Ground viscosity and stiffness measurements for near surface seismic velocity

In land surveys, the weathering layer can often distort the seismic signal due to it passing through rapid velocity and density changes, dispersion, scattering and inelastic absorption. In a simple spring‐dashpot model for the earth response, an equivalent medium groups these complex phenomena into two parameters only; these are called ground viscosity and ground stiffness. The most recent controllers for vibrators can estimate both parameters. To validate these measurements, Saudi Aramco conducted an experiment measuring ground viscosity and stiffness from two different vibrator control systems over an area of varying terrain conditions, including unconsolidated sand and limestone outcrop. The two systems measured different values, but detected similar trends that correlated well with weathering conditions and surface geology, e.g. lower viscosity values on the outcrop than on the sand. The ratio of ground viscosity to ground stiffness can approximate the shallow S‐wave velocity, which we converted into P‐wave velocity through calibration with sparse uphole data. Static corrections incorporating this velocity information somewhat improved the focusing of seismic time sections. This new approach does not require additional acquisition efforts, and can model shallow complex formations in arid areas where classical static methods often fail.     

Sedimentary facies and sequence stratigraphy of the Asmari Formation at Chaman-Bolbol, Zagros Basin, Iran

The Oligocene–Miocene Asmari Formation of the Zagros Basin is a thick sequence of shallow water carbonate. In the study area, it is subdivided into 14 microfacies that are distinguished on the basis of their depositional textures, petrographic analysis and fauna. Based on the paleoecology and lithology, four distinct depositional settings can be recognized: tidal flat, lagoon, barrier, and open marine. The Asmari Formation represents sedimentation on a carbonate ramp. In the inner ramp, the most abundant lithofacies are medium grained wackestone–packstone with imperforated foraminifera. The middle ramp is represented by packstone–grainstone to floatstone with a diverse assemblage of larger foraminifera with perforate wall, red algae, bryozoa, and echinoids. The outer ramp is dominated by argillaceous wackestone characterized by planktonic foraminifera and large and flat nummulitidae and lepidocyclinidae. Three third-order depositional sequences are recognized from deepening and shallowing trends in the depositional facies, changes in cycle stacking patterns, and sequence boundary features.     

Early Cretaceous sedimentary provenance and structural evolution of the central Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone,Iran: implications for palaeogeographic reconstructions of the northern Neo-Tethyan margin

ABSTRACT

The Early Cretaceous was an important epoch in the evolution of the Earth system in which major tectonic episodes occurred, especially along the Alpine–Himalayan belt. The paucity of reliable palaeogeographic data from the central segment of this geological puzzle, however, hampers the reconstruction of a panoramic view of its Early Cretaceous palaeogeography and geodynamic setting. Here we present multidisciplinary provenance data from Lower Cretaceous strata of the overriding plate of the Neo-Tethyan subduction zone (the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone; SSZ, of central Iran), including structural, basin-fill evolution, petrographic and geochemical analyses. Sandstone provenance analysis of Lower Cretaceous red beds suggests the occurrence of sub-mature litho-quartzose sandstones attributed to an active continental arc margin in convergent setting predominantly derived from plutonic, quartzose sedimentary and metamorphic rocks exposed in the central SSZ. Weathering indices indicate moderate chemical weathering in the source area which may be related to close source-to-sink relationships or arid climate. Our palaeogeographic reconstructions and original geological mapping indicate that the erosion of uplifted basement rocks exposed in horst blocks provided the sediment sources for the syn-extensional deposition of uppermost Jurassic–lowermost Cretaceous conglomerates and Lower Cretaceous siliciclastic red beds within a continental retro-arc basin during initiation of the ‘Neo-Tethys 2?. The polyphase tectonic reactivation along the principal fault of the study area controlled the syn- and post-extensional tectonostratigraphic evolution that reflect the corresponding mechanical decoupling/coupling along the northern Neo-Tethyan plate margin.     

Comparison between Shannon and Tsallis entropies for prediction of shear stress distribution in open channels

The concept of Tsallis entropy was applied to model the probability distribution functions for the shear stress magnitudes in circular channels (with filling ratios of 0.506, 0.666, 0.826), circular with flat bed (filling ratios of 0.333, 0.666), rectangular channel (1.34, 2, 3.94, 7.37 aspect ratios) and compound channel (with relative depths of 0.324, 0.46). The equation for the shear stress distribution was obtained according to the entropy maximization principle, and is able to estimate the shear stress distribution as much on the walls as the channel bed. The approach is also compared with the predictions obtained based on the Shannon entropy concept. By comparing the two prediction models, this study highlights the application of Tsallis entropy to estimate the shear stress distribution of open channels. Although the results of the two models are similar in the circular cross-section, the differences between them are more significant in circular with flat bed and rectangular channels. For a wide range of filling ratio values, experimental data are used to illustrate the accuracy and reliability of the proposed model.     

Three‐dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis of pile groups in saturated porous media using a new transmitting boundary

The dynamic behaviour of pile groups subjected to an earthquake base shaking is analysed. An analysis is formulated in the time domain and the effects of material nonlinearity of soil, pile–soil–pile kinematic interaction and the superstructure–foundation inertial interaction on seismic response are investigated. Prediction of response of pile group–soil system during a large earthquake requires consideration of various aspects such as the nonlinear and elasto‐plastic behaviour of soil, pore water pressure generation in soil, radiation of energy away from the pile, etc. A fully explicit dynamic finite element scheme is developed for saturated porous media, based on the extension of the original formulation by Biot having solid displacement (u) and relative fluid displacement (w) as primary variables (u–w formulation). All linear relative fluid acceleration terms are included in this formulation. A new three‐dimensional transmitting boundary that was developed in cartesian co‐ordinate system for dynamic response analysis of fluid‐saturated porous media is implemented to avoid wave reflections towards the structure. In contrast to traditional methods, this boundary is able to absorb surface waves as well as body waves. The pile–soil interaction problem is analysed and it is shown that the results from the fully coupled procedure, using the advanced transmitting boundary, compare reasonably well with centrifuge data. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Limiting equilibrium method for slope/drilled shaft system

The use of drilled shafts to stabilize an unstable slope has been a widely accepted practice. There are two basic design and analysis issues involved: one is to determine the global factor of safety of the drilled shafts stabilized slope and the other one is to determine the design earth thrust on the drilled shafts for structural design of the shafts. In this paper, a limiting equilibrium method of slices based solution for calculating global factor of safety (FS) of a slope with the presence of a row of drilled shafts is developed. The arching mechanisms due to the presence of the drilled shafts on slope were taken into account by a load transfer factor. The method for calculating the net force applied to the drilled shaft from the soil mass was also developed. The interrelationships among the drilled shaft location on the slope, the load transfer factor, and the global FS of the slope/shaft system were derived utilizing the developed numerical closed‐form solution. An illustrative example is presented to elucidate the use of the solution in optimizing the location of the drilled shafts on slope to achieve the desired global factor of safety of the slope/shaft system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mineral chemical composition and geodynamic significance of peridotites from Nain ophiolite,central Iran

The peridotites from north of the town of Nain in central Iran consist of clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite and lherzolite with small lenses of dunite and chromitite pods. The lherzolite contains aluminous spinel with a Cr number (Cr^# = Cr/[Cr + Al]) of 0.17. The Cr number of spinels in harzburgite and chromitite is 0.38–0.42 and 0.62, respectively. This shows that the lherzolite and harzburgite resulted from <18% of partial melting of the source materials. The estimated temperature is 1100 ± 200 °C for peridotites, the estimated pressure is <15 ± 2.3 kbar for harzburgites and >16 ± 2.3 kbar for lherzolites and estimated fo₂ is 10^?1±0.5 for peridotites. Discriminant geochemical diagrams based on mineral chemistry of harzburgites indicate a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) to mid-oceanic ridge (MOR) setting for these rocks. On the basis of their Cr^#, the harzburgite and lherzolite spinels are analogous to those from abyssal peridotites and oceanic ophiolites, whereas the chromites in the chromitite (on the basis of Cr^# and boninitic nature of parental melts) resemble those from SSZ ophiolitic sequences. Therefore, the Nain ophiolite complex most likely originated in an oceanic crust related to supra-subduction zone, i.e. back arc basin. Field observations and mineral chemistry of the Nain peridotites, indicating the suture between the central Iran micro-continent (CIM) block and the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone, show that these peridotites mark the site of the Nain–Baft seaway, which opened with a slow rate of ocean-floor spreading behind the Mesozoic arc of the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone as a result of change of Neo Tethyan subduction régime during middle Cretaceous.     

Development in modeling cyclic loading of sands based on kinematic hardening

In this paper, there is presented an elastoplastic constitutive model to predict sandy soils behavior under monotonic and cyclic loadings. This model is based on an existing model (Cambou‐Jafari‐Sidoroff) that takes into account deviatoric and isotropic mechanisms of plasticity. The flow rule used in the deviatoric mechanism is non‐associated and a mixed hardening law controls the evolution of the yield surface. In this research the critical state surface and history surface, which separates the virgin and cyclic states in stress space, are defined. Kinematic hardening modulus and stress–dilatancy law for monotonic and cyclic loadings are effectively modified. With taking hardening modulus as a function of deviatoric and volumetric plastic strain and with defining the history surface and stress reversal, the model has the ability to predict the sandy soils' behavior. All of the model parameters have clear physical meanings and can be determined from usual laboratory tests. In order to validate the model, the results of homogeneous tests on Hostun and Toyoura sands are used. The results of validation show a good capability of the proposed model. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial distribution and temporal variation of reference evapotranspiration in arid and semi‐arid regions of Iran

Analysis of spatial and temporal variations of reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) is important in arid and semi‐arid regions where water resources are limited. The main aim of this study was to analyse the spatial distribution and the annual, seasonal and monthly trends of the Penman–Monteith ET_o for 21 stations in the arid and semi‐arid regions of Iran. Three statistical tests the Mann‐Kendall, Sen's slope estimator and linear regression were used for the analysis. The analysis revealed that ET_o increased from January to July and deceased from July to December at almost all stations. Additionally, higher annual ET_o values were found in the southeast of the study region and lower values in the northwest of the region. Although the results showed both positive and negative trends in annual ET_o series, ET_o generally increased, significantly so in six (～30%) of the stations. Analysis of the impacts of meteorological variables on the temporal trends of ET_o indicated that the increasing trend of ET_o was most likely due to a significant increase in minimum air temperature, while decreasing trend of ET_o was mainly caused by a significant decrease in wind speed. At the sites where increasing ET_o trends were statistically significant, the rate of increase varied from (+)8·36 mm/year at Mashhad station to (+)31·68 mm/year at Iranshahr station. On average, an increasing trend of (+)4·42 mm/year was obtained for the whole study area during the last four decades. Seasonal and monthly ET_o have also tended to increase at the majority of the stations. The greatest numbers of significant trends were observed in winter on the seasonal time‐scale and in September on the monthly time‐scale. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

List of forthcoming papers

List of forthcoming papers