the Nankai-Trough. Very large long-period ground motions are observed in sedimentary basins far from source area during the foreshock and the main shock, however, the excitation of short-period motions agrees well with the empirical relations assuming the inter-plate or inland events, rather than the intra-plate ones. Furthermore the spectral inversion analysis exhibits the Q s values beneath the Kii peninsula region are higher than average ones estimated at other areas in Japan, due to relatively long propagating path through the high-Q oceanic plate. The local site effects derived from the spectral inversion analysis correspond to the residual spectra in the rock-outcrop site, and also to the one-dimensional amplification function based on the PS logging data in the KiK-net site with S-wave velocity at basement higher than 2.2 km/s. Finally we verified that the amplitude levels of acceleration source spectra in the shorter periods of the Kii-peninsula events distribute near the empirical relationships to the seismic moments. (author)

Amplitude of foreshocks as a possible seismic precursor to earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Lindh, A.G.

1978-01-01

In recent years, we have made significant progress in being able to recognize the long-range pattern of events that precede large earthquakes. For example, in a recent issue of the Earthquake Information Bulletin, we saw how the pioneering work of S.A. Fedotov of the U.S.S.R in the Kamchatka-Kurile Islands region has been applied worldwide to forecast where large, shallow earthquakes might occur in the next decades. Indeed, such a "seismic gap" off the coast of Alaska was filled by the 1972 Sitka earthquake. Promising results are slowly accumulating from other techniques that suggest that intermediate-term precursors might also be seen: among these are tilt and geomagnetic anomalies and anomalous land uplift. But the crucial point remains that short-term precursors (days to hours) will be needed in many cases if there is to be a significant saving of lives. 

Cluster multispacecraft measurement of spatial scales of foreshock Langmuir waves

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Souček, Jan; Santolík, Ondřej; Dudok de Wit, T.; Pickett, J. S.

2009-01-01

Roč. 114, A02 (2009), A02213/1-A02213/11 ISSN 0148-0227 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA301120601; GA AV ČR IAA300420602; GA AV ČR IAA300420702 Grant - others:Czech Science Foundation(CZ) 20508P129; NASA (US) NNX07AI24G Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : kinetic waves and instabilities * solar wind * multi-spacecraft methods Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.082, year: 2009

Implication of conjugate faulting in the earthquake brewing and originating process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, L.M. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge); Deng, Q.; Jiang, P.

1980-03-01

The earthquake sequence, precursory and geologo-structural background of the Haicheng, Tangshan, Songpan-Pingwu earthquakes are discussed in this article. All of these earthquakes occurred in a seismic zone controlled by the main boundary faults of an intraplate fault block. However, the fault plane of a main earthquake does not consist of the same faults, but is rather a related secondary fault. They formed altogether a conjugate shearing rupture zone under the action of a regional tectonic stress field. As to the earthquake sequence, the foreshocks and aftershocks might occur on the conjugate fault planes within an epicentral region rather than be limited to the fault plane of a main earthquake, such as the distribution of foreshocks and aftershocks of the Haicheng earthquake. The characteristics of the long-, medium-, and imminent-term earthquake precursory anomalies of the three mentioned earthquakes, especially the character of well-studies anomaly phenomena in electrical resistivity, radon emission, groundwater and animal behavior, have been investigated. The studies of these earthquake precursors show that they were distributed in an area rather more extensive than the epicentral region. Some fault zones in the conjugate fault network usually appeared as distributed belts or concentrated zones of earthquake precursory anomalies, and can be traced in the medium-long term precursory field, but seem more distinct in the short-imminent term precursory anomalous field. These characteristics can be explained by the rupture and sliding originating along the conjugate shear network and the concentration of stress in the regional stress field.

A multispacecraft event study of Pc5 ultralow-frequency waves in the magnetosphere and their external drivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Chih-Ping; Thorne, Richard; Liu, Terry Z.; Hartinger, Michael D.; Nagai, Tsugunobu

2017-01-01

We investigate a quiet time event of magnetospheric Pc5 ultralow-frequency (ULF) waves and their likely external drivers using multiple spacecraft observations. Enhancements of electric and magnetic field perturbations in two narrow frequency bands, 1.5–2 mHz and 3.5–4 mHz, were observed over a large radial distance range from r ~ 5 to 11 RE. During the first half of this event, perturbations were mainly observed in the transverse components and only in the 3.5–4 mHz band. In comparison, enhancements were stronger during the second half in both transverse and compressional components and in both frequency bands. No indication of field line resonances was found for these magnetic field perturbations. Perturbations in these two bands were also observed in the magnetosheath, but not in the solar wind dynamic pressure perturbations. For the first interval, good correlations between the flow perturbations in the magnetosphere and magnetosheath and an indirect signature for Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) vortices suggest K-H surface waves as the driver. For the second interval, good correlations are found between the magnetosheath dynamic pressure perturbations, magnetopause deformation, and magnetospheric waves, all in good correspondence to interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) discontinuities. The characteristics of these perturbations can be explained by being driven by foreshock perturbations resulting from these IMF discontinuities. This event shows that even during quiet periods, K-H-unstable magnetopause and ion foreshock perturbations can combine to create a highly dynamic magnetospheric ULF wave environment

On nonstationarity and rippling of the quasiperpendicular zone of the Earth bow shock: Cluster observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Lobzin

2008-09-01

Full Text Available A new method for remote sensing of the quasiperpendicular part of the bow shock surface is presented. The method is based on analysis of high frequency electric field fluctuations corresponding to Langmuir, upshifted, and downshifted oscillations in the electron foreshock. Langmuir waves usually have maximum intensity at the upstream boundary of this region. All these waves are generated by energetic electrons accelerated by quasiperpendicular zone of the shock front. Nonstationary behavior of the shock, in particular due to rippling, should result in modulation of energetic electron fluxes, thereby giving rise to variations of Langmuir waves intensity. For upshifted and downshifted oscillations, the variations of both intensity and central frequency can be observed. For the present study, WHISPER measurements of electric field spectra obtained aboard Cluster spacecraft are used to choose 48 crossings of the electron foreshock boundary with dominating Langmuir waves and to perform for the first time a statistical analysis of nonstationary behavior of quasiperpendicular zone of the Earth's bow shock. Analysis of hidden periodicities in plasma wave energy reveals shock front nonstationarity in the frequency range 0.33 fBi

Nonlinear Wave-Particle Interaction: Implications for Newborn Planetary and Backstreaming Proton Velocity Distribution Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Romanelli, N.; Mazelle, C.; Meziane, K.

2018-02-01

Seen from the solar wind (SW) reference frame, the presence of newborn planetary protons upstream from the Martian and Venusian bow shocks and SW protons reflected from each of them constitutes two sources of nonthermal proton populations. In both cases, the resulting proton velocity distribution function is highly unstable and capable of giving rise to ultralow frequency quasi-monochromatic electromagnetic plasma waves. When these instabilities take place, the resulting nonlinear waves are convected by the SW and interact with nonthermal protons located downstream from the wave generation region (upstream from the bow shock), playing a predominant role in their dynamics. To improve our understanding of these phenomena, we study the interaction between a charged particle and a large-amplitude monochromatic circularly polarized electromagnetic wave propagating parallel to a background magnetic field, from first principles. We determine the number of fix points in velocity space, their stability, and their dependence on different wave-particle parameters. Particularly, we determine the temporal evolution of a charged particle in the pitch angle-gyrophase velocity plane under nominal conditions expected for backstreaming protons in planetary foreshocks and for newborn planetary protons in the upstream regions of Venus and Mars. In addition, the inclusion of wave ellipticity effects provides an explanation for pitch angle distributions of suprathermal protons observed at the Earth's foreshock, reported in previous studies. These analyses constitute a mean to evaluate if nonthermal proton velocity distribution functions observed at these plasma environments present signatures that can be understood in terms of nonlinear wave-particle processes.

Seismic quiescence in a frictional earthquake model

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Oleg M.; Peyrard, Michel

2018-04-01

We investigate the origin of seismic quiescence with a generalized version of the Burridge-Knopoff model for earthquakes and show that it can be generated by a multipeaked probability distribution of the thresholds at which contacts break. Such a distribution is not assumed a priori but naturally results from the aging of the contacts. We show that the model can exhibit quiescence as well as enhanced foreshock activity, depending on the value of some parameters. This provides a generic understanding for seismic quiescence, which encompasses earlier specific explanations and could provide a pathway for a classification of faults.

Shocklets, SLAMS, and Field-Aligned Ion Beams in the Terrestrial Foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, L. B.; Koval, A.; Sibeck, D. G.; Szabo, A.; Cattell, C. A.; Kasper, J. C.; Maruca, B. A.; Pulupa, M.; Salem, C. S.; Wilber, M.

2012-01-01

We present Wind spacecraft observations of ion distributions showing field- aligned beams (FABs) and large-amplitude magnetic fluctuations composed of a series of shocklets and short large-amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS). The FABs are found to have T(sub k) approx 80-850 eV, V(sub b)/V(sub sw) approx 1.3-2.4, T(sub perpendicular,b)/T(sub paralell,b) approx 1-8, and n(sub b)/n(sub o) approx 0.2-11%. Saturation amplitudes for ion/ion resonant and non-resonant instabilities are too small to explain the observed SLAMS amplitudes. We show two examples where groups of SLAMS can act like a local quasi-perpendicular shock reflecting ions to produce the FABs, a scenario distinct from the more-common production at the quasi-perpendicular bow shock. The SLAMS exhibit a foot-like magnetic enhancement with a leading magnetosonic whistler train, consistent with previous observations. Strong ion and electron heating are observed within the series of shocklets and SLAMS with temperatures increasing by factors approx > 5 and approx >3, respectively. Both the core and halo electron components show strong perpendicular heating inside the feature.

Why local people did not present a problem in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, Japan though people accused in the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake?

Science.gov (United States)

Sugimoto, M.

2016-12-01

Risk communication is a big issues among seismologists after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake all over the world. A lot of people remember 7 researchers as "L'Aquila 7" were accused in Italy. Seismologists said it is impossible to predict an earthquake by science technology today and join more outreach activities. "In a subsequent inquiry of the handling of the disaster, seven members of the Italian National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks were accused of giving "inexact, incomplete and contradictory" information about the danger of the tremors prior to the main quake. On 22 October 2012, six scientists and one ex-government official were convicted of multiple manslaughter for downplaying the likelihood of a major earthquake six days before it took place. They were each sentenced to six years' imprisonment (Wikipedia)". Finally 6 scientists are not guilty. The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake hit Kyushu, Japan in April. They are very similar seismological situations between the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. The foreshock was Mj6.5 and Mw6.2 in 14 April 2016. The main shock was Mj7.3 and Mw7.0. Japan Metrological Agency (JMA) misleaded foreshock as mainshock before main shock occured. 41 people died by the main shock in Japan. However local people did not accused scientists in Japan. It has been less big earhquakes around 100 years in Kumamoto. Poeple was not so matured that they treated earthquake information in Kyushu, Japan. How are there differences between Japan and Italy? We learn about outreach activities for sciencits from this case.

On nonstationarity and rippling of the quasiperpendicular zone of the Earth bow shock: Cluster observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Lobzin

2008-09-01

Full Text Available A new method for remote sensing of the quasiperpendicular part of the bow shock surface is presented. The method is based on analysis of high frequency electric field fluctuations corresponding to Langmuir, upshifted, and downshifted oscillations in the electron foreshock. Langmuir waves usually have maximum intensity at the upstream boundary of this region. All these waves are generated by energetic electrons accelerated by quasiperpendicular zone of the shock front. Nonstationary behavior of the shock, in particular due to rippling, should result in modulation of energetic electron fluxes, thereby giving rise to variations of Langmuir waves intensity. For upshifted and downshifted oscillations, the variations of both intensity and central frequency can be observed. For the present study, WHISPER measurements of electric field spectra obtained aboard Cluster spacecraft are used to choose 48 crossings of the electron foreshock boundary with dominating Langmuir waves and to perform for the first time a statistical analysis of nonstationary behavior of quasiperpendicular zone of the Earth's bow shock. Analysis of hidden periodicities in plasma wave energy reveals shock front nonstationarity in the frequency range 0.33 f_BiBi, where f_Bi is the proton gyrofrequency upstream of the shock, and shows that the probability to observe such a nonstationarity increases with Mach number. The profiles observed aboard different spacecraft and the dominating frequencies of the periodicities are usually different. Hence nonstationarity and/or rippling seem to be rather irregular both in space and time rather than resembling a quasiregular wave propagating on the shock surface.

Laboratory generated M -6 earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

McLaskey, Gregory C.; Kilgore, Brian D.; Lockner, David A.; Beeler, Nicholas M.

2014-01-01

We consider whether mm-scale earthquake-like seismic events generated in laboratory experiments are consistent with our understanding of the physics of larger earthquakes. This work focuses on a population of 48 very small shocks that are foreshocks and aftershocks of stick–slip events occurring on a 2.0 m by 0.4 m simulated strike-slip fault cut through a large granite sample. Unlike the larger stick–slip events that rupture the entirety of the simulated fault, the small foreshocks and aftershocks are contained events whose properties are controlled by the rigidity of the surrounding granite blocks rather than characteristics of the experimental apparatus. The large size of the experimental apparatus, high fidelity sensors, rigorous treatment of wave propagation effects, and in situ system calibration separates this study from traditional acoustic emission analyses and allows these sources to be studied with as much rigor as larger natural earthquakes. The tiny events have short (3–6 μs) rise times and are well modeled by simple double couple focal mechanisms that are consistent with left-lateral slip occurring on a mm-scale patch of the precut fault surface. The repeatability of the experiments indicates that they are the result of frictional processes on the simulated fault surface rather than grain crushing or fracture of fresh rock. Our waveform analysis shows no significant differences (other than size) between the M -7 to M -5.5 earthquakes reported here and larger natural earthquakes. Their source characteristics such as stress drop (1–10 MPa) appear to be entirely consistent with earthquake scaling laws derived for larger earthquakes.

Spatiotemporal Variation of Stress Drop During the 2008 Mogul, Nevada, Earthquake Swarm

Science.gov (United States)

Ruhl, C. J.; Abercrombie, R. E.; Smith, K. D.

2017-10-01

We estimate stress drops for 148 shallow (function-derived spectral ratios. Near-source, temporary broadband seismometers deployed before the Mw4.9 main shock provide high-quality records of many foreshocks and aftershocks, and an ideal opportunity to investigate uncertainties in corner frequency measurement as well as stress drop (Δσ) variation related to space, time, depth, mechanism, and magnitude. We explore uncertainties related to source model, measurement approach, cross-correlation limit, and frequency bandwidth. P (S) wave Δσ results range from 0.2 ± 0.15 (0.3 ± 0.15) to 36±20 (58±7) MPa, a variation greater than the error range of each individual estimate. Although this variation is not explained simply by any one parameter, spatiotemporal variation along the main shock fault plane is distinct: coherent clusters of high and low Δσ earthquakes are seen, and high-Δσ foreshocks correlate with an area of reduced aftershock productivity. These observations are best explained by a difference in rheology along the fault plane. Average Δσs of 3.9±1.1 (4.0±1.1) MPa using P (S) are similar to those found for earthquakes in a variety of settings, implying that these shallow, potentially fluid-driven earthquakes do not have systematically lower Δσ than average tectonic earthquakes ( 4 MPa) and, therefore, have similar (or higher, due to proximity to the surface) expected ground motions compared to typical earthquakes. The unprecedented detail achieved for these shallow, small-magnitude earthquakes confirms that Δσ, when measured precisely, is a valuable observation of physically meaningful fault zone properties and earthquake behavior.

An Introduction to the Physics of Collisionless Shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, C.T.

2005-01-01

Collisionless shocks are important in astrophysical, heliospheric and magnetospheric settings. They deflect flows around obstacles; they heat the plasma, and they alter the properties of the flow as it intersects those obstacles. The physical processes occurring at collisionless shocks depend on the Mach number (strength) and beta (magnetic to thermal pressure) of the shocks and the direction of the magnetic field relative to the shock normal. Herein we review how the shock has been modeled in numerical simulations, the basic physical processes at work, including dissipation and thermalization, the electric potential drop at the shock, and the formation of the electron and ion foreshocks

'Universal' Distribution of Interearthquake Times Explained

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saichev, A.; Sornette, D.

2006-01-01

We propose a simple theory for the 'universal' scaling law previously reported for the distributions of waiting times between earthquakes. It is based on a largely used benchmark model of seismicity, which just assumes no difference in the physics of foreshocks, mainshocks, and aftershocks. Our theoretical calculations provide good fits to the data and show that universality is only approximate. We conclude that the distributions of interevent times do not reveal more information than what is already known from the Gutenberg-Richter and the Omori power laws. Our results reinforce the view that triggering earthquakes by other earthquakes is a key physical mechanism to understand seismicity

NONLINEAR WAVE INTERACTIONS AS EMISSION PROCESS OF TYPE II RADIO BURSTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganse, Urs; Kilian, Patrick; Spanier, Felix [Lehrstuhl fuer Astronomie, Universitaet Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg (Germany); Vainio, Rami, E-mail: uganse@astro.uni-wuerzburg.de [Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland)

2012-06-01

The emission of fundamental and harmonic frequency radio waves of type II radio bursts are assumed to be products of three-wave interaction processes of beam-excited Langmuir waves. Using a particle-in-cell code, we have performed simulations of the assumed emission region, a coronal mass ejection foreshock with two counterstreaming electron beams. Analysis of wavemodes within the simulation shows self-consistent excitation of beam-driven modes, which yield interaction products at both fundamental and harmonic emission frequencies. Through variation of the beam strength, we have investigated the dependence of energy transfer into electrostatic and electromagnetic modes, confirming the quadratic dependence of electromagnetic emission on electron beam strength.

Experimental evidence of phase coherence of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind: GEOTAIL satellite data.

Science.gov (United States)

Koga, D; Chian, A C-L; Hada, T; Rempel, E L

2008-02-13

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is commonly observed in the solar wind. Nonlinear interactions among MHD waves are likely to produce finite correlation of the wave phases. For discussions of various transport processes of energetic particles, it is fundamentally important to determine whether the wave phases are randomly distributed (as assumed in the quasi-linear theory) or have a finite coherence. Using a method based on the surrogate data technique, we analysed the GEOTAIL magnetic field data to evaluate the phase coherence in MHD turbulence in the Earth's foreshock region. The results demonstrate the existence of finite phase correlation, indicating that nonlinear wave-wave interactions are in progress.

NONLINEAR WAVE INTERACTIONS AS EMISSION PROCESS OF TYPE II RADIO BURSTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganse, Urs; Kilian, Patrick; Spanier, Felix; Vainio, Rami

2012-01-01

The emission of fundamental and harmonic frequency radio waves of type II radio bursts are assumed to be products of three-wave interaction processes of beam-excited Langmuir waves. Using a particle-in-cell code, we have performed simulations of the assumed emission region, a coronal mass ejection foreshock with two counterstreaming electron beams. Analysis of wavemodes within the simulation shows self-consistent excitation of beam-driven modes, which yield interaction products at both fundamental and harmonic emission frequencies. Through variation of the beam strength, we have investigated the dependence of energy transfer into electrostatic and electromagnetic modes, confirming the quadratic dependence of electromagnetic emission on electron beam strength.

Retrospective analysis of the Spitak earthquake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. K. Tovmassian

1995-06-01

Full Text Available Based on the retrospective analysis of numerous data and studies of the Spitak earthquake the present work at- tempts to shed light on different aspects of that catastrophic seismic event which occurred in Northern Arme- nia on December 7, 1988. The authors follow a chronological order of presentation, namely: changes in geo- sphere, atmosphere, biosphere during the preparation of the Spitak earthquake, foreshocks, main shock, after- shocks, focal mechanisms, historical seismicity; seismotectonic position of the source, strong motion records, site effects; the macroseismic effect, collapse of buildings and structures; rescue activities; earthquake conse- quences; and the lessons of the Spitak earthquake.

Flank solar wind interaction. Annual report, June 1991-July 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, S.L.; Greenstadt, E.W.

1992-08-01

This report summarizes the results of the first 12 months of our program to study the interaction of the Earth's magnetosphere with the solar wind on the far flanks of the bow shock. This study employs data from the ISEE-3 spacecraft during its traversals of the Earth's magnetotail and correlative data from spacecraft monitoring the solar wind upstream. Our main effort to date has involved assembling data sets and developing new plotting programs. Two talks were given at the Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union describing our initial results from analyzing data from the far flank foreshock and magnetosheath. The following sections summarize our results

Characteristics of the magnetohydrodynamic waves observed in the earth's magnetosphere and on the ground

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuwashima, M.; Fujita, S.

1989-01-01

Current research topics on MHD waves in the earth's magnetosphere and on the ground are summarized. Upstream waves in the earth's foreshock region and their transmission into and propagation through the magnetosphere are discussed in the context of relationships of Pc3 magnetic pulsations on the ground. The characteristics of ssc-associated magnetic pulsations are considered, and instabilities with the hot plasma in the ring current in the magnetosphere are addressed in the context of the relationships of compressional Pc 4-5 waves. The characteristics of Pi2 magnetic pulsations are examined, and the role of the ionosphere on the modifications of MHD waves is addressed

Two-dimensional saturation of broadband electron acoustic waves in the foreshock region

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Schriver, D.; Sotnikov, Vladimir; Ashour-Abdalla, M.; Fiala, Vladimír

1997-01-01

Roč. 102, - (1997), s. 17451 - 17457 ISSN 0148-0227 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA3042601; GA MŠk ES 038; GA ČR US Grant - others:US-Czech Science and Technology Joint Program(CZ) 95043 Impact factor: 2.416, year: 1997

NASA's THEMIS Mission: Multipoint Observations of Substorms, the Foreshock, and the Magnetopause

Science.gov (United States)

Sibeck, D. G.; Angelopoulos, V.; Kuznetsova, M.; Glabmeier, K.-H.; McFadden. J. P.

2008-01-01

From launch on February 17 through the repositioning to final orbits that began in September 2007, the five-spacecraft of the THEMIS mission operated nominally in nearly identical 14.6 RE apogee near-equatorial orbits. On March 23, while aligned from east to west in the duskside magnetotail, the spacecraft observed two substorm sequences in fast survey mode. Timing the motion of these signatures served as an early proof of concept for the main phase of the mission: particle injection and dipolarization signatures propagated duskward from one probe to another, as did auroral intensifications seen by the dedicated array of ground-based observatories. During the summer of 2007, the spacecraft were on the dayside, where the three inner spacecraft (C, D, E) were separated by 100-500 km and the two outer probes (B, -4) by 5,000 - 10,000 km. Here the THEMIS probes repeatedly encountered the magnetopause and bow shock, dissecting flux transfer events (FTEs), determining the instantaneous width of the low-latitude boundary layer, and simultaneously observing hot flow anomalies upstream and downstream from the bow shock at the moment of their inception. From January to March 2008, the spacecraft were in the Earths magnetotail with apogees of 31.0, 19.5, 11.8 (2) and 10.0 RE corresponding to periods of 4, 2, and 1 days. Radial alignments once each four days offered an opportunity to pinpoint when and where substorms begin. This talk reviews THEMIS discoveries to date, with an emphasis on model-data comparisons of FTE characteristics

Large Scale Earth's Bow Shock with Northern IMF as Simulated by PIC Code in Parallel with MHD Model

Science.gov (United States)

Baraka, Suleiman

2016-06-01

In this paper, we propose a 3D kinetic model (particle-in-cell, PIC) for the description of the large scale Earth's bow shock. The proposed version is stable and does not require huge or extensive computer resources. Because PIC simulations work with scaled plasma and field parameters, we also propose to validate our code by comparing its results with the available MHD simulations under same scaled solar wind (SW) and (IMF) conditions. We report new results from the two models. In both codes the Earth's bow shock position is found to be ≈14.8 R E along the Sun-Earth line, and ≈29 R E on the dusk side. Those findings are consistent with past in situ observations. Both simulations reproduce the theoretical jump conditions at the shock. However, the PIC code density and temperature distributions are inflated and slightly shifted sunward when compared to the MHD results. Kinetic electron motions and reflected ions upstream may cause this sunward shift. Species distributions in the foreshock region are depicted within the transition of the shock (measured ≈2 c/ ω pi for Θ Bn = 90° and M MS = 4.7) and in the downstream. The size of the foot jump in the magnetic field at the shock is measured to be (1.7 c/ ω pi ). In the foreshocked region, the thermal velocity is found equal to 213 km s-1 at 15 R E and is equal to 63 km s -1 at 12 R E (magnetosheath region). Despite the large cell size of the current version of the PIC code, it is powerful to retain macrostructure of planets magnetospheres in very short time, thus it can be used for pedagogical test purposes. It is also likely complementary with MHD to deepen our understanding of the large scale magnetosphere.

Plasma electron signature of magnetic connection to the earth's bow shock: ISEE 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.; Anderson, R.C.; Asbridge, J.R.; Bame, S.J.; Gosling, J.T.; Zwickl, R.D.

1982-01-01

Enhanced fluxes of low-energy electrons backstreaming from the earth's bow shock have been identified at ISEE 3. When present, these fluxes modify ambient solar wind electron velocity distributions f(v) in characteristic ways that depends on whether ISEE 3 is near the edge, or within the interior of the earth's electron foreshock. Near the edge, energy peaks in f(v) are observed. Such distributions should be locally unstable to electron plasma oscillations. Well within the interior of the foreshock, enhanced fluxes of electrons with energies up to the maximum detected by the Los Alamos electron analyzer (approx.1 keV) are observed over the full backward hemisphere. These electrons can be modelled with an asymptotic power law distribution having index in the range 4< or approx. =p/sub b/s< or approx. =6. At intermediate energies (approx.20--50 eV), twin angular peaks are observed centered on the magnetic field direction B. Also observed at these times are depressions in f(v) at energies less than approx.20 eV that are centered on B. Such distributions having a perpendicular temperature greater than their parallel temperature may be locally unstable to the generation of whistler waves. Analysis of a particularly clean example of connection to the bow shock is consistent with the possiblility that the observed electron fluxes emerge from the forward foot of the electron heating region within bow shock where the electron density and temperature are larger than that of the uperturbed upstream solar wind by a factor of approx.1.2. This analysis also indicates that the electrostatic potential within the forward foot of the shock is between approx.5 and 50 V more positive than that within plasma far upstream at ISEE 3. However, these interpretations depend on the assumption of nearly scatter-free propagation, which may not hold

Tuning critical failure with viscoelasticity: How aftershocks inhibit criticality in an analytical mean field model of fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Baro Urbea, J.; Davidsen, J.

2017-12-01

The hypothesis of critical failure relates the presence of an ultimate stability point in the structural constitutive equation of materials to a divergence of characteristic scales in the microscopic dynamics responsible of deformation. Avalanche models involving critical failure have determined universality classes in different systems: from slip events in crystalline and amorphous materials to the jamming of granular media or the fracture of brittle materials. However, not all empirical failure processes exhibit the trademarks of critical failure. As an example, the statistical properties of ultrasonic acoustic events recorded during the failure of porous brittle materials are stationary, except for variations in the activity rate that can be interpreted in terms of aftershock and foreshock activity (J. Baró et al., PRL 2013).The rheological properties of materials introduce dissipation, usually reproduced in atomistic models as a hardening of the coarse-grained elements of the system. If the hardening is associated to a relaxation process the same mechanism is able to generate temporal correlations. We report the analytic solution of a mean field fracture model exemplifying how criticality and temporal correlations are tuned by transient hardening. We provide a physical meaning to the conceptual model by deriving the constitutive equation from the explicit representation of the transient hardening in terms of a generalized viscoelasticity model. The rate of 'aftershocks' is controlled by the temporal evolution of the viscoelastic creep. At the quasistatic limit, the moment release is invariant to rheology. Therefore, the lack of criticality is explained by the increase of the activity rate close to failure, i.e. 'foreshocks'. Finally, the avalanche propagation can be reinterpreted as a pure mathematical problem in terms of a stochastic counting process. The statistical properties depend only on the distance to a critical point, which is universal for any

Comprehensive study of ULF upstream waves observed in the topside ionosphere by CHAMP and on the ground

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Heilig

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Based on magnetic field measurements from the satellite CHAMP, a detailed picture could be obtained of the upstream wave (UW distribution in the topside ionosphere. The low, near-polar orbit of CHAMP, covering all local times, allows the global distribution of this type of pulsation to be revealed. The observations from space are compared to recordings of the ground-based MM100 meridional array covering the latitude range 66° to 42° in magnetic coordinates. UWs show up very clearly in the compressional component of the satellite magnetic field data, whereas on the ground, their signature is found in the H component, but it is mixed with oscillations from field line resonant pulsations. Here we first introduce a procedure for an automated detection of UW signatures, both in ground and space data. Then a statistical analysis is presented of UW pulsations recorded during a 132-day period, centred on the autumn 2001 equinox. Observations in the top-side ionosphere reveal a clear latitudinal distribution of the amplitudes. Largest signals are observed at the equator. Minima show up at about 40° latitude. The coherence between ground and satellite wave signatures is high over wide latitude and longitude ranges. We make suggestions about the entry mechanism of UWs from the foreshock region into the magnetosphere. The clear UW signature in satellite recordings between −60° and 60° latitude allows for detailed investigations of the dependence on solar wind conditions. We test the control of solar wind speed, interplanetary magnetic field strength and cone angle on UWs. For the first time, it is possible to derive details of the Doppler-shift effect by modifying the UW frequency from direct observations. The results reconcile foreshock wave generation predictions with near-Earth observations.

