This paper introduced the basic principles of various seismic prospecting methods and working methods briefly according to the nationwide practices of seismic prospecting for active faults beneath big cities in recent years.Furthermore,it mainly analyzed the available range of different seismic prospecting methods,main achievements and solutions,and discussed the best combination of seismic exploration methods for detecting crustal structure and locating the faults used in the present stage,that is,to trace the faults which are at the depths of hundred meters underground using shallow seismic investigation,to detect the basement faults which are above basement(at depth of kilo～meters)using high resolution refraction sounding,and the deep crustal faults using combined seismic prospecting method of reflection seismic sounding and wide-angle reflection/refraction sounding,and furthermore,to adopt 3-D deep seismic sounding method to get 3-D velocity structure beneath city area.Thus,we can get information about fault attitude and distribution at different depths and a complete image of fault from shallow part to deep part using the combined seismic exploration method.Some application examples are presented in the article.

Owing to strong and permanent Cenozoic re-orogenic processing, a lot of EW-striking active thrusts and folds have been developed in Tian Shan, resulting in crustal shortening in NS direction. There also exist NW-striking transform-like strike-slip faults that cut the Tian Shan and accommodate uneven crustal shortening larger in the west and smaller in the east. The seismogenic structures in and around the Tian Shan mainly include EW-striking thrust ramps or blind thrusts and NW-striking transform-like strike-slip faults. The 2003 AD Bachu-Jiashi earthquake is located at south of the Kalpintag nappe. A NE-trending deep seismic reflection profile about 50km long across the epicenter has been conducted after the earthquake. From this reflection profile four blind faults are identified. Together with earthquake relocation, these identified blind faults are used in the paper to interpret the seismogenic structures of the 1997 AD Jiashi strong earthquake swarm and 2003 AD Bachu-Jiashi earthquake. The 1997 AD Jiashi strong earthquakes were generated mainly by a NW-striking buried transform-like strike-slip fault, while the 2003 AD Bachu-jiashi earthquake by blind thrusts in front of the Kalpintag nappe.

The Tianshan Mountains originated from continent-continent collision during late Paleozoic era,and has experienced typical intra-continental orogenic process during Mesozoic-Cenozoic era. The architecture and activity of the shallow and deep structures of the Tianshan Mountains have attracted the attention of many geoscientists. Based on several geophysical prospecting data and comprehensive geological tectonic study,the shallow and deep structures of the middle segment of the Tianshan Mountains have been mapped in the light of the Tianshan Geoscience Transect. The result shows that the main geological units associated with the complexity of deep structures are displayed symmetrically from old to young on both sides of the suture zone of continental collision in Paleozoic era. This may reflect the collision process and the tectonic evolution in the later geological period. It is discovered that a low-velocity and high-conductivity layer of about 200km in width and about 10km in thickness exists on top of the upper mantle beneath the middle segment of the Tianshan Mountains. It is considered to be the residual lower crust resulted from the delamination between the crust and mantle due to the rejuvenated orogenic process of the Tianshan Mountains during Mesozoic-Cenozoic era.

Jiashi region, Xinjiang is a strong earthquake area in western China. In recent years, several great earthquake swarms have occurred in this region, causing tremendous hazards. In order to get an insight into the relation between the deep structures and the generation of great earthquake swarm in this region, a generalized inversion technique for determining probability distributions of spatial locations of earthquake events through the travel times of P and S waves in random and vertically inhomogeneous medium, is used in this paper. Seismic data recorded by temporal digital seismic network deposed in this region were located using this method. The located earthquakes show linear distribution in north-northwest and north-northeast directions, among which the former is more distinct than the later. Based on the obtained results, the deep structural background of seismic activities in Jiashi region is discussed. The results indicate also the close relation between the earthquake and fault structures in Jiashi region. It is clear that the generation of earthquake swarm might be related to the buried fault in the vicinity of seismic source area, and might be the result of violent crustal deformation on the northern margin of Tarim basin and the present tectonic movement. These complicated structural framework and peculiar environmental conditions might be responsible for the development and generation of the strong earthquake swarm in Jiashi region.

