Le département de la Vendée est classé en zone de risque sismique niveau 3, en raison d’une activité sismique continue et d’une sismicité historique de forte intensité avec l’évènement majeur du 25 janvier 1799 (M6) dans le Marais Breton. Ce séisme a provoqué des dégâts massifs localement à Bouin et dans la région nantaise, et a été largement ressenti dans l’Ouest de la France. La Vendée littorale est située sur la côte atlantique française au sud du cisaillement sud-armoricain. Elle est caractérisée par de nombreuses structures héritées d’origine varisque et d’orientation NW-SE, réactivées au Mésozoïque et au Cénozoïque délimitant des marais côtiers holocènes. L’enjeu de cette thèse est de caractériser la géométrie des éventuelles failles plio-quaternaires et potentiellement actives dans cette région, en s’intéressant particulièrement à la faille de Machecoul, bordière des bassins sédimentaires du Marais Breton et de la Baie de Bourgneuf et candidate potentielle pour le séisme Vendéen de 1799. Notre approche est pluridisciplinaire terre-mer, intégrant sismologie (réseau temporaire), géophysique marine (sismique réflexion Chirp et Sparker, bathymétrie haute résolution), morpho-tectonique, gravimétrie, étude de forages et sismicité historique. Notre étude a permis d’analyser et de caractériser (1) la structure et la géométrie en profondeur du système de failles normales de Machecoul, (2) la localisation des dépocentres plioquaternaires du Marais Breton et de la Baie de Bourgneuf en relation avec le système de failles de Machecoul, atteignant localement une vingtaine de mètres d’épaisseur, (3) la perturbation du réseau hydrographique et l’incision récente du relief du compartiment inférieur de la faille de Machecoul, probablement d’âge pliocène, ainsi que (4) l’activité microsismique de la faille de Machecoul. Nos données suggèrent que la sédimentation plioquaternaire des bassins en mer comme à terre au sud de la faille de Machecoul a pu être contrôlée par cette faille probablement héritée de l’Eocène. Ce travail confirme l’intérêt multi-disciplinaire de l’étude des failles en domaine de déformation faible et apporte un faisceau d’indices permettant de relier la faille de Machecoul à la rupture du séisme Vendéen de 1799 (M6), évènement historique de référence dans l’Ouest de la France de par son ampleur, et par là même de ses conséquences dans une zone littorale de plus en plus peuplée. / The Vendée department is classified as a level 3 seismic risk zone because of a moderate background seismic activity and a strong historical seismicity dominated by the 1799 January 25th (M6) major event in the MaraisBreton. This earthquake caused local massive damages in Bouin and around Nantes, and its perception area stretched widely in the West of France. Coastal Vendée is located on the French Atlantic coast, south of the SouthArmorican Shear Zone. This area is made of numerous NW-SE trending hercynian inherited structures, reactivated during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times and delimiting holocene coastal marschlands. The main goal of this thesis is to characterize the geometry of potential plio-quaternary active faults in the area by focusing on the Machecoul fault, bounding the Marais Breton and the Baie de Bourgneuf sedimentary basins and potential candidate for the 1799 earthquake. We used a multidisciplinary onshore-offshore approach, including seismology (temporary network), marine geophysics (Chirp and Sparker seismic reflexion, high resolution bathymetry), morphotectonic, gravity, onshore drilling database and historical seismicity.Our results allowed us to analyze and characterize (1) the Machecoul normal faults system structure and geometry in depth, (2) the plio-quaternary depocenters location in Marais Breton and Baie de Bourgneuf in relation with the Machecoul fault system, reaching locally around twenty meters thick, (3) the hydrographic network perturbation and recent incision of the Machecoul fault footwall, probably pliocene aged relief, (4) the microseismic activity of the Machecoul fault. Our data suggest that the plioquaternary sedimentation of the marine and terrestrial basins located in the south of the fault could be controlled by this inherited fault, probably dated from Eocene age.This work confirms the importance of multi-disciplinary approach in the study of faults in low deformation context and provides a body of evidence allowing to connect the Machecoul fault to the rupture of the 1799 Vendée earthquake (M6), historic and reference event in the western part of France given its scale and so its consequences in the more and more densely populated coastal area.