Ion Dynamics at Shocks: Ion Reflection and Beam Formation at Quasi-perpendicular Shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucharek, Harald; Moebius, Eberhard

2005-01-01

The physics of collisionless shocks is controlled by the ion dynamics. The generation of gyrating ions by reflection as well as the formation of field-aligned ion beams are essential parts of this dynamic. On the one hand reflection is most likely the first interaction of ions with the shock before they undergo the downstream thermalization process. On the other hand field-aligned ion beams, predominately found at the quasi-perpendicular bow shock, propagate into the distant foreshock region and may create wave activity. We revisit ion reflection, the source and basic production mechanism of field-aligned ion beams, by using multi-spacecraft measurements and contrast these observations with existing theories. Finally, we propose an alternative production mechanism

A study of shock-associated magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar wind

Science.gov (United States)

Spangler, Steven R.

1992-01-01

Three major topics were addressed, one theoretical and two observational. The topics were: (1) an attempt to understand the evolution of the large-amplitude magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in the foreshock, using a nonlinear wave equation called the Derivative Nonlinear Schrodinger equation (henceforth DNLS) as a model, (2) using the extensive set of ISE data to test for the presence of various nonlinear wave processes which might be present, and (3) a study of plasma turbulence in the interstellar medium which might be physically similar to that in the solar wind. For these investigations we used radioastronomical techniques. Good progress was made in each of these areas and a separate discussion of each is given.

Determining the wavelength of Langmuir wave packets at the Earth's bow shock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Krasnoselskikh

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The propagation of Langmuir waves in plasmas is known to be sensitive to density fluctuations. Such fluctuations may lead to the coexistence of wave pairs that have almost opposite wave-numbers in the vicinity of their reflection points. Using high frequency electric field measurements from the WIND satellite, we determine for the first time the wavelength of intense Langmuir wave packets that are generated upstream of the Earth's electron foreshock by energetic electron beams. Surprisingly, the wavelength is found to be 2 to 3 times larger than the value expected from standard theory. These values are consistent with the presence of strong inhomogeneities in the solar wind plasma rather than with the effect of weak beam instabilities.

Inductive seismo-electromagnetic effect in relation to seismogenic ULF emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Molchanov

2001-01-01

Full Text Available During the seismic wave propagation through the crust, the electromagnetic pulse can originate due to MHD conversion in this conductive medium. On the assumption of simple models of seismic wave excitation and attenuation, the problem is reduced to the analysis of a diffusion-like equation for a vector potential function. In this way, we need to change the classical gauge condition. A semi-analytical form of the solution is obtained in a case with constant ground conductivity. Dependencies of the electric and magnetic field components and the pulse duration on distance and crust conductivity have been computed in detail. The results could be useful for the explanation of electromagnetic signals related to coseismic, foreshock and aftershock activity.

An overview of the geotechnical damage brought by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Hemanta Hazarika,; Takaji Kokusho,; Kayen, Robert E.; Dashti, Shideh; Yutaka Tanoue,; Shuuichi Kuroda and Kentaro Kuribayashi,; Daisuke Matsumoto,; Furuichi, Hideo

2016-01-01

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.0 (Japanese intensity = 7) that struck on April 16 brought devastation in many areas of Kumamoto Prefecture and partly in Oita Prefecture in Kyushu Region, Japan. The earthquake succeeds a foreshock of magnitude 6.5 (Japanese intensity = 7) on April 14. The authors conducted two surveys on the devastated areas: one during April 16-17, and the other during May 11-14. This report summarizes the damage brought to geotechnical structures by the two consecutive earthquakes within a span of twenty-eight hours. This report highlights some of the observed damage and identifies reasons for such damage. The geotechnical challenges towards mitigation of losses from such earthquakes are also suggested.

Magnetosheath density fluctuations and magnetopause motion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sibeck, D.G. [Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Lab., Laurel, MD (United States); Gosling, J.T. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

1996-01-01

The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation controls foreshock densities and modulates the fraction of the solar wind dynamic pressure applied to the magnetosphere. Such pressure variations produce bow shock and magnetopause motion and cause the radial profiles for various magnetosheath parameters to sweep inward and outward past nearly stationary satellites. The authors report ISEE 2 observations of correlated density and speed fluctuations, and anticorrelated density and temperature fluctuations, on an outbound pass through the northern dawnside magnetosheath. Densities decreased when the magnetic field rotated southward and draped about the magnetopause. In the absence of any significant solar wind density or dynamic pressure variations, they interpret the magnetosheath fluctuations as evidence for radial magnetosheath motion induced by variations in the IMF orientation. 41 refs., 8 figs.

Multipoint study of magnetosheath magnetic field fluctuations and their relation to the foreshock

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gutynska, O.; Šimůnek, Jiří; Šafránková, J.; Němeček, Z.; Přech, L.

2012-01-01

Roč. 117, A4 (2012), A04214/1-A04214/12 ISSN 0148-0227 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/09/0170 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : magnetosheath * magnetopause and boundary layers * correlation analysis * spectral analysis Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.174, year: 2012 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011JA017240/abstract

Energetic particle parallel diffusion in a cascading wave turbulence in the foreshock region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Otsuka

2007-09-01

Full Text Available We study parallel (field-aligned diffusion of energetic particles in the upstream of the bow shock with test particle simulations. We assume parallel shock geometry of the bow shock, and that MHD wave turbulence convected by the solar wind toward the shock is purely transverse in one-dimensional system with a constant background magnetic field. We use three turbulence models: a homogeneous turbulence, a regular cascade from a large scale to smaller scales, and an inverse cascade from a small scale to larger scales. For the homogeneous model the particle motions along the average field are Brownian motions due to random and isotropic scattering across 90 degree pitch angle. On the other hand, for the two cascade models particle motion is non-Brownian due to coherent and anisotropic pitch angle scattering for finite time scale. The mean free path λ_|| calculated by the ensemble average of these particle motions exhibits dependence on the distance from the shock. It also depends on the parameters such as the thermal velocity of the particles, solar wind flow velocity, and a wave turbulence model. For the inverse cascade model, the dependence of λ_|| at the shock on the thermal energy is consistent with the hybrid simulation done by Giacalone (2004, but the spatial dependence of λ_|| is inconsistent with it.

Coupled hydromagnetic wave excitation and ion acceleration upstream of the earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, M.A.

1982-01-01

A self-consistent theory is presented for the excitation of hydromagnetic waves and the acceleration of diffuse ions upstream of the earth's bow shock in the quasi-equilibrium that results when the solar wind velocity and the interplanetary magnetic field are nearly parallel. For the waves the quasi-equilibrium results from a balance between excitation by the ions, which stream relative to the solar wind plasma, and convective loss to the magnetosheath. For the diffuse ions the quasi-equilibrium results from a balance between injection at the shock front, confinement to the foreshock by pitch angle scattering on the waves, acceleration by compression at the shock front, loss to the magnetosheath, loss due to escape upstream of the foreshock, and loss via diffusion perpendicular to the average magnetic field onto field lines that do not connect to the shock front. Diffusion equations describing the ion transport and wave kinetic equations describing the hydromagnetic wave transport are solved self-consistently to yield analytical expressions for the differential wave intensity spectrum as a function of frequency and distance from the bow shock z and for the ion omnidirectional distribution functions and anisotropies as functions of energy and z, In quantitative agreement with observations, the theory predicts (1) exponential spectra at the bow shock in energy per charge, (2) a decrease in intensity and hardening of the ion spectra with increasing z, (3) a 30-keV proton anisotropy parallel to z increasing from -0.28 at the bow shock to +0.51 as z→infinity (4) a linearly polarized wave intensity spectrum with a minimum at approx.6 x 10 -3 Hz and a maximum at approx.2--3 x 10 -2 Hz, (5) a decrease in the wave intensity spectrum with increasing z, (6) a total energy density in protons with energies >15 keV about eight times that in the hydromagnetic waves

Vortex, ULF wave and Aurora Observation after Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Change

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Q.

2017-12-01

Here we will summarize our recent study and show some new results on the Magnetosphere and Ionosphere Response to Dynamic Pressure Change/disturbances in the Solar Wind and foreshock regions. We study the step function type solar wind dynamic pressure change (increase/decrease) interaction with the magnetosphere using THEMIS satellites at both dayside and nightside in different geocentric distances. Vortices generated by the dynamic pressure change passing along the magnetopause are found and compared with model predictions. ULF waves and vortices are excited in the dayside and nightside plasma sheet when dynamic pressure change hit the magnetotail. The related ionospheric responses, such as aurora and TCVs, are also investigated. We compare Global MHD simulations with the observations. We will also show some new results that dayside magnetospheric FLRs might be caused by foreshock structures.Shi, Q. Q. et al. (2013), THEMIS observations of ULF wave excitation in the nightside plasma sheet during sudden impulse events, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 118, doi:10.1029/2012JA017984. Shi, Q. Q. et al. (2014), Solar wind pressure pulse-driven magnetospheric vortices and their global consequences, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 119, doi:10.1002/2013JA019551. Tian, A.M. et al.(2016), Dayside magnetospheric and ionospheric responses to solar wind pressure increase: Multispacecraft and ground observations, J. Geophys. Res., 121, doi:10.1002/2016JA022459. Shen, X.C. et al.(2015), Magnetospheric ULF waves with increasing amplitude related to solar wind dynamic pressure changes: THEMIS observations, J. Geophys. Res., 120, doi:10.1002/2014JA020913Zhao, H. Y. et al. (2016), Magnetospheric vortices and their global effect after a solar wind dynamic pressure decrease, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 121, doi:10.1002/2015JA021646. Shen, X. C., et al. (2017), Dayside magnetospheric ULF wave frequency modulated by a solar wind dynamic pressure negative impulse, J. Geophys. Res

Nucleation process and dynamic inversion of the Mw 6.9 Valparaíso 2017 earthquake in Central Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, S.; Aden-Antoniow, F.; Baez, J. C., Sr.; Otarola, C., Sr.; Potin, B.; DelCampo, F., Sr.; Poli, P.; Flores, C.; Satriano, C.; Felipe, L., Sr.; Madariaga, R. I.

2017-12-01

The Valparaiso 2017 sequence occurred in mega-thrust Central Chile, an active zone where the last mega-earthquake occurred in 1730. An intense seismicity occurred 2 days before of the Mw 6.9 main-shock. A slow trench ward movement observed in the coastal GPS antennas accompanied the foreshock seismicity. Following the Mw 6.9 earthquake the seismicity migrated 30 Km to South-East. This sequence was well recorded by multi-parametric stations composed by GPS, Broad-Band and Strong Motion instruments. We built a seismic catalogue with 2329 events associated to Valparaiso sequence, with a magnitude completeness of Ml 2.8. We located all the seismicity considering a new 3D velocity model obtained for the Valparaiso zone, and compute the moment tensor for events with magnitude larger than Ml 3.5, and finally studied the presence of repeating earthquakes. The main-shock is studied by performing a dynamic inversion using the strong motion records and an elliptical patch approach to characterize the rupture process. During the two days nucleation stage, we observe a compact zone of repeater events. In the meantime a westward GPS movement was recorded in the coastal GPS stations. The aseismic moment estimated from GPS is larger than the foreshocks cumulative moment, suggesting the presence of a slow slip event, which potentially triggered the 6.9 mainshock. The Mw 6.9 earthquake is associated to rupture of an elliptical asperity of semi-axis of 10 km and 5 km, with a sub-shear rupture, stress drop of 11.71 MPa, yield stress of 17.21 MPa, slip weakening of 0.65 m and kappa value of 1.70. This sequence occurs close to, and with some similar characteristics that 1985 Valparaíso Mw 8.0 earthquake. The rupture of this asperity could stress more the highly locked Central Chile zone where a mega-thrust earthquake like 1730 is expected.

Search for Anisotropy Changes Associated with Two Large Earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, M. K.; Graham, K.; Aoki, Y.; Arnold, R.

2017-12-01

Seismic anisotropy is often considered to be an indicator of stress in the crust, because the closure of cracks due to differential stress leads to waves polarized parallel to the cracks travelling faster than the orthogonal direction. Changes in shear wave splitting have been suggested to result from stress changes at volcanoes and earthquakes. However, the effects of mineral or structural alignment, and the difficulty of distinguishing between changes in anisotropy along an earthquake-station path from distinguishing changes in the path itself, have made such findings controversial. Two large earthquakes in 2016 provide unique datasets to test the use of shear wave splitting for measuring variations in stress because clusters of closely-spaced earthquakes occurred both before and after a mainshock. We use the automatic, objective splitting analysis code MFAST to speed process and minimize unwitting observer bias when determining time variations. The sequence of earthquakes related to the M=7.2 Japanese Kumamoto earthquake of 14 April 2016 includes both foreshocks, mainshocks and aftershocks. The sequence was recorded by the NIED permanent network, which already contributed background seismic anisotropy measurements in a previous study of anisotropy and stress in Kyushu. Preliminary measurements of shear wave splitting from earthquakes that occurred in 2016 show results at some stations that clearly differ from those of the earlier study. They also change between earthquakes recorded before and after the mainshock. Further work is under way to determine whether the changes are more likely due to changes in stress during the observation time, or due to spatial changes in anisotropy combined with changes in earthquake locations. Likewise, background seismicity and also foreshocks and aftershocks in the 2013 Cook Strait earthquake sequence including two M=6.5 earthquakes in 2013 in New Zealand were in the same general region as aftershocks of the M=7.8 Kaikoura

Universality in the dynamical properties of seismic vibrations

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Soumya; Barat, P.; Mukherjee, Indranil

2018-02-01

We have studied the statistical properties of the observed magnitudes of seismic vibration data in discrete time in an attempt to understand the underlying complex dynamical processes. The observed magnitude data are taken from six different geographical locations. All possible magnitudes are considered in the analysis including catastrophic vibrations, foreshocks, aftershocks and commonplace daily vibrations. The probability distribution functions of these data sets obey scaling law and display a certain universality characteristic. To investigate the universality features in the observed data generated by a complex process, we applied Random Matrix Theory (RMT) in the framework of Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE). For all these six places the observed data show a close fit with the predictions of RMT. This reinforces the idea of universality in the dynamical processes generating seismic vibrations.

Langmuir turbulence in space plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldman, M.V. [Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States); Newman, D.L. [Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States); Wang, J.G. [Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States); Muschietti, L. [California Univ., Berkeley (United States). Space Sciences Lab.

1996-11-01

Recent developments in theoretical and numerical modeling of Langmuir turbulence in space and laboratory plasmas are addressed. Kinetic effects, which have been missing from (fluid) traditional Zakharov equation models are explored using Vlasov code simulations. These studies are motivated by beam-driven Langmuir waves and particle distributions measured in earth`s foreshock region, and by beam-driven Langmuir waves and beams that underlie type III solar radio emission in the solar wind. The nonlinear physical processes studied in these 1-D Vlasov simulations include both wave-wave interactions and acceleration of particles by waves-leading to electron-beam flattening. We study bump-on-tail instabilities as boundary value problems, and determine the interplay in space and time between beam plateau formation, stimulated wave-wave backscatter cascades, and strong turbulence wave-packet collapse. (orig.).

A model for radio emission from solar coronal shocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, G. Q.; Chen, L.; Wu, D. J., E-mail: djwu@pmo.ac.cn [Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS, Nanjing 210008 (China)

2014-05-01

Solar coronal shocks are very common phenomena in the solar atmosphere and are believed to be the drivers of solar type II radio bursts. However, the microphysical nature of these emissions is still an open question. This paper proposes that electron cyclotron maser (ECM) emission is responsible for the generation of radiation from the coronal shocks. In the present model, an energetic ion beam accelerated by the shock first excites the Alfvén wave (AW), then the excited AW leads to the formation of a density-depleted duct along the foreshock boundary of the shock. In this density-depleted duct, the energetic electron beam produced via the shock acceleration can effectively excite radio emission by ECM instability. Our results show that this model may potentially be applied to solar type II radio bursts.

Disease and injury trends among evacuees in a shelter located at the epicenter of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yorifuji, Takashi; Sato, Takushi; Yoneda, Toru; Kishida, Yoshiomi; Yamamoto, Sumie; Sakai, Taro; Sashiyama, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Shuko; Orui, Hayato; Kato, Daisuke; Hasegawa, Taro; Suzuki, Yoshihiro; Okamoto, Maki; Hayashi, Hideki; Suganami, Shigeru

2017-06-16

Two huge earthquakes struck Kumamoto, Japan, in April 2016, forcing residents to evacuate. Few studies have reported early-phase disease and injury trends among evacuees following major inland earthquakes. We evaluated the trends among evacuees who visited a medical clinic in a shelter located at the epicenter of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. The clinic opened on April 15, the day after the foreshock, and closed 3 weeks later. We reviewed medical charts related to 929 outpatient visits and conducted descriptive analyses. The evacuees experienced mild injuries and common diseases. The types of diseases changed weekly. Elderly people needed medical support for longer than other age groups. Future earthquakes may be inevitable, but establishing arrangements for medical needs or making precautions for infectious diseases in shelters could reduce the effects of earthquake-related health problems.

Langmuir wave-packet generation from an electron beam propagating in the inhomogeneous solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaslavsky, A.; Maksimovic, M.; Volokitin, A. S.; Krasnoselskikh, V. V.; Bale, S. D.

2010-01-01

Recent in-situ observations by the TDS instrument equipping the STEREO spacecraft revealed that large amplitude spatially localized Langmuir waves are frequent in the solar wind, and correlated with the presence of suprathermal electron beams during type III events or close to the electron foreshock. We briefly present the new theoretical model used to perform the study of these localized electrostatic waves, and show first results of simulations of the destabilization of Langmuir waves by a beam propagating in the inhomogeneous solar wind. The main results are that the destabilized waves are mainly focalized near the minima of the density profiles, and that the nonlinear interaction of the waves with the resonant particles enhances this focalization compared to a situation in which the only propagation effects are taken into account.

A model for radio emission from solar coronal shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, G. Q.; Chen, L.; Wu, D. J.

2014-01-01

Solar coronal shocks are very common phenomena in the solar atmosphere and are believed to be the drivers of solar type II radio bursts. However, the microphysical nature of these emissions is still an open question. This paper proposes that electron cyclotron maser (ECM) emission is responsible for the generation of radiation from the coronal shocks. In the present model, an energetic ion beam accelerated by the shock first excites the Alfvén wave (AW), then the excited AW leads to the formation of a density-depleted duct along the foreshock boundary of the shock. In this density-depleted duct, the energetic electron beam produced via the shock acceleration can effectively excite radio emission by ECM instability. Our results show that this model may potentially be applied to solar type II radio bursts.

Slow-mode shocks in the earth's magnetosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.

1987-01-01

The locations and structure of slow-mode shocks in the earth's magnetosphere are reviewed. To date, such shocks have only been identified along the high latitude portions of the lobe-plasma sheet boundary of the geomagnetic tail. Although their intrinsic thickness is of the order of the upstream ion inertial length, they affect the internal state of a relatively much larger volume of surrounding plasma. In particular, they support a well-developed foreshock very similar to that observed upstream of the earth's bow shock, and a turbulent, strongly convecting downstream flow. They also figure importantly in the energy budget of geomagnetic substorms and produce effects which are closely analogous to much of the phenomenology known from solar observations to be associated with two-ribbon flares. 74 refs., 14 figs

Collaborative Research: failure of RockMasses from Nucleation and Growth of Microscopic Defects and Disorder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, William [Boston Univ., MA (United States)

2016-09-12

Over the 21 years of funding we have pursued several projects related to earthquakes, damage and nucleation. We developed simple models of earthquake faults which we studied to understand Gutenburg-Richter scaling, foreshocks and aftershocks, the effect of spatial structure of the faults and its interaction with underlying self organization and phase transitions. In addition we studied the formation of amorphous solids via the glass transition. We have also studied nucleation with a particular concentration on transitions in systems with a spatial symmetry change. In addition we investigated the nucleation process in models that mimic rock masses. We obtained the structure of the droplet in both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. We also investigated the effect of defects or asperities on the nucleation of failure in simple models of earthquake faults.

The 11 May 2011 earthquake at Lorca (SE Spain viewed in a structural-tectonic context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. L. M. Vissers

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The Lorca earthquake of 11 May 2011 in the Betic Cordillera of SE Spain occurred almost exactly on the Alhama de Murcia fault, a marked fault that forms part of a NE-SW trending belt of faults and thrusts. The fault belt is reminiscent of a strike-slip corridor, but recent structural studies have provided clear evidence for reverse motions on these faults. Focal mechanisms of the main earthquake, but also of a foreshock, are strikingly consistent with structural observations on the Alhama de Murcia fault. This strengthens the conclusion that, rather than a strike-slip fault, the fault is at present a contractional fault with an oblique reverse sense of motion, presumably in response to the NW-directed motion of Africa with respect to Europe.

Progress report on lithium-related geologic investigations in Bolivia

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, J.R.; Howard, K.A.; Rettig, S.L.; Smith, R.L.; Ericksen, G.E.; Risacher, Francois; Alarcon, Hugo; Morales, Ricardo

1982-01-01

The September 1, 1981, Samoa Islands Region earthquake occurred at the extreme northern end of the Tonga arc in a region where the Pacific plate may be disjointed along a hinge fault. In the last 50 years, magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes have occurred in this region on the average of once every six years, but four 7+ events have now occurred within the last six years. The mainshock was preceded about two hours earlier by a foreshock that was used as a calibration event for the Joint Epicenter Determination relocation of the mainshock and nearby seismicity occurring within a period seven months prior to and one week after the mainshock. The foreshock, better-located events of the prior seismicity, and most aftershocks are concentrated in a group near the mainshock epicenter, but several more distant aftershocks suggest that the aftershock zone may have been as large as 125 km in length and trended about S35?E. Identification of depth phases from a full suite of broadband records gives source depths of 25-3km for the mainshock and 29.5?3 km for the foreshock using a JB earth model. Source parameters were determined for the mainshock utilizing WWSSN analog and GDSN digital data. The preferred fault plane solution based on P-wave first motion data is a south by southwesterly steeply dipping normal fault, remarkably similar to the mechanism reported by Johnson and Molnar (1972) for the nearby earthquake of April 20, 196B. A waveform inversion technique described by Sipkin (1982), when applied to long-period P waveforms, gives an 'average' point source solution for a purely deviatoric moment rate tensor at a preferred source depth of 22 km. Very similar results were obtained from long-period GDSN body-wave and mantle-wave data using a centroid-moment tensor inversion technique described in Dziewonski, and others (1981). Both techniques provide solutions very close to a double couple source with a south by southwesterly shallow-dipping normal fault mechanism. To obtain

Growth of electron plasma waves above and below f(p) in the electron foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Fung, Shing F.

1988-01-01

This paper investigates the conditions required for electron beams to drive wave growth significantly above and below the electron plasma frequency, f(p), by numerically solving the linear dispersion equation. It is shown that kinetic growth well below f(p) may occur over a broad range of frequencies due to the beam instability, when the electron beam is slow, dilute, and relatively cold. Alternatively, a cold or sharp feature at low parallel velocities in the distribution function may drive kinetic growth significantly below f(p). Kinetic broadband growth significantly above f(p) is explained in terms of faster warmer beams. A unified qualitative theory for the narrow-band and broad-band waves is proposed.

Energetic particles at venus: galileo results.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, D J; McEntire, R W; Krimigis, S M; Roelof, E C; Jaskulek, S; Tossman, B; Wilken, B; Stüdemann, W; Armstrong, T P; Fritz, T A; Lanzerotti, L J; Roederer, J G

1991-09-27

At Venus the Energetic Particles Detector (EPD) on the Galileo spacecraft measured the differential energy spectra and angular distributions of ions >22 kiloelectron volts (keV) and electrons > 15 keV in energy. The only time particles were observed by EPD was in a series of episodic events [0546 to 0638 universal time (UT)] near closest approach (0559:03 UT). Angular distributions were highly anisotropic, ordered by the magnetic field, and showed ions arriving from the hemisphere containing Venus and its bow shock. The spectra showed a power law form with intensities observed into the 120- to 280-keV range. Comparisons with model bow shock calculations show that these energetic ions are associated with the venusian foreshock-bow shock region. Shock-drift acceleration in the venusian bow shock seems the most likely process responsible for the observed ions.

Early results from the Whisper instrument on Cluster: An overview

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Decreau, P.M.E.; Fergeau, P.; Krasnoselskikh, V.

2001-01-01

The Whisper instrument yields two data sets: (i) the electron density determined via the relaxation sounder, and (ii) the spectrum of natural plasma emissions in the frequency band 2-80 kHz. Both data sets allow for the three-dimensional exploration of the magnetosphere by the Cluster mission...... the drift velocity of density structures. Wave observations are also of crucial interest for studying small-scale structures, as demonstrated in an example in the fore-shock region. Early results from the Whisper instrument are very encouraging, and demonstrate that the four-point Cluster measurements...... largely overcomes the limited telemetry allocation. The natural emissions are usually related to the plasma frequency, as identified by the sounder, and the combination of an active sounding operation and a passive survey operation provides a time resolution for the total density determination of 2.2 s...

Temporal properties of seismicity and largest earthquakes in SE Carpathians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Byrdina

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In order to estimate the hazard rate distribution of the largest seismic events in Vrancea, South-Eastern Carpathians, we study temporal properties of historical and instrumental catalogues of seismicity. First, on the basis of Generalized Extreme Value theory we estimate the average return period of the largest events. Then, following Bak et al. (2002 and Corral (2005a, we study scaling properties of recurrence times between earthquakes in appropriate spatial volumes. We come to the conclusion that the seismicity is temporally clustered, and that the distribution of recurrence times is significantly different from a Poisson process even for times largely exceeding corresponding periods of foreshock and aftershock activity. Modeling the recurrence times by a gamma distributed variable, we finally estimate hazard rates with respect to the time elapsed from the last large earthquake.

Distribution and solar wind control of compressional solar wind-magnetic anomaly interactions observed at the Moon by ARTEMIS

Science.gov (United States)

Halekas, J. S.; Poppe, A. R.; Lue, C.; Farrell, W. M.; McFadden, J. P.

2017-06-01

A statistical investigation of 5 years of observations from the two-probe Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) mission reveals that strong compressional interactions occur infrequently at high altitudes near the ecliptic but can form in a wide range of solar wind conditions and can occur up to two lunar radii downstream from the lunar limb. The compressional events, some of which may represent small-scale collisionless shocks ("limb shocks"), occur in both steady and variable interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, with those forming in steady IMF well organized by the location of lunar remanent crustal magnetization. The events observed by ARTEMIS have similarities to ion foreshock phenomena, and those observed in variable IMF conditions may result from either local lunar interactions or distant terrestrial foreshock interactions. Observed velocity deflections associated with compressional events are always outward from the lunar wake, regardless of location and solar wind conditions. However, events for which the observed velocity deflection is parallel to the upstream motional electric field form in distinctly different solar wind conditions and locations than events with antiparallel deflections. Consideration of the momentum transfer between incoming and reflected solar wind populations helps explain the observed characteristics of the different groups of events.Plain Language SummaryWe survey the environment around the Moon to determine when and where strong amplifications in the charged particle density and magnetic field strength occur. These structures may be some of the smallest shock waves in the solar system, and learning about their formation informs us about the interaction of charged particles with small-scale magnetic fields throughout the solar system and beyond. We find that these compressions occur in an extended region downstream from the lunar dawn and dusk regions and

Statistical Seismology and Induced Seismicity

Science.gov (United States)

Tiampo, K. F.; González, P. J.; Kazemian, J.

2014-12-01

While seismicity triggered or induced by natural resources production such as mining or water impoundment in large dams has long been recognized, the recent increase in the unconventional production of oil and gas has been linked to rapid rise in seismicity in many places, including central North America (Ellsworth et al., 2012; Ellsworth, 2013). Worldwide, induced events of M~5 have occurred and, although rare, have resulted in both damage and public concern (Horton, 2012; Keranen et al., 2013). In addition, over the past twenty years, the increase in both number and coverage of seismic stations has resulted in an unprecedented ability to precisely record the magnitude and location of large numbers of small magnitude events. The increase in the number and type of seismic sequences available for detailed study has revealed differences in their statistics that previously difficult to quantify. For example, seismic swarms that produce significant numbers of foreshocks as well as aftershocks have been observed in different tectonic settings, including California, Iceland, and the East Pacific Rise (McGuire et al., 2005; Shearer, 2012; Kazemian et al., 2014). Similarly, smaller events have been observed prior to larger induced events in several occurrences from energy production. The field of statistical seismology has long focused on the question of triggering and the mechanisms responsible (Stein et al., 1992; Hill et al., 1993; Steacy et al., 2005; Parsons, 2005; Main et al., 2006). For example, in most cases the associated stress perturbations are much smaller than the earthquake stress drop, suggesting an inherent sensitivity to relatively small stress changes (Nalbant et al., 2005). Induced seismicity provides the opportunity to investigate triggering and, in particular, the differences between long- and short-range triggering. Here we investigate the statistics of induced seismicity sequences from around the world, including central North America and Spain, and

Trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability and electrostatic harmonic excitation in earth's foreshock

Science.gov (United States)

Klimas, Alexander J.

