S U M M A R Y We discuss two types of physical constraints derived from thermodynamics that can be applied during seismic inversions. The first constraint involves assimilating heat-flow measurements in seismic inversions. This can improve seismic models beneath continents, particularly beneath cratons and continental platforms where uncertainties in crustal radioactive heat production and the ...

Forward modeling of reflection seismic data is a computational process through which a geologic model (units: horizontal distance, vertical depth; layer acoustic impedance) of the subsurface is transformed into a synthetic reflection seismic record (units: horizontal distance, 2-way travel time; reflection amplitude). Synthetic seismic records (synthetics) are often generated both before and af...

Extensive work has been done in the recent years involving use of conventional and passive seismic data for fracture characterization. This is particularly the case with unconventional reservoirs such as shale gas, shale oil and geothermal fields. The purpose of our study is to combine the benefits of conventional seismic data that provides relatively higher resolution reservoir characteristics...

The majority of people at risk from earthquakes do little or nothing to reduce their vulnerability. Over the past 40 years social scientists have tried to predict and explain levels of seismic hazard adjustment using models from behavioural sciences such as psychology. The present paper is the first to synthesise the major findings from the international literature on psychological correlates a...

High-resolution images of the surface of asteroid 433 Eros revealed evidence of downslope movement of a loose regolith layer, as well as the degradation and erasure of small impact craters (less than approximately 100 meters in diameter). One hypothesis to explain these observations is seismic reverberation after impact events. We used a combination of seismic and geomorphic modeling to analyze...

Artificial boundaries are necessary in seismic numerical modeling to constrain the computational limits. Special treatment is necessary to reduce spurious reflections from these artificial boundaries. For near-surface seismic modeling, boundary processing is particularly important due to the presence of surface waves. The Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) method is an efficient way of attenuating b...

Computational physics has become an essential research and interpretation tool in many fields. Particularly, in reservoir geophysics, ultrasonic and seismic modeling in porous media is used to study the properties of rocks and characterize the seismic response of geological formations. Here, we give a brief overview of the most common numerical methods used to solve the partial differential equ...

A large part of the building stock in seismic-prone areas worldwide are masonry structures that have been designed without seismic design considerations. Proper seismic assessment of such structures is quite a challenge, particularly so if their response well into the inelastic range, up to local or global failure, has to be predicted, as typically required in fragility analysis. A critical iss...

A structural monitoring system has been developed for use on high value engineering structures, which is particularly suitable for use in remote locations where rare events such as accidental impacts, seismic activity or terrorist attack might otherwise go

[1] Much progress has been made over the past several decades in delineating the structure of subducting slabs, but several key aspects of their dynamics remain poorly constrained. Major unsolved problems in subduction geodynamics include those related to mantle wedge viscosity and rheology, slab hydration and dehydration, mechanical coupling between slabs and the ambient mantle, the geometry o...