Abstract

SANCHEZ, Javier; SCHMITZ, Michael  and  CANO, Víctor. deep seismic measurements in caracas for the determination of the sedimentary thickness and seismic velocities a contribution to the seismic microzoning study . IMME [online]. 2005, vol.43, n.2, pp.49-67. ISSN 0376-723X.

Abstract In June 2001, during the project "Estudio Cortical de Caracas" (ECCAR) a total of 8 seismic wide angle profiles were measured in the Caracas metropolitan region, extending between the towns of Caraballeda (a the coast) and Ocumare del Tuy (50 km south). The main subject of the ECCAR project was to determine the sediment thickness and derive the seismic velocities in order to obtain new subsoil information for the Seismic Microzoning Project of the metropolitan region of Caracas. In the south of Caracas, a superficial layer of 10 - 15 m in thickness and a Vp velocity of 1.8 km/s is underlain by a layer with a velocity of 2.1-2.4 km/s and a maximum thickness of 380 m, corresponding these units to the alluvial sediments of the Caracas valley. Below, a layer with a velocity of 3.8 km/s corresponds to the slightly meteorized rocks of the Las Mercedes and Las Brisas Schists. Below 700 m in depth, velocities increase to 5.1 km/s, which is associated to the same metamorphic units, followed at 3 km in depth by a layer with 6.1 km/s, interpreted as the crystalline basement. This information was used to update the existing maps of sedimentary thickness in a Geographic Information System (GIS), which revealed a high complexity of the sediment/rock interface in the southeastern part of the Los Palos Grandes basin, which is an essential input data for the modeling of the seismic response. The model of the S-wave velocities could not be derived with the same accuracy as the P-wave model, but 2 layers with velocities of 0.45 and 0.85 km/s, corresponding to the sediments of the Caracas valley, could be derived. Below, the strata with S-wave velocities of 1.5-1.6 km/s correspond to the basement rocks

Keywords : Seismic Refraction; Seismic Microzoning, P-wave Velocity; S-wave Velocity; Sediment Thickness,; Caracas; Venezuela.