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The Earth Crust (the + earth_crust)
Selected AbstractsPhysics-based GPS data inversion to estimate three-dimensional elastic and inelastic strain fieldsGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Akemi Noda SUMMARY The Earth's crust is macroscopically treated as a linear elastic body, but it includes a number of defects. The occurrence of inelastic deformation such as brittle fracture at the defects brings about elastic deformation in the surrounding regions. The crustal deformation observed through geodetic measurements is the sum of the inelastic deformation as source and the elastic deformation as effect. On such a basic idea, we created a theory of physics-based strain analysis with general source representation by moment tensor, and developed an inversion method to separately estimate 3-D elastic and inelastic strain fields from GPS data. In this method, first, the optimum distribution of moment density tensor is determined from observed GPS data by using Akaike's information criterion. Then, the elastic and inelastic strain fields are obtained from the optimum moment tensor distribution by theoretical computation and direct conversion with elastic compliance tensor, respectively. We applied the inversion method to GPS horizontal velocity data, and succeeded in separately estimating 3-D elastic and inelastic strain rate fields in the Niigata,Kobe transformation zone, central Japan. As for the surface patterns of total strain, the present results of 3-D physics-based inversion analysis accord with the previous results of 2-D geometric inversion analysis. From the 3-D patterns of the inverted elastic and inelastic strain fields, we revealed that the remarkable horizontal contraction in the Niigata,Kobe transformation zone is elastic and restricted near the surface, but the remarkable shear deformation is inelastic and extends over the upper crust. [source] A finite element analysis of tidal deformation of the entire earth with a discontinuous outer layerGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2007H. L. Xing SUMMARY Tidal deformation of the Earth is normally calculated using the analytical solution with some simplified assumptions, such as the Earth is a perfect sphere of continuous media. This paper proposes an alternative way, in which the Earth crust is discontinuous along its boundaries, to calculate the tidal deformation using a finite element method. An in-house finite element code is firstly introduced in brief and then extended here to calculate the tidal deformation. The tidal deformation of the Earth due to the Moon was calculated for an geophysical earth model with the discontinuous outer layer and compared with the continuous case. The preliminary results indicate that the discontinuity could have different effects on the tidal deformation in the local zone around the fault, but almost no effects on both the locations far from the fault and the global deformation amplitude of the Earth. The localized deformation amplitude seems to depend much on the relative orientation between the fault strike direction and the loading direction (i.e. the location of the Moon) and the physical property of the fault. [source] Amplitude fluctuations due to diffraction and refraction in anisotropic random media: implications for seismic scattering attenuation estimatesGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2003T. M. Müller SUMMARY We calculate the variance of the log-amplitude within the Rytov approximation for plane waves propagating in weakly inhomogeneous and statistically anisotropic random media. Since there is a simple relation between the log-amplitude variance and the attenuation coefficient of seismic primaries in the weak wavefield fluctuation regime, we also obtain scattering attenuation estimates that additionally depend on the aspect ratio of longitudinal and transverse correlation scales of the inhomogeneities. These estimates can be useful for the statistical characterization of anisotropic, large-scale inhomogeneities (large compared with the wavelength of the probing pulse) in the Earth crust and mantle, such as fault zones. With the help of plane-wave-transmission numerical experiments using the finite-difference method we compute the log-amplitude variance as a function of the propagation distance and observe reasonable agreement with the analytical results. We discuss the implications of our results in the context of seismic scattering attenuation estimations. [source] Limits of life in MgCl2 -containing environments: chaotropicity defines the windowENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2007John E. Hallsworth Summary The biosphere of planet Earth is delineated by physico-chemical conditions that are too harsh for, or inconsistent with, life processes and maintenance of the structure and function of biomolecules. To define the window of life on Earth (and perhaps gain insights into the limits that life could tolerate elsewhere), and hence understand some of the most unusual biological activities that operate at such extremes, it is necessary to understand the causes and cellular basis of systems failure beyond these windows. Because water plays such a central role in biomolecules and bioprocesses, its availability, properties and behaviour are among the key life-limiting parameters. Saline waters dominate the Earth, with the oceans holding 96.5% of the planet's water. Saline groundwater, inland seas or saltwater lakes hold another 1%, a quantity that exceeds the world's available freshwater. About one quarter of Earth's land mass is underlain by salt, often more than 100 m thick. Evaporite deposits contain hypersaline waters within and between their salt crystals, and even contain large subterranean salt lakes, and therefore represent significant microbial habitats. Salts have a major impact on the nature and extent of the biosphere, because solutes radically influence water's availability (water activity) and exert other activities that also affect biological systems (e.g. ionic, kosmotropic, chaotropic and those that affect cell turgor), and as a consequence can be major stressors of cellular systems. Despite the stressor effects of salts, hypersaline environments can be heavily populated with salt-tolerant or -dependent microbes, the halophiles. The most common salt in hypersaline environments is NaCl, but many evaporite deposits and brines are also rich in other salts, including MgCl2 (several hundred million tonnes of bischofite, MgCl2·6H2O, occur in one formation alone). Magnesium (Mg) is the third most abundant element dissolved in seawater and is ubiquitous in the Earth's crust, and throughout the Solar System, where it exists in association with a variety of anions. Magnesium chloride is exceptionally soluble in water, so can achieve high concentrations (> 5 M) in brines. However, while NaCl-dominated hypersaline environments are habitats for a rich variety of salt-adapted