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Evidence of Non-extensivity in Earth’s Ambient Noise

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Abstract

The study of ambient seismic noise is one of the important scientific and practical research challenges, due to its use in a number of geophysical applications. In this work, we describe Earth’s ambient noise fluctuations in terms of non-extensive statistical physics. We found that Earth’s ambient noise increments follow the q-Gaussian distribution. This indicates that Earth’s ambient noise’s fluctuations are not random and present long-term memory effects that could be described in terms of Tsallis entropy. Our results suggest that q values depend on the time length used and that the non-extensive parameter, q, converges to value q → 1 for short-time windows and a saturation value of q ≈ 1.33 for longer ones. The results are discussed from the point of view of superstatistics introduced by Beck [Contin Mech Thermodyn 16(3):293–304, 2004] and connects the q values with the system’s degrees of freedom. Our work indicates that the converged (maximum) value is q = 1.33 and is related to 5 degrees of freedom.

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Acknowledgements

This is a contribution of the UNESCO Chair on Solid Earth Physics and Geohazards Risk Reduction. Project “Seismic response assessments of minarets and important high rise historical and monumental structures in Crete (Greece)”, CFS-1711 n. 4500329348. We would like to thank Georgios Michas for his help in the q-fitting algorithm and Georgios Hatzopoulos for his valuable help and discussions regarding the operation of HSNC. Comments by two referees and the valuable suggestions by the Editor Dr. Eric Geist significantly improve the present work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Chania, Crete, Greece

    Ioannis Koutalonis & Filippos Vallianatos

  2. UNESCO Chair on Solid Earth Physics and Geohazards Risk Reduction, Romanou 3, 73100, Chalepa, Greece

    Ioannis Koutalonis & Filippos Vallianatos

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  1. Ioannis Koutalonis
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Correspondence to Filippos Vallianatos.

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Koutalonis, I., Vallianatos, F. Evidence of Non-extensivity in Earth’s Ambient Noise. Pure Appl. Geophys. 174, 4369–4378 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1669-9

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