GEOLOGICAL AND SEISMIC DATA MINING FOR

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERPRETATION

SYSTEM WITHIN THE ALPTRANSIT PROJECT
C. D. Klose (1,2), R. Giese (1), S. Löw (2), G. Borm (1)
(1) Geomechanics and Geotechnology, GFZ Potsdam, Potsdam 14473, Germany,
(2) Geology Institute, ETH-Zürich, Zürich 8093, Switzerland
Especially for deep underground excavations, the prediction of the locations of small-
scale hazardous geotechnical structures is nearly impossible when exploration is re-
stricted to surface based methods. Hence, for the AlpTransit base tunnels, exploration
ahead has become an essential component of the excavation plan. The project de-
scribed in this talk aims at improving the technology for the geological interpretation
of reflection seismic data. The discovered geological-seismic relations will be used to
develop an interpretation system based on artificial intelligence to predict hazardous
geotechnical structures of the advancing tunnel face.
This talk gives, at first, an overview about the data mining of geological and seismic
properties of metamorphic rocks within the Penninic gneiss zone in Southern Switzer-
land. The data results from measurements of a specific geophysical prediction system
developed by the GFZ Potsdam, Germany, along the 2600 m long and 1400 m deep
Faido access tunnel. The goal is to find those seismic features (i.e. compression and
shear wave velocities, velocity ratios and velocity gradients) which show a significant
relation to geological properties (i.e. fracturing and fabric features).
The seismic properties were acquired from different tomograms, whereas the geolog-
ical features derive from tunnel face maps. The features are statistically compared
with the seismic rock properties taking into account the different methods used for
the tunnel excavation (TBM and Drill/Blast). Fracturing and the mica content stay
in a positive relation to the velocity values. Both, P- and S-wave velocities near the
tunnel surface describe the petrology better, whereas in the interior of the rock mass
they correlate to natural micro- and macro-scopic fractures surrounding tectonites, i.e.
cataclasites. The latter lie outside of the excavation damage zone and the tunnel loos-
ening zone. The shear wave velocities are better indicators for rock fracturing than
compression wave velocities. The velocity ratios indicate the mica content and the
water content of the rocks.