We designed a new seismic source model for Italy to be used as an input for country-wide probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) in the frame of the compilation of a new national reference map.
We started off by reviewing existing models available for Italy and for other European countries, then discussed the main open issues in the current practice of seismogenic zoning.
The new model, termed ZS9, is largely based on data collected in the past 10 years, including historical earthquakes and instrumental seismicity, active faults and their seismogenic potential, and seismotectonic evidence from recent earthquakes. This information allowed us to propose new interpretations for poorly understood areas where the new data are in conflict with assumptions made in designing the previous and widely used model ZS4.
ZS9 is made out of 36 zones where earthquakes with Mw > = 5 are expected. It also assumes that earthquakes with Mw up to 5 may occur anywhere outside the seismogenic zones, although the associated probability is rather low. Special care was taken to ensure that each zone sampled a large enough number of earthquakes so that we could compute reliable earthquake production rates.
Although it was drawn following criteria that are standard practice in PSHA, ZS9 is also innovative in that every zone is characterised also by its mean seismogenic depth (the depth of the crustal volume that will presumably release future earthquakes) and predominant focal mechanism (their most likely rupture mechanism). These properties were determined using instrumental data, and only in a limited number of cases we resorted to geologic constraints and expert judgment to cope with lack of data or conflicting indications. These attributes allow ZS9 to be used with more accurate regionalized depth-dependent attenuation relations, and are ultimately expected to increase significantly the reliability of seismic hazard estimates. 相似文献
An integrated GIS-based tool (GTIS) was constructed to estimate site effects related to the earthquake hazards in the Gyeongju area of Korea. To build the GTIS for the study area, intensive site investigations and geotechnical data collections were performed and a walk-over site survey was additionally carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data in accordance with the procedure developed to build the GTIS. For practical applications of the GTIS used to estimate the site effects associated with the amplification of ground motion, seismic microzoning maps of the characteristic site period and the mean shear wave velocity to a depth of 30 m were created and presented as a regional synthetic strategy addressing earthquake-induced hazards. Additionally, based on one-dimensional site response analyses, various seismic microzoning maps for short- and mid-period amplification potentials were created for the study area. Case studies of seismic microzonations in the Gyeongju area verified the usefulness of the GTIS for predicting seismic hazards in the region. 相似文献
This work deals with disposal of slurries generated during the cutting and polishing processes of slabs of decorative sedimentary
carbonate rocks in the north western Sicily. At present, they are used as fillers of dismantled quarries near the sawmills
and, as a final step of reclamation, are covered with earth layers. In spite of such inexpensive solution, there is lack of
knowledge about the composition of the waste. In order to assess if there is any threat for the environment and to suggest
indications for alternative solutions, such as recycling or inactivation processes, the slurries were analysed by XR diffraction,
simultaneous thermal analysis, ICP/MS, ionic chromatography, FTIR, UV-Vis, COD and TOC measurements, grain size analysis.
Results indicate that the slurries can threaten the groundwater, because of the high chemical oxygen demand; furthermore they
can modify the mechanism of groundwater recharge, because of their grain size distribution. Some laboratory tests show that,
even in very aggressive conditions, the solid pollutants persist in the waste and slowly release into water the products of
their degradation. The slurry therefore should be subjected to inactivation treatment before disposal or, alternatively, recycled
as secondary raw material for a suitable process. 相似文献
The paper is dedicated to the review of methods of seismic hazard analysis currently in use, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The review is performed from the perspective of a user of the results of seismic hazard analysis for different applications such as the design of critical and general (non-critical) civil infrastructures, technical and financial risk analysis. A set of criteria is developed for and applied to an objective assessment of the capabilities of different analysis methods. It is demonstrated that traditional probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) methods have significant deficiencies, thus limiting their practical applications. These deficiencies have their roots in the use of inadequate probabilistic models and insufficient understanding of modern concepts of risk analysis, as have been revealed in some recent large scale studies. These deficiencies result in the lack of ability of a correct treatment of dependencies between physical parameters and finally, in an incorrect treatment of uncertainties. As a consequence, results of PSHA studies have been found to be unrealistic in comparison with empirical information from the real world. The attempt to compensate these problems by a systematic use of expert elicitation has, so far, not resulted in any improvement of the situation. It is also shown that scenario-earthquakes developed by disaggregation from the results of a traditional PSHA may not be conservative with respect to energy conservation and should not be used for the design of critical infrastructures without validation. Because the assessment of technical as well as of financial risks associated with potential damages of earthquakes need a risk analysis, current method is based on a probabilistic approach with its unsolved deficiencies.
