British Geological Survey

About: British Geological Survey is a government organization based out in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Groundwater & Aquifer. The organization has 2561 authors who have published 7326 publications receiving 241944 citations.

Natural and artificial cavities as ground engineering hazards

Abstract: The occurrences of natural and artificial cavities are reviewed and their causes are assessed. Natural cavities are found principally in carbonate rocks and the processes of sinkhole formation are described. Solution cavities in non-carbonate rocks and cavities in insoluble rocks are also considered. Extraction methods for coal, metalliferous minerals and salts are described in relation to the creation of underground cavities. An outline procedure for locating cavities emphasizes the importance of the desk study in this type of investigation and the difficulty of proving the absence of cavities beneath a site.

Determination of design earthquakes in seismic hazard analysis through monte carlo simulation

Abstract: A method is demonstrated using Monte Carlo simulation (stochastic modelling) techniques that allows the extraction of information about design earthquakes that constitute the most likely combinations of earthquake magnitude/epicentral distance that would actually generate the computed hazard ground motion at a site of interest, taking into account the log-normal scatter in the attenuation relationship. A worked example, at three different return periods, is shown for a realistic case in Greece. The results demonstrate the range of events that may contribute to the hazard, from which median or modal values can be derived. This method should be very useful in cases where it is desired to select earthquake time series representing the hazard for engineering analyses. In the example shown, the most probable magnitude/distance pairs are those that would produce predicted deterministic acceleration values of about half the design ground motion.

The extension of the Late Weichselian/Late Devensian ice sheets in the North Sea Basin

Abstract: The distribution of large channel-like features, comprising Weichselian/Devensian incisions, in the western North Sea provides evidence for a much larger extension of the last ice sheet than currently assumed. Morphological comparison of the incisions with those in North Germany and Poland reveals a striking similarity in shape and distribution. The features on the North Sea floor are interpreted as being formed by meltwater erosion within the margin of the ice sheet. The widespread absence of Weichselian/Devensian till in the area under consideration may be attributed to later erosion. Large-scale reworking and redistribution of sediments is indicated by the complete sediment infill of the majority of the incisions.

Shear‐wave anisotropy: spatial and temporal variations in time delays at Parkfield, Central California

Abstract: SUMMARY Shear-wave splitting is analysed on data recorded by the High Resolution Seismic Network (HRSN) at Parkfield on the San Andreas fault, Central California, during the three-year period 1988-1990. Shear-wave polarizations either side of the fault are generally aligned in directions consistent with the regional horizontal maximum compressive stress, at some 70" to the fault strike, whereas at station MM in the immediate fault zone, shear-wave polarizations are aligned approximately parallel to the fault. Normalized time delays at this station are found to be about twice as large as those in the rock mass either side. This suggests that fluid-filled cracks and fractures within the fault zone are elastically or seismically different from those in the surrounding rocks, and that the alignment of fault-parallel shear-wave polarizations are associated with some fault-specific phenomenon. Temporal variations in time delays between the two split shear-waves before and after a ML=4 earthquake can be identified at two stations with sufficient data: MM within the fault zone and VC outside the immediate fault zone. Time delays between faster and slower split shear waves increase before the ML = 4 earthquake and decrease near the time of the event. The temporal variations are statistically significant at 68 per cent confidence levels. Earthquake doublets and multiplets also show similar temporal variations, consistent with those predicted by anisotropic poroelasticity theory for stress modifications to the microcrack geometry pervading the rock mass. This study is broadly consistent with the behaviour observed before three other earthquakes, suggesting that the build-up of stress before earthquakes may be monitored and interpreted by the analysis of shear-wave splitting.