Site characterisation in north-western Turkey based on SPAC and HVSR analysis of microtremor noise
Michael W. Asten 1 6 Aysegul Askan 2 E. Ezgi Ekincioglu 3 4 F. Nurten Sisman 2 Beliz Ugurhan 2 5
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
1 School of Geosciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3800, Australia.
2 Civil Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, 06800 Cankaya, Ankara, Turkey.
3 Faculty of Engineering, Ankara University, 06100 Tandogan, Ankara, Turkey.
4 Present address: Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, General Directorate of Spatial Planning, Department of Geoscience Surveys, Ankara, Turkey.
5 Present address: Civil Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4121, USA.
6 Corresponding author. Email: Michael.Asten@sci.monash.edu.au
Exploration Geophysics 45(2) 74-85 https://doi.org/10.1071/EG12026
Submitted: 7 May 2012 Accepted: 13 January 2014 Published: 25 February 2014
Abstract
The geology of the north-western Anatolia (Turkey) ranges from hard Mesozoic bedrock in mountainous areas to large sediment-filled, pull-apart basins formed by the North Anatolian Fault zone system. Düzce and Bolu city centres are located in major alluvial basins in the region, and both suffered from severe building damage during the 12 November 1999 Düzce earthquake (Mw = 7.2). In this study, a team consisting of geophysicists and civil engineers collected and interpreted passive array-based microtremor data in the cities of Bolu and Düzce, both of which are localities of urban development located on topographically flat, geologically young alluvial basins of Miocene age. Interpretation of the microtremor data under an assumption of dominant fundamental-mode Rayleigh-wave noise allowed derivation of the shear-wave velocity (Vs) profile. The depth of investigation was ~100 m from spatially-averaged coherency (SPAC) data alone. High-frequency microtremor array data to 25 Hz allows resolution of a surface layer with Vs < 200 m/s and thickness 5 m (Bolu) and 6 m (Düzce). Subsequent inclusion of spectral ratios between horizontal and vertical components of microtremor data (HVSR) in the curve fitting process extends useful frequencies up to a decade lower than those for SPAC alone. This allows resolution of two interfaces of moderate Vs contrasts in soft Miocene and Eocene sediments, first, at a depth in the range 136–209 m, and second, at a depth in the range 2000 to 2200 m.
Key words: ambient noise, Bolu, Düzce, earthquake hazard, HVSR, microtremor, site response, SPAC.
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