Traditional deterministic or scenario-based seismic hazard analysis methods provide a reliable and in general robust design basis for applications such as the design of critical infrastructures, especially with systematic sensitivity analyses based on validated phenomenological models. Deterministic seismic hazard analysis incorporates uncertainties in the safety factors. These factors are derived from experience as well as from expert judgment. Deterministic methods associated with high safety factors may lead to too conservative results, especially if applied for generally short-lived civil structures. Scenarios used in deterministic seismic hazard analysis have a clear physical basis. They are related to seismic sources discovered by geological, geomorphologic, geodetic and seismological investigations or derived from historical references. Scenario-based methods can be expanded for risk analysis applications with an extended data analysis providing the frequency of seismic events. Such an extension provides a better informed risk model that is suitable for risk-informed decision making. 相似文献
Quantitative sinkhole hazard assessments in karst areas allow calculation of the potential sinkhole risk and the performance
of cost-benefit analyses. These estimations are of practical interest for planning, engineering, and insurance purposes. The
sinkhole hazard assessments should include two components: the probability of occurrence of sinkholes (sinkholes/km2 year) and the severity of the sinkholes, which mainly refers to the subsidence mechanisms (progressive passive bending or
catastrophic collapse) and the size of the sinkholes at the time of formation; a critical engineering design parameter. This
requires the compilation of an exhaustive database on recent sinkholes, including information on the: (1) location, (2) chronology
(precise date or age range), (3) size, and (4) subsidence mechanisms and rate. This work presents a hazard assessment from
an alluvial evaporite karst area (0.81 km2) located in the periphery of the city of Zaragoza (Ebro River valley, NE Spain). Five sinkholes and four locations with features
attributable to karstic subsidence where identified in an initial investigation phase providing a preliminary probability
of occurrence of 0.14 sinkholes/km2 year (11.34% in annual probability). A trenching program conducted in a subsequent investigation phase allowed us to rule
out the four probable sinkholes, reducing the probability of occurrence to 0.079 sinkholes/km2 year (6.4% in annual probability). The information on the severity indicates that collapse sinkholes 10–15 m in diameter
may occur in the area. A detailed study of the deposits and deformational structures exposed by trenching in one of the sinkholes
allowed us to infer a modern collapse sinkhole approximately 12 m in diameter and with a vertical throw of 8 m. This collapse
structure is superimposed on a subsidence sinkhole around 80 m across that records at least 1.7 m of synsedimentary subsidence.
Trenching, in combination with dating techniques, is proposed as a useful methodology to elucidate the origin of depressions
with uncertain diagnosis and to gather practical information with predictive utility about particular sinkholes in alluvial
karst settings: precise location, subsidence mechanisms and magnitude, and timing and rate of the subsidence episodes. 相似文献
A detailed study was carried out on a piece of land that had been struck by lightning during the violent rainstorm that raged
over the Island of S?o Miguel (Azores Archipelago) in late October 2006. Temperature and gas measurements (CO2, CO, H2S and CH4) were performed in four study trenches, dug in an area of ∼3 m2, where an underground fire had been initiated by the impact with a lightning stroke, followed by the emission of a column
of gases and smoke. The soil under study was originally a well-pedogenized about 80 cm thick bed, made of volcanic clayey
to silty tephra fallouts and contained 5.5–9.7% of organic matter. The underground fire was monitored for one week and revealed a peak release of
404 ppm CO and 3.4% CO2 originating from a horizon located about 45 cm under the soil surface. Measurements of temperature, performed one week after
the impact, indicated a maximum value of 326°C inside the soil, while 516.5°C were measured on the surface of a lava block
interred about 20 cm under the surface. Subsequently, a stratigraphic and sedimentologic study proved the role of the grain-size
of the soil and of the organic matter content of the different horizons of the impact area, in determining the ratio between
anoxic/oxidised combustion conditions and in the progress of the process itself. It was also noticed that combustion was not
total all over in the soil bed and that the process had slightly migrated toward SW during the observation period. The combustion
process went on for about ten days, in spite of several other violent rainstorms, until it was artificially extinguished through
the excavations made to obtain study trenches. This particular circumstance evidenced the potential natural hazard represented
by this kind of atmospheric event, especially in a land where the volcanic nature of the soil may easily mislead inexperienced
observers and, consequently, delay proper action. 相似文献
This article describes a unique flood hazard, produced by the dramatic expansion of wetlands in Nelson County, located within
the North American Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, USA. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number, average
size, and permanence of prairie wetlands, and a significant increase in the size of a closed lake (Stump Lake) due to a decade-long
wet spell that began in 1993 following a prolonged drying trend. Base-line land cover information from the 1992 USGS National
Land Cover Characterization dataset, and a Landsat TM scene acquired 9 July 2001 are used to assess the growth of the closed
lake and wetland pond surface areas, and to analyze the type and area of various land cover classes inundated between 1992
and 2001. The open water profile in Nelson County changed from one marked by relatively comparable coverage of closed lake
and wetland pond areas in 1992, to one in which wetland open water accounted for the vast majority of total open water in
2001. The bulk of the wetland pond area expansion occurred by displacing existing wetland vegetation and agricultural cropland.
Producers responded to the flood hazard by filing Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) claims and enrolling cropland
in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a federal land retirement program. Land taken out of agricultural production has
had an enormous impact upon the agricultural sector that forms the economic base of the rural economy. In 2001 the land taken
out of production due to CRP enrollment and preventive planting claims represented nearly 42% of Nelson County’s 205.2 K ha
base agricultural land. The patterns obtained from this detailed study of Nelson County are likely to be the representative
of the more publicized flood disaster occurring within the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota. 相似文献
