title of the thesis - Department of Geology - Queen's University
title of the thesis - Department of Geology - Queen's University
title of the thesis - Department of Geology - Queen's University
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A dense event cluster occurs in <strong>the</strong> vicinity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 461 orebody (orebody shown in Fig. 2.4A, B),<br />
which is hosted in <strong>the</strong> 461 Splay that connects <strong>the</strong> 402 and Return Air Raise shear zones. This is<br />
represented by clustering about <strong>the</strong> 461 Orebody on <strong>the</strong> 7530 level and is also reflected on <strong>the</strong><br />
7400 Level (Fig. 3.7). 461-related seismicity does not cluster temporally but occurs sporadically<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> 2006-2007 time interval, contemporaneously with events to <strong>the</strong> east in <strong>the</strong> active<br />
zone. Seismicity in this vicinity has also intensified from 2002-2007. This cluster is discussed in<br />
<strong>the</strong> following sections.<br />
3.2.3 Cluster Analysis for <strong>the</strong> 7400 Level<br />
The degree <strong>of</strong> damage in a rock mass can have a dramatic effect on <strong>the</strong> properties <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seismic<br />
waves emitted from microseismic sources, notably on wave velocity and attenuation (Feustel,<br />
1998). Such changes have been used to describe <strong>the</strong> rock mass character. Lower velocity and<br />
higher attenuation is recorded in a heavily fractured rock mass as compared to a homogeneous and<br />
unfractured rock mass (Feustel, 1998). Given this, it is expected that <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> damage in <strong>the</strong><br />
rock mass would also have a noticeable effect on source parameters, most <strong>of</strong> which are calculated<br />
directly or indirectly from <strong>the</strong> recorded waveforms. Temporal trends in seismic event parameters<br />
can approximate loading curves similar to those traced in acoustic emission tests (Coulson and<br />
Bawden, 2008). Such curves indicate that at <strong>the</strong> point <strong>of</strong> fracture initiation, <strong>the</strong> moment<br />
magnitude, seismic moment, seismic energy and apparent stress increase until <strong>the</strong> point <strong>of</strong> yield,<br />
at which point fractures coalesce and <strong>the</strong>re is a significant drop in parameter values (Coulson and<br />
Bawden, 2008). The source radius and source complexity (ratio <strong>of</strong> dynamic stress drop to static<br />
stress drop) show a decrease in parameter values during loading and a sudden increase as <strong>the</strong> rock<br />
mass yields. Following this, characteristics <strong>of</strong> events in an intact and fractured rockmass are<br />
summarized in Table 3.1.<br />
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