1990-01-01

The Vlasov simulation is used to examine the trapping saturation of the bump-on-tail instability both with and without mode-mode coupling and subsequent harmonic excitation. It is found that adding the pumped harmonic modes leads to a significant difference in the behavior of the phase-space distribution function near the unstable bump at the saturation time of the instability. The pumped modes permit rapid plateau formation on the space-averaged velocity distribution, in effect preventing the onset of the quasi-linear velocity-diffusion saturation mechanism.

Electron beam interaction with space plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Krafft, C.; Bolokitin, A. S.

1999-12-01

Active space experiments involving the controlled injection of electron beams and the formation of artificially generated currents can provide in many cases a calibration of natural phenomena connected with the dynamic interaction of charged particles with fields. They have a long history beginning from the launches of small rockets with electron guns in order to map magnetic fields lines in the Earth's magnetosphere or to excite artificial auroras. Moreover, natural beams of charged particles exist in many space and astrophysical plasmas and were identified in situ by several satellites; a few examples are beams connected with solar bursts, planetary foreshocks or suprathermal fluxes traveling in planetary magnetospheres. Many experimental and theoretical works have been performed in order to interpret or plan space experiments involving beam injection as well as to understand the physics of wave-particle interaction, as wave radiation, beam dynamics and background plasma modification.

Static stress transfer during the 2002 Nenana Mountain-Denali Fault, Alaska, earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, G.; Ji, C.

2003-01-01

On 23 October 2002, the Mw 6.7 Nenana Mountain earthquake occurred in central Alaska. It was followed on 3 November 2002 by the Mw 7.9 Denali Fault mainshock, the largest strike-slip earthquake to occur in North America during the past 150 years. We have modeled static Coulomb stress transfer effects during this sequence. We find that the Nenana Mountain foreshock transferred 30-50 kPa of Coulomb stress to the hypocentral region of the Denali Fault mainshock, encouraging its occurrence. We also find that the two main earthquakes together transferred more than 400 kPa of Coulomb stress to the Cross Creek segment of the Totschunda fault system and to the Denali fault southeast of the mainshock rupture, and up to 80 kPa to the Denali fault west of the Nenana Mountain rupture. Other major faults in the region experienced much smaller static Coulomb stress changes.

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Aitaro; Nakamura, Kouji; Hiyama, Yohei

2016-01-01

Beginning in April 2016, a series of shallow, moderate to large earthquakes with associated strong aftershocks struck the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, SW Japan. An M j 7.3 mainshock occurred on 16 April 2016, close to the epicenter of an M j 6.5 foreshock that occurred about 28 hours earlier. The intense seismicity released the accumulated elastic energy by right-lateral strike slip, mainly along two known, active faults. The mainshock rupture propagated along multiple fault segments with different geometries. The faulting style is reasonably consistent with regional deformation observed on geologic timescales and with the stress field estimated from seismic observations. One striking feature of this sequence is intense seismic activity, including a dynamically triggered earthquake in the Oita region. Following the mainshock rupture, postseismic deformation has been observed, as well as expansion of the seismicity front toward the southwest and northwest.

The October 1992 Parkfield, California, earthquake prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Langbein, J.

1992-01-01

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake occurred near Parkfield, California, on October 20, 992, at 05:28 UTC (October 19 at 10:28 p.m. local or Pacific Daylight Time).This moderate shock, interpreted as the potential foreshock of a damaging earthquake on the San Andreas fault, triggered long-standing federal, state and local government plans to issue a public warning of an imminent magnitude 6 earthquake near Parkfield. Although the predicted earthquake did not take place, sophisticated suites of instruments deployed as part of the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment recorded valuable data associated with an unusual series of events. this article describes the geological aspects of these events, which occurred near Parkfield in October 1992. The accompnaying article, an edited version of a press conference b Richard Andrews, the Director of the California Office of Emergency Service (OES), describes governmental response to the prediction.   

Temporal characteristics of some aftershock sequences in Bulgaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Solakov

1999-06-01

Full Text Available We apply statistical analysis to study the temporal distribution of aftershocks in aftershock sequences of five earthquakes which occurred in Bulgaria. We use the maximum likelihood method to estimate the parameters of the modified Omori formula for aftershock sequences which is directly based on a time series. We find that: the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameter p show a regional variation, with lower values of the decay rate in North Bulgaria; the modified Omori formula provides an appropriate representation of temporal variation of the aftershock activity in North Bulgaria; the aftershock sequences in South Bulgaria are best modeled by the combination of an ordinary aftershock sequence with secondary aftershock activity. A plot of the cumulative number of events versus the frequency-linearized time t clearly demonstrates a transition from aftershock to foreshock activity prior to the second 1986 Strazhitsa (North Bulgaria earthquake.

Spatio-temporal evolution of the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma aftershock sequence revealed using subspace detection and relocation

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Nicole D; Aster, Richard C.; Yeck, William; McNamara, Daniel E.; Benz, Harley M.

2017-01-01

The 6 November 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma is the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the state. A Mw 4.8 foreshock and the Mw 5.7 mainshock triggered a prolific aftershock sequence. Utilizing a subspace detection method, we increase by fivefold the number of precisely located events between 4 November and 5 December 2011. We find that while most aftershock energy is released in the crystalline basement, a significant number of the events occur in the overlying Arbuckle Group, indicating that active Meeker-Prague faulting extends into the sedimentary zone of wastewater disposal. Although the number of aftershocks in the Arbuckle Group is large, comprising ~40% of the aftershock catalog, the moment contribution of Arbuckle Group earthquakes is much less than 1% of the total aftershock moment budget. Aftershock locations are sparse in patches that experienced large slip during the mainshock.

Axisymmetric particle-in-cell simulations of diamagnetic-cavity formation in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gisler, G.

1989-01-01

Axisymmetric simulations of the expansion of a hot plasma suddenly introduced into a vacuum containing a weak magnetic field were performed using an electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. Both uniform and gradient fields have been used, with the simulation axis along the principle field direction. The formation of a diamagnetic cavity requires an initial plasma β > 1; as the expansion proceeds, β diminishes, and the field eventually recovers. The maximum spatial extent of the cavity and its duration can be obtained from simple dynamical considerations. Field-aligned ion acceleration behind the electron front is observed in all field geometries and strengths. In the case of expansion into a divergent field, the plasma is found to move down the field gradient by ambipolar diffusion. These simulations are relevant to active release experiments in the Earth's magnetosphere, to pellet ablation experiments, and to the naturally occurring diamagnetic bubbles observed at the Earth's foreshock

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence

Science.gov (United States)

KATO, Aitaro; NAKAMURA, Kouji; HIYAMA, Yohei

2016-01-01

Beginning in April 2016, a series of shallow, moderate to large earthquakes with associated strong aftershocks struck the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, SW Japan. An Mj 7.3 mainshock occurred on 16 April 2016, close to the epicenter of an Mj 6.5 foreshock that occurred about 28 hours earlier. The intense seismicity released the accumulated elastic energy by right-lateral strike slip, mainly along two known, active faults. The mainshock rupture propagated along multiple fault segments with different geometries. The faulting style is reasonably consistent with regional deformation observed on geologic timescales and with the stress field estimated from seismic observations. One striking feature of this sequence is intense seismic activity, including a dynamically triggered earthquake in the Oita region. Following the mainshock rupture, postseismic deformation has been observed, as well as expansion of the seismicity front toward the southwest and northwest. PMID:27725474

Nonthermal ions and associated magnetic field behavior at a quasi-parallel earth's bow shock

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, W. P.; Pardaens, A. K.; Schwartz, S. J.; Burgess, D.; Luehr, H.; Kessel, R. L.; Dunlop, M.; Farrugia, C. J.

1993-01-01

Attention is given to ion and magnetic field measurements at the earth's bow shock from the AMPTE-UKS and -IRM spacecraft, which were examined in high time resolution during a 45-min interval when the field remained closely aligned with the model bow shock normal. Dense ion beams were detected almost exclusively in the midst of short-duration periods of turbulent magnetic field wave activity. Many examples of propagation at large elevation angles relative to the ecliptic plane, which is inconsistent with reflection in the standard model shock configuration, were discovered. The associated waves are elliptically polarized and are preferentially left-handed in the observer's frame of reference, but are less confined to the maximum variance plane than other previously studied foreshock waves. The association of the wave activity with the ion beams suggests that the former may be triggered by an ion-driven instability, and possible candidates are discussed.

PLASMA EMISSION BY COUNTER-STREAMING ELECTRON BEAMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ziebell, L. F.; Petruzzellis, L. T.; Gaelzer, R. [Instituto de Física, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Yoon, P. H. [Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Pavan, J., E-mail: luiz.ziebell@ufrgs.br, E-mail: yoonp@umd.edu, E-mail: joel.pavan@ufpel.edu.br [Instituto de Física e Matemática, UFPel, Pelotas, RS (Brazil)

2016-02-10

The radiation emission mechanism responsible for both type-II and type-III solar radio bursts is commonly accepted as plasma emission. Recently Ganse et al. suggested that type-II radio bursts may be enhanced when the electron foreshock geometry of a coronal mass ejection contains a double hump structure. They reasoned that the counter-streaming electron beams that exist between the double shocks may enhance the nonlinear coalescence interaction, thereby giving rise to more efficient generation of radiation. Ganse et al. employed a particle-in-cell simulation to study such a scenario. The present paper revisits the same problem with EM weak turbulence theory, and show that the fundamental (F) emission is not greatly affected by the presence of counter-streaming beams, but the harmonic (H) emission becomes somewhat more effective when the two beams are present. The present finding is thus complementary to the work by Ganse et al.

Moment-tensor solutions for the 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Sipkin, S.A.

1989-01-01

The teleseismic long-period waveforms recorded by the Global Digital Seismograph Network from the two largest Superstition Hills earthquakes are inverted using an algorithm based on optimal filter theory. These solutions differ slightly from those published in the Preliminary Determination of Epicenters Monthly Listing because a somewhat different, improved data set was used in the inversions and a time-dependent moment-tensor algorithm was used to investigate the complexity of the main shock. The foreshock (origin time 01:54:14.5, mb 5.7, Ms6.2) had a scalar moment of 2.3 ?? 1025 dyne-cm, a depth of 8km, and a mechanism of strike 217??, dip 79??, rake 4??. The main shock (origin time 13:15:56.4, mb 6.0, Ms6.6) was a complex event, consisting of at least two subevents, with a combined scalar moment of 1.0 ?? 1026 dyne-cm, a depth of 10km, and a mechanism of strike 303??, dip 89??, rake -180??. -Authors

The Kresna earthquake of 1904 in Bulgaria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ambraseys, N. [Imperial College of Science, London (United Kingdom). Technology and Medicine, Dept. of Civil Engineering

2001-02-01

The Kresna earthquake in 1904 in Bulgaria is one of the largest shallow 20th century events on land in the Balkans. This event, which was preceded by a large foreshock, has hitherto been assigned a range of magnitudes up to M{sub s} = 7.8 but the reappraisal of instrumental data yields as much smaller value of M{sub s} = 7.2 and a re-assesment of the intensity distribution suggests 7.1. Thus both instrumental and macroseismic data appear consistent with a magnitude which is also compatible with the fault segmentation and local morphology of the region which cannot accommodate shallow events much larger than about 7.0. The relatively large size of the main shock suggests surface faulting but the available field evidence is insufficient to establish the dimensions, attitude and amount of dislocation, except perhaps in the vicinity of Krupnik. This down sizing of the Kresna earthquake has important consequences for tectonics and earthquake hazard estimates in the Balkans.

The Kresna earthquake of 1904 in Bulgaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. N. Ambraseys

2001-06-01

Full Text Available The Kresna earthquake in 1904 in Bulgaria is one of the largest shallow 20th century events on land in the Balkans. This event, which was preceded by a large foreshock, has hitherto been assigned a range of magnitudes up to M S = 7.8 but the reappraisal of instrumental data yields a much smaller value of M S = 7.2 and a re-assement of the intensity distribution suggests 7.1. Thus both instrumental and macroseismic data appear consistent with a magnitude which is also compatible with the fault segmentation and local morphology of the region which cannot accommodate shallow events much larger than about 7.0. The relatively large size of the main shock suggests surface faulting but the available field evidence is insufficient to establish the dimensions, attitude andamount of dislocation, except perhaps in the vicinity of Krupnik. This downsizing of the Kresna earthquake has important consequences for tectonics and earthquake hazard estimates in the Balkans.

The 2012 Pianura Padana Emiliana seimic sequence: locations, moment tensors and magnitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Scognamiglio

2012-10-01

Full Text Available On May 20, 2012 (02:03:53 UTC, an Mw 5.86 (Ml 5.9 earthquake struck the Pianura Padana Emiliana region (northern Italy, causing five deaths and damage to several villages and to the towns of Ferrara and Modena. The mainshock was preceded, three hours earlier, by a Mw 3.98 (Ml 4.1 foreshock, which almost co-located with the main event. After the main event, the seismic sequence included six earthquakes with magnitudes >5.0. The biggest aftershock was located about 12 km west of the first mainshock, and was a Mw 5.66 (Ml 5.8 earthquake that occurred on May 29, 2012 (07:00:03 UTC; this can be considered as a second mainshock. After this event, the official death toll of the seismic sequence was 17 people. Moreover, there had been severe damage to the economy of the region and there were 13,000 homeless. [...]    

Scale-free networks of earthquakes and aftershocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baiesi, Marco; Paczuski, Maya

2004-01-01

We propose a metric to quantify correlations between earthquakes. The metric consists of a product involving the time interval and spatial distance between two events, as well as the magnitude of the first one. According to this metric, events typically are strongly correlated to only one or a few preceding ones. Thus a classification of events as foreshocks, main shocks, or aftershocks emerges automatically without imposing predetermined space-time windows. In the simplest network construction, each earthquake receives an incoming link from its most correlated predecessor. The number of aftershocks for any event, identified by its outgoing links, is found to be scale free with exponent γ=2.0(1). The original Omori law with p=1 emerges as a robust feature of seismicity, holding up to years even for aftershock sequences initiated by intermediate magnitude events. The broad distribution of distances between earthquakes and their linked aftershocks suggests that aftershock collection with fixed space windows is not appropriate

Lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling as governing mechanism for preseismic short-term events in atmosphere and ionosphere

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O. Molchanov

2004-01-01

Full Text Available We present a general concept of mechanisms of preseismic phenomena in the atmosphere and ionosphere. After short review of observational results we conclude: 1. Upward migration of fluid substrate matter (bubble can lead to ousting of the hot water/gas near the ground surface and cause an earthquake (EQ itself in the strength-weakened area; 2. Thus, time and place of the bubble appearance could be random values, but EQ, geochemistry anomaly and foreshocks (seismic, SA and ULF electromagnetic ones are casually connected; 3. Atmospheric perturbation of temperature and density could follow preseismic hot water/gas release resulting in generation of atmospheric gravity waves (AGW with periods in a range of 6–60min; 4. Seismo-induced AGW could lead to modification of the ionospheric turbulence and to the change of over-horizon radio-wave propagation in the atmosphere, perturbation of LF waves in the lower ionosphere and ULF emission depression at the ground.

Quasi-perpendicular/quasi-parallel divisions of Earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenstadt, E.W.

1991-01-01

Computer-drawn diagrams of the boundaries between quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel areas of Earth's bow shock are displayed for a few selected cone angles of static interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The effect on the boundary of variable IMF in the foreshock is also discussed and shown for one nominal case. The boundaries demand caution in applying them to the realistic, dynamic conditions of the solar wind and in interpreting the effects of small cone angles on the distributions of structures at the shock. However, the calculated, first-order boundaries are helpful in defining areas of the shock where contributions from active structures inherent in quasi-parallel geometry may be distinguishable from those derived secondarily from upstream reflected ion dynamics. The boundaries are also compatible with known behavior of daytime ULF geomagnetic waves and pulsations according to models postulating that cone angle-controlled, time-dependent ULF activity around the subsolar point of the bow shock provides the source of geomagnetic excitation

Pc3 activity at low geomagnetic latitudes - A comparison with solar wind observations

Science.gov (United States)

Villante, U.; Lepidi, S.; Vellante, M.; Lazarus, A. J.; Lepping, R. P.

1992-01-01

On an hourly time-scale the different roles of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) parameters on ground micropulsation activity can be better investigated than at longer time-scales. A long-term comparison between ground measurements made at L'Aquila and IMP 8 observations confirms the solar wind speed as the key parameter for the onset of pulsations even at low latitudes, although additional control of the energy transfer from the interplanetary medium to the earth's magnetosphere is clearly exerted by the cone angle. Above about 20 mHz the frequency of pulsations is confirmed to be closely related to the IMF magnitude while, in agreement with model predictions, the IMF magnitude is related to the amplitude of the local fundamental resonant mode. We provide an interesting example in which high resolution measurements simultaneously obtained in the foreshock region and on the ground show that external transversal fluctuations do not penetrate deep into the low latitude magnetosphere.

A synthetic seismicity model for the Middle America Trench

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Steven N.

1991-01-01

A novel iterative technique, based on the concept of fault segmentation and computed using 2D static dislocation theory, for building models of seismicity and fault interaction which are physically acceptable and geometrically and kinematically correct, is presented. The technique is applied in two steps to seismicity observed at the Middle America Trench. The first constructs generic models which randomly draw segment strengths and lengths from a 2D probability distribution. The second constructs predictive models in which segment lengths and strengths are adjusted to mimic the actual geography and timing of large historical earthquakes. Both types of models reproduce the statistics of seismicity over five units of magnitude and duplicate other aspects including foreshock and aftershock sequences, migration of foci, and the capacity to produce both characteristic and noncharacteristic earthquakes. Over a period of about 150 yr the complex interaction of fault segments and the nonlinear failure conditions conspire to transform an apparently deterministic model into a chaotic one.

Stress and Strain Rates from Faults Reconstructed by Earthquakes Relocalization

Science.gov (United States)

Morra, G.; Chiaraluce, L.; Di Stefano, R.; Michele, M.; Cambiotti, G.; Yuen, D. A.; Brunsvik, B.

2017-12-01

Recurrence of main earthquakes on the same fault depends on kinematic setting, hosting lithologies and fault geometry and population. Northern and central Italy transitioned from convergence to post-orogenic extension. This has produced a unique and very complex tectonic setting characterized by superimposed normal faults, crossing different geologic domains, that allows to investigate a variety of seismic manifestations. In the past twenty years three seismic sequences (1997 Colfiorito, 2009 L'Aquila and 2016-17 Amatrice-Norcia-Visso) activated a 150km long normal fault system located between the central and northern apennines and allowing the recordings of thousands of seismic events. Both the 1997 and the 2009 main shocks were preceded by a series of small pre-shocks occurring in proximity to the future largest events. It has been proposed and modelled that the seismicity pattern of the two foreshocks sequences was caused by active dilatancy phenomenon, due to fluid flow in the source area. Seismic activity has continued intensively until three events with 6.0

Characteristics of the Taylor microscale in the solar wind/foreshock. Magnetic field and electron velocity measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gurgiolo, C. [Bitterroot Basic Research, Hamilton, MT (United States); Goldstein, M.L.; Vinas, A. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Heliospheric Physics Lab.; Matthaeus, W.H. [Delaware Univ., Newark, DE (United States). Bartol Research Foundation; Fazakerley, A.N. [University College London, Dorking (United Kingdom). Mullard Space Science Lab.

2013-07-01

The Taylor microscale is one of the fundamental turbulence scales. Not easily estimated in the interplanetary medium employing single spacecraft data, it has generally been studied through two point correlations. In this paper we present an alternative, albeit mathematically equivalent, method for estimating the Taylor microscale ({lambda}{sub T}). We make two independent determinations employing multi-spacecraft data sets from the Cluster mission, one using magnetic field data and a second using electron velocity data. Our results using the magnetic field data set yields a scale length of 1538{+-}550 km, slightly less than, but within the same range as, values found in previous magnetic-field-based studies. During time periods where both magnetic field and electron velocity data can be used, the two values can be compared. Relative comparisons show {lambda}{sub T} computed from the velocity is often significantly smaller than that from the magnetic field data. Due to a lack of events where both measurements are available, the absolute {lambda}{sub T} based on the electron fluid velocity is not able to be determined.

Characteristics of the Taylor microscale in the solar wind/foreshock: magnetic field and electron velocity measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Gurgiolo

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The Taylor microscale is one of the fundamental turbulence scales. Not easily estimated in the interplanetary medium employing single spacecraft data, it has generally been studied through two point correlations. In this paper we present an alternative, albeit mathematically equivalent, method for estimating the Taylor microscale (λT. We make two independent determinations employing multi-spacecraft data sets from the Cluster mission, one using magnetic field data and a second using electron velocity data. Our results using the magnetic field data set yields a scale length of 1538 ± 550 km, slightly less than, but within the same range as, values found in previous magnetic-field-based studies. During time periods where both magnetic field and electron velocity data can be used, the two values can be compared. Relative comparisons show λT computed from the velocity is often significantly smaller than that from the magnetic field data. Due to a lack of events where both measurements are available, the absolute λT based on the electron fluid velocity is not able to be determined.

Characteristics of the Taylor microscale in the solar wind/foreshock. Magnetic field and electron velocity measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurgiolo, C.; Goldstein, M.L.; Vinas, A.; Matthaeus, W.H.; Fazakerley, A.N.

2013-01-01

The Taylor microscale is one of the fundamental turbulence scales. Not easily estimated in the interplanetary medium employing single spacecraft data, it has generally been studied through two point correlations. In this paper we present an alternative, albeit mathematically equivalent, method for estimating the Taylor microscale (λ T ). We make two independent determinations employing multi-spacecraft data sets from the Cluster mission, one using magnetic field data and a second using electron velocity data. Our results using the magnetic field data set yields a scale length of 1538±550 km, slightly less than, but within the same range as, values found in previous magnetic-field-based studies. During time periods where both magnetic field and electron velocity data can be used, the two values can be compared. Relative comparisons show λ T computed from the velocity is often significantly smaller than that from the magnetic field data. Due to a lack of events where both measurements are available, the absolute λ T based on the electron fluid velocity is not able to be determined.

Deceleration of the solar wind in the earth's foreshock region - Isee 2 and Imp 8 observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bonifazi, C.; Moreno, G.; Lazarus, A. J.; Sullivan, J. D.

1980-01-01

The deceleration of the solar wind in the region of the interplanetary space filled by ions backstreaming from the earth's bow shock and associated waves is studied using a two-spacecraft technique. This deceleration depends on the solar wind bulk velocity; at low velocities (below 300 km/s) the velocity decrease is about 5 km/s, while at higher velocities (above 400 km/s) the decrease may be as large as 30 km/s. The energy balance shows that the kinetic energy loss far exceeds the thermal energy which is possibly gained by the solar wind; therefore at least part of this energy must go into waves and/or into the backstreaming ions.

Analysis of seismicity and stress before and after the Mw 8.1 Pisagua, Chile, 2014 earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Grigoli, F.; Cesca, S.; Dahm, T.; Hainzl, S.

2014-12-01

On April 1st, 2014 at 23:46:50 UTC, a powerful earthquake of magnitude Mw 8.1 occurred offshore the Northern Chile in the region of the North Chilean seismic gap. The epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 50 km offshore the Chilean coast, near the town of Pisagua. Two days after the main event a Mw 7.6 aftershock struck approximately the same area. In order to identify spatio-temporal changes of source parameters and stress before and after the mainshock, we analyzed in detail the local seismicity above magnitude Mw 3.0 within the time period 01/01/2013-30/04/2014 and estimated long term trends in b-values and earthquake productivity. We used data from the IPOC (Integrated Plate boundary Observatory Chile) regional seismic network, consisting of 20 "in land" broadband station deployed and managed by the GFZ-Potsdam. The recorded earthquake catalog shows an intense foreshock activity consisting of more than 1000 M3+ events in the source region. Full waveform techniques are used to derive both locations and focal mechanisms of about 435 seismic events. The location process has been performed by using a waveform stacking method (Grigoli et al 2013, 2014) with a layered velocity model based on CRUST 2.0 (see the attached figure for the location results of one of these events). Moment tensor inversion has been performed by using the KIWI tool software (Cesca et al. 2010), which is based on a two-step inversion approach. The first step consists in the inversion of the amplitude spectra to retrieve the best fitting focal planes, while the second inversion step is carried out in time domain to solve the focal mechanism polarity and to obtain the centroid location and time. Both location and moment tensor inversion resulted in agreement with the geodynamical settings of the region. Mapping the b-value reveals a spatiotemporal anomaly of low b-values characterizing the frequency-magnitude distribution of the foreshocks in the source area of the mainshock. Finally

The Iquique 2014 sequence: understanding its nucleation and propagation from the seismicity evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Fuenzalida, A.; Rietbrock, A.; Woollam, J.; Tavera, H.; Ruiz, S.

2017-12-01

The Northern Chile and Southern Peru region is well known for its high seismic hazard due to the lack of recent major ruptures along long segments of the subduction interface. For this reason the 2014 Iquique Mw 8.1 earthquake that occurred in the Northern Chile seismic gap was expected and high quality seismic and geodetic networks were operating at the time of the event recording the precursory phase of a mega-thrust event with unprecedented detail. In this study we used seismic data collected during the 2014 Iquique sequence to generate a detailed earthquake catalogue. This catalogue consists of more than 15,000 events identified in Northern Chile during the period between 1/3/14 and 31/5/14 and provides full coverage of the immediate foreshock sequence, the main-shock and early after-shock series. The initial catalogue was obtained by automatic data processing and only selecting events with at least two associate S phases to improve the reliability of initial locations. Subsequently, this subset of events was automatically processed again using an optimized STA/LTA triggering algorithm for both P and S-waves and constraining the detection times by estimated arrival times at each station calculated for the preliminary locations. Finally, all events were relocated using a recently developed 1D velocity model and associated station corrections. For events Mw 4 or larger that occurred between the 15/3/14 and 10/04/14, we estimated it regional moment tensor by full-waveform inversion. Our results confirm the seismic activation of the upper plate during the foreshock sequence, as well highlight a crustal activity on the fore-arc during the aftershock series. The seismicity distribution was compared to the previous inter-seismic coupling studies obtained in the region, in which we observe interplay between high and low coupling areas, which are correlated to the seismicity rate. The spatial distribution of the seismicity and the complexities on the mechanisms observed

Voyager observations of the interaction of the heliosphere with the interstellar medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D. Richardson

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a brief review and update on the Voyager observations of the interaction of the heliosphere with the interstellar medium. Voyager has found many surprises: (1 a new energetic particle component which is accelerated at the termination shock (TS and leaks into the outer heliosphere forming a foreshock region; (2 a termination shock which is modulated by energetic particles and which transfers most of the solar wind flow energy to the pickup ions (not the thermal ions; (3 the heliosphere is asymmetric; (4 the TS does not accelerate anomalous cosmic rays at the Voyager locations; and (5 the plasma flow in the Voyagers 1 (V1 and 2 (V2 directions are very different. At V1 the flow was small after the TS and has recently slowed to near zero, whereas at V2 the speed has remained constant while the flow direction has turned tailward. V1 may have entered an extended boundary region in front of the heliopause (HP in 2010 in which the plasma flow speeds are near zero.

Geotechnical aspects of the 2016 MW 6.2, MW 6.0, and MW 7.0 Kumamoto earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Kayen, Robert E.; Dashti, Shideh; Kokusho, T.; Hazarika, H.; Franke, Kevin; Oettle, N. K.; Wham, Brad; Ramirez Calderon, Jenny; Briggs, Dallin; Guillies, Samantha; Cheng, Katherine; Tanoue, Yutaka; Takematsu, Katsuji; Matsumoto, Daisuke; Morinaga, Takayuki; Furuichi, Hideo; Kitano, Yuuta; Tajiri, Masanori; Chaudhary, Babloo; Nishimura, Kengo; Chu, Chu

2017-01-01

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes are a series of events that began with an earthquake of moment magnitude 6.2 on the Hinagu Fault on April 14, 2016, followed by another foreshock of moment magnitude 6.0 on the Hinagu Fault on April 15, 2016, and a larger moment magnitude 7.0 event on the Futagawa Fault on April 16, 2016 beneath Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu, Japan. These events are the strongest earthquakes recorded in Kyushu during the modern instrumental era. The earthquakes resulted in substantial damage to infrastructure, buildings, cultural heritage of Kumamoto Castle, roads and highways, slopes, and river embankments due to earthquake-induced landsliding and debris flows. Surface fault rupture produced offset and damage to roads, buildings, river levees, and an agricultural dam. Surprisingly, given the extremely intense earthquake motions, liquefaction occurred only in a few districts of Kumamoto City and in the port areas indicating that the volcanic soils were less susceptible to liquefying than expected given the intensity of earthquake shaking, a significant finding from this event.

