IEPT RAS

Man-made seismicity is a response of the brittle crust to fluid injection at depth and to the subsequent increase in pore-pressure and stress field perturbations. In Oklahoma, where the sharp increase in earthquake rate correlates with injection operations, we show that the earthquake-size distribution can differ significantly on the volume of injected fluid. The size distribution of M<3.5 earthquakes exhibits a near-constant slope b, while significant variation of b-values (from b≈1to b>2) may be documented for larger magnitude ranges. This change shows statistically significant positive dependence on injection activity. In addition, largest events occur at the border of the injection area at some distance from massive injection, and in the periods of steady injection rate. These observations suggest that a deficit of large induced earthquakes under conditions of high injection rate can be accompanied by an overall increase of natural seismicity along pre-existing faults in the surrounding volume, where large events are more likely to be triggered over longer space-time scales.

More“Condition of occurrence of large man-made earthquakes in the zone of oil production, Oklahoma”

Rapakivi in Finnish means «rotten stone». These very beautiful granites, widely used in construction as facing material, are often represented in nature by granular-block-destroyed massifs, and often destruction is observed only in the near-surface region. Over time, architectural structures made from rapakivi also tend to crack and collapse. Among other things, there is the problem of preventing the destruction of the unique Alexandria Pillar on the Palace Square in St. Petersburg. Failure of rapakivi granites is usually interpreted as fatigue failure, generated, for example, by cyclic changes in internal stresses during heating and cooling of rocks and during their freezing and thawing.

More“Granites-rapakivi – cultural monuments and reservoirs of hydrocarbons – mechanisms of destruction”

In the journal “Zeitschrift für angewandte Mathematik und Physik” (WoS, Scopus, Q1) publishedby Springer, the article“A boundary value problem in the theory of elasticity for a rectangle: exact solutions” was published. Among the authorsareemployees of IEPT RAS: Leading Researcher, D.Sc. (Phys.-Math.) M.D. Kovalenko, Senior Researcher, Cand. Sc. (Phys.-Math.) I.V. MenshovaandSenior Researcher, Cand. Sc. (Phys.-Math.) A.P. Kerzhaev.

In the article, we derive the formulas that describe the exact solution of the boundary value problem in the theory of elasticity for a rectangle in which two opposite (horizontal) sides are free and stresses are specified (all cases of symmetry relative to the central axes) on the other two sides (rectangle ends). The formulas for a half-strip are also given. The solutions are represented as series in Papkovich–Fadle eigenfunctions whose coefficients are determined from simple formulas.

The research was funded by RFBR and NSFC according to the research project No. 20-51-53021 and the Russian Science Foundation under grant No. 19-71-00094.

More“A boundary value problem in the theory of elasticity for a rectangle: exact solutions”

Seismotectonic processes of the Shillong Plateau (SP) have been influenced by the Himalayan orogeny, the India-Burmese subduction, and the Bengal Basin evolution leading to high seismic activity in the region. A probabilistic assessment of the seismic hazard of the SP was carried out in order to provide scientific information to the engineering and disaster risk management communities. Seismic hazard analysis is used to determine ground fluctuations in densely populated areas of the SP and, in particular, in the cities of Shillong, Nongpoh and Tura. This analysis is based on the use of historical and instrumentally recorded regional earthquakes since 1411 and deals with uncertainties related to earthquake magnitudes, rupture locations, and the frequency of ground motion exceedance.

More“Seismic hazard in the Shillong plateau region, India”

To understand how geodynamic processes affect seismicity and what danger earthquakes pose in the Caucasus, a group of scientists from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and Switzerland conducted a study analyzing a large number of works on geology, geotectonics, geodesy, gravics, seismicity, seismic tomography, heat flow, magmatism, volcanism and its manifestations in the geological past in the Caucasus and determined the prospects for the development of research in the region. The paper was published in Earth-Science Reviews (Q1, JIF = 9.724). More“Geodynamics, seismicity and seismic hazard of the Caucasus”

Inverse problem solution in the Kuramoto model with phase lag: application to the solar meridional circulation (E.M.Blanter, M.G.Shnirman). More“Inverse problem solution in the Kuramoto model with phase lag: application to the solar meridional circulation”