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At least 1,081 records · Page 60
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Cooling-induced reactivation of distant faults during long-term geothermal energy production in hot sedimentary aquifers

Deep geothermal energy (DGE) represents an opportunity for a sustainable and carbon-free energy supply. One of the main concerns of DGE is induced seismicity that may produce damaging earthquakes, challenging its widespread exploitation. It is widely believed that the seismicity risk can be controlled by using doublet systems circulating water to minimize the injection-induced pressure changes. However, cold water reinjection may also give rise to thermal stresses within and beyond the cooled region, whose potential impacts on fault reactivation are less well understood. Here, we investigate by coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling the processes that may lead to fault reactivation in a hot sedimentary aquifer (HSA) in which water is circulated through a doublet. We show that thermal stresses are transmitted much ahead of the cooled region and are likely to destabilize faults located far away from the doublet. Meanwhile, the fault permeability mainly controls the fault reactivation timing, which entails the importance of employing appropriate characterization methods. This investigation is crucial for understanding the mechanisms controlling induced seismicity associated with DGE in a HSA and allows the success of future DGE projects.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Forecasting induced seismicity in Oklahoma using machine learning methods

Oklahoma earthquakes in the past decade have been mostly associated with wastewater injection. Here we use a machine learning technique—the Random Forest to forecast induced seismicity rate in Oklahoma based on injection-related parameters. We split the data into training (2011.01–2015.05) and test (2015.06–2020.12) periods. The model forecasts seismicity rate during the test period based on input features, including operational parameters (injection rate and pressure), geological information (depth to basement), and modeled pore pressure and poroelastic stress. The results show overall good match with observed seismicity rate (adjusted R 2 of 0.75). The model shows that pore pressure rate and poroelastic stressing rates are the two most important features in forecasting. The absolute values of pore pressure and poroelastic stress, and the injection rate itself, are less important than the stressing rates. These findings further emphasize that temporal changes of stressing rates would lead to significant changes in seismicity rates.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Physics informed neural network can retrieve rate and state friction parameters from acoustic monitoring of laboratory stick-slip experiments

Various machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques have been recently applied to the forecasting of laboratory earthquakes from friction experiments. The magnitude and timing of shear failures in stick-slip cycles are predicted using features extracted from the recorded ultrasonic or acoustic emission (AE) signals. In addition, the Rate and State Friction (RSF) constitutive laws are extensively used to model the frictional behavior of faults. In this work, we use data from shear experiments coupled with passive acoustic (variance, kurtosis, and AE rate) interleaved with active source ultrasonic monitoring (transmitted wave amplitude) to develop physics-informed neural network (PINN) models incorporating the RSF law and AE rate generation equation with wave amplitude serving as a proxy for friction state variable. This PINN framework allows learning RSF parameters from stick-slip experiments rather than measuring them through a series of velocity step experiments. We observe that when the stick-slip cycles are irregular, the PINN models outperform the data-driven DL models. Transfer learning (TL) PINN models are also developed by pre-training on data collected at one normal stress level followed by forecasting shear failures and retrieving RSF parameters at other stress levels (i.e., with different recurrence intervals) after retraining on a limited amount of new data. Our findings suggest that TL models perform better compared to standalone models. Both standalone and TL PINN-estimated RSF parameters and their ground truth values show excellent agreements thus demonstrating that RSF parameters can be retrieved from laboratory stick-slip experiments using the corresponding acoustic data and that the transmitted wave amplitude provides a good representation of the evolving frictional state during stick-slips.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Detection of thin film phase transformations at high-pressure and high-temperature in a diamond anvil cell