Low frequency wave sources in the outer magnetosphere, magnetosheath, and near Earth solar wind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. D. Constantinescu

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The interaction of the solar wind with the Earth magnetosphere generates a broad variety of plasma waves through different mechanisms. The four Cluster spacecraft allow one to determine the regions where these waves are generated and their propagation directions. One of the tools which takes full advantage of the multi-point capabilities of the Cluster mission is the wave telescope technique which provides the wave vector using a plane wave representation. In order to determine the distance to the wave sources, the source locator – a generalization of the wave telescope to spherical waves – has been recently developed. We are applying the source locator to magnetic field data from a typical traversal of Cluster from the cusp region and the outer magnetosphere into the magnetosheath and the near Earth solar wind. We find a high concentration of low frequency wave sources in the electron foreshock and in the cusp region. To a lower extent, low frequency wave sources are also found in other magnetospheric regions.

Particle simulation study of electron heating by counter-streaming ion beams ahead of supernova remnant shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckmann, M E; Sarri, G; Kourakis, I; Borghesi, M; Bret, A; Perez Alvaro, E

2012-01-01

The growth and saturation of Buneman-type instabilities is examined with a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation for parameters that are representative for the foreshock region of fast supernova remnant shocks. A dense ion beam and the electrons correspond to the upstream plasma and a fast ion beam to the shock-reflected ions. The purpose of the 2D simulation is to identify the nonlinear saturation mechanisms, the electron heating and potential secondary instabilities that arise from anisotropic electron heating and result in the growth of magnetic fields. We confirm that the instabilities between both ion beams and the electrons saturate by the formation of phase space holes by the beam-aligned modes. The slower oblique modes accelerate some electrons, but they cannot heat up the electrons significantly before they are trapped by the faster beam-aligned modes. Two circular electron velocity distributions develop, which are centred around the velocity of each ion beam. They develop due to the scattering of the electrons by the electrostatic wave potentials. The growth of magnetic fields is observed, but their amplitude remains low. (paper)

Seismogenic structure behaviour revealed by spatial clustering of seismicity in the Umbria-Marche Region (Central Italy

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P. Tosi

1998-06-01

Full Text Available Time variations in the spatial distribution of earthquake epicentres are analyzed by application of the fractal correlation dimension method. The zone under investigation is located in Central Italy, bounded in longitude by 12.0 and 14.4 degrees east and in latitude by 42.0 and 43.6 degrees north. From 1st January 1978 to 5th October 1997, 2028 events with a magnitude above Ml= 2.5 constitute the database.Evolution of the spatial fractal dimension Ds permits the identification of seismic cycles that are connected to the occurrence of main earthquakes.In particular, it is possible to recognize a division within each cycle, between a period of random background seismicity and a spatial clustering of events where shocks of magnitude Ml ³occur. Moreover, the decrease in Ds prior to such events, evidences a structural relationship between foreshocks and the occurrence of a main shock, even if not in close territorial proximity.This feature indicates a new, more extensive definition of seismogenic structure which can includes several interconnected structures within a large area.

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes: Cascading Geological Hazards and Compounding Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katsuichiro Goda

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A sequence of two strike-slip earthquakes occurred on 14 and 16 April 2016 in the intraplate region of Kyushu Island, Japan, apart from subduction zones, and caused significant damage and disruption to the Kumamoto region. The analyses of regional seismic catalog and available strong motion recordings reveal striking characteristics of the events, such as migrating seismicity, earthquake surface rupture, and major foreshock-mainshock earthquake sequences. To gain valuable lessons from the events, a UK Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT was dispatched to Kumamoto, and earthquake damage surveys were conducted to relate observed earthquake characteristics to building and infrastructure damage caused by the earthquakes. The lessons learnt from the reconnaissance mission have important implications on current seismic design practice regarding the required seismic resistance of structures under multiple shocks and the seismic design of infrastructure subject to large ground deformation. The observations also highlight the consequences of cascading geological hazards on community resilience. To share the gathered damage data widely, geo-tagged photos are organized using Google Earth and the kmz file is made publicly available.

Possible scenarios for occurrence of M ~ 7 interplate earthquakes prior to and following the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake based on numerical simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Ryoko; Hori, Takane; Hyodo, Mamoru; Ariyoshi, Keisuke

2016-05-10

We show possible scenarios for the occurrence of M ~ 7 interplate earthquakes prior to and following the M ~ 9 earthquake along the Japan Trench, such as the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. One such M ~ 7 earthquake is so-called the Miyagi-ken-Oki earthquake, for which we conducted numerical simulations of earthquake generation cycles by using realistic three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the subducting Pacific Plate. In a number of scenarios, the time interval between the M ~ 9 earthquake and the subsequent Miyagi-ken-Oki earthquake was equal to or shorter than the average recurrence interval during the later stage of the M ~ 9 earthquake cycle. The scenarios successfully reproduced important characteristics such as the recurrence of M ~ 7 earthquakes, coseismic slip distribution, afterslip distribution, the largest foreshock, and the largest aftershock of the 2011 earthquake. Thus, these results suggest that we should prepare for future M ~ 7 earthquakes in the Miyagi-ken-Oki segment even though this segment recently experienced large coseismic slip in 2011.

The Salmas (Iran earthquake of May 6th, 1930

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J. S. TCHALENKO

1974-06-01

Full Text Available Field investigations and bibliographical research into the little-known but important Salmas earthquake in Northwest Azarbaijan (Iran provided the following results. The morning before the earthquake, a foreshock (Mb — 5.4 centered, as the main shock, in the Salmas Plain, killed about 25 people and incited a great part of the population to spend the following night out of doors. The main shock (Mb = 7.3 occurred the following night, on 6 May 1930 at 22h34m27s GMT and destroyed about 60 villages and 40 churches, killing about 2514 people, both in the Salmas Plain and in the surrounding mountains. Its macroseismic epicentre was at approximately 3S.15N 44.70E. The main shock was associated with 2 surface faults, with a maximum horizontal displacement of 4 m and vertical displacement of over 5 m; the combined action of these faults was a relative lowering, and a displacement to the east, of the Salmas Plain. Two days later, the strongest aftershock destroyed one village at the northern edge of the Salmas Plain.

The 1985 central chile earthquake: a repeat of previous great earthquakes in the region?

Science.gov (United States)

Comte, D; Eisenberg, A; Lorca, E; Pardo, M; Ponce, L; Saragoni, R; Singh, S K; Suárez, G

1986-07-25

A great earthquake (surface-wave magnitude, 7.8) occurred along the coast of central Chile on 3 March 1985, causing heavy damage to coastal towns. Intense foreshock activity near the epicenter of the main shock occurred for 11 days before the earthquake. The aftershocks of the 1985 earthquake define a rupture area of 170 by 110 square kilometers. The earthquake was forecast on the basis of the nearly constant repeat time (83 +/- 9 years) of great earthquakes in this region. An analysis of previous earthquakes suggests that the rupture lengths of great shocks in the region vary by a factor of about 3. The nearly constant repeat time and variable rupture lengths cannot be reconciled with time- or slip-predictable models of earthquake recurrence. The great earthquakes in the region seem to involve a variable rupture mode and yet, for unknown reasons, remain periodic. Historical data suggest that the region south of the 1985 rupture zone should now be considered a gap of high seismic potential that may rupture in a great earthquake in the next few tens of years.

Teleseismic analysis of the 1990 and 1991 earthquakes near Potenza

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Ekstrom

1994-06-01

Full Text Available Analysis of the available teleseismic data for two moderate earthquakes near the town of Potenza in the Southern Apennines shows that both involve strike-slip faulting on a plane oriented approximately east-west. Only the larger, 5 May 1990, earthquake is sufficiently large for analysis by conventional teleseismic waveform inversion methods, and is seen to consist of a foreshock followed 11 seconds later by the main release of moment. The focal mechanism and seismic moment of the 26 May 1991 earthquake is determined by quantitative comparison of its 15-60 s period surface waves with those generated by the 5 May 1990 event. The focal mechanisms for the two events are found to be very similar. The 1991 earthquake has a scalar moment that is approximately 18% that of the 1990 mainshock. Comparison of higher frequency P waves for the two events, recorded at regional distance, shows that the ratio of trace amplitudes is smaller than the ratio of scalar moments, suggesting that the stress drop for the 1991 event is distinctly smaller than for the 1990 mainshock.

Voyager observations of the interaction of the heliosphere with the interstellar medium.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, John D

2013-05-01

This paper provides a brief review and update on the Voyager observations of the interaction of the heliosphere with the interstellar medium. Voyager has found many surprises: (1) a new energetic particle component which is accelerated at the termination shock (TS) and leaks into the outer heliosphere forming a foreshock region; (2) a termination shock which is modulated by energetic particles and which transfers most of the solar wind flow energy to the pickup ions (not the thermal ions); (3) the heliosphere is asymmetric; (4) the TS does not accelerate anomalous cosmic rays at the Voyager locations; and (5) the plasma flow in the Voyagers 1 (V1) and 2 (V2) directions are very different. At V1 the flow was small after the TS and has recently slowed to near zero, whereas at V2 the speed has remained constant while the flow direction has turned tailward. V1 may have entered an extended boundary region in front of the heliopause (HP) in 2010 in which the plasma flow speeds are near zero.

Enhancements of energetic particles near the heliospheric termination shock.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Frank B; Stone, Edward C; Cummings, Alan C; Heikkila, Bryant; Lal, Nand; Webber, William R

2003-11-06

The spacecraft Voyager 1 is at a distance greater than 85 au from the Sun, in the vicinity of the termination shock that marks the abrupt slowing of the supersonic solar wind and the beginning of the extended and unexplored distant heliosphere. This shock is expected to accelerate 'anomalous cosmic rays', as well as to re-accelerate Galactic cosmic rays and low-energy particles from the inner Solar System. Here we report a significant increase in the numbers of energetic ions and electrons that persisted for seven months beginning in mid-2002. This increase differs from any previously observed in that there was a simultaneous increase in Galactic cosmic ray ions and electrons, anomalous cosmic rays and low-energy ions. The low-intensity level and spectral energy distribution of the anomalous cosmic rays, however, indicates that Voyager 1 still has not reached the termination shock. Rather, the observed increase is an expected precursor event. We argue that the radial anisotropy of the cosmic rays is expected to be small in the foreshock region, as is observed.

Possible scenarios for occurrence of M ~ 7 interplate earthquakes prior to and following the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake based on numerical simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Ryoko; Hori, Takane; Hyodo, Mamoru; Ariyoshi, Keisuke

2016-01-01

We show possible scenarios for the occurrence of M ~ 7 interplate earthquakes prior to and following the M ~ 9 earthquake along the Japan Trench, such as the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. One such M ~ 7 earthquake is so-called the Miyagi-ken-Oki earthquake, for which we conducted numerical simulations of earthquake generation cycles by using realistic three-dimensional (3D) geometry of the subducting Pacific Plate. In a number of scenarios, the time interval between the M ~ 9 earthquake and the subsequent Miyagi-ken-Oki earthquake was equal to or shorter than the average recurrence interval during the later stage of the M ~ 9 earthquake cycle. The scenarios successfully reproduced important characteristics such as the recurrence of M ~ 7 earthquakes, coseismic slip distribution, afterslip distribution, the largest foreshock, and the largest aftershock of the 2011 earthquake. Thus, these results suggest that we should prepare for future M ~ 7 earthquakes in the Miyagi-ken-Oki segment even though this segment recently experienced large coseismic slip in 2011. PMID:27161897

Upstream waves simultaneously observed by ISEE and UKS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, C.T.; Luhmann, J.G.; Elphic, R.C.; Southwood, D.J.; Smith, M.F.; Johnstone, A.D.

1987-01-01

Measurements obtained in the solar wind by ISEE-2 and the United Kingdom Subsatellite (UKS) have been examined for observations of upstream waves. These data reveal that the waves in the foreshock region are enhanced at all frequencies from at least 0.003 Hz to 0.5 Hz. The wave spectra generally have a spectral peak, but this peak is usually broad and the peak frequency depends on the position of the spacecraft. Generally, the spectra seen at the two spacecraft are most similar at high frequencies and least similar at low frequencies. The geometry of the interaction is displayed in the plane containing the magnetic field, the solar wind velocity, and the spacecraft location. However, this coordinate system does not order all the observed wave properties. It does not clearly explain or order the handedness of the waves, or their direction of propagation. It is clear that the upstream region is inherently three-dimensional. The position-dependent nature of the upstream waves indicates that comparisons between ground-based measurements and in-situ observations must be undertaken with some caution

Lessons learned from the total evacuation of a hospital after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanagawa, Youichi; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Okawa, Takashi; Ochi, Fumio

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes were a series of earthquakes that included a foreshock earthquake (magnitude 6.2) on April 14 and a main shock (magnitude 7.0) on April 16, 2016. A number of hospitals in Kumamoto were severely damaged by the two major earthquakes and required total evacuation. The authors retrospectively analyzed the activity data of the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams using the Emergency Medical Information System records to investigate the cases in which the total evacuation of a hospital was attempted following the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. Total evacuation was attempted at 17 hospitals. The evacuation of one of these hospitals was canceled. Most of the hospital buildings were more than 20 years old. The danger of collapse was the most frequent reason for evacuation. Various transportation methods were employed, some of which involved the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force; no preventable deaths occurred during transportation. The hospitals must now be renovated to improve their earthquake resistance. The coordinated and combined use of military and civilian resources is beneficial and can significantly reduce human suffering in large-scale disasters.

Theoretical Technology Research for the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Program

Science.gov (United States)

Ashour-Abdalla, Maha; Curtis, Steve (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

During the last four years the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) IGPP (Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics) Space Plasma Simulation Group has continued its theoretical effort to develop a Mission Oriented Theory (MOT) for the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program. This effort has been based on a combination of approaches: analytical theory, large-scale kinetic (LSK) calculations, global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations and self-consistent plasma kinetic (SCK) simulations. These models have been used to formulate a global interpretation of local measurements made by the ISTP spacecraft. The regions of applications of the MOT cover most of the magnetosphere: solar wind, low- and high- latitude magnetospheric boundary, near-Earth and distant magnetotail, and auroral region. Most recent investigations include: plasma processes in the electron foreshock, response of the magnetospheric cusp, particle entry in the magnetosphere, sources of observed distribution functions in the magnetotail, transport of oxygen ions, self-consistent evolution of the magnetotail, substorm studies, effects of explosive reconnection, and auroral acceleration simulations. A complete list of the activities completed under the grant follow.

Pc3 activity at low geomagnetic latitudes: a comparison with solar wind observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villante, U.; Lepidi, S.; Vellante, M. (L' Aquila Univ. (Italy). Dip. di Fisica); Lazarus, A.J. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Center for Space Research Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Physics); Lepping, R.P. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Goddard Space Flight Center)

1992-10-01

On an hourly time-scale the different roles of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) parameters on ground micropulsation activity can be better investigated than at longer time-scales. A long-term comparison between ground measurements made at L'Aquila (L [approx equal] 1.6) and IMP 8 observations confirms the solar wind speed as the key parameter for the onset of pulsations even at low latitudes, although additional control of the energy transfer from the interplanetary medium to the Earth's magnetosphere is clearly exerted by the cone angle. Above [approx equal] 20 mHz the frequency of pulsations is confirmed to be closely related to the IMF magnitude while, in agreement with model predictions, the IMF magnitude is related to the amplitude of the local fundamental resonant mode. We provide an interesting example in which high resolution measurements simultaneously obtained in the foreshock region and on the ground show that external transversal fluctuations do not penetrate deep into the low latitude magnetosphere. (Author).

Universal avalanche statistics and triggering close to failure in a mean-field model of rheological fracture

Science.gov (United States)

Baró, Jordi; Davidsen, Jörn

2018-03-01

The hypothesis of critical failure relates the presence of an ultimate stability point in the structural constitutive equation of materials to a divergence of characteristic scales in the microscopic dynamics responsible for deformation. Avalanche models involving critical failure have determined common universality classes for stick-slip processes and fracture. However, not all empirical failure processes exhibit the trademarks of criticality. The rheological properties of materials introduce dissipation, usually reproduced in conceptual models as a hardening of the coarse grained elements of the system. Here, we investigate the effects of transient hardening on (i) the activity rate and (ii) the statistical properties of avalanches. We find the explicit representation of transient hardening in the presence of generalized viscoelasticity and solve the corresponding mean-field model of fracture. In the quasistatic limit, the accelerated energy release is invariant with respect to rheology and the avalanche propagation can be reinterpreted in terms of a stochastic counting process. A single universality class can be defined from such analogy, and all statistical properties depend only on the distance to criticality. We also prove that interevent correlations emerge due to the hardening—even in the quasistatic limit—that can be interpreted as "aftershocks" and "foreshocks."

Emission of electromagnetic radiation from beam driven plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, D.L.

1985-01-01

Two production mechanisms for electromagnetic radiation from a plasma containing electron-beam-driven weak Langmuir turbulence are studied: induced Compton conversion and two-Langmuir-wave coalescence. Induced Compton conversion in which a Langmuir wave scatters off a relativistic electron while converting into a transversely polarized electromagnetic wave is considered as a means for producing amplified electromagnetic radiation from a beam-plasma system at frequencies well above the electron plasma frequency. The induced emission growth rates of the radiation produced by a monoenergetic ultrarelativistic electron beam are determined as a function of the Langmuir turbulence spectrum in the background plasma and are numerically evaluated for a range of model Langmuir spectra. Induced Compton conversion can play a role in emission from astrophysical beam-plasma systems if the electron beam is highly relativistic and sufficiently narrow. However, it is found that the growth rates for this process are too small in all cases studied to account for the intense high-frequency radiation observed in laboratory experiments. Two-Langmuir-wave coalescence as a means of producing radiation at 2omega/sub p/ is investigated in the setting of the earth's foreshock

The 2008 Wells, Nevada earthquake sequence: Source constraints using calibrated multiple event relocation and InSAR

Science.gov (United States)

Nealy, Jennifer; Benz, Harley M.; Hayes, Gavin; Berman, Eric; Barnhart, William

2017-01-01

The 2008 Wells, NV earthquake represents the largest domestic event in the conterminous U.S. outside of California since the October 1983 Borah Peak earthquake in southern Idaho. We present an improved catalog, magnitude complete to 1.6, of the foreshock-aftershock sequence, supplementing the current U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE) catalog with 1,928 well-located events. In order to create this catalog, both subspace and kurtosis detectors are used to obtain an initial set of earthquakes and associated locations. The latter are then calibrated through the implementation of the hypocentroidal decomposition method and relocated using the BayesLoc relocation technique. We additionally perform a finite fault slip analysis of the mainshock using InSAR observations. By combining the relocated sequence with the finite fault analysis, we show that the aftershocks occur primarily updip and along the southwestern edge of the zone of maximum slip. The aftershock locations illuminate areas of post-mainshock strain increase; aftershock depths, ranging from 5 to 16 km, are consistent with InSAR imaging, which shows that the Wells earthquake was a buried source with no observable near-surface offset.

Dayside magnetopause transients correlated with changes of the magnetosheath magnetic field orientation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Tkachenko

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses one long-term pass (26 August 2007 of the THEMIS spacecraft across the dayside low-latitude magnetopause. THEMIS B, serving partly as a magnetosheath monitor, observed several changes of the magnetic field that were accompanied by dynamic changes of the magnetopause location and/or the structure of magnetopause layers observed by THEMIS C, D, and E, whereas THEMIS A scanned the inner magnetosphere. We discuss the plasma and the magnetic field data with motivation to identify sources of observed quasiperiodic plasma transients. Such events at the magnetopause are usually attributed to pressure pulses coming from the solar wind, foreshock fluctuations, flux transfer events or surface waves. The presented transient events differ in nature (the magnetopause surface deformation, the low-latitude boundary layer thickening, the crossing of the reconnection site, but we found that all of them are associated with changes of the magnetosheath magnetic field orientation and with enhancements or depressions of the plasma density. Since these features are not observed in the data of upstream monitors, the study emphasizes the role of magnetosheath fluctuations in the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling.

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION MODEL OF ENERGETIC PROTON TRANSPORT THROUGH SELF-GENERATED ALFVEN WAVES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Afanasiev, A.; Vainio, R., E-mail: alexandr.afanasiev@helsinki.fi [Department of Physics, University of Helsinki (Finland)

2013-08-15

A new Monte Carlo simulation model for the transport of energetic protons through self-generated Alfven waves is presented. The key point of the model is that, unlike the previous ones, it employs the full form (i.e., includes the dependence on the pitch-angle cosine) of the resonance condition governing the scattering of particles off Alfven waves-the process that approximates the wave-particle interactions in the framework of quasilinear theory. This allows us to model the wave-particle interactions in weak turbulence more adequately, in particular, to implement anisotropic particle scattering instead of isotropic scattering, which the previous Monte Carlo models were based on. The developed model is applied to study the transport of flare-accelerated protons in an open magnetic flux tube. Simulation results for the transport of monoenergetic protons through the spectrum of Alfven waves reveal that the anisotropic scattering leads to spatially more distributed wave growth than isotropic scattering. This result can have important implications for diffusive shock acceleration, e.g., affect the scattering mean free path of the accelerated particles in and the size of the foreshock region.

Aftershocks of the 13 May 1993 Shumagin Alaska earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhong; Wyss, Max; Tytgat, Guy; McNutt, Steve; Stihler, Scott

1994-01-01

The 13 May 1993 Ms 6.9 Shumagin earthquake had an aftershock sequence of 247 earthquakes with magnitudes greater than or equal to 1.5 by 1 June 1993. Of these aftershocks, 79 were located by using S-P travel times at the only two stations within 570 km of the mainshock epicenter. The rupture area inferred from the aftershocks is about 600 km2 and we estimate for the mainshock a mean fault displacement of 1.0 m and a 28 bar stress drop. The magnitude-frequency plots give a b-value for the aftershock sequence of about 0.4, which is low compared to the background value of approximately 0.8. The decay of the aftershock sequence followed the modified Omori law with a p-value of 0.79, which is also lower than the typical values of about 1.1 observed in Alaska. Both of these facts can be interpreted as indicating relatively high ambient stress in the Shumagin seismic gap and the possibility that the 13 May earthquake was a foreshock to a larger gap-filling event to occur within the next few years.

A statistical study of transient events in the outer dayside magnetosphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanny, J.; Venturini, C.C. [Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA (United States); Sibeck, D.G. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (United States); Russell, C.T. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

1996-03-01

The AMPTE CCE satellite frequently observed transient (1{le}{tau}{le}8 min) events marked by magnetic field strength increases and bipolar magnetic field signatures (peak-to-peak amplitudes {ge}4 nT) while in the outer dayside magnetosphere. The authors report a survey of 59 prominant events observed from August to November 1984. The bipolar signatures and minimum variance analysis reveal that most events move poleward and antisunward, except in the immediate vicinity of local noon. Here the motion of the events appears to be better governed by the spiral/orthospiral interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation than magnetic curvature forces associated with IMF B{sub y}. The IMF orientation appears to have little or no influence on event occurence or orientation. The authors interpret the events in terms of solar wind/foreshock pressure pulse induced ripples on the magnetopause surface. Their results can be reconciled with those obtained in previous studies which made use of ISEE 1/2, AMPTE IRM, and AMPTE UKS observations if pressure pulses produce large-amplitude events and bursty merging (or reconnection) produces small-amplitude events. 47 refs., 10 fig., 1 tab.

Finite rupture properties of the 2011 Lorca earthquake; Directividad y propiedades de la ruptura finita del terremoto de Lorca, 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez Comino, J. A.; Mancilla, F. L.; Sitch, D.; Morales, J.

2012-11-01

On 11 May 2011 an earthquake (M{sub w} = 5.2) hit the region of Murcia (Spain), shaking mainly the city of Lorca and causing extensive personal and material damage. We have estimated that it involved an oblique reverse-faulting mechanism with a shallow hypocentre (4.6 km) at only 5.5 km epicentral distance from Lorca city centre. Double-difference relocations yield a rupture length of {approx} 4 km and suggest a propagation of the rupture from the northeast to the southwest along the Alhama de Murcia fault. We obtained apparent source-time functions at each station using empirical Green's function deconvolution and applying the 4.6 M{sub w} foreshock and the 3.9 M{sub w} aftershock, both of them with a similar location and mechanism. Two methods of deconvolution were used: spectral division and iterative time domain. Both methods gave consistent, stable results, revealing a clear directivity effect. We have modelled apparent durations with a unilateral and asymmetric bilateral rupture, in both cases obtaining a rupture directivity of {approx} N215 degree E towards Lorca, which may have contributed to the unfavourable scenario caused by this event. (Author) 23 refs.

Structural controls on the megathrust segmentation of the Middle America Trench from multiple geophysical observations

Science.gov (United States)

Naif, S.; Bassett, D.

2016-12-01

Subduction zone megathrusts display complex seismogenic behaviors that vary at intra- and inter-margin scales. Many different physical properties have been proposed to be primarily responsible for this behavior, such as the composition of subducted sediments, the hydration state of the incoming oceanic plate, and the pore-fluid pressure at the plate interface. Here, we focus on the northern Middle America Trench and show that subducting plate structures control megathrust segmentation. We analyze multiple types of seafloor geophysical observations and compare them to the distinct behavioral and spatial characteristics of the 1992 Nicaragua (Mw7.6), 2012 El Salvador (Mw7.3), 2012 Guatemala (Mw7.4), and 2012 Costa Rica (Mw7.6) events. The residual topography, residual gravity, and magnetic anomaly structure of the incoming oceanic plate and forearc seafloor are correlated. The forearc is composed of multiple unique segments that are bounded by subducting fracture zones. These boundaries correlate with foreshock and aftershock seismicity and also coincide with the hypocenter of all four earthquakes. The relationship between observed structures, earthquake slip inversions, and radiated energy of the four large events will be discussed.

Earthquake simulations with time-dependent nucleation and long-range interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. H. Dieterich

1995-01-01

Full Text Available A model for rapid simulation of earthquake sequences is introduced which incorporates long-range elastic interactions among fault elements and time-dependent earthquake nucleation inferred from experimentally derived rate- and state-dependent fault constitutive properties. The model consists of a planar two-dimensional fault surface which is periodic in both the x- and y-directions. Elastic interactions among fault elements are represented by an array of elastic dislocations. Approximate solutions for earthquake nucleation and dynamics of earthquake slip are introduced which permit computations to proceed in steps that are determined by the transitions from one sliding state to the next. The transition-driven time stepping and avoidance of systems of simultaneous equations permit rapid simulation of large sequences of earthquake events on computers of modest capacity, while preserving characteristics of the nucleation and rupture propagation processes evident in more detailed models. Earthquakes simulated with this model reproduce many of the observed spatial and temporal characteristics of clustering phenomena including foreshock and aftershock sequences. Clustering arises because the time dependence of the nucleation process is highly sensitive to stress perturbations caused by nearby earthquakes. Rate of earthquake activity following a prior earthquake decays according to Omori's aftershock decay law and falls off with distance.

Episodic slow slip events in the Japan subduction zone before the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Yoshihiro; Hino, Ryota; Kido, Motoyuki; Fujimoto, Hiromi; Osada, Yukihito; Inazu, Daisuke; Ohta, Yusaku; Iinuma, Takeshi; Ohzono, Mako; Miura, Satoshi; Mishina, Masaaki; Suzuki, Kensuke; Tsuji, Takeshi; Ashi, Juichiro

2013-07-01

We describe two transient slow slip events that occurred before the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. The first transient crustal deformation, which occurred over a period of a week in November 2008, was recorded simultaneously using ocean-bottom pressure gauges and an on-shore volumetric strainmeter; this deformation has been interpreted as being an M6.8 episodic slow slip event. The second had a duration exceeding 1 month and was observed in February 2011, just before the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake; the moment magnitude of this event reached 7.0. The two events preceded interplate earthquakes of magnitudes M6.1 (December 2008) and M7.3 (March 9, 2011), respectively; the latter is the largest foreshock of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Our findings indicate that these slow slip events induced increases in shear stress, which in turn triggered the interplate earthquakes. The slow slip event source area on the fault is also located within the downdip portion of the huge-coseismic-slip area of the 2011 earthquake. This demonstrates episodic slow slip and seismic behavior occurring on the same portions of the megathrust fault, suggesting that the faults undergo slip in slow slip events can also rupture seismically.

Reassessment of source parameters for three major earthquakes in the East African rift system from historical seismograms and bulletins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Kulhánek

2000-06-01

Full Text Available Source parameters for three majo earthquakes in the East African rift are re-computed from historical seismograms and bulletins. The main shock and the largest foreshock of the August 25, 1906 earthquake sequence in the main Ethiopian rift are re-located on the eastern shoulder of the rift segment.The magnitude of the main shock is estimated to be 6.5 (Mw from spectral analysis. The December 13, 1910 earthquake in the Rukwa rift (Western Tanzania indicated a significant strike-slip component from teleseismcs body-waveform inversion for fault mechanism and seismic moment. The January 6, 1928 earthquake in the Gregory rift (Kenya showed a multiple rupture process and unusually long duration for a size of 6.6(Mw. The May 20, 1990 earthquake in Southern Sudan, mentioned merely for the sake of comparison, is the largest of all instrumentally recorded events in the East African rift system. Despite the fact that the mode of deformation in the continental rift is predominantly of extensional nature, the three largest earthquakes known to occur in the circum-Tanzanian craton have shallow focal depths and significant strike-slip component in their fault mechanisms. This and similar works will enrich the database for seismic hazard assessment in East Africa.

