Yan Zhan

Crustal structure and rheology of the Longmenshan and Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake epicentral area from magnetotelluric data

The Longmenshan forms the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau adjacent to the Sichuan Basin. This range is anomalous because it formed despite low convergence and slip rates and without the development of a foreland basin. The devastating A.D. 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Mw = 7.9) has renewed debate about the tectonics of the Longmenshan. A magnetotelluric (MT) study was undertaken subsequent to the earthquake to investigate the crustal structure of the Longmenshan, and inversion of the data reveals a low-resistivity (high-conductivity) layer at a depth of ∼20 km beneath the eastern Tibetan Plateau that terminates ∼25 km west of the Wenchuan-Maoxian fault. Its electrical properties are consistent with it being fluid-rich and mechanically weak. Beneath the Longmenshan and Sichuan Basin, a high-resistivity zone extends through the entire crust, but with a zone of low resistivity in the vicinity of the Wenchuan hypocenter. We show that the MT data, combined with other geological and geophysical observations, support geodynamic models for the uplift of eastern Tibet being caused by southeast-directed crustal flow that is blocked by stable lithosphere beneath the Sichuan Basin and Longmenshan, leading to inflation of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane. This rigid high-resistivity backstop not only provided a block to flow, but also may have accumulated stress prior to the earthquake. The MT observations provide new insights into the generation of the Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred in a region with low convergence rates prior to the earthquake.

Advances in alternating electromagnetic field data processing for earthquake monitoring in China

The alternating electromagnetic (EM) field is one of the most sensitive physical fields related to earthquakes. There have been a number of publications reporting EM anomalies associated with earthquakes. With increasing applications and research of artificial-source extremely low frequency EM and satellite EM technologies in earthquake studies, the amount of observed data from the alternating EM method increases rapidly and exponentially, so it is imperative to develop suitable and effective methods for processing and analyzing the influx of big data. This paper presents research on the self-adaptive filter and wavelet techniques and their applications to analyzing EM data obtained from ground measurements and satellite observations, respectively. Analysis results show that the self-adaptive filter method can identify both natural- and artificial-source EM signals, and enhance the ratio between signal and noise of EM field spectra, apparent resistivity, and others. The wavelet analysis is capable of detecting possible correlation between EM anomalies and seismic events. These techniques are effective in processing and analyzing massive data obtained from EM observations.