Abstract Quantifying how grain size and/or deviatoric stress impact (Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 phase stability is critical for advancing our understanding of subduction processes and deep-focus earthquakes. Here, we demonstrate that well-resolved X-ray diffraction patterns can be obtained on nano-grained thin films within laser-heated diamond anvil cells (DACs) at hydrostatic pressures up to 24 GPa and temperatures up to 2300 K. Combined with well-established literature processes for tuning thin film grain size, biaxial stress, and substrate identity, these results suggest that DAC-loaded thin films can be useful for determining how grain size, deviatoric stress, and/or the coexistence of other phases influence high-pressure phase stability. As such, this novel DAC-loaded thin film approach may find use in a variety of earth science, planetary science, solid-state physics, and materials science applications.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2022

Flow and arrest in stressed granular materials

Flowing granular materials often abruptly arrest if not driven by sufficient applied stresses. Such abrupt cessation of motion can be economically expensive in industrial materials handling and processing, and is significantly consequential in intermittent geophysical phenomena such as landslides and earthquakes. Using discrete element simulations, we calculate states of steady flow and arrest for granular materials under the conditions of constant applied pressure and shear stress, which are also most relevant in practice. Here the material can dilate or compact, and flow or arrest, in response to the applied stress. Our simulations highlight that under external stress, the intrinsic response of granular materials is characterized by uniquely-defined steady states of flow or arrest, which are highly sensitive to interparticle friction. While the flowing states can be equivalently characterized by volume fraction, coordination number or internal stress ratio, to characterize the states of shear arrest, one needs to also consider the structural anisotropy in the contact network. Here, we highlight the role of dilation in the flow-arrest transition, and discuss our findings in the context of rheological transitions in granular materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analytical Solutions for Seismic Fluid-Structure Interaction of Head-Supported Cylindrical Tanks

Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of earthquake shaking is a design consideration in the civil, nuclear, chemical, and mechanical industries. Preliminary sizing of structures and components in these industries will often use analytical solutions because there is insufficient information to warrant the analysis of numerical models. Here, this study extends prior analytical work on seismic FSI of base-supported tanks in the 1980s to accommodate head-supported tanks with geometries similar to those proposed for new-build, liquid (fluid)-filled, advanced reactors. Analytical solutions are derived for flexible, head-supported, cylindrical tanks subjected to small-amplitude, unidirectional, horizontal seismic motion, and address frequencies of lateral motions of the tank, hydrodynamic pressures, frequencies of waves, wave heights, and reactions at the head support. Solutions are presented for a range of tank dimensions and could be used for a) preliminary design of head-supported cylindrical tanks and their supporting structures with idealized seismic input, and b) verification of numerical models to be used for final seismic analysis, design, and probabilistic risk assessment.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dynamic Characteristics of Multistory Buildings

In order to evaluate unit stresses or to estimate possible damage in multistory buildings from earthquake or ground motion from underground nuclear explosion it is essential to determine how much of the dynamic response at any level is due to various types of freedom. The effects of shear deformation between floors, joint rotation, over-all flexure, and ground compliance are considered. Joint rotation and over-all flexure are evaluated over a wide range of building characteristics with simply determined indices. Further, a period synthesis concept and a pseudo-stiffness procedure are proposed to enable the determination of periods, mode shapes and stiffnesses with consideration of joint rotation, over-all flexure and ground compliance while performing simple labor-saving analyses for assumed rigid-floor shear buildings. The first three modes of vibration are considered in elastic free vibration. The buildings and models are symmetric in plan without torsional coupling.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of Soil Properties and Input Motion on Site Amplification Using Validated Nonlinear Soil Model

Here, three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear site response analyses are conducted using finite element models of actual soil profiles from ten nuclear power plant (NPP) sites in the United States to investigate the effects of soil properties and input motions on site amplification. The modeling approach developed in this study combines several novel elements, such as 3-D analysis (including vertical motions), nonlinear inelastic behavior of soil (strain-dependent shear modulus reduction and hysteretic damping), formulation of nonreflecting boundary conditions at the base, and generation of realistic outcrop ground motions for specific sites. All these elements of the modeling approach are first validated using actual data from five earthquakes at three downhole array stations recorded in the Kiban-Kyoshin network (KiK-net), Japan. The same approach is then used to develop site models of ten NPP sites in the United States and corresponding ground motions that are spectrally matched to the site hazard spectra. Eight sets of three-component input motions are used in the study and are categorized on the basis of presence or absence of a near-field pulse in the seed ground motions used for spectral matching. It is found that all sites retain a definite site amplification function regardless of the input motion, provided that the seed motion is spectrally matched to the site hazard spectra. The magnitude of site amplification and frequencies at which they occur depend upon soil properties, particularly the shear wave velocity profile and the constitutive relationship (strain-dependent shear modulus reduction and hysteretic damping) of soil. Amplification of spectral acceleration in the vertical direction (up-down motion) is found to be just as much as, if not more than, the amplification in the horizontal direction. Peak shear strain is found to be about 20% larger for near-field motions compared to far-field motions whereas maximum horizontal site amplification for far-field motions is found to be consistently larger than that of near-field motions, even though the differences between the two remain within the scatter resulting from individual ground motions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reducing microgrid availability to reduce costs for coastal Puerto Rican communities

Renewable microgrids are sustainable, resilient solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Making electric loads nearly 100% available (i.e., power remains on) during outages increases cost. Near 100% availability is required when human life or high-cost assets are involved, but availability can be reduced for less consequential loads leading to lower costs. This study analyses costs for photo-voltaic and lithium-ion battery microgrids with availability ranging from 0–99%. We develop a methodology to analyse three Puerto Rican coastal communities. Here, we consider power outage effects for hurricanes, earthquakes, and everyday outages. The results show cost versus availability from 0–99%. There is 27–31% cost reduction at 80% availability in comparison to 99% availability. A regression model of microgrid availability versus three ratios: 1) the annual generation to demand ratio, 2) storage to interruption energy ratio, and 3) peak storage to load ratio produced a coefficient of determination of 0.99949 with 70% of the data used for training and 30% for testing. The results can therefore be extended to other coastal Puerto Rican communities of varying sizes that have ratios within the ranges analysed in this study. This can empower decision makers to rapidly analyse designs that have availabilities well below 100%.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Characterizing the uppermost 100 m structure of the San Jacinto fault zone southeast of Anza, California, through joint analysis of geological, topographic, seismic and resistivity data

We present results from complementary geological, topographic, seismic and electrical resistivity surveys at the Sagebrush Flat (SGB) site along the Clark fault (CF) strand of the San Jacinto fault zone trifurcation area southeast of Anza, California. Joint interpretation of these data sets, each with unique spatiotemporal sensitivities, allow us to better characterize the shallow (<100 m) fault zone at this structurally complex site. Geological mapping at the surface shows the CF has three main subparallel strands within a <100 m zone with varying degrees of rock damage. These strands intersect units of banded gneiss and tonalite, and various sedimentary units. Near the surface, the weathered but more intact tonalite and gneiss to the southwest have relatively high VP. The low-lying flat sedimentary basins around the two southwestern-most CF strands and elevated damaged gneiss to the northeast have lowest VP <500 m s–1. The high relief of the northeast gneiss unit may in part be explained by its extensive damage and inferred increased relative rock uplift. Resistivity imaging shows the unconsolidated dry basin sediments (maximum >1300 Ohm.m) contrasted against the compacted fine-grained (potentially wet) materials within the CF core and the Bautista Formation (minimum <40 Ohm.m), which is slightly elevated above the flat basins. The inverse relationship between VP (increases) and resistivity (decreases) in the uppermost ~15 m can be characterized as log–log linear with slopes of –2.6 to –4. At depths >30 m, the velocity heterogeneity near the surface merges into larger-scale structures that are generally slower on the northeast side of the CF core compared to the southwest side (as much as ~40 per cent reduction in average VP). A previous study revealed a 20–37 per cent variability in peak ground velocities across the SGB site from local earthquakes. The upper end of that range is associated with the near-surface unconsolidated sedimentary basins and northeast damaged gneiss unit. Preliminary analysis of time-dependent topography mostly shows effects of changing vegetation and anthropogenic activity.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Characterization with dense array data of seismic sources in the shallow part of the San Jacinto fault zone

SUMMARY We analyse dominant sources identified in a catalogue of more than 156 000 localizations performed using a 26-d data set recorded by a dense array set on the San Jacinto fault near Anza, in California. Events were localized using an array processing technique called Match Field Processing. As for all array processing techniques, the quality of the event position decrease when the events are outside of the array. We thus separate localizations in and outside the array using simple geometrical conditions. We compare the time distribution of the localization to additional data such as meteorological data, day of human activity as well as existing catalogues to determine the nature of the dominant events located using our method. We find that most of the events located outside of the array could be attributed to a surface structure excited by wind. On the other hand, part of the localizations under the array occur during regional earthquakes and could correspond to diffraction on the fault's heterogeneities. The rest of the localizations inside the array could be generated by the fault itself.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Imaging the crust and uppermost mantle structure of Portugal (West Iberia) with seismic ambient noise

SUMMARY We present a new high-resolution 3-D shear wave velocity (Vs) model of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath Portugal, inferred from ambient seismic noise tomography. We use broad-band seismic data from a dense temporary deployment covering the entire Portuguese mainland between 2010 and 2012 in the scope of the WILAS project. Vertical component data are processed using phase correlation and phase weighted stack to obtain empirical Green functions (EGFs) for 2016 station pairs. Further, we use a random sampling and subset stacking strategy to measure robust Rayleigh-wave group velocities in the period range 7–30 s and associated uncertainties. The tomographic inversion is performed in two steps: First, we determine group-velocity lateral variations for each period. Next, we invert them at each grid point using a new trans-dimensional inversion scheme to obtain the 3-D shear wave velocity model. The final 3-D model extends from the upper crust (5 km) down to the uppermost mantle (60 km) and has a lateral resolution of ∼50 km. In the upper and middle crusts, the Vs anomaly pattern matches the tectonic units of the Variscan Massif and Alpine basins. The transition between the Lusitanian Basin and the Ossa Morena Zone is marked by a contrast between moderate- and high-velocity anomalies, in addition to two arched earthquake lineations. Some faults, namely, the Manteigas–Vilariça–Bragança fault and the Porto–Tomar–Ferreira do Alentejo fault, have a clear signature from the upper crust down to the uppermost mantle (60 km). Our 3-D shear wave velocity model offers new insights into the continuation of the main tectonic units at depth and contributes to better understanding the seismicity of Portugal.

Silveira, Graça (ORCID:0000000221102554)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simultaneous inference of plate boundary stresses and mantle rheology using adjoints: large-scale 2-D models

SUMMARY Plate motions are a primary surface constraint on plate and mantle dynamics and rheology, plate boundary stresses and the occurrence of great earthquakes. Within an optimization method, we use plate motion data to better constrain uncertain mantle parameters. For the optimization problem characterizing the maximum a posteriori rheological parameters we derive gradients using adjoints and expressions to approximate the posterior distributions for stresses within plate boundaries. We apply these methods to a 2-D cross section from the western to eastern Pacific, with temperature distributions and fault zone geometries developed primarily from seismic and plate motion data. We find that the best-fitting stress exponent, n, is about 2.8 and the yield stress about 100 MPa or less. The normal stress on the interplate fault zones is about 100 MPa and the shear stresses about 10 MPa or less.

Rudi, Johann (ORCID:0000000265639265)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Source scaling comparison and validation in Central Italy: data intensive direct S waves versus the sparse data coda envelope methodology

SUMMARY Robustness of source parameter estimates is a fundamental issue in understanding the relationships between small and large events; however, it is difficult to assess how much of the variability of the source parameters can be attributed to the physical source characteristics or to the uncertainties of the methods and data used to estimate the values. In this study, we apply the coda method by Mayeda et al. using the coda calibration tool (CCT), a freely available Java-based code (https://github.com/LLNL/coda-calibration-tool) to obtain a regional calibration for Central Italy for estimating stable source parameters. We demonstrate the power of the coda technique in this region and show that it provides the same robustness in source parameter estimation as a data-driven methodology [generalized inversion technique (GIT)], but with much fewer calibration events and stations. The Central Italy region is ideal for both GIT and coda approaches as it is characterized by high-quality data, including recent well-recorded seismic sequences such as L'Aquila (2009) and Amatrice–Norcia–Visso (2016–2017). This allows us to apply data-driven methods such as GIT and coda-based methods that require few, but high-quality data. The data set for GIT analysis includes ∼5000 earthquakes and more than 600 stations, while for coda analysis we used a small subset of 39 events spanning 3.5 < Mw < 6.33 and 14 well-distributed broad-band stations. For the common calibration events, as well as an additional 247 events (∼1.7 < Mw < ∼5.0) not used in either calibration, we find excellent agreement between GIT-derived and CCT-derived source spectra. This confirms the ability of the coda approach to obtain stable source parameters even with few calibration events and stations. Even reducing the coda calibration data set by 75 per cent, we found no appreciable degradation in performance. This validation of the coda calibration approach over a broad range of event size demonstrates that this procedure, once extended to other regions, represents a powerful tool for future routine applications to homogeneously evaluate robust source parameters on a national scale. Furthermore, the coda calibration procedure can homogenize the Mw estimates for small and large events without the necessity of introducing any conversion scale between narrow-band measures such as local magnitude (ML) and Mw, which has been shown to introduce significant bias.

Morasca, Paola (ORCID:0000000265254867)↗
DOE OSTI2022

On the measurement of S diff splitting caused by lowermost mantle anisotropy

Seismic anisotropy has been detected at many depths of the Earth, including its upper layers, the lowermost mantle and the inner core. While upper mantle seismic anisotropy is relatively straightforward to resolve, lowermost mantle anisotropy has proven to be more complicated to measure. Due to their long, horizontal ray paths along the core–mantle boundary (CMB), S waves diffracted along the CMB (S diff ) are potentially strongly influenced by lowermost mantle anisotropy. S diff waves can be recorded over a large epicentral distance range and thus sample the lowermost mantle everywhere around the globe. S diff therefore represents a promising phase for studying lowermost mantle anisotropy; however, previous studies have pointed out some difficulties with the interpretation of differential SH diff –SV diff traveltimes in terms of seismic anisotropy. Here, we provide a new, comprehensive assessment of the usability of S diff waves to infer lowermost mantle anisotropy. Using both axisymmetric and fully 3-D global wavefield simulations, we show that there are cases in which S diff can reliably detect and characterize deep mantle anisotropy when measuring traditional splitting parameters (as opposed to differential traveltimes). First, we analyze isotropic effects on S diff polarizations, including the influence of realistic velocity structure (such as 3-D velocity heterogeneity and ultra-low velocity zones), the character of the lowermost mantle velocity gradient, mantle attenuation structure, and Earth’s Coriolis force. Secondly, we evaluate effects of seismic anisotropy in both the upper and the lowermost mantle on SH diff waves. In particular, we investigate how SH diff waves are split by seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle near the source and how this anisotropic signature propagates to the receiver for a variety of lowermost mantle models. We demonstrate that, in particular and predictable cases, anisotropy leads to S diff splitting that can be clearly distinguished from other waveform effects. Here, these results enable us to lay out a strategy for the analysis of S diff splitting due to anisotropy at the base of the mantle, which includes steps to help avoid potential pitfalls, with attention paid to the initial polarization of S diff and the influence of source-side anisotropy. We demonstrate our S diff splitting method using three earthquakes that occurred beneath the Celebes Sea, measured at many transportable array stations at a suitable epicentral distance. We resolve consistent and well-constrained S diff splitting parameters due to lowermost mantle anisotropy beneath the northeastern Pacific Ocean.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

The influence of physical and algorithmic factors on simulated far-field waveforms and source–time functions of underground explosions using unsupervised machine learning

SUMMARY Characterizing explosion sources and differentiating between earthquake and underground explosions using distributed seismic networks becomes non-trivial when explosions are detonated in cavities or heterogeneous ground material. Moreover, there is little understanding of how changes in subsurface physical properties affect the far-field waveforms we record and use to infer information about the source. Simulations of underground explosions and the resultant ground motions can be a powerful tool to systematically explore how different subsurface properties affect far-field waveform features, but there are added variables that arise from how we choose to model the explosions that can confound interpretation. To assess how both subsurface properties and algorithmic choices affect the seismic wavefield and the estimated source functions, we ran a series of 2-D axisymmetric non-linear numerical explosion experiments and wave propagation simulations that explore a wide array of parameters. We then inverted the synthetic far-field waveform data using a linear inversion scheme to estimate source–time functions (STFs) for each simulation case. We applied principal component analysis (PCA), an unsupervised machine learning method, to both the far-field waveforms and STFs to identify the most important factors that control variance in the waveform data and differences between cases. For the far-field waveforms, the largest variance occurs in the shallower radial receiver channels in the 0–50 Hz frequency band. For the STFs, both peak amplitude and rise times across different frequencies contribute to the variance. We find that the ground equation of state (i.e. lithology and rheology) and the explosion emplacement conditions (i.e. tamped versus cavity) have the greatest effect on the variance of the far-field waveforms and STFs, with the ground yield strength and fracture pressure being secondary factors. Differences in the PCA results between the far-field waveforms and STFs could possibly be due to near-field non-linearities of the source that are not accounted for in the estimation of STFs and could be associated with yield strength, fracture pressure, cavity radius and cavity shape parameters. Other algorithmic parameters are found to be less important and cause less variance in both the far-field waveforms and STFs, meaning algorithmic choices in how we model explosions are less important, which is encouraging for the further use of explosion simulations to study how physical Earth properties affect seismic waveform features and estimated STFs.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multiphysics modelling in PyLith: poroelasticity

SUMMARY PyLith, a community, open-source code for modelling quasi-static and dynamic crustal deformation with an emphasis on earthquake faulting, has recently been updated with a flexible multiphysics implementation. We demonstrate the versatility of the multiphysics implementation by extending the code to model fully coupled continuum poromechanics. We verify the newly incorporated physics using standard benchmarks for a porous medium saturated with a slightly compressible fluid. The benchmarks include the 1-D consolidation problem as outlined by Terzaghi, Mandel’s problem for the 2-D case, and Cryer’s problem for the 3-D case. All three benchmarks have been added to the PyLith continuous integration test suite. We compare the closed form analytical solution for each benchmark against solutions generated by our updated code, and lastly, demonstrate that the poroelastic material formulation may be used alongside the existing fault implementation in PyLith.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Towards the usage of quarry blasts as an active seismic source for subsurface characterization and imaging

SUMMARY Active or man-made seismic sources are often used to delineate subsurface geological structures via seismic imaging techniques. Although conventional controlled seismic sources have provided high-resolution subsurface images, the high cost of data acquisition necessitates improved use of cheaper alternative seismic sources for subsurface imaging, such as traffic noise, quarry blasts and earthquakes. Here, we explore the potential use of quarry blasts as an active seismic source for subsurface imaging. The goal of our study is to demonstrate the utility of quarry blasts as seismic sources for investigating subsurface structure with a field experiment in Mill Creek, southern Oklahoma. We deployed a 7455-m-long receiver line of 72 receivers (105 m spacing) extending away from a quarry, with a recording time of 28 d. We analyse similarities between blasts, wave types, origin time and excitation location of quarry blasts, which is important information for using such signal as an active source. Given a relative homogeneous geological condition in the study area, we could not observe clear reflected waves. However, the use of P- and S-wave velocities led to the delineation of a major basement damage zone in the study area, which further demonstrates the viability of quarry blasts as a useful seismic source for subsurface geological imaging.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