Oblique propagation of nonlinear hydromagnetic waves: One- and two-dimensional behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malara, F.; Elaoufir, J.

1991-01-01

The one- and two-dimensional behavior of obliquely propagating hydromagnetic waves is analyzed by means of analytical theory and numerical simulations. It is shown that the nonlinear evolution of a one-dimensional MHD wave leads to the formation of a rotational discontinuity and a compressive steepened quasi-linearly polarized pulse whose structure is similar to that of a finite amplitude magnetosonic simple wave. For small propagation angles, the pulse mode (fast or slow) depends on the value of β with respect to unity while for large propagation angles the wave mode is fixed by the sign of the initial density-field correlation. The two-dimensional evolution shows that an MHD wave is unstable against a small-amplitude long-wavelength modulation in the direction transverse to the wave propagation direction. A two-dimensional magnetosonic wave solution is found, in which the density fluctuation is driven by the corresponding total pressure fluctuation, exactly as in the one-dimensional simple wave. Along with the steepening effect, the wave experiences both wave front deformation and a self-focusing effect which may eventually lead to the collapse of the wave. The results compare well with observations of MHD waves in the Earth's foreshock and at comets

Three-dimensional simulation of the electromagnetic ion/ion beam instability: cross field diffusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Kucharek

2000-01-01

Full Text Available In a system with at least one ignorable spatial dimension charged particles moving in fluctuating fields are tied to the magnetic field lines. Thus, in one-and two-dimensional simulations cross-field diffusion is inhibited and important physics may be lost. We have investigated cross-field diffusion in self-consistent 3-D magnetic turbulence by fully 3-dimensional hybrid simulation (macro-particle ions, massless electron fluid. The turbulence is generated by the electromagnetic ion/ion beam instability. A cold, low density, ion beam with a high velocity stream relative to the background plasma excites the right-hand resonant instability. Such ion beams may be important in the region of the Earth's foreshock. The field turbulence scatters the beam ions parallel as well as perpendicular to the magnetic field. We have determined the parallel and perpendicular diffusion coefficient for the beam ions in the turbulent wave field. The result compares favourably well (within a factor 2 with hard-sphere scattering theory for the cross-field diffusion coefficient. The cross-field diffusion coefficient is larger than that obtained in a static field with a Kolmogorov type spectrum and similar total fluctuation power. This is attributed to the resonant behaviour of the particles in the fluctuating field.

PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATION OF A STRONG DOUBLE LAYER IN A NONRELATIVISTIC PLASMA FLOW: ELECTRON ACCELERATION TO ULTRARELATIVISTIC SPEEDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckmann, Mark E.; Bret, Antoine

2009-01-01

Two charge- and current-neutral plasma beams are modeled with a one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The beams are uniform and unbounded. The relative speed between both beams is 0.4c. One beam is composed of electrons and protons, and the other of protons and negatively charged oxygen (dust). All species have the temperature 9.1 keV. A Buneman instability develops between the electrons of the first beam and the protons of the second beam. The wave traps the electrons, which form plasmons. The plasmons couple energy into the ion acoustic waves, which trap the protons of the second beam. A structure similar to a proton phase-space hole develops, which grows through its interaction with the oxygen and the heated electrons into a rarefaction pulse. This pulse drives a double layer, which accelerates a beam of electrons to about 50 MeV, which is comparable to the proton kinetic energy. The proton distribution eventually evolves into an electrostatic shock. Beams of charged particles moving at such speeds may occur in the foreshock of supernova remnant (SNR) shocks. This double layer is thus potentially relevant for the electron acceleration (injection) into the diffusive shock acceleration by SNR shocks.

Absence of the strahl during times of slow wind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Gurgiolo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is not uncommon during periods when the solar wind speed is less than 425 km s−1 to observe near 1 AU no evidence of a strahl population in either the electron solar wind or within the foreshock. Estimating the fluid flow within each energy step returned from the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE on board Cluster-2 often finds that in slow wind the GSE spherical flow angles in energies above where there is a clear core/halo signature are often close to radial with no evidence of a field-aligned flow. This signifies the lack of a strahl presence in the electron velocity distribution function (eVDF. When there is no obvious strahl signature in the data, the electrons above the core/halo in energy appear to be unstructured and smeared in angle. This can either be interpreted as due to statistical noise in low counting rate situations or the result of intense scattering. Regions where the strahl is seen and not seen are often separated by a very thin boundary layer. These transitions in the spacecraft frame of reference can be quite rapid, generally occurring within one to two spins (4–8 s.

VLA and low-frequency VLBI observations of the radio source 0503 + 467 - Austere constraints on interstellar scattering in two media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spangler, S.R.; Fey, A.L.; Cordes, J.M.; Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY)

1987-01-01

The radio source 0503 + 467 lies near the Galactic plane (l = 161.0 deg, b = 3.7 deg) and at the edge of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB 9. The VLA observations show that it has a spectrum typical of a compact extragalactic radio source. The resultant small angular size of the source makes it an excellent probe of turbulence in two media: the diffuse, or type A, component of interstellar turbulence and a hypothesized region of hydromagnetic turbulence upstream of the supernova remnant. An eight-station VLBI experiment at 326 MHz indicates that the source is less than about 20 milliarcseconds (mas) in angular diameter. A value of 16 mas is most appropriate as an upper limit to the interstellar scattering contribution to the measured angular size. The implications of this upper limit are twofold. First, the galactocentric radial scale to the type-A turbulence is probably less than or equal to about 6 kpc. Second, no evidence is seen for shock-associated turbulence upstream of HB 9. The measurements make it possible to constrain a parameter which is a function of the rms density fluctuation in the upstream region, the outer scale to the density turbulence, and the thickness of SNR foreshock region. 14 references

Stochastic growth of localized plasma waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, P.A.; Cairns, Iver H.

2001-01-01

Localized bursty plasma waves are detected by spacecraft in many space plasmas. The large spatiotemporal scales involved imply that beam and other instabilities relax to marginal stability and that mean wave energies are low. Stochastic wave growth occurs when ambient fluctuations perturb the system, causing fluctuations about marginal stability. This yields regions where growth is enhanced and others where damping is increased; bursts are associated with enhanced growth and can occur even when the mean growth rate is negative. In stochastic growth, energy loss from the source is suppressed relative to secular growth, preserving it far longer than otherwise possible. Linear stochastic growth can operate at wave levels below thresholds of nonlinear wave-clumping mechanisms such as strong-turbulence modulational instability and is not subject to their coherence and wavelength limits. These mechanisms can be distinguished by statistics of the fields, whose strengths are lognormally distributed if stochastically growing and power-law distributed in strong turbulence. Recent applications of stochastic growth theory (SGT) are described, involving bursty plasma waves and unstable particle distributions in type III solar radio sources, the Earth's foreshock, magnetosheath, and polar cap regions. It is shown that when combined with wave-wave processes, SGT also accounts for associated radio emissions

Pre-, Co-, and Post-Seismic Fault Slip in the Northern Chile Seismic Gap Associated with the April 1, 2014 (Mw 8.2) Pisagua Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, M.; Duputel, Z.; Fielding, E. J.; Galetzka, J.; Genrich, J. F.; Jiang, J.; Jolivet, R.; Kanamori, H.; Moore, A. W.; Ortega Culaciati, F. H.; Owen, S. E.; Riel, B. V.; Rivera, L. A.; Carrizo, D.; Cotte, N.; Jara, J.; Klotz, J.; Norabuena, E. O.; Ortega, I.; Socquet, A.; Samsonov, S. V.; Valderas Bermejo, M.

2014-12-01

The April 1, 2014 (Mw 8.2) Pisagua Earthquake occurred in Northern Chile, within a long recognized seismic gap in the Central Andean region that last experienced major megathrust events in 1868 and 1877. We built a continuous GPS network starting in 2005, with the ultimate goal of understanding the kinematics and dynamics of this portion of the subduction zone. Using observations from this network, as well as others in the region, combined with InSAR, seismic and tsunami observations, we obtain estimates of inter-seismic, co-seismic and initial post-seismic fault slip using an internally consistent Bayesian unregularized approach. We evaluate the extent of spatial overlap between regions of fault slip during this different time periods. Of particular interest to this event is the extent and nature of any geodetic evidence for transient slow fault slip preceding the Pisagua Earthquake mainshock. To this end, we compare daily and high rate GPS solutions, the former of which shows long period transient motion started about 15 days before the mainshock and with maximum registered amplitude of 14.2 +/- 2 [mm] at site PSGA. Contrary to published findings, we find that pre-seismic deformation seen by the GPS network can be explained as coseismic motion associated with the multiple foreshocks.

Kinetic-Scale Magnetic Turbulence and Finite Larmor Radius Effects at Mercury

Science.gov (United States)

Uritsky, V. M.; Slavin, J. A.; Khazanov, G. V.; Donovan, E. F.; Boardsen, S. A.; Anderson, B. J.; Korth, H.

2011-01-01

We use a nonstationary generalization of the higher-order structure function technique to investigate statistical properties of the magnetic field fluctuations recorded by MESSENGER spacecraft during its first flyby (01/14/2008) through the near-Mercury space environment, with the emphasis on key boundary regions participating in the solar wind - magnetosphere interaction. Our analysis shows, for the first time, that kinetic-scale fluctuations play a significant role in the Mercury's magnetosphere up to the largest resolvable timescale (approx.20 s) imposed by the signal nonstationariry, suggesting that turbulence at this plane I is largely controlled by finite Larmor radius effects. In particular, we report the presence of a highly turbulent and extended foreshock system filled with packets of ULF oscillations, broad-band intermittent fluctuations in the magnetosheath, ion-kinetic turbulence in the central plasma sheet of Mercury's magnetotail, and kinetic-scale fluctuations in the inner current sheet encountered at the outbound (dawn-side) magnetopause. Overall, our measurements indicate that the Hermean magnetosphere, as well as the surrounding region, are strongly affected by non-MHD effects introduced by finite sizes of cyclotron orbits of the constituting ion species. Physical mechanisms of these effects and their potentially critical impact on the structure and dynamics of Mercury's magnetic field remain to be understood.

Experimental Research on the Low Frequency Wave That Radiates into the Air before the Failure of Rock

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Li Shiyu; Tang Linbo; He Xuesong; Su Fang; Sun Wei; Liu Jianxin

2005-01-01

Experiments on sonic transmission show that a slabstone can directly transmit part of the energy of a wave excited by knocking or by a transducer into the air. The other part of the wave energy can generate the normal mode of vibration on the slabstone and excite measurable acoustic signals in the air. The dominant frequency is related to the size of the slabstone. These results indicate that the acoustic emission (AE) in rock also displays similar behavior if the source is shallow. It is demonstrated that with the nucleation and propagation of cracks, the dominant frequency of the radiated wave will be lower. When the frequency becomes very low,the wave can be transmitted through the rock into the air and be received by a microphone.According to the theory of similarity of size, there will be low-frequency waves before strong earthquakes because of nucleation of cracks, which can be received by special low-frequency transducers or infrasonic detectors. Before earthquakes, the mechanism of precursors could be very complicated. They might be produced by plastic creep or attributed to liquids but not brittle fracture in most cases. So the periods of the produced waves will be longer. This perhaps accounts for the lack of foreshocks before many strong earthquakes.

The evolution of hillslope strength following large earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Brain, Matthew; Rosser, Nick; Tunstall, Neil

2017-04-01

Earthquake-induced landslides play an important role in the evolution of mountain landscapes. Earthquake ground shaking triggers near-instantaneous landsliding, but has also been shown to weaken hillslopes, preconditioning them for failure during subsequent seismicity and/or precipitation events. The temporal evolution of hillslope strength during and following primary seismicity, and if and how this ultimately results in failure, is poorly constrained due to the rarity of high-magnitude earthquakes and limited availability of suitable field datasets. We present results obtained from novel geotechnical laboratory tests to better constrain the mechanisms that control strength evolution in Earth materials of differing rheology. We consider how the strength of hillslope materials responds to ground-shaking events of different magnitude and if and how this persists to influence landslide activity during interseismic periods. We demonstrate the role of stress path and stress history, strain rate and foreshock and aftershock sequences in controlling the evolution of hillslope strength and stability. Critically, we show how hillslopes can be strengthened rather than weakened in some settings, challenging conventional assumptions. On the basis of our laboratory data, we consider the implications for earthquake-induced geomorphic perturbations in mountain landscapes over multiple timescales and in different seismogenic settings.

Seismotectonics of Vrancea (Romania) zone: the case of crustal seismicity in the foredeep area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tugui, A.; Craiu, M.; Rogozea, M.; Popa, M.; Radulian, M.; http://www.infp.ro

2009-01-01

Vrancea seismic zone is located in Romania at the South-Easter Carpathians bend, where at least three major tectonic units are in contact: East European Plate, Intra-Alpine Plate and Moesian Plate. The seismicity of the Vrancea zone consists of both crustal and intermediate-depth earthquakes. The crustal events are moderate (M w ≤ 5.5) and generally occur in clusters in space (the subzones Ramnicu Sarat and Vrancioaia, situated in the Vrancea epicentral area and adjacent to it) and in time (main shocks accompanied by aftershocks and sometimes by foreshocks or swarms). Seismic activity in Ramnicu Sarat zone consists of shallow earthquakes with moderate magnitudes M s ≤ 5.2, which frequently occur in clusters. The hypocenters are generally situated at focal depths between 15 and 30 km within the foredeep region lying in front of the major bending of the Carpathian Arc. The sequence of 29 November - 03 December, 2007 consists of 37 events with 1.8 ≤ M D ≤ 3.9. The earthquakes hypocenters are grouped in a parallel direction with the Carpathian Bend, and the fault plane solution (of the main shock) is reverse. The seismic sequence from Ramnicu Sarat, 2007 was compared with the previous sequences knowing the regional seismotectonics. (authors)

Trench Parallel Bouguer Anomaly (TPBA): A robust measure for statically detecting asperities along the forearc of subduction zones

Science.gov (United States)

Raeesi, M.

2009-05-01

During 1970s some researchers noticed that large earthquakes occur repeatedly at the same locations. These observations led to the asperity hypothesis. At the same times some researchers noticed that there was a relationship between the location of great interplate earthquakes and the submarine structures, basins in particular, over the rupture area in the forearc regions. Despite these observations there was no comprehensive and reliable hypothesis explaining the relationship. There were numerous cons and pros to the various hypotheses given in this regard. In their pioneering study, Song and Simons (2003) approached the problem using gravity data. This was a turning point in seismology. Although their approach was correct, appropriate gravity anomaly had to be used in order to reveal the location and extent of the asperities. Following the method of Song and Simons (2003) but using the Bouguer gravity anomaly that we called "Trench Parallel Bouguer Anomaly", TPBA, we found strong, logical, and convincing relation between the TPBA-derived asperities and the slip distribution as well as earthquake distribution, foreshocks and aftershocks in particular. Various parameters with different levels of importance are known that affect the contact between the subducting and the overriding plates, We found that the TPBA can show which are the important factors. Because the TPBA-derived asperities are based on static physical properties (gravity and elevation), they do not suffer from instabilities due to the trade-offs, as it happens for asperities derived in dynamic studies such as waveform inversion. Comparison of the TPBA-derived asperities with rupture processes of the well-studied great earthquakes, reveals the high level of accuracy of the TPBA. This new measure opens a forensic viewpoint on the rupture process along the subduction zones. The TPBA reveals the reason behind 9+ earthquakes and it explains where and why they occur. The TPBA reveals the areas that can

Transient Aseismic Slip in the Cascadia Subduction Zone: From Monitoring to Useful Real-time Hazards Information

Science.gov (United States)

Roeloffs, E. A.; Beeler, N. M.

2010-12-01

The Cascadia subduction zone, extending from northern California to Vancouver Island, has a 10,000 year record of earthquakes > M8.5 at intervals of several hundred years, with the last major event (~M9) in 1700. Agencies in CA, OR, WA, and BC are raising public awareness of the hazards posed by a repeat Cascadia earthquake and its ensuing tsunami. Because most of the subduction interface is now seismically quiet, an interface event M6 or larger would generate intense public concern that it could be a potential foreshock of a great earthquake. Cascadia residents are also interested in the episodic tremor and slip (ETS) events that recur months to years apart: strong evidence implies these aseismic events represent accelerated interface slip downdip of the seismogenic zone. Simple mechanics implies ETS events temporarily increase the stressing rate on the locked zone. ETS events in northern Cascadia recur at fairly regular intervals and produced roughly similar patterns of deformation. However, an unusually large ETS event or increased interface seismicity would certainly prompt public officials and local residents to expect scientists to quickly determine the implications for a major Cascadia earthquake. Earthquake scientists generally agree that such “situations of concern” warrant close monitoring, but attempts to quantify potential probability changes are in very early stages. With >30 borehole strainmeters and >100 GPS stations of the NSF-funded Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) in Cascadia, geodesists must develop a well-organized real-time monitoring scheme for interpreting aseismic deformation, with an accompanying public communication strategy. Two previously-exercised monitoring and communication protocols could be adapted for Cascadia. During the Parkfield, California, Earthquake Experiment, geodetic signals were assigned alert levels based on their rareness in the past record, on confirmation by more than one instrument, and on consistency with

Natural time analysis on the ultra-low frequency magnetic field variations prior to the 2016 Kumamoto (Japan) earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Potirakis, Stelios M.; Schekotov, Alexander; Asano, Tomokazu; Hayakawa, Masashi

2018-04-01

On 15 April 2016 a very strong and shallow earthquake (EQ) (MW = 7.0 , depth ∼ 10 km) occurred in Southwest Japan under the city of Kumamoto, while two very strong foreshocks (MW = 6.2 and MW = 6.0) preceded by about one day. The Kumamoto EQs being very catastrophic, have already attracted much attention among the scientific community in a quest for understanding the generation mechanism, as well as for reporting any preseismic anomalies in various observables and assessing the effectivity of the current early warning systems. In the present article we report precursory behavior of the ground-based observed ultra-low frequency (ULF) magnetic field variations before the Kumamoto EQs. By analyzing specific ULF magnetic field characteristics in terms of the recently introduced natural time (NT) analysis method, we identified that ULF magnetic field variations presented critical features from 2 weeks up to 1 month before the Kumamoto EQs. Specifically, the ULF magnetic field characteristics Fh , Fz , Dh and δDep were analyzed. The first two represent variations of the horizontal and vertical components of the geomagnetic field. The third and fourth characteristics correspond to the depression (decrease) and a relative depression of the horizontal magnetic field variations, respectively. The latter depends on the degree of ionospheric disturbance. All of them were found to reach criticality before the Kumamoto EQs; however, in different time periods for each characteristic.

ISEE/IMP Observations of simultaneous upstream ion events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchel, D.G.; Roelof, E.C.; Sanderson, T.R.; Reinhard, R.; Wenzel, K.

1983-01-01

Propagation of upstream energetic (50--200 keV) ions is analyzed in sixteen events observed simulataneously by solid state detectors on ISEE 3 at approx.200 R/sub E/ and on IMP 8 at approx.35 R/sub E/ from the earth. Conclusions are based on comparisons of the pitch angle distributions observed at the two spacecraft and transformed into the solar wind frame. They are beamlike at ISEE 3 and are confined to the outward hemisphere. When IMP 8 is furtherest from the bow shock, they are also usually beamlike, or hemispheric. However, when IMP 8 is closer to the bow shock, pancakelike distributions are observed. This systematic variation in the IMP 8 pitch angle distributions delimits a scattering region l< or approx. =14 R/sub E/ upstream of the earth's bow shock (l measured along the interplanetary magnetic field) that dominates ion propagation, influences the global distribution of fluxes in the foreshock, and may play a role in acceleration of the ions. When IMP 8 is beyond lapprox.15 R/sub E/, the propagation appears to be essentially scatter-free between IMP 8 and ISEE 3; this is deduced from the absence of earthward fluxes at IMP 8 as well as the tendency for the spin-averaged fluxes to be comparable at the two spacecraft

The Emilia 2012 sequence: a macroseismic survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Tertulliani

2012-10-01

Full Text Available On May 20, 2012, at 4:03 local time (2:03 UTC, a large part of the Po Valley between the cities of Ferrara, Modena and Mantova was struck by a damaging earthquake (Ml 5.9. The epicenter was located by the Istituto Nazionale di Geo-fisica e Vulcanologia (INGV seismic network [ISIDe 2010] at 44.889 ˚N and 11.228 ˚E, approximately 30 km west of Ferrara (Figure 1. The event was preceded by a foreshock that occurred at 01:13 local time, with a magnitude of Ml 4. The mainshock started an intense seismic sequence that lasted for weeks, counting more than 2,000 events, six of which had Ml >5. The strongest earthquakes of this sequence occurred on May 29, 2012, with Ml 5.8 and Ml 5.3, recorded at 9:00 and 12:55 local time, respectively. The epicenters of the May 29, 2012, events were located at the westernmost part of the rupture zone of the May 20, 2012, earthquake (Figure 2. The May 20 and 29, 2012, earthquakes were felt through the whole of northern and central Italy, and as far as Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, south-eastern France and southern Germany. Historical information reveals that the seismic activity in the Po Valley is moderate […

Source complexity of the May 20, 2012, Mw 5.9, Ferrara (Italy event

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Piccinini

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A Mw 3.9 foreshock on May 19, 2012, at 23:13 UTC, was followed at 02:03 on May 20, 2012, by a Mw 5.9 earthquake that hit a densely populated area in the Po Plain, west of the city of Ferrara, Italy (Figure 1. Over the subsequent 13 days, six Mw >5 events occurred; of these, the most energetic was a Mw 5.8 earthquake on May 29, 2012, 12 km WSW of the main shock. The tragic balance of this sequence was 17 casualties, hundreds of injured, and severe damage to the historical and cultural heritage of the area. From a seismological point of view, the 2012 earthquake was not an outstanding event in its regional context. The same area was hit in 1996 by a Mw 5.4 earthquake [Selvaggi et al. 2001], and previously in 1986 and in 1967 (DBMI11 [Locati et al. 2011]. The most destructive historical event was the 1570, Imax 8 event, which struck the town of Ferrara [Guidoboni et al. 2007, Rovida et al. 2011]. The 2012 seismic sequence lasted for several weeks and probably developed on a well-known buried thrust fault [Basili et al. 2008, Toscani et al. 2009, DISS Working Group 2010], at depths between 2 km and 10-12 km. […

Correlation length of magnetosheath fluctuations: Cluster statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Gutynska

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Magnetosheath parameters are usually described by gasdynamic or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD models but these models cannot account for one of the most important sources of magnetosheath fluctuations – the foreshock. Earlier statistical processing of a large amount of magnetosheath observations has shown that the magnetosheath magnetic field and plasma flow fluctuations downstream of the quasiparallel shock are much larger than those at the opposite flank. These studies were based on the observations of a single spacecraft and thus they could not provide full information on propagation of the fluctuations through the magnetosheath.

We present the results of a statistical survey of the magnetosheath magnetic field fluctuations using two years of Cluster observations. We discuss the dependence of the cross-correlation coefficients between different spacecraft pairs on the orientation of the separation vector with respect to the average magnetic field and plasma flow vectors and other parameters. We have found that the correlation length does not exceed ~1 R_E in the analyzed frequency range (0.001–0.125 Hz and does not depend significantly on the magnetic field or plasma flow direction. A close connection of cross-correlation coefficients computed in the magnetosheath with the cross-correlation coefficients between a solar wind monitor and a magnetosheath spacecraft suggests that solar wind structures persist on the background of magnetosheath fluctuations.

DENSITY FLUCTUATIONS UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM OF INTERPLANETARY SHOCKS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pitňa, A.; Šafránková, J.; Němeček, Z.; Goncharov, O.; Němec, F.; Přech, L. [Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, 180 00 Prague 8 (Czech Republic); Chen, C. H. K. [Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Zastenker, G. N., E-mail: jana.safrankova@mff.cuni.cz [Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, Profsoyuznaya ul. 84/32, Moscow 117997 (Russian Federation)

2016-03-01

Interplanetary (IP) shocks as typical large-scale disturbances arising from processes such as stream–stream interactions or Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection (ICME) launching play a significant role in the energy redistribution, dissipation, particle heating, acceleration, etc. They can change the properties of the turbulent cascade on shorter scales. We focus on changes of the level and spectral properties of ion flux fluctuations upstream and downstream of fast forward oblique shocks. Although the fluctuation level increases by an order of magnitude across the shock, the spectral slope in the magnetohydrodynamic range is conserved. The frequency spectra upstream of IP shocks are the same as those in the solar wind (if not spoiled by foreshock waves). The spectral slopes downstream are roughly proportional to the corresponding slopes upstream, suggesting that the properties of the turbulent cascade are conserved across the shock; thus, the shock does not destroy the shape of the spectrum as turbulence passes through it. Frequency spectra downstream of IP shocks often exhibit “an exponential decay” in the ion kinetic range that was earlier reported at electron scales in the solar wind or at ion scales in the interstellar medium. We suggest that the exponential shape of ion flux spectra in this range is caused by stronger damping of the fluctuations in the downstream region.

Nightside High Latitude Magnetic Impulse Events

Science.gov (United States)

Engebretson, M. J.; Connors, M. G.; Braun, D.; Posch, J. L.; Kaur, M.; Guillon, S.; Hartinger, M.; Kim, H.; Behlke, R.; Reiter, K.; Jackel, B. J.; Russell, C. T.

2017-12-01

High latitude Magnetic Impulse Events (MIEs), isolated pulses with periods 5-10 min, were first noted in ground-based magnetometer data near local noon, and are now understood to be signatures of transient pressure increases in the solar wind (sudden impulses - SIs) and/or in the ion foreshock (traveling convection vortex events - TCVs). However, solitary pulses with considerably larger amplitude (ΔB up to 1500 nT) have often been observed in the night sector at these same latitudes. These events are not directly associated with transient external pressure increases, and are often large enough to produce significant ground induced currents. Although many night sector MIEs occur in association with substorm signatures, others appear to be very isolated. We present here a survey of intense MIE events identified in magnetometer data from the AUTUMNX and MACCS arrays in eastern Arctic Canada at all local times between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2017. We also show maps of horizontal and vertical perturbations and maximum dB/dt values, as well as sample magnetograms, for several example events using data from these and other arrays in Arctic Canada, as well as in West Greenland and Antarctica, the latter to show the conjugate nature of these events. A basic relation to GIC data in the Hydro-Québec electrical transmission network in eastern Canada has been determined and will be discussed.

Quasilinear simulations of interplanetary shocks and Earth's bow shock

Science.gov (United States)

Afanasiev, Alexandr; Battarbee, Markus; Ganse, Urs; Vainio, Rami; Palmroth, Minna; Pfau-Kempf, Yann; Hoilijoki, Sanni; von Alfthan, Sebastian

2016-04-01

We have developed a new self-consistent Monte Carlo simulation model for particle acceleration in shocks. The model includes a prescribed large-scale magnetic field and plasma density, temperature and velocity profiles and a self-consistently computed incompressible ULF foreshock under the quasilinear approximation. Unlike previous analytical treatments, our model is time dependent and takes full account of the anisotropic particle distributions and scattering in the wave-particle interaction process. We apply the model to the problem of particle acceleration at traveling interplanetary (IP) shocks and Earth's bow shock and compare the results with hybrid-Vlasov simulations and spacecraft observations. A qualitative agreement in terms of spectral shape of the magnetic fluctuations and the polarization of the unstable mode is found between the models and the observations. We will quantify the differences of the models and explore the region of validity of the quasilinear approach in terms of shock parameters. We will also compare the modeled IP shocks and the bow shock, identifying the similarities and differences in the spectrum of accelerated particles and waves in these scenarios. The work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 637324 (HESPERIA). The Academy of Finland is thanked for financial support. We acknowledge the computational resources provided by CSC - IT Centre for Science Ltd., Espoo.

From Multi-Sensors Observations Towards Cross-Disciplinary Study of Pre-Earthquake Signals. What have We Learned from the Tohoku Earthquake?

Science.gov (United States)

Ouzounov, D.; Pulinets, S.; Papadopoulos, G.; Kunitsyn, V.; Nesterov, I.; Hayakawa, M.; Mogi, K.; Hattori, K.; Kafatos, M.; Taylor, P.

