Geophysical Journal International

SummaryRepeating earthquakes are believed to result from recurring ruptures of a single asperity, driven by surrounding aseismic creep. However, their occurrence and behavior in intraplate regions remain poorly understood. This study investigates the repeating earthquakes in the Gyeryongsan region of the Korean Peninsula, a tectonically stable intraplate region, following the 2008 Mw 3.56 earthquake. We augmented the earthquake catalogue from 2007 to 2022 using template matching and identified one repeating earthquake family comprising ten events with irregular recurrence intervals. The repeating earthquakes, with a median magnitude of Mw 1.22, occurred within the rupture area of the Mw 3.56 mainshock, beginning in late 2010 and subsequently recurring intermittently between 2011 and 2019. Stress drops of nearby earthquakes increased gradually from 0.3-0.9 MPa to 8.6 MPa over a decade, indicating a fault strength recovery period substantially longer than that typically observed at plate boundaries. We interpret that the earthquakes occurred within a damaged fault zone, reflecting extremely low loading rates in the intraplate region. Our study provides insights into earthquake behaviour within intraplate damaged fault zones and documents a rare case of a repeating earthquake family that persisted over ∼12 years.

SummaryThe Palaeomagnetic Intensity (PINT) database documents variations in the full-vector of the ancient geomagnetic field that can be used to provide insights into the operation and evolution of the geodynamo. In this study, we report an update of PINT and the evolving behaviour of the palaeomagnetic field since 17 Ma. The update is the addition of 206 recently published site-mean data with ages between 0.06 and 2610 Ma that have been assessed using the palaeointensity quality criteria (QPI). Using this database, we analysed, for the first time, the distribution of values of the palaeosecular variation index (PSVi) in intervals drawn from the past 17 million years. Our results indicate that this index was enhanced prior to 5 Ma reflecting both lower average virtual dipole moments and higher angular deviations of the virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) from the geographic pole. The present Brunhes chron is highlighted as being associated with especially high measurements of dipole moment which we hypothesise may be related to its already long duration relative to most other chrons of the last 17 Myr.

SummaryThe icy parts of the Earth, known as the cryosphere, are an integral part of the climate system. Comprehensively understanding the cryosphere requires dense observations, not only of its surface, but also of its internal structure and dynamics. Seismic methods play a central role in this endeavour. Fibre-optic sensing is emerging as a valuable complement and alternative to well-established inertial seismometers. Offering metre-scale channel spacing, interrogation distances of up to ∼100 km, and a bandwidth from mHz to kHz, it has enabled new seismological applications, for instance, under water, in cities and on volcanoes. Cryosphere research particularly benefits from fibre-optic sensing because long cables can be deployed with relative ease in icy environments where dense arrays of seismometers are difficult to install, including glaciers, ice sheets and deep boreholes. Intended to facilitate future fibre-optic seismology research in the cryosphere, this Expository Review combines a classical publication review with theoretical background, a practical field guide, a cryospheric signal gallery, and open-access data examples for hands-on training. Following a summary of recent findings about firn and ice structure, glacial seismicity, hydrology and avalanche dynamics, we derive the ideal instrument response of a distributed fibre-optic deformation sensor. To approach this ideal in field experiments, we propose numerous practical dos and don’ts concerning the choice and handling of fibre-optic cables, required equipment, splicing in the field at low temperatures, cable layout and trenching, and the deployment and coupling of cables in boreholes. A cryospheric signal gallery provides examples of data from a wide range of sources, such as explosions, land and air traffic, electricity generators, basal stick-slip icequakes, surface crevassing, englacial icequake cascades, floating ice shelf resonance, surface water flow and snow avalanches. Many of these data are enclosed as an open-access training resource, together with code for reading, visualisation and simple analyses. This review concludes with a discussion of grand open challenges in our understanding of cryosphere structure and dynamics, and how further advances in fibre-optic sensing may help to overcome them.

SummaryThis study proposes a dispersion-spectrum inversion method for improved estimation of shear-velocity (VS) profiles in marine sediments using underwater multichannel analysis of surface waves (UMASW). The method leverages an efficient forward modeling algorithm combined with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) global search to address the nonlinearity inherent in the inversion process. Comparisons with field and synthetic data demonstrate that the VS profiles inverted using the full dispersion spectrum (in terms of the frequency-phase velocity spectrum, FVS) exhibit greater stability and reliability than those obtained through traditional fundamental-mode (FM) inversion. Pseudo two-dimensional VS profiles are constructed by interpolating one-dimensional profiles obtained from the FVS-McMC inversion, showing more continuous subsurface interfaces that align with borehole data. Parametric studies further highlight the influence of Poisson’s ratio, water layer thickness, and VS contrast on the dispersion behavior, underscoring the robustness of the proposed approach for offshore site characterization.

SummaryAccurately mapping the distribution of natural methane hydrates is crucial for understanding their role in climate change and predicting the risks associated with hydrate dissociation. Attenuation shows great potential for remote hydrate detection, yet its behavior and underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. We conducted laboratory experiments to synthesize high-saturation methane hydrate in unconsolidated sands and measure attenuation based on ultrasonic waveforms. The resulting attenuation showed an unexpected decreasing trend during hydrate formation, contradicting previous studies in sands, where attenuation generally increases with hydrate saturation. Theoretical modeling suggests that attenuation is jointly controlled by hydrate and free gas. The gas reduction in pores due to hydrate formation substantially suppresses the attenuation induced by gas-bubble oscillation, and is therefore thought to be responsible for the observed attenuation reduction. By comparison, hydrate effects are relatively weak and strongly frequency-dependent. The discrepancy between our results and previous studies arises primarily from the distinct attenuation behavior across different ranges of gas content. Our samples fall within a relatively low gas content range, where attenuation is particularly sensitive to gas, highlighting its impact. These findings contribute new insights into the attenuation characteristics and mechanisms due to the coexistence of hydrate and gas in sediments.

SummaryDistributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), a photonic technology that converts a fibre-optic cable into a long (tens of kilometres) high-linear-density (every few metres) array of seismo-acoustic sensors, can provide high-density, high-resolution strain measurements along the entire cable. The potential of such a distributed measurement has gained increasing attention in the seismology community for a wide range of applications. It has been shown that DAS has a sub-wavelength sensitivity to heterogeneities near the fibre-optic cable. This sensitivity is linked to the fact that the DAS measures deformation, as opposed to the displacements that seismometers measure. However, this sensitivity can create difficulties for many DAS applications, such as source location or distant imaging. Regardless, it can be advantageous in obtaining information about the subsurface near the cable. Here we present a method to locate small heterogeneities near the fibre-optic cable by inverting an indicator of the small-scale heterogeneities: the homogenised first-order corrector. We show that this first-order corrector can be used to locate heterogeneities near the fibre-optic cable at the gauge length precision, independent of the wavelength.