"September 2002" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-209) / xi, 209, [51] leaves : ill. (chiefly col.), maps, plates (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Outlines an evaluation procedure for stratigraphic trap exploration by employing sequence stratigraphy, 3D seismic data visualisation and quantitative risk analysis with case studies in an actual exploration basin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, 2002

This thesis presents elastic finite difference simulations of two dimensional wavefield propagation for line-9, recorded during the 1993 part of the multi-institutional, multi-year Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) Seismic Experiment. Line-9 is a high-resolution, large-aperture seismic profile oriented in north-south direction, extending from the subduction regime north of the MTJ to the transform regime south of the MTJ. Snapshots of the wavefield are recorded during the simulation to create a movie which assists with the analysis of the synthetic seismograms. The simulations are computed on a 64 processor CM-5 parallel supercomputer. First a velocity model obtained by the Mendocino Working Group is examined. The model is based on information from depth-migrated single-fold reflection profiles and tomographic inversion of first arrivals. The synthetic seismic sections show acceptable first arrival traveltime fit but fail to correctly model secondary arrivals and amplitude variations of the wavefield. Based on the shortcomings of the initial model an alternative model for the north-south line is proposed. The new model introduces several distinct structures, like a subducted Gorda plate, a slabless window, and a wedge shaped low velocity zone between Franciscan material and Gorda plate. The big difference between the two models is that the initial model is too smooth to contain any discontinuities and cannot account for any reflection arrivals. In addition all structures in the lower crust of the alternative models are located about 4 km deeper than the equivalent velocities in the initial model. The seismic sections of the alternative model show much improved traveltime and amplitude fit. Also, some characteristics of the wavefield observed in the field data (e.g. traveltime oscillations, amplitude variations, and discontinuous arrivals) are also observed in the synthetic seismograms.. The position of the southern end of the Gorda plate (SEDGE) is at 80 km in the model (39.7°N). Because of the limited resolution it is not possible to resolve whether the Gorda plate just north of the SEDGE is fragmented or continuous. To add attenuation by scattering or coda waves generation to the model, the effects of a stochastic velocity description for Franciscan rocks on the wavefield are explored. The best velocity contrast between sandstones and melange units in a bimodal, seifaffine, sinuous connected model is determined as 0.5 km/s. Stochastic models of this kind successfully model background noise and coda waves and to some degree discontinuous phases, amplitude variations, and traveltime oscillations. They cannot, however, account for the full range of characteristics observed in the field data. For this, additional large scale velocity variations must be added to the model. For the final model, the (deterministic) alternative model and the statistical description of Franciscan rocks are combined. The resulting wavefield shows good amplitude and traveltime fit and the observed wavefield characteristics are similar to the characteristics of the field data. / Graduation date: 1997 / Best scan available for figures.

The Gorda Escarpment (40.4° N and from 126° W to 124.7° W) is a topographic high which is the eastern portion of the Mendocino Transform Fault. The Vizcaino Block is the anomalously shallow portion of the Pacific plate immediately south of the Gorda Escarpment. Sediments of the Vizcaino Block record a history of uplift and subsidence for itself and the Gorda Escarpment. Previous work on the Mendocino Ridge (the bathymetric expression of the Mendocino Transform Fault west of 126° W, where there is little sediment overlying basement) indicated that the ridge had been above sea level at some time in the past (Krause et al., 1964; Fisk et al., 1993). Assuming that the two bathymetric features have undergone the same response to tectonic forces, this study aims to constrain the timing of uplift and subsidence for the Gorda Escarpment, Vizcaino Block, and Mendocino Ridge by using the geological record of sediments of the Vizcaino Block. ODP Site 1022 drilling penetrated 379 meters into the Vizcaino Block's sediments. Age and lithologic constraints from the recovered cores, along with in-situ sampling by ROV and gravity cores, were integrated with a network of 25 seismic reflection lines. From these it is evident that uplift of the Gorda Escarpment and Mendocino Ridge began before 6 Ma, and was at a maximum at 2.7 Ma. Ocean circulation was likely altered by the uplift of the Gorda Escarpment and Mendocino Ridge. In turn, the altered ocean circulation regime may have had an impact on the regional climate in the Pliocene. From 2.7 Ma until the present the Gorda Escarpment, the Vizcaino Block and the Mendocino Ridge have been subsiding. / Graduation date: 2003

On November 6, 1988, two strong earthquakes (Mw: 7.0 and 6.8) separated by about 13 minutes occurred in Yunnan Province, China. The aftershocks located by Kunming Telemetered Seismic Network form a lineament approximately 120 km long and 20 km wide with the long dimension oriented approximately N30°W. The epicenter of the first event lies about 30 km from the southern terminus of the aftershock zone while the epicenter of the second event is 60 km further to the northwest. Field investigations indicate that the surface fault ruptures associated with the first and second shock and a variety of ground deformations. We analyze teleseismic data recorded by the GDSN network to determine the rupture process of these two mainshocks (referred to as Ml and M2) and the two largest aftershocks (referred to as Al and A2). Inversion of long-period body waves gives the following centroid source parameters for Ml: strike 154°±4°, dip 86°±1°, slip 181°±1°, centroid depth shallower than 15 km (least-misfit centroid depth 12 km), and seismic moment 4.5-4.9 X 10²⁶ dyn cm (least-misfit seismic moment 4.6 X 10²⁶ dyn cm). The source time function, further constrained by broadband seismograms, indicates that the source duration for this event is 12 seconds. Due to signal interference with Ml, body wave inversion techniques cannot be applied to M2. The Rayleigh waves provide a better look at this event. In order to identify the energy contributions from the two events, group velocity analysis was performed on the surface wave trains. The energy from the individual events was then isolated based on their dispersion patterns. The amplitude spectra in the period range of 100 to 66 s were inverted for the source parameters. The inversion constrains the strike of M2 precisely (155°±3°), however, dip and slip angles were not well resolved by the inversion. Similar Rayleigh wave amplitude spectra and radiation patterns of Ml and M2, however, suggest that they had very similar mechanisms and centroid depths. On the average, the amplitude spectra of M2 are smaller than those of Ml by a factor of 2.2, indicating the seismic moment of M2 is 2.1 X 10²⁶ dyn cm. The two largest aftershocks, Al (Mw 6.1) and A2 (Mw 5.3), which occurred at the southern terminus of the aftershock zone, were analyzed by modeling teleseismic and strong ground motion data. Teleseismic body wave inversion gives source orientation of Al: strike 165°±2.5°, dip 90°±1.5°, slip 178°±0.5°, centroid depth shallower than 12 km (least-misfit centroid depth 7 km from broadband waveform inversion), and seismic moment 1.5-1.6 X 10²⁵ dyn cm. The inversion of A2 gives the source orientation and centroid depth very similar to those of Al. The seismic moment for this event is 1.3-1.6 X 10²⁴ dyn cm. Modeling of strong ground motion seismograms adds more constraints on centroid depths and source time functions of Al and A2. To minimize the effect of scattering caused by upper crustal heterogeneity, we confined our analysis to frequencies lower than 1 Hz. A crustal model, with a low velocity sedimentary layer, was found that predicts common features of observed strong ground motion seismograms for both events. Derived source orientation is consistent with that found from teleseismic body wave inversion. The centroid depths of Al and A2 were constrained to be between 4 and 12 km. A source duration of 7 s and 2 s was obtained for Al and A2, respectively. Derived rupture parameters of Ml and M2, aftershock distribution, field investigations, geological information and concepts of geometrical barriers and fault asperities, indicate that the preexisting fault intersections played the key role in rupture terminations and initiations. The 12 s source duration of Ml and about 60 km long zone of ground deformation along the strike suggest that Ml rupture was bilateral. The rupture initiated near a fault intersection and propagated to NNW and SSE along the strike. The SSE propagating rupture was terminated by a preexisting fault which intersects the ruptured fault 30 km to the south. The aftershock Al and A2 as well as a dense group of small aftershocks were associated with the termination of the SSE segment. The NNW propagating rupture was also terminated by a NE striking preexisting fault on which several of the largest aftershocks appear to have occurred. This NE striking fault right-laterally offsets the fault on which Ml and M2 occurred forming a geometrical barrier for the rupture. M2 presumably nucleated near this barrier and unilaterally ruptured about 25 km toward NNW where it was terminated by a well documented preexisting fault. / Graduation date: 1992

The role of water and volatiles in the solar system is of critical interest in planetary science. Evidence for the past action of water or direct observation of water on a planetary body can indicate the potential to harbor life and is critical to human exploration of the solar system. We study two very different remote sensing techniques that address the issue of identifying water-related processes on the surface of other planetary bodies, and in particular, Mars. The first technique, combined thermal infrared and visible imaging, has been used extensively on Mars for determining the thermal inertia of surface materials. In the second part of this dissertation, we develop a technique that combines remote thermophysical and visible data sets with ground-based field investigations for the identification of sedimentary features at the surfaces of alluvial fans. Several methods for remotely identifying sedimentary features will be explored using thermal and visible images. We combine results from pre-existing ground-based studies with thermal images and ground-based field investigations to develop a robust technique to be used on a variety of alluvial fans. In the third part, we characterize the remote thermophysical and visible properties of specific classes of sedimentary features on alluvial fans using the technique developed in part two. The second remote sensing technique, neutron spectroscopy, has been used on many planetary spacecraft missions for the identification of hydrogen on planetary surfaces. The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument on the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory rover mission represents a new type of neutron detector for planetary spacecraft, with the neutron detectors mounted to a rover on the Martian surface (as opposed to in orbit around the planetary body) and neutron counts that are binned by time, energy, and location (as opposed to just by energy and location). In chapter four, we model expected neutron energies and arrival times for geologic settings where water has altered the chemistry of the near surface using available geochemical data from the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Particle transport models are used to determine the sensitivity of neutron detection techniques to the variations in hydrogen abundance, hydrogen layering and chemical composition measured by MER.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Geosciences and School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in geosciences and computer networking." Advisor: Tina M. Niemi. Typescript. Vita. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 12, 2007; title from "catalog record" of the print edition. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-341). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-176).