The crystalline basement velocity structure of Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic area is established by using Three-Dimensional Finite-Difference method and Pg data from four wide-angle reflection/refraction profiles and one three-dimensional array which was deployed in Changbaishan Mountain area. This paper presents the characteristics of the velocity structure of crystalline basement and the interface with 5.9～6.0km/s P-wave velocity in the crystalline basement. Inversion results reveal that the velocity of surface layer in the southern part is higher than that in the northern part of the studied area. In general, the depth of crystalline basement of the studied area is within the range of 2.0～3.0km, with the deepest of about 4.0km and the shallowest of about 1 5km near Songjiang. There are two low velocity areas in this region, one is beneath the Protection Station of Tianchi volcano, and the other is located beneath Erdaobaihe and Chixi Protection Station. In these two areas the depths of crystalline basement are about 4.0km. We found that the intense lateral variation of velocity and depth of crystalline basement in the seismic profile coincides well with the location of fault. Therefore, it is suggested that the intense lateral variation of velocity and the abrupt change of the depths of crystalline basement can be taken as an indication of the occurrence of fault.

Obvious differences of crustal structures exist in different tectonic blocks of China's continent. These differences can be found mainly in crustal stratification, structural features of the upper and lower crust, degree of crustal heterogeneity, properties of crust-mantle boundaries, distributions of crustal low-velocity layers and the interfaces within the crust, especially the tectonic forms of the Moho. These differences of crustal structures reflect the differences of deformation features and geodynamic processes within the crust of these regions, and may provide some constraints for delineating active tectonic blocks. The descriptions of the degrees of heterogeneities of the active tectonic blocks will help to understand the probabilities of decoupling of these tectonic blocks at different depth levels. The mode of motion of these active blocks is controlled by the behavior of their boundaries and the contacting styles of the blocks. Most of the strong earthquakes in China occur near the boundary belts of these active tectonic blocks. A wide-angle reflection and refraction profile about 1 000km long was deployed in 1999, which crosses through Bayan Har fold belt, Qinling-Qilianshan fold belt, Haiyuan strong earthquake region and Ordos block from southwest to northeast. From the analysis of these data, fine structural models of the crust for the eastern edge of Tibet plateau and Ordos block were established, and the results were compared with those of North China. The differences of crustal structures in Bayan Har block of eastern Kunlun at the northeastern edge of Tibet Plateau, Ordos block and Tangshan earthquake region in North China, as well as their relationships to strong earthquakes are discussed in this paper.

This paper gives a brief account of the significance of urban active fault exploration and presents a general review of active fault exploration around the world. Earthquakes provoked by active faults directly beneath the metropolises can cause serious disasters to the cities. If urban active faults are precisely determined and effective precautions are taken, losses at the time of earthquake occurrence can be greatly reduced. We elaborate on various kinds of possible geophysical methods for seismic active fault exploration and their main features. We also discuss the scope of application of related geophysical methods and the major problems that they can solve in the different periods of active fault exploration, such as regional survey or preliminary investigation, detailed exploration or precise location, and the identification of seismogenic structures.

In urban active fault prospecting, the shallow structures usually display strong lateral inhomogeneity, appearing as the heavy fluctuation of interfaces and considerable variation of layer velocities. In this case, the traditional refraction data processing and interpreting methods based on homogeneous layered structures with level interfaces can't be directly applied to the prospecting. It is very important, therefore, to study the seismic behaviors in these complex structures and to deve~lop a new technique that can be used to process and interpret seismic refraction data obtained from urban areas. In this paper, forward computing of wave field is carried out by using wavefront expanding method in terms of Huygens' principle. Furthermore, in the light of Hagedoorn wavefront refractor imaging principle a new processing method of seismic refraction data and the corresponding interpretation software are developed, in which Hole's original finite-difference codes were modified with Lecomte's five operators for computing seismic travel times. