The stress field variation caused by faulting and the prediction for seismic risk

The stress field caused by faulting has an effect on the stability of the neighboring faults, and the study on the fault interaction has a close relation with the prediction of seismic risk. Stress field caused by the rectangle fault in the semi-infinite elastic medium is calculated on the basis of the elastic dislocation theory. The result shows that most of the successive large earthquakes, in the southwestern part of China and North China, occurred in the increasing area of shear stress S(xy) and the decreasing area of normal stress S(yy) The increasing of earthquake occurrence probability has a function relation with the increasing of stress. Earthquake triggering is resulted from the increasing of shear stress and the decreasing of normal stress. An activation coefficient A, of the earthquake is defined to express the change of seismic activity. The concrete risk region can be obtained through space scanning of At value. Finally, the fault interaction in a large scope is discussed in this paper.

Coulomb stress and gravity changes associated with the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake, New Zealand: Application for aftershock triggering and fault interaction process analysis

The Kaikoura earthquake on November 14,2016 is one of the largest and most complex earthquakes in New Zealand since 1947.Despite the fact that it has ruptured about 12 separate faults,triggered 2132 aftershocks within one week of the mainshock and induced considerable stress changes,few studies have been conducted to comprensively investigate the characteristics.The current study examines the horizontal and vertical displacements as well as the stress and gravity changes,aftershock distributions and also find out whether these changes affect the surrounding regions along the complex fault systems.The study covers the entire area affected by the Kaikoura event,which includes the northern part of the South Island and the southern part of the North Island.The dislocation theory was employed to evaluate the coseismic slip model on the multiple faults.The displacement results revealed that the maximum horizontal displacement is about 6 m and the vertical about 2 m,which are reasonably consistent with earlier study findings.Besides,the stress and gravity changes are quite complicated and inhomogeneous as evidenced by our coseismic model,demonstrating the complexity of the Kaikoura earthquake as well.Almost all the aftershocks are distributed in places where the stress and gravity change are found to be significant.In order to investigate the stability of our stress change models,we applied different friction coefficients and receiver fault parameters.The results justify the friction coefficient(μ=0.4)and the receiver fault parameters(230°,70°,150°)are suitable to define good stress change estimates.According to the stress change results at 15 km depth,the northern parts of the mainshock region,Hundalee fault,Humps fault and Jordan thrust areas together with the Wellington area are closer to failure and situated in a seismic risk zone.The multidimensional analysis adopted in this paper is helpful for making decisions and applications of stress and gravity change models in assessing seismic hazards.

Earthquake triggering and delaying caused by fault interaction on Xianshuihe fault belt, southwestern China

The coseismic Coulomb stress change caused by fault interaction and its influences on the triggering and delaying of earthquake are briefly discussed. The Xianshuihe fault belt consists of Luhuo, Daofu, Kangding, Qianning and Ganzi fault. Luohuo (MS=7.6, 1973)-Kangding (MS=6.2, 1975)-Daofu (MS=6.9, 1981)-Ganzi (MS=6.0, 1982) earthquake is a seismic sequence continuous on the time axis with magnitude greater than 6.0. They occurred on the Luhuo, Kangding, Daofu and Ganzi fault, respectively. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes caused by each earthquake on its surrounding major faults and microcracks are calculated, and their effects on the triggering and delaying of the next earthquake and aftershocks are analyzed. It is shown that each earthquake of the sequence occurred on the fault segment with coseismic Coulomb stress increases caused by its predecessors, and most after-shocks are distributed along the microcracks with relatively larger coseismic Coulomb stress increases resulted from the main shock. With the fault interaction considered, the seismic potential of each segment along Xianshuihe fault belt is reassessed, and contrasted with those predicted results ignoring coseismic Coulomb stress change, the significance of fault interaction and its effect on triggering and delaying of earthquake are emphasized. It is con-cluded that fault interaction plays a very important role on seismic potential of Xianshuihe fault belt, and the maximal change of future earthquake probability on fault segment is up to 30.5%.

Research advances on transfer zones in rift basins and their influence on hydrocarbon accumulation

Transfer zones are structural areas of faults interactions where fault motion or displacement can be transferred from one fault to another, regional strain maintains laterally constant. Transfer zones are widely developed in rift basins and have significance on hydrocarbon accumulation. In this review article, we attempt to summarize recent advances on the types, distance-displacement curves, evolutionary stages and controlling factors of transfer zones in rift basins and their effects on sedimentary systems, reservoir properties, trap formation and hydrocarbon migration. The formation of transfer zones is genetically related to the segmented growth of normal faults. Depending on the degree of interaction between these normal faults, transfer zones in rift basins could be divided into two types: soft-linked and hard-linked, which are further subdivided into transfer slope, oblique anticline, horst and transfer fault based on the combination patterns of normal faults. In general, the development of transfer zones experiences several stages including isolated normal faulting, transfer slope forming, complicating and breaking. During the interaction and growth of segmented normal faults, stress-strain and spatial array of faults, pre-existing basement structures, and mechanical conditions of rocks have a great influence on the location and development processes of transfer zones. A transfer zone is commonly considered as a pathway for conveying sediments from provenance to basin, and it hence exerts an essential control on the distribution of sandbodies. In addition, transfer zone is the area where stresses are concentrated, which facilitates the formation of various types of structural traps, and it is also a favorable conduit for hydrocarbon migration. Consequently, there exists great hydrocarbon potentials in transfer zones to which more attention should be given.

Tectonic dynamics and correlation of major earthquake sequences of the Xiaojiang and Qujiang-Shiping fault systems, Yunnan, China

The N-S trending Xiaojiang fault zone and the NW-SE trending Qujiang-Shiping fault zone are adjacent active fault systems and seismogenic zones associated with strong and major earthquakes in Yunnan, China. To understand the interaction of the two fault systems, and its probable influence on earthquake occurrences, this paper conducts a synthetic study based on data of active tectonics, historical earthquakes, relocated small earthquakes, GPS station velocities and focal mechanism resolutions. The study makes several conclusions. （1） The active southward motion of the western side of the Xiaojiang fault zone （i.e. the side of the Sichuan-Yunnan block） has a persistent and intensive effect on the Qujiang-Shiping fault zone. The later fault zone has absorbed and transformed the southward motion of the western side of the former fault zone through dextral strike-slip/sheafing as well as transverse shortening/thrusting. （2） Along the Xiaojiang fault zone, the present sinistral strike-slip/sheafing rate decreases from 10 and 8 mm/a on the northern, central and central-southern segments to 4 mm/a on the southern segment. The decreased rate has been adjusted in the area along and surrounding the Qujiang-Shiping fault zone through reverse-dextral faulting and distributed sheafing and shortening. （3） The tectonic-dynamic relation between the Xiaojiang fault zone and the Qujiang-Shiping fault zone is also manifested by a close correlation of earthquake occurrences on the two fault zones. From 1500 to 1850 a sequence of strong and major earthquakes occurred along the Xiaojiang fault zone and its northern neighbor, the Zemuhe fault zone, which was characterized by gradually accelerating strain release, gradually shortening intervals between M≥7 events, and major releases occurring in the mid to later stages of the sequence. As a response to this sequence, after an 88-year delay, another sequence of 383 years （from 1588 to 1970） of strong and major earthquakes occurred on the Qujiang-Shiping fault zone, and had the same features in accelerating strain release and its temporal course. （4） Since there has been no M≥7 event for 177 years on the Xiaojiang fault zone, the potential risk of a strong or major earthquake occurring on this fault zone in the future should be noticed and studied further.

Optimum Detecting Arrays for Independent Interaction Faults

The use of detecting arrays （DTAs） is motivated by the need to locate and detect interaction faults arising between the factors in a component-based system in software testing. The optimality and construction of DTAs have been investigated in depth for the case in which all the interaction faults are assumed to have the same strength; however, as a practical concern, the strengths of these faults are not always identical. For real world applications, it would be desirable for a DTA to be able to identify and detect faulty interactions of a strength equal to or less than a specified value under the assumption that the faulty interactions are independent from one another. To the best of our knowledge, the optimality and construction of DTAs for independent interaction faults have not been studied systematically before, In this paper, we establish a general lower bound on the size of DTAs for independent interaction faults and explore the combinatorial feature that enable these DTAs to meet the lower bound. Taking advantage of this combinatorial characterization, several classes of optimum DTAs meeting the lower bound are presented.

Dextral strike-slip of Sanguankou-Niushoushan fault zone and extension of arc tectonic belt in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau

The kinematic characteristics of the Sanguankou-Niushoushan fault（SGK-NSSF） are of great significance to the understanding of the extension of the arc tectonic belt in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau. Using field surveys and various data collection methods, including large-scale geological mapping, measurement of typical topographies, and dating of sedimentary strata, it was determined that the SGK-NSSF exhibits obvious dextral strike-slip characteristics and thus is not a sinistral strike-slip fault, as believed by previous researchers. The results of this study show that the geological boundaries for the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras were all dextrally dislocated by the fault, with the faulted displacements being similar. The maximum strike-slip displacement of the fault, after elimination of topographic effects, was found to be 961±6 m. The Sanguankou fault at the northern section exhibits obvious characteristics of more recent activities, with a series of small gullies having undergone synchronized dextral writhing after traversing the fault. The average horizontal slip rate of the fault since the late Quaternary was determined to be approximately 0.35 mm/a. The pre-existing fold structures formed during the late Pliocene were dislocated by the fault and became ex situ, indicating that dextral strike-slip of the fault could not have occurred prior to the late Pliocene. The maximum displacements and average slip rates were used to estimate the onset time of the dextral strike-slip activities of the fault as being after 2.7 Ma. In this study, the understanding of previous researchers concerning the extension in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau was combined with analyses of the successive relationships between fold deformations and fault activities. This led to the finding that the extension in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau reached the vicinity of the SGK-NSSF during the late Pliocene（~2.7 Ma）, causing regional uplift and fold deformations of the strata there. During the early Quaternary, the northeastern compression of the Tibet Plateau and the counterclockwise rotation of the Ordos block collectively resulted in the dextral strike-slip activities of the SGK-NSSF. This then formed the foremost margin of the arc tectonic belt extension in the northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau.

Detecting Arrays and Their Optimality

Detecting arrays were proposed by Colbourn and McClary in 2008, which are of interest in generating software test suites to cover all t-sets of component interactions and detect interaction faults in component-based systems. So far, optimality and constructions of detecting arrays have not been studied systematically. Indeed, no useful benchmark to measure the optimality of detecting arrays has previously been given, and only some sporadic examples of optimal detecting arrays have been found. This paper tries to take the first step by presenting a lower bound on the size of detecting arrays and some methods of constructing optimal detecting arrays. A number of infinite series of optimal detecting arrays are then obtained.

Bipartite Locating Array

As a special case of experimental design,locating array is useful for locating interaction faults in component-based systems.In this paper,bipartite locating array is proposed to locate interaction faults between two specific groups.Such arrays are especially suitable for antagonism tests.Based on the definition of bipartite locating array,the lower bound on run sizes are established to measure the optimality for specific parameters.When a single fault is to be located,optimal bipartite locating arrays are proved to be equivalent to certain specific combinatorial configurations.As a result,approaches to constructing optimal bipartite locating arrays are proposed and some infinite classes of optimal bipartite locating arrays are obtained using the corresponding construction met hod.