La Belgique et les régions voisines sont situées loin des limites des plaques tectoniques, pourtant, l'activité sismique y démontre l'existence de phénomènes géodynamiques récents. Le séisme historique le plus important (magnitude 6 ¼) au nord des Alpes s'est produit le 18 septembre 1692 dans le nord de l'Ardenne et a été fortement destructeur dans la région de Verviers, provoquant des dégâts légers jusqu'à Londres. L'étude de l'activité sismique en Ardenne et l'identification de failles actives en lien avec la tectonique active régionale est donc primordiale pour la caractérisation du cadre séismotectonique et donc de l'évaluation de l'aléa sismique de la région. L'activité sismique depuis 1985, date de l'installation du réseau sismique moderne en Belgique, a été étudiée en matière de localisation relative des séismes et de caractérisation de leur distribution spatiale en relation avec les mécanismes au foyer. Cette étude a été effectuée après adaptation, comparaison et évaluation de la qualité des différents algorithmes de relocalisation disponibles. Une structuration de l'Ardenne a été mise en évidence en étudiant la relation entre la distribution géographique et la profondeur d'occurrence des séismes. Différents alignements des foyers sismiques et le lien avec une structure plane ont été déterminés, par exemple dans la région de Charleroi, sous les Hautes-Fagnes ou dans la région de Manderfeld. La corrélation entre les structures de la croûte sous l'Ardenne mises en évidence par les grandes études géophysiques dans les années 70-80 et la distribution géographique des séismes illustrent le rôle important joué par la Zone Faillée de Hockai, qui limite l'Ardenne en terme de propriétés rhéologiques déduites de la profondeur des foyers sismiques. Nous montrons aussi la faiblesse de l'hypothèse affirmant que la Faille du Midi accommode la déformation actuelle dans nos régions. De même, la corrélation entre les anomalies magnétiques et gravimétriques de la croûte sous l'Ardenne a été étudiée qualitativement. Les causes et conséquences du soulèvement Cénozoïque ont été critiquées objectivement. Cette première partie permet de dessiner un cadre séismotectonique bien défini en Ardenne. L'identification de failles actives sur le terrain en Ardenne est compliquée par le faible taux de déformation qu'elle subi. Les grands tremblements de terre sont peu fréquents et leur trace éventuelle à la surface est rapidement effacée par l'érosion et l'altération. La Zone Faillée de Hockai (ZFH), siège supposé du séisme de 1692, a été étudiée par des méthodes de prospections géophysiques le long d'un profil de 6 km sur la Crête de la Vecquée. Différentes structures ont pu être mises en évidence, certaines en lien avec la stratigraphie et d'autres avec des structures faillées orientées dans une direction similaire à celles connues pour la ZFH. Ce premier profil d'envergure donne des arguments importants pour la recherche de failles actives en lien avec la ZFH au niveau de la Crête de la Vecquée et leur lien potentiel avec la séquence de séismes de 1989-1990.

Earthquake swarms occur frequently in West Bohemia, Central Europe. Their occurrence is correlated with and propably triggered by fluids that escape on the earth's surface near the epicentres. These fluids raise up periodically from a seemingbly deep-seated source in the upper mantle. Moment tensors for swarm events in 1997 indicate tensile faulting. However, they were determined under assumption of seismic isotropy although anisotropy can be observed. Anisotropy may obscure moment tensors and their interpretation. In 2000, more than 10,000 swarm earthquakes occurred near Novy Kostel, West Bohemia. Event triggering by fluid injection is likely. Activity lasted from 28/08 until 31/12/00 (9 phases) with maximum ML=3.2. High quality P-wave seismograms were used to retrieve the source mechanisms for 112 events between 28/08/00 and 30/10/00 using > 20 stations. We determine the source geometry using a new algorithm and different velocity models including anisotropy. From inversions of P waves we observe ML<3.2, strike-slip events on steep N-S oriented faults with additional normal or reverse components. Tensile components seem to be evident for more than 60% of the processed swarm events in West Bohemia during the phases 1-7. Being most significant at great depths and at phases 1-4 during the swarm they are time and location dependent. Although tensile components are reduced when anisotropy is assumed they persist and seem to be important. They can be explained by pore-pressure changes due to the injection of fluids that raise up. Our findings agree with other observations e.g. correlation of fluid transport and seismicity, variations in b-value, forcing rate, and in pore pressure diffusion. Tests of our results show their significance.