microbes, there are contradictory indications of life in MgCl2 -rich environments. In this work, we have sought to obtain new insights into how MgCl2 affects cellular systems, to assess whether MgCl2 can determine the window of life, and, if so, to derive a value for this window. We have dissected two relevant cellular stress-related activities of MgCl2 solutions, namely water activity reduction and chaotropicity, and analysed signatures of life at different concentrations of MgCl2 in a natural environment, namely the 0.05,5.05 M MgCl2 gradient of the seawater : hypersaline brine interface of Discovery Basin , a large, stable brine lake almost saturated with MgCl2, located on the Mediterranean Sea floor. We document here the exceptional chaotropicity of MgCl2, and show that this property, rather than water activity reduction, inhibits life by denaturing biological macromolecules. In vitro, a test enzyme was totally inhibited by MgCl2 at concentrations below 1 M; and culture medium with MgCl2 concentrations above 1.26 M inhibited the growth of microbes in samples taken from all parts of the Discovery interface. Although DNA and rRNA from key microbial groups (sulfate reducers and methanogens) were detected along the entire MgCl2 gradient of the seawater : Discovery brine interface, mRNA, a highly labile indicator of active microbes, was recovered only from the upper part of the chemocline at MgCl2 concentrations of less than 2.3 M. We also show that the extreme chaotropicity of MgCl2 at high concentrations not only denatures macromolecules, but also preserves the more stable ones: such indicator molecules, hitherto regarded as evidence of life, may thus be misleading signatures in chaotropic environments. Thus, the chaotropicity of MgCl2 would appear to be a window-of-life-determining parameter, and the results obtained here suggest that the upper MgCl2 concentration for life, in the absence of compensating (e.g. kosmotropic) solutes, is about 2.3 M. [source] Traveltime approximation for a reflected wave in a homogeneous anisotropic elastic layerGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2002M. Zillmer Summary An approximation to the traveltime field is calculated for an elastic wave that propagates in a homogeneous anisotropic layer and is reflected at a plane boundary. The traveltime is approximated by a Taylor series expansion with the third derivative of the traveltime being taken into account. The coefficients of the series refer to the seismic ray, which is locally the fastest ray. Simple formulae are obtained for orthorhombic media in the crystal coordinate system, which relate the traveltimes of the reflected waves to the elastic constants of the medium. A numerical example is presented for wave propagation in orthorhombic olivine, which is a constituent of the Earth's mantle. A second example is given by an isotropic host rock with a set of parallel cracks, which is an important model for wave propagation in the Earth's crust. The elastic parameters can be determined by measuring the reflection times as a function of source,receiver offset. The approximate traveltime,distance curves are compared with traveltimes obtained from seismic ray tracing. [source] Evolution-Motion of Crustobodies and Geotectonic MetallogenyACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2000CHEN Guoda Abstract, Following the paper entitled A Preliminary Proposal on Crustobody Geotectonics presented by the first author to the 30th IGC in 1996, this paper further extends and elucidates the concept of crustobody in order to make a unifying study of the evolution and motion of crustal structures and to understand the law governing the formation and development of the earth' crust. In this paper the characteristics of crustobody evolution-motion are given. The authors lay emphasis on the relationship between crustobody evolution-motion and tectonic metallogeny. In the end, a multiple dynamic system of the crustobody evolution-motion is discussed from internal and external dynamic forces, and the mantle creep in internal dynamic factors is paid special attention to. [source] Silicon-augmented resistance of plants to herbivorous insects: a reviewANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009O.L. Reynolds Abstract Silicon (Si) is one of the most abundant elements in the earth's crust, although its essentiality in plant growth is not clearly established. However, the importance of Si as an element that is particularly beneficial for plants under a range of abiotic and biotic stresses is now beyond doubt. This paper reviews progress in exploring the benefits at two- and three-trophic levels and the underlying mechanism of Si in enhancing the resistance of host plants to herbivorous insects. Numerous studies have shown an enhanced resistance of plants to insect herbivores including folivores, borers, and phloem and xylem feeders. Silicon may act directly on insect herbivores leading to a reduction in insect performance and plant damage. Various indirect effects may also be caused, for example, by delaying herbivore establishment and thus an increased chance of exposure to natural enemies, adverse weather events or control measures that target exposed insects. A further indirect effect of Si may be to increase tolerance of plants to abiotic stresses, notably water stress, which can in turn lead to a reduction in insect numbers and plant damage. There are two mechanisms by which Si is likely to increase resistance to herbivore feeding. Increased physical resistance (constitutive), based on solid amorphous silica, has long been considered the major mechanism of Si-mediated defences of plants, although there is recent evidence for induced physical defence. Physical resistance involves reduced digestibility and/or increased hardness and abrasiveness of plant tissues because of silica deposition, mainly as opaline phytoliths, in various tissues, including epidermal silica cells. Further, there is now evidence that soluble Si is involved in induced chemical defences to insect herbivore attack through the enhanced production of defensive enzymes or possibly the enhanced release of plant volatiles. However, only two studies have tested for the effect of Si on an insect herbivore and third trophic level effects on the herbivore's predators and parasitoids. One study showed no effect of Si on natural enemies, but the methods used were not favourable for the detection of semiochemical-mediated effects. Work recently commenced in Australia is methodologically and conceptually more advanced and an effect of Si on the plants' ability to generate an induced response by acting at the third trophic level was observed. This paper provides the first overview of Si in insect herbivore resistance studies, and highlights novel, recent hypotheses and findings in this area of research. Finally, we make suggestions for future research efforts in the use of Si to enhance plant resistance to insect herbivores. [source] | |||||||||||||