Mud Volcanoes Geodynamics And Seismicity

1. PURPOSE OF PRESENT BOOK During the period May 19-26, 2003 the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) “Mud volcanism, Geodynamics and Seismicity” was held in Baku. Participants coming from USA, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, UK, Israel, Azerbaijan, Tunisia have discussed about different geodynamic features of mud volcanism and participated to field trips oriented to a better knowledge of mud volcanic features. The Meeting focused on many features of mud volcanism occurrence and related geodynamic topics. The purpose of present book is to collect contributions discussed during the Meeting and to fill a marked editorial gap on mud volcanism. Mud volcanism was to date described by local monographies or by articles published by scientific journals. In particular no books were published on topics able to highlight the link among mud volcanism, geodynamics and seismicity. Mud volcano of Nirano (Northern Italy). Engraving from Stoppani A. (1871), Corso di Geologia, Milan, Bernardoni G. and Brigola G. Publishers. 2. WHY MUD VOLCANOES ARE GEOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT ? Mud volcanoes have attracted the attention of earth scientists for many years. Due to their importance in hydrocarbon research, a consistent progress in the knowledge of mud volcanism took place in the past twenty years. Mud extrusion is a well-known phenomenon occurring in geological environments where fluid-rich, fine grained sediments ascend within a lithologic succession due to their buoyancy.

1. PURPOSE OF PRESENT BOOK During the period May 19-26, 2003 the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) “Mud volcanism, Geodynamics and Seismicity” was held in Baku. Participants coming from USA, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, UK, Israel, Azerbaijan, Tunisia have discussed about different geodynamic features of mud volcanism and participated to field trips oriented to a better knowledge of mud volcanic features. The Meeting focused on many features of mud volcanism occurrence and related geodynamic topics. The purpose of present book is to collect contributions discussed during the Meeting and to fill a marked editorial gap on mud volcanism. Mud volcanism was to date described by local monographies or by articles published by scientific journals. In particular no books were published on topics able to highlight the link among mud volcanism, geodynamics and seismicity. Mud volcano of Nirano (Northern Italy). Engraving from Stoppani A. (1871), Corso di Geologia, Milan, Bernardoni G. and Brigola G. Publishers. 2. WHY MUD VOLCANOES ARE GEOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT ? Mud volcanoes have attracted the attention of earth scientists for many years. Due to their importance in hydrocarbon research, a consistent progress in the knowledge of mud volcanism took place in the past twenty years. Mud extrusion is a well-known phenomenon occurring in geological environments where fluid-rich, fine grained sediments ascend within a lithologic succession due to their buoyancy.

This open access book explores the interactions between water and earthquakes, including recent concerns about induced seismicity. It further highlights that a better understanding of the response of the water system to disturbances such as earthquakes is needed to safeguard water resources, to shield underground waste repositories, and to mitigate groundwater contamination. Although the effects of earthquakes on streams and groundwater have been reported for thousands of years, this field has only blossomed into an active area of research in the last twenty years after quantitative and continuous documentation of field data became available. This volume gathers the important advances that have been made in the field over the past decade, which to date have been scattered in the form of research articles in various scientific journals.

The broad spectrum of hydrologic responses to earthquakes offers a better understanding of the earth's hydrologic system at a scale which is otherwise unachievable; it has also allowed field testing of several long-standing hypotheses which may impact on our understanding of some earthquake-induced hazards. The book is based on a graduate course on Earthquake Hydrology at Berkeley jointly offered by the authors in the past few years. It begins with an introduction of the basic materials to form a basis for understanding the chapters which follow. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the field to interested readers and beginning researchers, and a convenient reference to numerous publications currently scattered in various journals.

The studies of Earth's history and of the physical and chemical properties of the substances that make up our planet, are of great significance to our understanding both of its past and its future. The geological and other environmental processes on Earth and the composition of the planet are of vital importance in locating and harnessing its resources. This book is primarily written for research scholars, geologists, civil engineers, mining engineers, and environmentalists. Hopefully the text will be used by students, and it will continue to be of value to them throughout their subsequent professional and research careers. This does not mean to infer that the book was written solely or mainly with the student in mind. Indeed from the point of view of the researcher in Earth and Environmental Science it could be argued that this text contains more detail than he will require in his initial studies or research.

This book provides a review of Azerbaijan’s water reserves and main economic deposits (both hydrocarbon and hard) and describes the integrated application of geophysical methods (land, airborne, shipborne and satellite) for studying near-surface and environmental features and regional tectonic-geophysical zonation as well as the study of deep structures in the search for hydrocarbon and hard (polymetallic, copper, gold-bearing, iron-ore, magnetite, etc.) deposits. It particularly focuses on the geophysical examination of seismic activity in the region related to the interaction of the Afro-Arabian and Eurasian lithospheric plates. It is aimed at scientists, engineers and students interested in the commercial potential of Azerbaijan’s deposits and the application of different geophysical methodologies (gravity, magnetic, seismic, thermal, electric, electromagnetic, etc.) for analyzing mud volcanism, identifying subsurface structures (including the analysis of hydrogeological problems, the examination of past climates and archaeological inspection) revealing the deep tectono-structural peculiarities of the region under study, mining and oil & gas geophysics, development of 3D physical-geological models and advanced seismological prognosis.

Geomechanics investigates the origin, magnitude and deformational consequences of stresses in the crust. In recent years awareness of geomechanical processes has been heightened by societal debates on fracking, human-induced seismicity, natural geohazards and safety issues with respect to petroleum exploration drilling, carbon sequestration and radioactive waste disposal. This volume explores the common ground linking geomechanics with inter alia economic and petroleum geology, structural geology, petrophysics, seismology, geotechnics, reservoir engineering and production technology. Geomechanics is a rapidly developing field that brings together a broad range of subsurface professionals seeking to use their expertise to solve current challenges in applied and fundamental geoscience. A rich diversity of case studies herein showcase applications of geomechanics to hydrocarbon exploration and field development, natural and artificial geohazards, reservoir stimulation, contemporary tectonics and subsurface fluid flow. These papers provide a representative snapshot of the exciting state of geomechanics and establish it firmly as a flourishing subdiscipline of geology that merits broadest exposure across the academic and corporate geosciences.