2012-01-01

The lessons we have learned from the Great Tohoku EQ (Japan, 2011) how this knowledge will affect our future observation and analysis is the main focus of this presentation.We present multi-sensors observations and multidisciplinary research in our investigation of phenomena preceding major earthquakes. These observations revealed the existence of atmospheric and ionospheric phenomena occurring prior to theM9.0 Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011, which indicates s new evidence of a distinct coupling between the lithosphere and atmosphere/ionosphere, as related to underlying tectonic activity. Similar results have been reported before the catastrophic events in Chile (M8.8, 2010), Italy (M6.3, 2009) and Sumatra (M9.3, 2004). For the Tohoku earthquake, our analysis shows a synergy between several independent observations characterizing the state of the lithosphere /atmosphere coupling several days before the onset of the earthquakes, namely: (i) Foreshock sequence change (rate, space and time); (ii) Outgoing Long wave Radiation (OLR) measured at the top of the atmosphere; and (iii) Anomalous variations of ionospheric parameters revealed by multi-sensors observations. We are presenting a cross-disciplinary analysis of the observed pre-earthquake anomalies and will discuss current research in the detection of these signals in Japan. We expect that our analysis will shed light on the underlying physics of pre-earthquake signals associated with some of the largest earthquake events

Correlation length of magnetosheath fluctuations: Cluster statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Gutynska

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Magnetosheath parameters are usually described by gasdynamic or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD models but these models cannot account for one of the most important sources of magnetosheath fluctuations – the foreshock. Earlier statistical processing of a large amount of magnetosheath observations has shown that the magnetosheath magnetic field and plasma flow fluctuations downstream of the quasiparallel shock are much larger than those at the opposite flank. These studies were based on the observations of a single spacecraft and thus they could not provide full information on propagation of the fluctuations through the magnetosheath. We present the results of a statistical survey of the magnetosheath magnetic field fluctuations using two years of Cluster observations. We discuss the dependence of the cross-correlation coefficients between different spacecraft pairs on the orientation of the separation vector with respect to the average magnetic field and plasma flow vectors and other parameters. We have found that the correlation length does not exceed ~1 RE in the analyzed frequency range (0.001–0.125 Hz and does not depend significantly on the magnetic field or plasma flow direction. A close connection of cross-correlation coefficients computed in the magnetosheath with the cross-correlation coefficients between a solar wind monitor and a magnetosheath spacecraft suggests that solar wind structures persist on the background of magnetosheath fluctuations.

Two-dimensional PIC simulations of ion beam instabilities in Supernova-driven plasma flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dieckmann, M E; Shukla, P K [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik IV, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Meli, A; Mastichiadis, A [Department of Physics, National University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos 15783 (Greece); Drury, L O C [Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 2 (Ireland)], E-mail: markd@tp4.rub.de

2008-06-15

Supernova remnant blast shells can reach the flow speed v{sub s} = 0.1c and shocks form at its front. Instabilities driven by shock-reflected ion beams heat the plasma in the foreshock, which may inject particles into diffusive acceleration. The ion beams can have the speed v{sub b} {approx} v{sub s}. For v{sub b} << v{sub s} the Buneman or upper-hybrid instabilities dominate, while for v{sub b} >> v{sub s} the filamentation and mixed modes grow faster. Here the relevant waves for v{sub b} {approx} v{sub s} are examined and how they interact nonlinearly with the particles. The collision of two plasma clouds at the speed v{sub s} is modelled with particle-in-cell simulations, which convect with them magnetic fields oriented perpendicular to their flow velocity vector. One simulation models equally dense clouds and the other one uses a density ratio of 2. Both simulations show upper-hybrid waves that are planar over large spatial intervals and that accelerate electrons to {approx}10 keV. The symmetric collision yields only short oscillatory wave pulses, while the asymmetric collision also produces large-scale electric fields, probably through a magnetic pressure gradient. The large-scale fields destroy the electron phase space holes and they accelerate the ions, which facilitates the formation of a precursor shock.

Observations & modeling of solar-wind/magnetospheric interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Hoilijoki, Sanni; Von Alfthan, Sebastian; Pfau-Kempf, Yann; Palmroth, Minna; Ganse, Urs

2016-07-01

The majority of the global magnetospheric dynamics is driven by magnetic reconnection, indicating the need to understand and predict reconnection processes and their global consequences. So far, global magnetospheric dynamics has been simulated using mainly magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models, which are approximate but fast enough to be executed in real time or near-real time. Due to their fast computation times, MHD models are currently the only possible frameworks for space weather predictions. However, in MHD models reconnection is not treated kinetically. In this presentation we will compare the results from global kinetic (hybrid-Vlasov) and global MHD simulations. Both simulations are compared with in-situ measurements. We will show that the kinetic processes at the bow shock, in the magnetosheath and at the magnetopause affect global dynamics even during steady solar wind conditions. Foreshock processes cause an asymmetry in the magnetosheath plasma, indicating that the plasma entering the magnetosphere is not symmetrical on different sides of the magnetosphere. Behind the bow shock in the magnetosheath kinetic wave modes appear. Some of these waves propagate to the magnetopause and have an effect on the magnetopause reconnection. Therefore we find that kinetic phenomena have a significant role in the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere. While kinetic models cannot be executed in real time currently, they could be used to extract heuristics to be added in the faster MHD models.

Electron velocity distributions near the earth's bow shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.; Anderson, R.C.; Bame, S.J.; Gary, S.P.; Gosling, J.T.; McComas, D.J.; Thomsen, M.F.; Paschmann, G.; Hoppe, M.M.

1983-01-01

A survey of two-dimensional electron velocity distributions, f(V), measured near the earth's bow shock using Los Alamos/Garching plasma instrumentation aboard ISEE 2 is presented. This survey provides clues to the mechanisms of electron thermalization within the shock and the relaxation of both the upsteam and downstream velocity distributions. First, near the foreshock boundary, fluxes of electrons having a power law shape at high energies backstream from the shock. Second, within the shock, cuts through f(V) along B. f(V), often show single maxima offset toward the magnetosheath by speeds comparable to, but larger than, the upstream thermal speed.Third, magnetosheath distributions generally have flat tops out to an energy, E 0 , with maxima substantially lower than that in the solar wind. Occasionally, cuts through f(V) along B show one and sometimes two small peaks at the edge of the flat tops making them appear concave upward. The electron distributions characteristic of these three regions are interpreted as arising from the effects of macroscopic (scale size comparable to or larger than the shock width) electric and magnetic fields and the subsequent effects of microscopic (scale size small in comparison with the shock width) fields. In particular, our results suggest that field-aligned instabilities are likely to be present in the earth's bow shock

Dynamics of book sales: Endogenous versus exogenous shocks in complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Deschâtres, F.; Sornette, D.

2005-07-01

We present an extensive study of the foreshock and aftershock signatures accompanying peaks of book sales. The time series of book sales are derived from the ranking system of Amazon.com. We present two independent ways of classifying peaks, one based on the acceleration pattern of sales and the other based on the exponent of the relaxation. They are found to be consistent and reveal the coexistence of two types of sales peaks: exogenous peaks occur abruptly and are followed by a power law relaxation, while endogenous sale peaks occur after a progressively accelerating power law growth followed by an approximately symmetrical power law relaxation which is slower than for exogenous peaks. We develop a simple epidemic model of buyers connected within a network of acquaintances which propagates rumors and opinions on books. The comparison between the predictions of the model and the empirical data confirms the validity of the model and suggests in addition that social networks have evolved to converge very close to criticality (here in the sense of critical branching processes of opinion spreading). We test in detail the evidence for a power law distribution of book sales and confirm a previous indirect study suggesting that the fraction of books (density distribution) P(S) of sales S is a power law P(S)˜1/S1+μ with μ≈2 .

Impact of Shock Front Rippling and Self-reformation on the Electron Dynamics at Low-Mach-number Shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhongwei; Lu, Quanming; Liu, Ying D.; Wang, Rui

2018-04-01

Electron dynamics at low-Mach-number collisionless shocks are investigated by using two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations with various shock normal angles. We found: (1) The reflected ions and incident electrons at the shock front provide an effective mechanism for the quasi-electrostatic wave generation due to the charge-separation. A fraction of incident electrons can be effectively trapped and accelerated at the leading edge of the shock foot. (2) At quasi-perpendicular shocks, the electron trapping and reflection is nonuniform due to the shock rippling along the shock surface and is more likely to take place at some locations accompanied by intense reflected ion-beams. The electron trapping process has a periodical evolution over time due to the shock front self-reformation, which is controlled by ion dynamics. Thus, this is a cross-scale coupling phenomenon. (3) At quasi-parallel shocks, reflected ions can travel far back upstream. Consequently, quasi-electrostatic waves can be excited in the shock transition and the foreshock region. The electron trajectory analysis shows these waves can trap electrons at the foot region and reflect a fraction of them far back upstream. Simulation runs in this paper indicate that the micro-turbulence at the shock foot can provide a possible scenario for producing the reflected electron beam, which is a basic condition for the type II radio burst emission at low-Mach-number interplanetary shocks driven by Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).

An interdisciplinary approach to study Pre-Earthquake processes

Science.gov (United States)

Ouzounov, D.; Pulinets, S. A.; Hattori, K.; Taylor, P. T.

2017-12-01

We will summarize a multi-year research effort on wide-ranging observations of pre-earthquake processes. Based on space and ground data we present some new results relevant to the existence of pre-earthquake signals. Over the past 15-20 years there has been a major revival of interest in pre-earthquake studies in Japan, Russia, China, EU, Taiwan and elsewhere. Recent large magnitude earthquakes in Asia and Europe have shown the importance of these various studies in the search for earthquake precursors either for forecasting or predictions. Some new results were obtained from modeling of the atmosphere-ionosphere connection and analyses of seismic records (foreshocks /aftershocks), geochemical, electromagnetic, and thermodynamic processes related to stress changes in the lithosphere, along with their statistical and physical validation. This cross - disciplinary approach could make an impact on our further understanding of the physics of earthquakes and the phenomena that precedes their energy release. We also present the potential impact of these interdisciplinary studies to earthquake predictability. A detail summary of our approach and that of several international researchers will be part of this session and will be subsequently published in a new AGU/Wiley volume. This book is part of the Geophysical Monograph series and is intended to show the variety of parameters seismic, atmospheric, geochemical and historical involved is this important field of research and will bring this knowledge and awareness to a broader geosciences community.

Parametric study of non-relativistic electrostatic shocks and the structure of their transition layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dieckmann, M. E. [Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany); Department of Science and Technology, Linkoeping University, SE-60174 Norrkoeping (Sweden); Ahmed, H.; Sarri, G.; Doria, D.; Kourakis, I.; Borghesi, M. [Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen' s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Romagnani, L. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Pohl, M. [Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany); DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany)

2013-04-15

Nonrelativistic electrostatic unmagnetized shocks are frequently observed in laboratory plasmas and they are likely to exist in astrophysical plasmas. Their maximum speed, expressed in units of the ion acoustic speed far upstream of the shock, depends only on the electron-to-ion temperature ratio if binary collisions are absent. The formation and evolution of such shocks is examined here for a wide range of shock speeds with particle-in-cell simulations. The initial temperatures of the electrons and the 400 times heavier ions are equal. Shocks form on electron time scales at Mach numbers between 1.7 and 2.2. Shocks with Mach numbers up to 2.5 form after tens of inverse ion plasma frequencies. The density of the shock-reflected ion beam increases and the number of ions crossing the shock thus decreases with an increasing Mach number, causing a slower expansion of the downstream region in its rest frame. The interval occupied by this ion beam is on a positive potential relative to the far upstream. This potential pre-heats the electrons ahead of the shock even in the absence of beam instabilities and decouples the electron temperature in the foreshock ahead of the shock from the one in the far upstream plasma. The effective Mach number of the shock is reduced by this electron heating. This effect can potentially stabilize nonrelativistic electrostatic shocks moving as fast as supernova remnant shocks.

Parametric study of non-relativistic electrostatic shocks and the structure of their transition layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckmann, M. E.; Ahmed, H.; Sarri, G.; Doria, D.; Kourakis, I.; Borghesi, M.; Romagnani, L.; Pohl, M.

2013-01-01

Nonrelativistic electrostatic unmagnetized shocks are frequently observed in laboratory plasmas and they are likely to exist in astrophysical plasmas. Their maximum speed, expressed in units of the ion acoustic speed far upstream of the shock, depends only on the electron-to-ion temperature ratio if binary collisions are absent. The formation and evolution of such shocks is examined here for a wide range of shock speeds with particle-in-cell simulations. The initial temperatures of the electrons and the 400 times heavier ions are equal. Shocks form on electron time scales at Mach numbers between 1.7 and 2.2. Shocks with Mach numbers up to 2.5 form after tens of inverse ion plasma frequencies. The density of the shock-reflected ion beam increases and the number of ions crossing the shock thus decreases with an increasing Mach number, causing a slower expansion of the downstream region in its rest frame. The interval occupied by this ion beam is on a positive potential relative to the far upstream. This potential pre-heats the electrons ahead of the shock even in the absence of beam instabilities and decouples the electron temperature in the foreshock ahead of the shock from the one in the far upstream plasma. The effective Mach number of the shock is reduced by this electron heating. This effect can potentially stabilize nonrelativistic electrostatic shocks moving as fast as supernova remnant shocks.

Mortality in the l'aquila (central Italy) earthquake of 6 april 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, David; Magni, Michele

2013-01-07

This paper presents the results of an analysis of data on mortality in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck the central Italian city and province of L'Aquila during the night of 6 April 2009. The aim is to create a profile of the deaths in terms of age, gender, location, behaviour during the tremors, and other aspects. This could help predict the pattern of casualties and priorities for protection in future earthquakes. To establish a basis for analysis, the literature on seismic mortality is surveyed. The conclusions of previous studies are synthesised regarding patterns of mortality, entrapment, survival times, self-protective behaviour, gender and age. These factors are investigated for the data set covering the 308 fatalities in the L'Aquila earthquake, with help from interview data on behavioural factors obtained from 250 survivors. In this data set, there is a strong bias towards victimisation of young people, the elderly and women. Part of this can be explained by geographical factors regarding building performance: the rest of the explanation refers to the vulnerability of the elderly and the relationship between perception and action among female victims, who tend to be more fatalistic than men and thus did not abandon their homes between a major foreshock and the main shock of the earthquake, three hours later. In terms of casualties, earthquakes commonly discriminate against the elderly and women. Age and gender biases need further investigation and should be taken into account in seismic mitigation initiatives.

Initiation process of earthquakes and its implications for seismic hazard reduction strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanamori, H

1996-04-30

For the average citizen and the public, "earthquake prediction" means "short-term prediction," a prediction of a specific earthquake on a relatively short time scale. Such prediction must specify the time, place, and magnitude of the earthquake in question with sufficiently high reliability. For this type of prediction, one must rely on some short-term precursors. Examinations of strain changes just before large earthquakes suggest that consistent detection of such precursory strain changes cannot be expected. Other precursory phenomena such as foreshocks and nonseismological anomalies do not occur consistently either. Thus, reliable short-term prediction would be very difficult. Although short-term predictions with large uncertainties could be useful for some areas if their social and economic environments can tolerate false alarms, such predictions would be impractical for most modern industrialized cities. A strategy for effective seismic hazard reduction is to take full advantage of the recent technical advancements in seismology, computers, and communication. In highly industrialized communities, rapid earthquake information is critically important for emergency services agencies, utilities, communications, financial companies, and media to make quick reports and damage estimates and to determine where emergency response is most needed. Long-term forecast, or prognosis, of earthquakes is important for development of realistic building codes, retrofitting existing structures, and land-use planning, but the distinction between short-term and long-term predictions needs to be clearly communicated to the public to avoid misunderstanding.

Global observation of Omori-law decay in the rate of triggered earthquakes

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Parsons, T.

2001-12-01

Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the 1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 events in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with M greater than 7.0 from the Harvard CMT catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occurred near the main shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ~39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, triggered earthquakes obey an Omori-law rate decay that lasts between ~7-11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main-shock centroid. Earthquakes triggered by smaller quakes (foreshocks) also obey Omori's law, which is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. These observations indicate that earthquake probability calculations which include interactions from previous shocks should incorporate a transient Omori-law decay with time. In addition, a very simple model using the observed global rate change with time and spatial distribution of triggered earthquakes can be applied to immediately assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following large events, and can be in place until more sophisticated analyses are conducted.

Quick regional centroid moment tensor solutions for the Emilia 2012 (northern Italy seismic sequence

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Silvia Pondrelli

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In May 2012, a seismic sequence struck the Emilia region (northern Italy. The mainshock, of Ml 5.9, occurred on May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC. This was preceded by a smaller Ml 4.1 foreshock some hours before (23:13 UTC on May 19, 2012 and followed by more than 2,500 earthquakes in the magnitude range from Ml 0.7 to 5.2. In addition, on May 29, 2012, three further strong earthquakes occurred, all with magnitude Ml ≥5.2: a Ml 5.8 earthquake in the morning (07:00 UTC, followed by two events within just 5 min of each other, one at 10:55 UTC (Ml 5.3 and the second at 11:00 UTC (Ml 5.2. For all of the Ml ≥4.0 earthquakes in Italy and for all of the Ml ≥4.5 in the Mediterranean area, an automatic procedure for the computation of a regional centroid moment tensor (RCMT is triggered by an email alert. Within 1 h of the event, a manually revised quick RCMT (QRCMT can be published on the website if the solution is considered stable. In particular, for the Emilia seismic sequence, 13 QRCMTs were determined and for three of them, those with M >5.5, the automatically computed QRCMTs fitted the criteria for publication without manual revision. Using this seismic sequence as a test, we can then identify the magnitude threshold for automatic publication of our QRCMTs.

Nonlinear wave-particle interaction upstream from the Earth's bow shock

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C. Mazelle

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Well-defined ring-like backstreaming ion distributions have been recently reported from observations made by the 3DP/PESA-High analyzer onboard the WIND spacecraft in the Earth's foreshock at large distances from the bow shock, which suggests a local production mechanism. The maximum phase space density for these distributions remains localized at a nearly constant pitch-angle value for a large number of gyroperiods while the shape of the distribution remains very steady. These distributions are also observed in association with quasi-monochromatic low frequency (~ 50 mHz waves with substantial amplitude (δB/B>0.2. The analysis of the magnetic field data has shown that the waves are propagating parallel to the background field in the right-hand mode. Parallel ion beams are also often observed in the same region before the observation of both the ring-like distributions and the waves. The waves appear in cyclotron resonance with the ion parallel beams. We investigate first the possibility that the ion beams could provide the free energy source for driving an ion/ion instability responsible for the ULF wave occurrence. For that, we solve the wave dispersion relation with the observed parameters. Second, we show that the ring-like distributions could then be produced by a coherent nonlinear wave-particle interaction. It tends to trap the ions into narrow cells in velocity space centered on a well-defined pitch-angle, directly related to the saturation wave amplitude in the analytical theory. The theoretical predictions are in good quantitative agreement with the observations

The May 2012 Emilia (Italy earthquakes: preliminary interpretations on the seismogenic source and the origin of the coseismic ground effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Pizzi

2012-10-01

Full Text Available On May 20, 2012, a Ml 5.9 earthquake (T1 occurred in the Emilia-Romagna Region of northern Italy. This was preceded by a Ml 4.1 foreshock on May 19, 2012, and followed by several aftershocks, including two Ml 5.1 events, both on the same day. On May 29, 2012, a second strong event of Ml 5.8 (T2 hit the same region, with its epicenter ca. 12 km to the WSW of the first mainshock, T1. The epicentral area of the seismic sequence covers an alluvial lowland that is occupied by both agricultural and urbanized areas, and there were 17 casualties and about 14,000 people left homeless. […] In the present study, we provide a preliminary model of the seismogenic source(s responsible for the two mainshocks, by comparing the seismic reflection profile interpretation with the available seismological and interferometric data. Furthermore, we show the coseismic ground effects that were observed in the epicentral area during two field survey campaigns: the first conducted after the May 20, 2012, event and the second soon after the May 29, 2012, earthquake, when several sites were revisited to observe the occurrence of newly formed or 're-activated' liquefaction features. Hence, we discuss the origin and location of the coseismic features observed in the context of the local geological–geomorphological setting and with respect to the epicentral distance. Finally, we provide our interpretation for the question: "Why did the mainshock ruptures not break the surface?" […

Potentially induced earthquakes during the early twentieth century in the Los Angeles Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Hough, Susan E.; Page, Morgan T.

2016-01-01

Recent studies have presented evidence that early to mid‐twentieth‐century earthquakes in Oklahoma and Texas were likely induced by fossil fuel production and/or injection of wastewater (Hough and Page, 2015; Frohlich et al., 2016). Considering seismicity from 1935 onward, Hauksson et al. (2015) concluded that there is no evidence for significant induced activity in the greater Los Angeles region between 1935 and the present. To explore a possible association between earthquakes prior to 1935 and oil and gas production, we first revisit the historical catalog and then review contemporary oil industry activities. Although early industry activities did not induce large numbers of earthquakes, we present evidence for an association between the initial oil boom in the greater Los Angeles area and earthquakes between 1915 and 1932, including the damaging 22 June 1920 Inglewood and 8 July 1929 Whittier earthquakes. We further consider whether the 1933 Mw 6.4 Long Beach earthquake might have been induced, and show some evidence that points to a causative relationship between the earthquake and activities in the Huntington Beach oil field. The hypothesis that the Long Beach earthquake was either induced or triggered by an foreshock cannot be ruled out. Our results suggest that significant earthquakes in southern California during the early twentieth century might have been associated with industry practices that are no longer employed (i.e., production without water reinjection), and do not necessarily imply a high likelihood of induced earthquakes at the present time.

Faults self-organized by repeated earthquakes in a quasi-static antiplane crack model

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D. Sornette

1996-01-01

Full Text Available We study a 2D quasi-static discrete crack anti-plane model of a tectonic plate with long range elastic forces and quenched disorder. The plate is driven at its border and the load is transferred to all elements through elastic forces. This model can be considered as belonging to the class of self-organized models which may exhibit spontaneous criticality, with four additional ingredients compared to sandpile models, namely quenched disorder, boundary driving, long range forces and fast time crack rules. In this 'crack' model, as in the 'dislocation' version previously studied, we find that the occurrence of repeated earthquakes organizes the activity on well-defined fault-like structures. In contrast with the 'dislocation' model, after a transient, the time evolution becomes periodic with run-aways ending each cycle. This stems from the 'crack' stress transfer rule preventing criticality to organize in favour of cyclic behaviour. For sufficiently large disorder and weak stress drop, these large events are preceded by a complex spacetime history of foreshock activity, characterized by a Gutenberg-Richter power law distribution with universal exponent B = 1±0.05. This is similar to a power law distribution of small nucleating droplets before the nucleation of the macroscopic phase in a first-order phase transition. For large disorder and large stress drop, and for certain specific initial disorder configurations, the stress field becomes frustrated in fast time: out-of-plane deformations (thrust and normal faulting and/or a genuine dynamics must be introduced to resolve this frustration.

The June 12, 1995 microearthquake sequence in the city of Rome 1167

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G. Selvaggi

1996-06-01

Full Text Available The earthquake of June 12, 1995 has been located using local and regional data (41°48.8'N, 12°30.8°6E at a depth of about 11.5 km a few kilometers inside the city limit of Rome, in its southernmost part. This is the first event that occurred in Rome for which instrumental data are available. The local magnitude estimated from digital recordings is ML 3.6 and it was largely felt reaching intensity VI MCS. We constrained the focal mechanism by analyzing the S-wave polarization and it agrees well with the distribution of P-wave polarities. The fault plane solution shows a dominant strike slip mechanism (strike 275°, dip 70°, rake - 140°. Seismic moment, M0 = 2.3 ± 0.6 1021dyne × , was computed from S-wave displacement spectra of horizontal components of ground motion digital waveforms. The corresponding source radius ranges between 200 and 500 m, depending on the assumed stress drop (100 bars or 10 bars, respectively. The earthquake was preceded by a ML 2.6 foreshock. The seismic sequence lasted a few days during which 38 aftershocks were recorded. The seismicity pattern shows the characteristics of a mainshock-aftershock sequence, rather than swarm behavior which seems to characterize the activity of the neighboring seismogenic areas of the Alban Hills. We used a master event algorithm to locate some of the aftershocks. Results show that the relocated aftershocks are clustered in a small volume in proximity of the mainshock hypocenter.

Superconducting Gravimeters Detect Gravity Fluctuations Induced by Mw 5.7 Earthquake Along South Pacific Rise Few Hours Before the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

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Keliang Zhang Jin Ma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Gravity changes sometimes appear before a big earthquake. To determine the possible sources is important for recognizing the mechanism and further geodynamic studies. During the first two hours on March 11 before the Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, the non-tidal gravity time series of superconducting gravimeters worldwide showed low-frequency (< 0.10 Hz fluctuations with amplitude of ~1 to 4 × 10-8 ms-2 lasting ~10 - 20 minutes. Through comparing global seismicity with the arrival times of seismic waves, we find that the fluctuations were induced by the Mw 5.7 earthquake that occurred at 0:14:54.68 at (53.27°S, 118.18°W along the eastern South Pacific Rise. Several body waves such as P, S are clearly recorded in the station with ~400 km distance to the hypocenter. The fluctuations are in response to the waves that propagate with a velocity of about 4 km s-1. Their amplitudes are proportional to the inverse of the epicentral distances even though the fluctuations of European sites were overlapped with waves associated with a smaller, i.e., Mw 2.6, event in Europe during this period. That is, the Mw 5.7 earthquake induced remarkable gravity fluctuations over long distances at stations all over the world. As such, the foreshocks with larger magnitudes occurred before the Mw 9.0 earthquake would have more significant influence on the gravity recordings and the seismic-wave induced component should be removed during the analysis of anomalies prior to a great earthquake in future studies.

Spatial and Temporal Stress Drop Variations of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Miyake, H.

2013-12-01

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake sequence consists of foreshocks, mainshock, aftershocks, and repeating earthquakes. To quantify spatial and temporal stress drop variations is important for understanding M9-class megathrust earthquakes. Variability and spatial and temporal pattern of stress drop is a basic information for rupture dynamics as well as useful to source modeling. As pointed in the ground motion prediction equations by Campbell and Bozorgnia [2008, Earthquake Spectra], mainshock-aftershock pairs often provide significant decrease of stress drop. We here focus strong motion records before and after the Tohoku earthquake, and analyze source spectral ratios considering azimuth- and distance dependency [Miyake et al., 2001, GRL]. Due to the limitation of station locations on land, spatial and temporal stress drop variations are estimated by adjusting shifts from the omega-squared source spectral model. The adjustment is based on the stochastic Green's function simulations of source spectra considering azimuth- and distance dependency. We assumed the same Green's functions for event pairs for each station, both the propagation path and site amplification effects are cancelled out. Precise studies of spatial and temporal stress drop variations have been performed [e.g., Allmann and Shearer, 2007, JGR], this study targets the relations between stress drop vs. progression of slow slip prior to the Tohoku earthquake by Kato et al. [2012, Science] and plate structures. Acknowledgement: This study is partly supported by ERI Joint Research (2013-B-05). We used the JMA unified earthquake catalogue and K-NET, KiK-net, and F-net data provided by NIED.

GYROSURFING ACCELERATION OF IONS IN FRONT OF EARTH's QUASI-PARALLEL BOW SHOCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kis, Arpad; Lemperger, Istvan; Wesztergom, Viktor; Agapitov, Oleksiy; Krasnoselskikh, Vladimir; Khotyaintsev, Yuri V.; Dandouras, Iannis

2013-01-01

It is well known that shocks in space plasmas can accelerate particles to high energies. However, many details of the shock acceleration mechanism are still unknown. A critical element of shock acceleration is the injection problem; i.e., the presence of the so called seed particle population that is needed for the acceleration to work efficiently. In our case study, we present for the first time observational evidence of gyroresonant surfing acceleration in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock resulting in the appearance of the long-suspected seed particle population. For our analysis, we use simultaneous multi-spacecraft measurements provided by the Cluster spacecraft ion (CIS), magnetic (FGM), and electric field and wave instrument (EFW) during a time period of large inter-spacecraft separation distance. The spacecraft were moving toward the bow shock and were situated in the foreshock region. The results show that the gyroresonance surfing acceleration takes place as a consequence of interaction between circularly polarized monochromatic (or quasi-monochromatic) transversal electromagnetic plasma waves and short large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMSs). The magnetic mirror force of the SLAMS provides the resonant conditions for the ions trapped by the waves and results in the acceleration of ions. Since wave packets with circular polarization and different kinds of magnetic structures are very commonly observed in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock, the gyroresonant surfing acceleration proves to be an important particle injection mechanism. We also show that seed ions are accelerated directly from the solar wind ion population.

GYROSURFING ACCELERATION OF IONS IN FRONT OF EARTH's QUASI-PARALLEL BOW SHOCK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kis, Arpad; Lemperger, Istvan; Wesztergom, Viktor [Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Geodetic and Geophysical Institute, Sopron (Hungary); Agapitov, Oleksiy; Krasnoselskikh, Vladimir [LPC2E/CNRS, F-45071 Orleans (France); Khotyaintsev, Yuri V. [Swedish Institute of Space Physics, SE- 751 21 Uppsala (Sweden); Dandouras, Iannis, E-mail: akis@ggki.hu, E-mail: Kis.Arpad@csfk.mta.hu [CESR, F-31028 Toulouse (France)

2013-07-01

It is well known that shocks in space plasmas can accelerate particles to high energies. However, many details of the shock acceleration mechanism are still unknown. A critical element of shock acceleration is the injection problem; i.e., the presence of the so called seed particle population that is needed for the acceleration to work efficiently. In our case study, we present for the first time observational evidence of gyroresonant surfing acceleration in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock resulting in the appearance of the long-suspected seed particle population. For our analysis, we use simultaneous multi-spacecraft measurements provided by the Cluster spacecraft ion (CIS), magnetic (FGM), and electric field and wave instrument (EFW) during a time period of large inter-spacecraft separation distance. The spacecraft were moving toward the bow shock and were situated in the foreshock region. The results show that the gyroresonance surfing acceleration takes place as a consequence of interaction between circularly polarized monochromatic (or quasi-monochromatic) transversal electromagnetic plasma waves and short large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMSs). The magnetic mirror force of the SLAMS provides the resonant conditions for the ions trapped by the waves and results in the acceleration of ions. Since wave packets with circular polarization and different kinds of magnetic structures are very commonly observed in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock, the gyroresonant surfing acceleration proves to be an important particle injection mechanism. We also show that seed ions are accelerated directly from the solar wind ion population.

