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CRAM3D-SPECFEM3D Hybrid Simulations of Seismic Waves from Nuclear Explosion Based on Interface Discontinuity

Description: 

Nuclear explosion monitoring is crucial for maintaining global security, verifying compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CNPT), and prevent-ing the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons (Dunn, 2009). A signifi-cant challenge in this field is the discrimination of nuclear explosions from earthquakes and other seismic sources based on seismic waveforms, which requires accurate seismic wave modeling at regional distances for nuclear explosions. However, simulating high-frequency seismic waves in heterogeneous media over distances of hundreds of kilometers remains computationally expensive, especially when the complex emplacement conditions of nuclear explosions are incorporated. To address this challenge, a hybrid method first simulates the detailed explosion physics in a small region and then uses the wavefields at the region’s boundary as input for seis-mic wave simulations in a larger domain. Specifically, we employ a Lagrangian finite element method using the CRAM3D code (Stevens & O’Brien 2018) within the explosion region to capture complex explosion emplacement conditions and nonlinear seismic effects. For elastic wave propagation in the surrounding heterogeneous re-gion, the SPECFEM3D package based on the spectral element method is applied. To couple these two computational frameworks, we developed a systematic approach based on the theory of waveform interface discontinuity (Liu et al., 2024, submitted). Benchmark tests demonstrate that our coupling method accurately models seismic wave interactions across the interface, providing a robust tool for nuclear explosion monitoring.

Reference
Dunn, L. A. (2009). The NPT: Assessing the past, building the future. Nonproliferation Review, 16(2), 143-172.
Liu, T., et al.(2024). Seismic wavefield injection based on interface discontinuity: Theory and numerical implementation based upon the spectral-element method (submitted to GJI)
Stevens, J. L. and M. O’Brien (2018), “3D Nonlinear Calculation of the 2017 North Korean Nuclear Test,” Seismological Research Letters, 89, 2068-2077. doi: 10.1785/0220180099.

Session: Numerical Modeling in Seismology: Theory, Algorithms and Applications [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/17/2025

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Qinya

Student Presenter: Yes

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 125

Authors