Seismically induced soft-sediment deformation structures revealed by X-ray computed tomography of boring cores

- We analyzed cores from sites liquefied and fluidized by an earthquake using X-ray CT.
- Three-dimensional complex structures of upward-propagating sand dykes were observed.
- Trails of downward mass movement induced by sand dykes were also found.
- Flow patterns in sand dykes were detected using local autocorrelation image analysis.

X-ray computed tomography (CT) allows us to visualize three-dimensional structures hidden in boring cores nondestructively. We applied medical X-ray CT to cores containing seismically induced soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDSs) obtained from the Kanto region of Japan, where the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake occurred. The CT images obtained clearly revealed various types of the seismically induced SSDSs embedded in the cores: a propagating sand dyke bent complexly by the preexisting geological structure, deformed laminations of fluidized sandy layers, and two types of downward mass movement (ductile downward folding and brittle normal faulting) as compensation for upward sand transport through sand dykes. Two advanced image analysis techniques were applied to the sand dyke CT images for the first time. The GrowCut algorithm, a specific digital image segmentation technique that uses cellular automata, was used successfully to extract the three-dimensional complex sand dyke structures embedded in the sandy sediments, which would have been difficult to achieve using a conventional image processing technique. Local autocorrelation image analysis was performed to detect the flow pattern aligned along the sand dykes objectively. The results demonstrate that X-ray CT coupled with advanced digital image analysis techniques is a promising approach to studying the seismically induced SSDSs in boring cores.

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