Detecting earthquakes over a seismic network using single-station similarity measures

Science.gov (United States)

Bergen, Karianne J.; Beroza, Gregory C.

2018-06-01

New blind waveform-similarity-based detection methods, such as Fingerprint and Similarity Thresholding (FAST), have shown promise for detecting weak signals in long-duration, continuous waveform data. While blind detectors are capable of identifying similar or repeating waveforms without templates, they can also be susceptible to false detections due to local correlated noise. In this work, we present a set of three new methods that allow us to extend single-station similarity-based detection over a seismic network; event-pair extraction, pairwise pseudo-association, and event resolution complete a post-processing pipeline that combines single-station similarity measures (e.g. FAST sparse similarity matrix) from each station in a network into a list of candidate events. The core technique, pairwise pseudo-association, leverages the pairwise structure of event detections in its network detection model, which allows it to identify events observed at multiple stations in the network without modeling the expected moveout. Though our approach is general, we apply it to extend FAST over a sparse seismic network. We demonstrate that our network-based extension of FAST is both sensitive and maintains a low false detection rate. As a test case, we apply our approach to 2 weeks of continuous waveform data from five stations during the foreshock sequence prior to the 2014 Mw 8.2 Iquique earthquake. Our method identifies nearly five times as many events as the local seismicity catalogue (including 95 per cent of the catalogue events), and less than 1 per cent of these candidate events are false detections.

Nucleation and kinematic rupture of the 2017 Mw 8.2 Chiapas Mexico earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, L.; Huang, H.; Xie, Y.; Feng, T.; Dominguez, L. A.; Han, J.; Davis, P. M.

2017-12-01

Integrated geophysical observations from the 2017 Mw 8.2 Oaxaca, Mexico earthquake allow the exploration of one of the largest recorded normal faulting events inside a subducting slab. In this study, we collect seismic data from regional and teleseismic stations, and regional tsunami recordings to better understand the preparation and rupture processes. The mainshock occurred on the steeply dipping plane of a mega-normal fault, confirmed by time reversal analysis of tsunami waves. We utilize a template matching approach to detect possible missing earthquakes within a 2-month period before the Oaxaca mainshock. The seismicity rate (M > 3.7) shows an abrupt increase in the last day within 30 km around the mainshock hypocenter. The largest one is a M 4.6 event with similar normal faulting as the mainshock located at about 18 km updip from the hypocenter. The waveforms of the subsequent foreshocks are not similar, supporting the diversity of their locations or focal mechanisms. The nucleation process can be explained by a cascading process which eventually triggers the mainshock. Back-projection using the USArray network in Alaska reveals that the mainshock rupture propagated northwestward unilaterally at a speed of 3.1 km/s, for about 200 km and terminated near the Tehuantepec Fracture Zone. We also document the tectonic fabric of bending related faulting of the incoming Cocos plate. The mainshock is likely a reactivation of subducted outer rise faults, supported by the similarity of the strike angle between the mainshock and the outer rise faults. The surprisingly large magnitude is consistent with the exceedingly large dimensions of outer rise faulting in this particular segment of the central Mexican trench.

Stochastic growth of localized plasma waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, P.A.; Cairns, I.H.

2000-01-01

Full text: Localized bursty plasma waves occur in many natural systems, where they are detected by spacecraft. The large spatiotemporal scales involved imply that beam and other instabilities relax to marginal stability and that mean wave energies are low. Stochastic wave growth occurs when ambient fluctuations perturb the wave-driver interaction, causing fluctuations about marginal stability. This yields regions where growth is enhanced and others where damping is increased; observed bursts are associated with enhanced growth and can occur even when the mean growth rate is negative. In stochastic growth, energy loss from the source is suppressed relative to secular growth, preserving it for much longer times and distances than otherwise possible. Linear stochastic growth can operate at wave levels below thresholds of nonlinear wave-clumping mechanisms such as strong-turbulence modulational instability and is not subject to their coherence and wavelength limits. Growth mechanisms can be distinguished by statistics of the fields, whose strengths are lognormally distributed if stochastically growing, power-law distributed in strong turbulence, and uniformly distributed in log under secular growth. After delineating stochastic growth and strong-turbulence regimes, recent applications of stochastic growth theory (SGT) are described, involving bursty plasma waves and unstable particle distributions in type II and III solar radio sources, foreshock regions upstream of the bow shocks of Earth and planets, and Earth's magnetosheath, auroras, and polar-caps. It is shown that when combined with wave-wave processes, SGT accounts for type II and III solar radio emissions. SGT thus removes longstanding problems in understanding persistent unstable distributions, bursty fields, and radio emissions observed in space

The Chiloé Mw 7.6 earthquake of 2016 December 25 in Southern Chile and its relation to the Mw 9.5 1960 Valdivia earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Dietrich; Ruiz, Javier; Carrasco, Sebastián; Manríquez, Paula

2018-04-01

On 2016 December 25, an Mw 7.6 earthquake broke a portion of the Southern Chilean subduction zone south of Chiloé Island, located in the central part of the Mw 9.5 1960 Valdivia earthquake. This region is characterized by repeated earthquakes in 1960 and historical times with very sparse interseismic activity due to the subduction of a young (˜15 Ma), and therefore hot, oceanic plate. We estimate the coseismic slip distribution based on a kinematic finite-fault source model, and through joint inversion of teleseismic body waves and strong motion data. The coseismic slip model yields a total seismic moment of 3.94 × 1020 N.m that occurred over ˜30 s, with the rupture propagating mainly downdip, reaching a peak slip of ˜4.2 m. Regional moment tensor inversion of stronger aftershocks reveals thrust type faulting at depths of the plate interface. The fore- and aftershock seismicity is mostly related to the subduction interface with sparse seismicity in the overriding crust. The 2016 Chiloé event broke a region with increased locking and most likely broke an asperity of the 1960 earthquake. The updip limit of the main event, aftershocks, foreshocks and interseismic activity are spatially similar, located ˜15 km offshore and parallel to Chiloé Islands west coast. The coseismic slip model of the 2016 Chiloé earthquake suggests a peak slip of 4.2 m that locally exceeds the 3.38 m slip deficit that has accumulated since 1960. Therefore, the 2016 Chiloé earthquake possibly released strain that has built up prior to the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

THOR Ion Mass Spectrometer instrument - IMS

Science.gov (United States)

Retinò, Alessandro; Kucharek, Harald; Saito, Yoshifumi; Fraenz, Markus; Verdeil, Christophe; Leblanc, Frederic; Techer, Jean-Denis; Jeandet, Alexis; Macri, John; Gaidos, John; Granoff, Mark; Yokota, Shoichiro; Fontaine, Dominique; Berthomier, Matthieu; Delcourt, Dominique; Kistler, Lynn; Galvin, Antoniette; Kasahara, Satoshi; Kronberg, Elena

2016-04-01

Turbulence Heating ObserveR (THOR) is the first mission ever flown in space dedicated to plasma turbulence. Specifically, THOR will study how turbulent fluctuations at kinetic scales heat and accelerate particles in different turbulent environments within the near-Earth space. To achieve this goal, THOR payload is being designed to measure electromagnetic fields and particle distribution functions with unprecedented resolution and accuracy. Here we present the Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) instrument that will measure the full three-dimensional distribution functions of near-Earth main ion species (H+, He+, He++ and O+) at high time resolution (~ 150 ms for H+ , ~ 300 ms for He++) with energy resolution down to ~ 10% in the range 10 eV/q to 30 keV/q and angular resolution ~ 10°. Such high time resolution is achieved by mounting multiple sensors around the spacecraft body, in similar fashion to the MMS/FPI instrument. Each sensor combines a top-hat electrostatic analyzer with deflectors at the entrance together with a time-of-flight section to perform mass selection. IMS electronics includes a fast sweeping high voltage board that is required to make measurements at high cadence. Ion detection includes Micro Channel Plates (MCP) combined with Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for charge amplification, discrimination and time-to-digital conversion (TDC). IMS is being designed to address many of THOR science requirements, in particular ion heating and acceleration by turbulent fluctuations in foreshock, shock and magnetosheath regions. The IMS instrument is being designed and will be built by an international consortium of scientific institutes with main hardware contributions from France, USA, Japan and Germany.

Static stress changes associated with normal faulting earthquakes in South Balkan area

Science.gov (United States)

Papadimitriou, E.; Karakostas, V.; Tranos, M.; Ranguelov, B.; Gospodinov, D.

2007-10-01

Activation of major faults in Bulgaria and northern Greece presents significant seismic hazard because of their proximity to populated centers. The long recurrence intervals, of the order of several hundred years as suggested by previous investigations, imply that the twentieth century activation along the southern boundary of the sub-Balkan graben system, is probably associated with stress transfer among neighbouring faults or fault segments. Fault interaction is investigated through elastic stress transfer among strong main shocks ( M ≥ 6.0), and in three cases their foreshocks, which ruptured distinct or adjacent normal fault segments. We compute stress perturbations caused by earthquake dislocations in a homogeneous half-space. The stress change calculations were performed for faults of strike, dip, and rake appropriate to the strong events. We explore the interaction between normal faults in the study area by resolving changes of Coulomb failure function ( ΔCFF) since 1904 and hence the evolution of the stress field in the area during the last 100 years. Coulomb stress changes were calculated assuming that earthquakes can be modeled as static dislocations in an elastic half-space, and taking into account both the coseismic slip in strong earthquakes and the slow tectonic stress buildup associated with major fault segments. We evaluate if these stress changes brought a given strong earthquake closer to, or sent it farther from, failure. Our modeling results show that the generation of each strong event enhanced the Coulomb stress on along-strike neighbors and reduced the stress on parallel normal faults. We extend the stress calculations up to present and provide an assessment for future seismic hazard by identifying possible sites of impending strong earthquakes.

Electron beam interaction with space plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krafft, C.; Volokitin, A.S.

1999-01-01

Active space experiments involving the controlled injection of electron beams and the formation of artificially generated currents can provide in many cases a calibration of natural phenomena connected with the dynamic interaction of charged particles with fields. They have a long history beginning from the launches of small rockets with electron guns in order to map magnetic fields lines in the Earth's magnetosphere or to excite artificial auroras. Moreover, natural beams of charged particles exist in many space and astrophysical plasmas and were identified in situ by several satellites; a few examples are beams connected with solar bursts, planetary foreshocks or suprathermal fluxes traveling in planetary magnetospheres. Many experimental and theoretical works have been performed in order to interpret or plan space experiments involving beam injection as well as to understand the physics of wave-particle interaction, as wave radiation, beam dynamics and background plasma modification. Recently, theoretical studies of the nonlinear evolution of a thin monoenergetic electron beam injected in a magnetized plasma and interacting with a whistler wave packet have led to new results. The influence of an effective dissipation process connected with whistler wave field leakage out of the beam volume to infinity (that is, effective radiation outside the beam) on the nonlinear evolution of beam electrons distribution in phase space has been studied under conditions relevant to active space experiments and related laboratory modelling. The beam-waves system's evolution reveals the formation of stable nonlinear structures continuously decelerated due to the effective friction imposed by the strongly dissipated waves. The nonlinear interaction between the electron bunches and the wave packet are discussed in terms of dynamic energy exchange, particle trapping, slowing down of the beam, wave dissipation and quasi-linear diffusion. (author)

How to build and teach with QuakeCaster: an earthquake demonstration and exploration tool

Science.gov (United States)

Linton, Kelsey; Stein, Ross S.

2015-01-01

QuakeCaster is an interactive, hands-on teaching model that simulates earthquakes and their interactions along a plate-boundary fault. QuakeCaster contains the minimum number of physical processes needed to demonstrate most observable earthquake features. A winch to steadily reel in a line simulates the steady plate tectonic motions far from the plate boundaries. A granite slider in frictional contact with a nonskid rock-like surface simulates a fault at a plate boundary. A rubber band connecting the line to the slider simulates the elastic character of the Earth’s crust. By stacking and unstacking sliders and cranking in the winch, one can see the results of changing the shear stress and the clamping stress on a fault. By placing sliders in series with rubber bands between them, one can simulate the interaction of earthquakes along a fault, such as cascading or toggling shocks. By inserting a load scale into the line, one can measure the stress acting on the fault throughout the earthquake cycle. As observed for real earthquakes, QuakeCaster events are not periodic, time-predictable, or slip-predictable. QuakeCaster produces rare but unreliable “foreshocks.” When fault gouge builds up, the friction goes to zero and fault creep is seen without large quakes. QuakeCaster events produce very small amounts of fault gouge that strongly alter its behavior, resulting in smaller, more frequent shocks as the gouge accumulates. QuakeCaster is designed so that students or audience members can operate it and record its output. With a stopwatch and ruler one can measure and plot the timing, slip distance, and force results of simulated earthquakes. People of all ages can use the QuakeCaster model to explore hypotheses about earthquake occurrence. QuakeCaster takes several days and about $500.00 in materials to build.

Forecasting the Earth’s radiation belts and modelling solar energetic particle events: Recent results from SPACECAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poedts Stefaan

2013-05-01

Full Text Available High-energy charged particles in the van Allen radiation belts and in solar energetic particle events can damage satellites on orbit leading to malfunctions and loss of satellite service. Here we describe some recent results from the SPACECAST project on modelling and forecasting the radiation belts, and modelling solar energetic particle events. We describe the SPACECAST forecasting system that uses physical models that include wave-particle interactions to forecast the electron radiation belts up to 3 h ahead. We show that the forecasts were able to reproduce the >2 MeV electron flux at GOES 13 during the moderate storm of 7–8 October 2012, and the period following a fast solar wind stream on 25–26 October 2012 to within a factor of 5 or so. At lower energies of 10 – a few 100 keV we show that the electron flux at geostationary orbit depends sensitively on the high-energy tail of the source distribution near 10 RE on the nightside of the Earth, and that the source is best represented by a kappa distribution. We present a new model of whistler mode chorus determined from multiple satellite measurements which shows that the effects of wave-particle interactions beyond geostationary orbit are likely to be very significant. We also present radial diffusion coefficients calculated from satellite data at geostationary orbit which vary with Kp by over four orders of magnitude. We describe a new automated method to determine the position at the shock that is magnetically connected to the Earth for modelling solar energetic particle events and which takes into account entropy, and predict the form of the mean free path in the foreshock, and particle injection efficiency at the shock from analytical theory which can be tested in simulations.

Low stress drops observed for aftershocks of the 2011 Mw 5.7 Prague, Oklahoma, earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Sumy, Danielle F.; Neighbors, Corrie J.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Keranen, Katie M.

2017-01-01

In November 2011, three Mw ≥ 4.8 earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks occurred along the structurally complex Wilzetta fault system near Prague, Oklahoma. Previous studies suggest that wastewater injection induced a Mw 4.8 foreshock, which subsequently triggered a Mw 5.7 mainshock. We examine source properties of aftershocks with a standard Brune-type spectral model and jointly solve for seismic moment (M0), corner frequency (f0), and kappa (κ) with an iterative Gauss-Newton global downhill optimization method. We examine 934 earthquakes with initial moment magnitudes (Mw) between 0.33 and 4.99 based on the pseudospectral acceleration and recover reasonable M0, f0, and κ for 87 earthquakes with Mw 1.83–3.51 determined by spectral fit. We use M0 and f0 to estimate the Brune-type stress drop, assuming a circular fault and shear-wave velocity at the hypocentral depth of the event. Our observations suggest that stress drops range between 0.005 and 4.8 MPa with a median of 0.2 MPa (0.03–26.4 MPa with a median of 1.1 MPa for Madariaga-type), which is significantly lower than typical eastern United States intraplate events (>10 MPa). We find that stress drops correlate weakly with hypocentral depth and magnitude. Additionally, we find the stress drops increase with time after the mainshock, although temporal variation in stress drop is difficult to separate from spatial heterogeneity and changing event locations. The overall low median stress drop suggests that the fault segments may have been primed to fail as a result of high pore fluid pressures, likely related to nearby wastewater injection.

Assessing historical rate changes in global tsunami occurrence

Science.gov (United States)

Geist, E.L.; Parsons, T.

2011-01-01

The global catalogue of tsunami events is examined to determine if transient variations in tsunami rates are consistent with a Poisson process commonly assumed for tsunami hazard assessments. The primary data analyzed are tsunamis with maximum sizes >1m. The record of these tsunamis appears to be complete since approximately 1890. A secondary data set of tsunamis >0.1m is also analyzed that appears to be complete since approximately 1960. Various kernel density estimates used to determine the rate distribution with time indicate a prominent rate change in global tsunamis during the mid-1990s. Less prominent rate changes occur in the early- and mid-20th century. To determine whether these rate fluctuations are anomalous, the distribution of annual event numbers for the tsunami catalogue is compared to Poisson and negative binomial distributions, the latter of which includes the effects of temporal clustering. Compared to a Poisson distribution, the negative binomial distribution model provides a consistent fit to tsunami event numbers for the >1m data set, but the Poisson null hypothesis cannot be falsified for the shorter duration >0.1m data set. Temporal clustering of tsunami sources is also indicated by the distribution of interevent times for both data sets. Tsunami event clusters consist only of two to four events, in contrast to protracted sequences of earthquakes that make up foreshock-main shock-aftershock sequences. From past studies of seismicity, it is likely that there is a physical triggering mechanism responsible for events within the tsunami source 'mini-clusters'. In conclusion, prominent transient rate increases in the occurrence of global tsunamis appear to be caused by temporal grouping of geographically distinct mini-clusters, in addition to the random preferential location of global M >7 earthquakes along offshore fault zones.

Magnetic field fluctuations across the Earth's bow shock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Czaykowska, A.; Bauer, T.M. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching (Germany); Treumann, R.A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching (Germany); Centre for Interdisciplinary Plasma Science, Garching (Germany); International Space Science Inst. (ISSI), Bern (Switzerland); Baumjohann, W. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching (Germany); Inst. fuer Weltraumforschung der Oesterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Graz (Austria)

2001-03-01

We present a statistical analysis of 132 dayside (LT 0700-1700) bow shock crossings of the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft. We perform a superposed epoch analysis of low frequency, magnetic power spectra some minutes upstream and downstream of the bow shock. The events are devided into categories depending on the angle {theta}{sub Bn} between bow shock normal and interplanetary magnetic field, and on plasma-{beta}. In the foreshock upstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock, the power of the magnetic fluctuations is roughly 1 order of magnitude larger ({delta}B {proportional_to} 4 nT for frequencies 0.01-0.04 Hz) than upstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock. There is no significant difference in the magnetic power spectra upstream and downstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock; only at the shock itself, is the magnetic power enhanced by a factor of 4. This enhancement may be due to either an amplification of convecting upstream waves or to wave generation at the shock interface. On the contrary, downstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock, the magnetic wave activity is considerably higher than upstream. Downstream of the quasi-perpendicular low-{beta} bow shock, we find a dominance of the left-hand polarized component at frequencies just below the ion-cyclotron frequency, with amplitudes of about 3 nT. These waves are identified as ion-cyclotron waves, which grow in a low-{beta} regime due to the proton temperature anisotropy. We find a strong correlation of this anisotropy with the intensity of the left-hand polarized component. Downstream of some nearly perpendicular ({theta}{sub Bn} {approx} 90 ) high-{beta} crossings, mirror waves are identified. However, there are also cases where the conditions for mirror modes are met downstream of the nearly perpendicular shock, but no mirror waves are observed. (orig.)

The Ionospheric Precursor to the 2011 March 11 Earthquake Based upon Observations Obtained from the Japan-Pacific Subionospheric VLF/LF Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masashi Hayakawa

2013-01-01

Full Text Available By using network observation of subionospheric VLF (very low frequency/LF (low frequency signals in Japan and in Russia, we have found a significant ionospheric perturbation prior to the recent 2011 March 11 Japan earthquake (EQ which occurred at sea proximate to the Tohoku area on the main island (Honshu of Japan was an exceptionally huge plate-type EQ. A remarkable anomaly (with a decrease in the nighttime amplitude and also with enhancement in dispersion was detected on March 5 and 6 along the propagation path from the NLK (Seattle, USA transmitter to Chofu (together with Kochi and Kasugai. We also have observed the corresponding VLF anomaly during a prolonged period of March 1 - 6, with minima in the nighttime amplitude on March 3 and 4 along the path from JJI (Miyazaki, Kyushu to Kamchatka, Russia. This ionospheric perturbation has been discussed extensively with respect to its reliability. (1 How abnormal is this VLF/LF propagation anomaly? (2 What was the temporal evolution of terminator times? (3 Were there any solar-terrestrial effects (especially the effect from geomagnetic storms on the VLF/LF propagation anomaly? (4 The effect of any other EQs and foreshock activities on the VLF/LF anomaly? (5 Were there any correlations with other related phenomena? Finally, (6 are there any other examples of a VLF/LF propagation anomaly for oceanic EQs? We then compared the temporal properties of ionospheric perturbations for this EQ with those of a huge number of inland EQs and compared the corresponding spatial scale with the former result of the same oceanic 2004 Sumatra EQ with nearly the same magnitude. Finally, the generation mechanism of those seismo-ionospheric perturbations is briefly discussed.

Analysis of short time-space range seismicity patterns in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Imotof

1997-06-01

Full Text Available In our paper we analyze the data base obtained from the observations of the Italian Seismological Network from 1975 to 1994 by using a simple algotithm to determine the rate of occurrence of seismic events condi- tioned by the occurrence of previous events after a period of quiescence. The number of observed pairs of earthquakes depends on several parameters: the magnitude threshold of the two events, the spatial and tempo- ral ranges of the quiescence period preceding the first (non aftershock event, the time elapsed between the first and the second events and the spatial dimension of the alarm area. The Akaike information criterion was adopted to assess the optimal set of space-time parameters used in the definition of non-aftershock (events not related to a stronger previous one. In Central Italy, the rate of M ³3.8 earthquakes preceded by at least one M ~ 3.3 foreshock within 14.1 km and 2 days is 30%, while the rate of M ~ 3.3 earthquakes followed by a M ~ 3.8 mainshock in the same space time range is 7%. We observed that the probability that an earthquake of magnitude MI will be followed by an earthquake of magnitude M2 (success rate fits the law log À = a+b (Mi -M2 with b approximately equal to l. By computing the success rate for given values of magnitude threshold of the first and the second events over a dense grid of spatial coordinates, we obtained maps of this feature over the investigated area. The results of this process document variations larger than a factor of five in the success rate over the Italian territory.

A 30-year history of earthquake crisis communication in California and lessons for the future

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, L.

2015-12-01

The first statement from the US Geological Survey to the California Office of Emergency Services quantifying the probability of a possible future earthquake was made in October 1985 about the probability (approximately 5%) that a M4.7 earthquake located directly beneath the Coronado Bay Bridge in San Diego would be a foreshock to a larger earthquake. In the next 30 years, publication of aftershock advisories have become routine and formal statements about the probability of a larger event have been developed in collaboration with the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (CEPEC) and sent to CalOES more than a dozen times. Most of these were subsequently released to the public. These communications have spanned a variety of approaches, with and without quantification of the probabilities, and using different ways to express the spatial extent and the magnitude distribution of possible future events. The USGS is re-examining its approach to aftershock probability statements and to operational earthquake forecasting with the goal of creating pre-vetted automated statements that can be released quickly after significant earthquakes. All of the previous formal advisories were written during the earthquake crisis. The time to create and release a statement became shorter with experience from the first public advisory (to the 1988 Lake Elsman earthquake) that was released 18 hours after the triggering event, but was never completed in less than 2 hours. As was done for the Parkfield experiment, the process will be reviewed by CEPEC and NEPEC (National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council) so the statements can be sent to the public automatically. This talk will review the advisories, the variations in wording and the public response and compare this with social science research about successful crisis communication, to create recommendations for future advisories

Slow Slip and Earthquake Nucleation in Meter-Scale Laboratory Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Mclaskey, G.

2017-12-01

The initiation of dynamic rupture is thought to be preceded by a quasistatic nucleation phase. Observations of recent earthquakes sometimes support this by illuminating slow slip and foreshocks in the vicinity of the eventual hypocenter. I describe laboratory earthquake experiments conducted on two large-scale loading machines at Cornell University that provide insight into the way earthquake nucleation varies with normal stress, healing time, and loading rate. The larger of the two machines accommodates a 3 m long granite sample, and when loaded to 7 MPa stress levels, we observe dynamic rupture events that are preceded by a measureable nucleation zone with dimensions on the order of 1 m. The smaller machine accommodates a 0.76 m sample that is roughly the same size as the nucleation zone. On this machine, small variations in nucleation properties result in measurable differences in slip events, and we generate both dynamic rupture events (> 0.1 m/s slip rates) and slow slip events ( 0.001 to 30 mm/s slip rates). Slow events occur when instability cannot fully nucleate before reaching the sample ends. Dynamic events occur after long healing times or abrupt increases in loading rate which suggests that these factors shrink the spatial and temporal extents of the nucleation zone. Arrays of slip, strain, and ground motion sensors installed on the sample allow us to quantify seismic coupling and study details of premonitory slip and afterslip. The slow slip events we observe are primarily aseismic (less than 1% of the seismic coupling of faster events) and produce swarms of very small M -6 to M -8 events. These mechanical and seismic interactions suggest that faults with transitional behavior—where creep, small earthquakes, and tremor are often observed—could become seismically coupled if loaded rapidly, either by a slow slip front or dynamic rupture of an earthquake that nucleated elsewhere.

Statistical distributions of earthquakes and related non-linear features in seismic waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostol, B.-F.

2006-01-01

A few basic facts in the science of the earthquakes are briefly reviewed. An accumulation, or growth, model is put forward for the focal mechanisms and the critical focal zone of the earthquakes, which relates the earthquake average recurrence time to the released seismic energy. The temporal statistical distribution for average recurrence time is introduced for earthquakes, and, on this basis, the Omori-type distribution in energy is derived, as well as the distribution in magnitude, by making use of the semi-empirical Gutenberg-Richter law relating seismic energy to earthquake magnitude. On geometric grounds, the accumulation model suggests the value r = 1/3 for the Omori parameter in the power-law of energy distribution, which leads to β = 1,17 for the coefficient in the Gutenberg-Richter recurrence law, in fair agreement with the statistical analysis of the empirical data. Making use of this value, the empirical Bath's law is discussed for the average magnitude of the aftershocks (which is 1.2 less than the magnitude of the main seismic shock), by assuming that the aftershocks are relaxation events of the seismic zone. The time distribution of the earthquakes with a fixed average recurrence time is also derived, the earthquake occurrence prediction is discussed by means of the average recurrence time and the seismicity rate, and application of this discussion to the seismic region Vrancea, Romania, is outlined. Finally, a special effect of non-linear behaviour of the seismic waves is discussed, by describing an exact solution derived recently for the elastic waves equation with cubic anharmonicities, its relevance, and its connection to the approximate quasi-plane waves picture. The properties of the seismic activity accompanying a main seismic shock, both like foreshocks and aftershocks, are relegated to forthcoming publications. (author)

Microseismic Analysis of Fracture of an Intact Rock Asperity Traversing a Sawcut Fault

Science.gov (United States)

Mclaskey, G.; Lockner, D. A.

2017-12-01

Microseismic events carry information related to stress state, fault geometry, and other subsurface properties, but their relationship to large and potentially damaging earthquakes is not well defined. We conducted laboratory rock mechanics experiments that highlight the interaction between a sawcut fault and an asperity composed of an intact rock "pin". The sample is a 76 mm diameter cylinder of Westerly granite with a 21 mm diameter cylinder (the pin) of intact Westerly granite that crosses the sawcut fault. Upon loading to 80 MPa in a triaxial machine, we first observed a slip event that ruptured the sawcut fault, slipped about 35 mm, but was halted by the rock pin. With continued loading, the rock pin failed in a swarm of thousands of M -7 seismic events similar to the localized microcracking that occurs during the final fracture nucleation phase in an intact rock sample. Once the pin was fractured to a critical point, it permitted complete rupture events on the sawcut fault (stick-slip instabilities). No seismicity was detected on the sawcut fault plane until the pin was sheared. Subsequent slip events were preceded by 10s of foreshocks, all located on the fault plane. We also identified an aseismic zone on the fault plane surrounding the fractured rock pin. A post-mortem analysis of the sample showed a thick gouge layer where the pin intersected the fault, suggesting that this gouge propped open the fault and prevented microseismic events in its vicinity. This experiment is an excellent case study in microseismicity since the events separate neatly into three categories: slip on the sawcut fault, fracture of the intact rock pin, and off-fault seismicity associated with pin-related rock joints. The distinct locations, timing, and focal mechanisms of the different categories of microseismic events allow us to study how their occurrence is related to the mechanics of the deforming rock.

Seismic quiescence before the 2016 Mw 6.0 Amatrice earthquake, central Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Di Giovambattista, R.; Gentili, S.; Peresan, A.

2017-12-01

Seismic quiescence before major worldwide earthquakes has been reported by many authors. We have analyzed the seismicity preceding the last damaging 2016-2017 seismic sequence occurred in central Italy, and we have characterized the temporal and spatial extension of the foregoing seismic quiescence. The multiple mainshock sequence (24/08/2016, Mw 6.0; 26/10/2016 Mw 5.4 and 5.9; 30/10/2016, Mw 6.5), which occurred in central Italy, caused the death of nearly 300 people and widespread destruction of entire villages. The Mw 6.5 earthquake was the most powerful recorded in Italy since the 1980 M 6.9 Irpinia earthquake. The Region-Time-Length (RTL) method has been used to quantitatively analyze the seismic quiescence preceding the first Mw 6.0 Amatrice mainshock. This analysis was performed using the earthquake catalogue maintained by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) declustered using a novel statistical approach, which is based on the "nearest-neighbor" distances between pairs of earthquakes in the space-time-energy domain. A well-evident quiescence that preceded the sequence was detected. The quiescence extended throughout a broad region north of the epicenter. The largest event of the sequence and its aftershocks covered most of the quiescence region, except for a small area to the west. The quiescence started from the beginning of September 2015 and lasted for approximately 1 year, up to the Amatrice mainshock. The results obtained have been compared with those of previous seismic sequences occurred in Italy. A similar analysis applied to the 1997-1998, Mw 5.7 Umbria-Marche earthquakes located at the northern termination of the Amatrice sequence, showed a decrease in RTL corresponding to a seismic quiescence, followed by a foreshock activation in the epicentral area before the occurrence of the mainshock.

Application of geostatistical simulation to compile seismotectonic provinces based on earthquake databases (case study: Iran)

Science.gov (United States)

Jalali, Mohammad; Ramazi, Hamidreza

2018-04-01

This article is devoted to application of a simulation algorithm based on geostatistical methods to compile and update seismotectonic provinces in which Iran has been chosen as a case study. Traditionally, tectonic maps together with seismological data and information (e.g., earthquake catalogues, earthquake mechanism, and microseismic data) have been used to update seismotectonic provinces. In many cases, incomplete earthquake catalogues are one of the important challenges in this procedure. To overcome this problem, a geostatistical simulation algorithm, turning band simulation, TBSIM, was applied to make a synthetic data to improve incomplete earthquake catalogues. Then, the synthetic data was added to the traditional information to study the seismicity homogeneity and classify the areas according to tectonic and seismic properties to update seismotectonic provinces. In this paper, (i) different magnitude types in the studied catalogues have been homogenized to moment magnitude (Mw), and earthquake declustering was then carried out to remove aftershocks and foreshocks; (ii) time normalization method was introduced to decrease the uncertainty in a temporal domain prior to start the simulation procedure; (iii) variography has been carried out in each subregion to study spatial regressions (e.g., west-southwestern area showed a spatial regression from 0.4 to 1.4 decimal degrees; the maximum range identified in the azimuth of 135 ± 10); (iv) TBSIM algorithm was then applied to make simulated events which gave rise to make 68,800 synthetic events according to the spatial regression found in several directions; (v) simulated events (i.e., magnitudes) were classified based on their intensity in ArcGIS packages and homogenous seismic zones have been determined. Finally, according to the synthetic data, tectonic features, and actual earthquake catalogues, 17 seismotectonic provinces were introduced in four major classes introduced as very high, high, moderate, and low

Predicting the Maximum Earthquake Magnitude from Seismic Data in Israel and Its Neighboring Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Last, Mark; Rabinowitz, Nitzan; Leonard, Gideon

2016-01-01

This paper explores several data mining and time series analysis methods for predicting the magnitude of the largest seismic event in the next year based on the previously recorded seismic events in the same region. The methods are evaluated on a catalog of 9,042 earthquake events, which took place between 01/01/1983 and 31/12/2010 in the area of Israel and its neighboring countries. The data was obtained from the Geophysical Institute of Israel. Each earthquake record in the catalog is associated with one of 33 seismic regions. The data was cleaned by removing foreshocks and aftershocks. In our study, we have focused on ten most active regions, which account for more than 80% of the total number of earthquakes in the area. The goal is to predict whether the maximum earthquake magnitude in the following year will exceed the median of maximum yearly magnitudes in the same region. Since the analyzed catalog includes only 28 years of complete data, the last five annual records of each region (referring to the years 2006-2010) are kept for testing while using the previous annual records for training. The predictive features are based on the Gutenberg-Richter Ratio as well as on some new seismic indicators based on the moving averages of the number of earthquakes in each area. The new predictive features prove to be much more useful than the indicators traditionally used in the earthquake prediction literature. The most accurate result (AUC = 0.698) is reached by the Multi-Objective Info-Fuzzy Network (M-IFN) algorithm, which takes into account the association between two target variables: the number of earthquakes and the maximum earthquake magnitude during the same year.

Building an Ensemble Seismic Hazard Model for the Magnitude Distribution by Using Alternative Bayesian Implementations

Science.gov (United States)

Taroni, M.; Selva, J.

2017-12-01

In this work we show how we built an ensemble seismic hazard model for the magnitude distribution for the TSUMAPS-NEAM EU project (http://www.tsumaps-neam.eu/). The considered source area includes the whole NEAM region (North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas). We build our models by using the catalogs (EMEC and ISC), their completeness and the regionalization provided by the project. We developed four alternative implementations of a Bayesian model, considering tapered or truncated Gutenberg-Richter distributions, and fixed or variable b-value. The frequency size distribution is based on the Weichert formulation. This allows for simultaneously assessing all the frequency-size distribution parameters (a-value, b-value, and corner magnitude), using multiple completeness periods for the different magnitudes. With respect to previous studies, we introduce the tapered Pareto distribution (in addition to the classical truncated Pareto), and we build a novel approach to quantify the prior distribution. For each alternative implementation, we set the prior distributions using the global seismic data grouped according to the different types of tectonic setting, and assigned them to the related regions. The estimation is based on the complete (not declustered) local catalog in each region. Using the complete catalog also allows us to consider foreshocks and aftershocks in the seismic rate computation: the Poissonicity of the tsunami events (and similarly the exceedances of the PGA) will be insured by the Le Cam's theorem. This Bayesian approach provides robust estimations also in the zones where few events are available, but also leaves us the possibility to explore the uncertainty associated with the estimation of the magnitude distribution parameters (e.g. with the classical Metropolis-Hastings Monte Carlo method). Finally we merge all the models with their uncertainty to create the ensemble model that represents our knowledge of the seismicity in the

A review of the rupture characteristics of the 2011 Tohoku-oki Mw 9.1 earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Lay, Thorne

2018-05-01

The 2011 March 11 Tohoku-oki great (Mw 9.1) earthquake ruptured the plate boundary megathrust fault offshore of northern Honshu with estimates of shallow slip of 50 m and more near the trench. Non-uniform slip extended 220 km across the width and 400 km along strike of the subduction zone. Extensive data provided by regional networks of seismic and geodetic stations in Japan and global networks of broadband seismic stations, regional and global ocean bottom pressure sensors and sea level measurement stations, seafloor GPS/Acoustic displacement sites, repeated multi-channel reflection images, extensive coastal runup and inundation observations, and in situ sampling of the shallow fault zone materials and temperature perturbation, make the event the best-recorded and most extensively studied great earthquake to date. An effort is made here to identify the more robust attributes of the rupture as well as less well constrained, but likely features. Other issues involve the degree to which the rupture corresponded to geodetically-defined preceding slip-deficit regions, the influence of re-rupture of slip regions for large events in the past few centuries, and relationships of coseismic slip to precursory slow slip, foreshocks, aftershocks, afterslip, and relocking of the megathrust. Frictional properties associated with the slip heterogeneity and in situ measurements of frictional heating of the shallow fault zone support low stress during shallow sliding and near-total shear stress drop of 10-30 MPa in large-slip regions in the shallow megathrust. The roles of fault morphology, sediments, fluids, and dynamical processes in the rupture behavior continue to be examined; consensus has not yet been achieved. The possibility of secondary sources of tsunami excitation such as inelastic deformation of the sedimentary wedge or submarine slumping remains undemonstrated; dislocation models in an elastic continuum appear to sufficiently account for most mainshock observations

The 2016 south Alboran earthquake (Mw = 6.4): A reactivation of the Ibero-Maghrebian region?

Science.gov (United States)

Buforn, E.; Pro, C.; Sanz de Galdeano, C.; Cantavella, J. V.; Cesca, S.; Caldeira, B.; Udías, A.; Mattesini, M.

2017-08-01

On 25 January 2016, an earthquake of magnitude Mw = 6.4 occurred at the southern part of the Alboran Sea, between southern Spain and northern Morocco. This shock was preceded by a foreshock (Mw = 5.1) and followed by a long aftershock sequence. Focal mechanism of main shock has been estimated from slip inversion of body waves at teleseismic distances. Solution corresponds to left-lateral strike-slip motion, showing a complex bilateral rupture, formed by two sub-events, with most energy propagating along a plane oriented N30°E plane dipping to the NW. Relocation of larger events of the aftershock series, show two alignments of epicentres in NE-SW and NNE-SSW direction that intersect at the epicentre of the main shock. We have estimated the focal mechanisms of the largest aftershocks from moment tensor inversion at regional distances. We have obtained two families of focal mechanisms corresponding to strike slip for the NNE-SSW alignment and thrusting motion for the NE-SW alignment. Among the faults present in the area the Al Idrisi fault (or fault zone) may be a good candidate for the source of this earthquake. The study of Coulomb Failure Stress shows that it is possible that the 2016 earthquake was triggered by the previous nearby earthquakes of 1994 (Mw = 5.8) and 2004 (Mw = 6.3). The possible seismic reactivation of the central part of the Ibero-Maghrebian region is an open question, but it is clear that the occurrence of the 2016 earthquake confirms that from 1994 the seismicity of central part of IMR is increasing and that focal mechanism of largest earthquakes in this central part correspond to complex ruptures (or zone of fault).

Relaxation of the south flank after the 7.2-magnitude Kalapana earthquake, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

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Dvorak, John J.; Klein, Fred W.; Swanson, Donald A.

1994-01-01

An M = 7.2 earthquake on 29 November 1975 caused the south flank of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, to move seaward several meters: a catastrophic release of compression of the south flank caused by earlier injections of magma into the adjacent segment of a rift zone. The focal mechanisms of the mainshock, the largest foreshock, and the largest aftershock suggest seaward movement of the upper block. The rate of aftershocks decreased in a familiar hyperbolic decay, reaching the pre-1975 rate of seismicity by the mid-1980s. Repeated rift-zone intrusions and eruptions after 1975, which occurred within 25 km of the summit area, compressed the adjacent portion of the south flank, apparently masking continued seaward displacement of the south flank. This is evident along a trilateration line that continued to extend, suggesting seaward displacement, immediately after the M = 7.2 earthquake, but then was compressed during a series of intrusions and eruptions that began in September 1977. Farther to the east, trilateration measurements show that the portion of the south flank above the aftershock zone, but beyond the area of compression caused by the rift-zone intrusions and eruptions, continued to move seaward at a decreasing rate until the mid-1980s, mimicking the decay in aftershock rate. Along the same portion of the south flank, the pattern of vertical surface displacements can be explained by continued seaward movement of the south flank and development of two eruptive fissures along the east rift zone, each of which extended from a depth of ∼3 km to the surface. The aftershock rate and continued seaward movement of the south flank are reminiscent of crustal response to other large earthquakes, such as the 1966 M = 6 Parkfield earthquake and the 1983 M = 6.5 Coalinga earthquake.

Lessons learned from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake: Building damages and behavior of seismically isolated buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Morita, Keiko; Takayama, Mineo

2017-10-01

Powerful earthquakes stuck Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in Kyushu, Japan. It began with the Magnitude 6.5 foreshock at 21:26 JST 14 April, followed by the Magnitude 7.3 mainshock at 1:25 JST 16 April, 2016. The sequence earthquakes also involved more than 1700 perceptible earthquakes as of 13 June. The entire sequence was named the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Thousands of buildings and many roads were damaged, and landslides occurred. The Japanese building standard law is revised in 1981. Structural damages were concentrated on buildings constructed prior to 1981. The area of Mashiki and Southern Aso were most badly affected, especially wooden houses extremely damaged. In Japan, Prof. Hideyuki Tada (title at the time) undertook research on laminated rubber bearings in 1978, and put it into practical use in 1981. The single family house at Yachiyodai, Chiba Prefecture is completed in 1983, it's the first seismically isolated building which is installed laminated rubber bearings in Japan. Afterward, this system is gradually adopted to mainly office buildings, like a research laboratory, a hospital, a computer center and other offices. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2011 Tohoku earthquake, seismically isolated buildings improve these good performances, and recently number of the buildings have increased, mainly high risk area of earthquakes. Many people believed that Kumamoto was a low risk area. But there were 24 seismically isolated buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture at the time. The seismically isolated buildings indicated excellent performances during the earthquakes. They protected people, buildings and other important facilities from damages caused by the earthquake. The purpose of this paper is to discuss lessons learned from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and behavior of seismically isolated buildings in the earthquake.

Ground motion estimation for the elevated bridges of the Kyushu Shinkansen derailment caused by the foreshock of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake based on the site-effect substitution method

Science.gov (United States)

Hata, Yoshiya; Yabe, Masaaki; Kasai, Akira; Matsuzaki, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Yoshikazu; Akiyama, Mitsuyoshi

2016-12-01

An earthquake of JMA magnitude 6.5 (first event) hit Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, at 21:26 JST, April 14, 2016. Subsequently, an earthquake of JMA magnitude 7.3 (second event) hit Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures at 01:46 JST, April 16, 2016. An out-of-service Kyushu Shinkansen train carrying no passengers traveling on elevated bridges was derailed by the first event. This was the third derailment caused by an earthquake in the history of the Japanese Shinkansen, after one caused by the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture Earthquake and another triggered by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. To analyze the mechanism of this third derailment, it is crucial to evaluate the strong ground motion at the derailment site with high accuracy. For this study, temporary earthquake observations were first carried out at a location near the bridge site; these observations were conducted because although the JMA Kumamoto Station site and the derailment site are closely located, the ground response characteristics at these sites differ. Next, empirical site amplification and phase effects were evaluated based on the obtained observation records. Finally, seismic waveforms during the first event at the bridge site of interest were estimated based on the site-effect substitution method. The resulting estimated acceleration and velocity waveforms for the derailment site include much larger amplitudes than the waveforms recorded at the JMA Kumamoto and MLIT Kumamoto station sites. The reliability of these estimates is confirmed by the finding that the same methods reproduce strong ground motions at the MLIT Kumamoto Station site accurately. These estimated ground motions will be useful for reasonable safety assessment of anti-derailment devices on elevated railway bridges.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

An Integrated Monitoring System of Pre-earthquake Processes in Peloponnese, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Karastathis, V. K.; Tsinganos, K.; Kafatos, M.; Eleftheriou, G.; Ouzounov, D.; Mouzakiotis, E.; Papadopoulos, G. A.; Voulgaris, N.; Bocchini, G. M.; Liakopoulos, S.; Aspiotis, T.; Gika, F.; Tselentis, A.; Moshou, A.; Psiloglou, B.

2017-12-01

One of the controversial issues in the contemporary seismology is the ability of radon accumulation monitoring to provide reliable earthquake forecasting. Although there are many examples in the literature showing radon increase before earthquakes, skepticism arises from instability of the measurements, false alarms, difficulties in interpretation caused by the weather influence (eg. rainfall) and difficulties on the consideration an irrefutable theoretical background of the phenomenon.We have developed and extensively tested a multi parameter network aimed for studying of the pre-earthquake processes and operating as a part of integrated monitoring system in the high seismicity area of the Western Hellenic Arc (SW Peloponnese, Greece). The prototype consists of four components: A real-time monitoring system of Radon accumulation. It consists of three gamma radiation detectors [NaI(Tl) scintillators] A nine-station seismic array to monitor the microseismicity in the offshore area of the Hellenic arc. The processing of the data is based on F-K and beam-forming techniques. Real-time weather monitoring systems for air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and pressure. Thermal radiation emission from AVHRR/NOAA-18 polar orbit satellite observation. The project revolved around the idea of jointly studying the emission of Radon that has been proven in many cases as a reliable indicator of the possible time of an event, with the accurate location of the foreshock activity detected by the seismic array that can be a more reliable indicator of the possible position of an event. In parallel a satellite thermal anomaly detection technique has been used for monitoring of larger magnitude events (possible indicator for strong events M ≥5.0.). The first year of operations revealed a number of pre-seismic radon variation anomalies before several local earthquakes (M>3.6). The Radon increases systematically before the larger events.Details about the overall performance

Magnetic field fluctuations across the Earth’s bow shock

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A. Czaykowska

Full Text Available We present a statistical analysis of 132 dayside (LT 0700-1700 bow shock crossings of the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft. We perform a superposed epoch analysis of low frequency, magnetic power spectra some minutes up-stream and downstream of the bow shock. The events are devided into categories depending on the angle θ_Bn between bow shock normal and interplanetary magnetic field, and on plasma-β. In the foreshock upstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock, the power of the magnetic fluctuations is roughly 1 order of magnitude larger (δB ~ 4 nT for frequencies 0.01–0.04 Hz than upstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock. There is no significant difference in the magnetic power spectra upstream and downstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock; only at the shock itself, is the magnetic power enhanced by a factor of 4. This enhancement may be due to either an amplification of convecting upstream waves or to wave generation at the shock interface. On the contrary, downstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock, the magnetic wave activity is considerably higher than upstream. Down-stream of the quasi-perpendicular low-β bow shock, we find a dominance of the left-hand polarized component at frequencies just below the ion-cyclotron frequency, with amplitudes of about 3 nT. These waves are identified as ion-cyclotron waves, which grow in a low-β regime due to the proton temperature anisotropy. We find a strong correlation of this anisotropy with the intensity of the left-hand polarized component. Downstream of some nearly perpendicular (θ_Bn ≈ 90° high-β crossings, mirror waves are identified. However, there are also cases where the conditions for mirror modes are met downstream of the nearly perpendicular shock, but no mirror waves are observed.

Key words. Interplanetary physics (plasma waves and turbulence – Magnetospheric physics (magnetosheath; plasma waves and

Magnetic field fluctuations across the Earth’s bow shock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Czaykowska

2001-03-01

Full Text Available We present a statistical analysis of 132 dayside (LT 0700-1700 bow shock crossings of the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft. We perform a superposed epoch analysis of low frequency, magnetic power spectra some minutes up-stream and downstream of the bow shock. The events are devided into categories depending on the angle θBn between bow shock normal and interplanetary magnetic field, and on plasma-β. In the foreshock upstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock, the power of the magnetic fluctuations is roughly 1 order of magnitude larger (δB ~ 4 nT for frequencies 0.01–0.04 Hz than upstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock. There is no significant difference in the magnetic power spectra upstream and downstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock; only at the shock itself, is the magnetic power enhanced by a factor of 4. This enhancement may be due to either an amplification of convecting upstream waves or to wave generation at the shock interface. On the contrary, downstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock, the magnetic wave activity is considerably higher than upstream. Down-stream of the quasi-perpendicular low-β bow shock, we find a dominance of the left-hand polarized component at frequencies just below the ion-cyclotron frequency, with amplitudes of about 3 nT. These waves are identified as ion-cyclotron waves, which grow in a low-β regime due to the proton temperature anisotropy. We find a strong correlation of this anisotropy with the intensity of the left-hand polarized component. Downstream of some nearly perpendicular (θBn ≈ 90° high-β crossings, mirror waves are identified. However, there are also cases where the conditions for mirror modes are met downstream of the nearly perpendicular shock, but no mirror waves are observed.Key words. Interplanetary physics (plasma waves and turbulence – Magnetospheric physics (magnetosheath; plasma waves and instabilities

Indoor radon and earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saghatelyan, E.; Petrosyan, L.; Aghbalyan, Yu.; Baburyan, M.; Araratyan, L.

2004-01-01

For the first time on the basis of the Spitak earthquake of December 1988 (Armenia, December 1988) experience it is found out that the earthquake causes intensive and prolonged radon splashes which, rapidly dispersing in the open space of close-to-earth atmosphere, are contrastingly displayed in covered premises (dwellings, schools, kindergartens) even if they are at considerable distance from the earthquake epicenter, and this multiplies the radiation influence on the population. The interval of splashes includes the period from the first fore-shock to the last after-shock, i.e. several months. The area affected by radiation is larger vs. Armenia's territory. The scale of this impact on population is 12 times higher than the number of people injured in Spitak, Leninakan and other settlements (toll of injured - 25 000 people, radiation-induced diseases in people - over 300 000). The influence of radiation directly correlates with the earthquake force. Such a conclusion is underpinned by indoor radon monitoring data for Yerevan since 1987 (120 km from epicenter) 5450 measurements and multivariate analysis with identification of cause-and-effect linkages between geo dynamics of indoor radon under stable and conditions of Earth crust, behavior of radon in different geological mediums during earthquakes, levels of room radon concentrations and effective equivalent dose of radiation impact of radiation dose on health and statistical data on public health provided by the Ministry of Health. The following hitherto unexplained facts can be considered as consequences of prolonged radiation influence on human organism: long-lasting state of apathy and indifference typical of the population of Armenia during the period of more than a year after the earthquake, prevalence of malignant cancer forms in disaster zones, dominating lung cancer and so on. All urban territories of seismically active regions are exposed to the threat of natural earthquake-provoked radiation influence

Characterization of earthquake-induced ground motion from the L'Aquila seismic sequence of 2009, Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Malagnini, Luca; Akinci, Aybige; Mayeda, Kevin; Munafo', Irene; Herrmann, Robert B.; Mercuri, Alessia

2011-01-01

Based only on weak-motion data, we carried out a combined study on region-specific source scaling and crustal attenuation in the Central Apennines (Italy). Our goal was to obtain a reappraisal of the existing predictive relationships for the ground motion, and to test them against the strong-motion data [peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV) and spectral acceleration (SA)] gathered during the Mw 6.15 L'Aquila earthquake (2009 April 6, 01:32 UTC). The L'Aquila main shock was not part of the predictive study, and the validation test was an extrapolation to one magnitude unit above the largest earthquake of the calibration data set. The regional attenuation was determined through a set of regressions on a data set of 12 777 high-quality, high-gain waveforms with excellent S/N ratios (4259 vertical and 8518 horizontal time histories). Seismograms were selected from the recordings of 170 foreshocks and aftershocks of the sequence (the complete set of all earthquakes with ML≥ 3.0, from 2008 October 1 to 2010 May 10). All waveforms were downloaded from the ISIDe web page (), a web site maintained by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). Weak-motion data were used to obtain a moment tensor solution, as well as a coda-based moment-rate source spectrum, for each one of the 170 events of the L'Aquila sequence (2.8 ≤Mw≤ 6.15). Source spectra were used to verify the good agreement with the source scaling of the Colfiorito seismic sequence of 1997-1998 recently described by Malagnini (2008). Finally, results on source excitation and crustal attenuation were used to produce the absolute site terms for the 23 stations located within ˜80 km of the epicentral area. The complete set of spectral corrections (crustal attenuation and absolute site effects) was used to implement a fast and accurate tool for the automatic computation of moment magnitudes in the Central Apennines.

Exact evaluation of the rates of electrostatic decay and scattering off thermal ions for an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Layden, B.; Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A. [School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2013-08-15

Electrostatic decay of Langmuir waves into Langmuir and ion sound waves (L→L′+S) and scattering of Langmuir waves off thermal ions (L+i→L′+i′, also called “nonlinear Landau damping”) are important nonlinear weak-turbulence processes. The rates for these processes depend on the quadratic longitudinal response function α{sup (2)} (or, equivalently, the quadratic longitudinal susceptibility χ{sup (2)}), which describes the second-order response of a plasma to electrostatic wave fields. Previous calculations of these rates for an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma have relied upon an approximate form for α{sup (2)} that is valid where two of the wave fields are fast (i.e., v{sub φ}=ω/k≫V{sub e} where ω is the angular frequency, k is the wavenumber, and V{sub e} is the electron thermal speed) and one is slow (v{sub φ}≪V{sub e}). Recently, an exact expression was derived for α{sup (2)} that is valid for any phase speeds of the three waves in an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma. Here, this exact α{sup (2)} is applied to the calculation of the three-dimensional rates for electrostatic decay and scattering off thermal ions, and the resulting exact rates are compared with the approximate rates. The calculations are performed using previously derived three-dimensional rates for electrostatic decay given in terms of a general α{sup (2)}, and newly derived three-dimensional rates for scattering off thermal ions; the scattering rate is derived assuming a Maxwellian ion distribution, and both rates are derived assuming arc distributions for the wave spectra. For most space plasma conditions, the approximate rate is found to be accurate to better than 20%; however, for sufficiently low Langmuir phase speeds (v{sub φ}/V{sub e}≈3) appropriate to some spatial domains of the foreshock regions of planetary bow shocks and type II solar radio bursts, the use of the exact rate may be necessary for accurate calculations. The relative rates of electrostatic decay

Inverse scattering problem in turbulent magnetic fluctuations

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R. A. Treumann

2016-08-01

advantage of a particular mapping from time to space domains. Though the theory is developed for homogeneous stationary non-flowing media, its extension to include flows, anisotropy, non-stationarity, and the presence of spectral lines, i.e. plasma eigenmodes like those present in the foreshock or the magnetosheath, is obvious.

Fluid-driven normal faulting earthquake sequences in the Taiwan orogen

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ling-hua; Rau, Ruey-Juin; Lee, En-Jui

2017-04-01

Seismicity in the Central Range of Taiwan shows normal faulting mechanisms with T-axes directing NE, subparallel to the strike of the mountain belt. We analyze earthquake sequences occurred within 2012-2015 in the Nanshan area of northern Taiwan which indicating swarm behavior and migration characteristics. We select events larger than 2.0 from Central Weather Bureau catalog and use the double-difference relocation program hypoDD with waveform cross-correlation in the Nanshan area. We obtained a final count of 1406 (95%) relocated earthquakes. Moreover, we compute focal mechanisms using USGS program HASH by P-wave first motion and S/P ratio picking and 114 fault plane solutions with M 3.0-5.87 were determined. To test for fluid diffusion, we model seismicity using the equation of Shapiro et al. (1997) by fitting earthquake diffusing rate D during the migration period. According to the relocation result, seismicity in the Taiwan orogenic belt present mostly N25E orientation parallel to the mountain belt with the same direction of the tension axis. In addition, another seismic fracture depicted by seismicity rotated 35 degree counterclockwise to the NW direction. Nearly all focal mechanisms are normal fault type. In the Nanshan area, events show N10W distribution with a focal depth range from 5-12 km and illustrate fault plane dipping about 45-60 degree to SW. Three months before the M 5.87 mainshock which occurred in March, 2013, there were some foreshock events occurred in the shallow part of the fault plane of the mainshock. Half a year following the mainshock, earthquakes migrated to the north and south, respectively with processes matched the diffusion model at a rate of 0.2-0.6 m2/s. This migration pattern and diffusion rate offer an evidence of 'fluid-driven' process in the fault zone. We also find the upward migration of earthquakes in the mainshock source region. These phenomena are likely caused by the opening of the permeable conduit due to the M 5

MIGRATION OF SEISMIC AND VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AS DISPLAY OF WAVE GEODYNAMIC PROCESS

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Alexander V. Vikulin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Publications about the earthquake foci migration have been reviewed. An important result of such studies is establishment of wave nature of seismic activity migration that is manifested by two types of rotational waves; such waves are responsible for interaction between earthquakes foci and propagate with different velocities. Waves determining long-range interaction of earthquake foci are classified as Type 1; their limiting velocities range from 1 to 10 cm/s. Waves determining short-range interaction of foreshocks and aftershocks of individual earthquakes are classified as Type 2; their velocities range from 1 to 10 km/s. According to the classification described in [Bykov, 2005], these two types of migration waves correspond to slow and fast tectonic waves. The most complete data on earthquakes (for a period over 4.1 million of years and volcanic eruptions (for 12 thousand years of the planet are consolidated in a unified systematic format and analyzed by methods developed by the authors. For the Pacific margin, Alpine-Himalayan belt and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which are the three most active zones of the Earth, new patterns of spatial and temporal distribution of seismic and volcanic activity are revealed; they correspond to Type 1 of rotational waves. The wave nature of the migration of seismic and volcanic activity is confirmed. A new approach to solving problems of geodynamics is proposed with application of the data on migration of seismic and volcanic activity, which are consolidated in this study, in combination with data on velocities of movement of tectonic plate boundaries. This approach is based on the concept of integration of seismic, volcanic and tectonic processes that develop in the block geomedium and interact with each other through rotating waves with a symmetric stress tensor. The data obtained in this study give grounds to suggest that a geodynamic value, that is mechanically analogous to an impulse