At the invitation of Dr. Andrew Schaeffer (Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada), Dr. François Lavoué (UGA) presented the PACIFIC work on the use of seismic signals generated by trains for passive seismic imaging and monitoring on May 5th, 2021. The presentation provided an overview of the activities carried out within the framework of both the PACIFIC and FaultScan EU-funded projects.
The presentation was attended by around 40 people. Technical questions revolved around the parameters controlling signal amplitude, and a more general debate took place on the merits of excluding signals generated by trains from "classic" ambient noise datasets, as is done for earthquakes.
View the PACIFIC project video PACIFIC Project on sustainable mineral exploration - YouTube
An ultimate Charter governing the roles, responsibilities, composition and membership of the Committee will be outlined and implemented prior to the activation of PACIFIC programs.
Click here to download the press release (Pdf format) announcing the online event co-organised by INFACT, PACIFIC and the NHM on December 3-4, 2020.
Download PACIFIC first press release (July 2018): PACIFIC first press release
Executive summary: Permitting of the seismic survey and the acquisition of data are the first steps in WP3, the pilot test of the passive reflection seismic technique in the Marathon deposit. The processing and development stages of the Work Package rely directly on the successful acquisition of ambient seismic noise data from the Marathon test site.
Between September 17th and October 26th of 2018, at the Marathon test site, a 1025 sensor passive seismic survey was completed. The sensors equipment was rented from SAExploration. 1024 sensors were successfully deployed; however, only 1019 were recovered. The loss of sensors was due to animal activity or being buried by a rock slide.
The grid design was composed of two overlapping grids, a 416-sensor array and a 609-sensor profile line. The array had a grid spacing of 150m, while the profile line had a grid spacing of 50m. Both grids designs were configured along the main noise source of Lake Superior in the direction of 250deg to the west.
The sensors selected for the survey were ZL and C1, vertical direction sensors with a 10hz range. Once the sensors were retrieved, they were shipped back to SAExploration for download. The data was successfully downloaded and shipped to Sisprobe for analysis.
Train traffic as a powerful noise source for monitoring active faults with seismic interferometry.
Laboratory experiments report that detectable seismic velocity changes should occur in the vicinity of fault zones prior to earthquakes. However, operating permanent active seismic sources to monitor natural faults at seismogenic depth is found to be nearly impossible to achieve. We show that seismic noise generated by vehicle traffic, and especially heavy freight trains, can be turned into a powerful repetitive seismic source to continuously probe the Earth's crust at a few kilometers depth. Results of an exploratory seismic experiment in Southern California demonstrate that correlations of train‐generated seismic signals allow daily reconstruction of direct P body waves probing the San Jacinto Fault down to 4‐km depth. This new approach may facilitate monitoring most of the San Andreas Fault system using the railway and highway network of California.
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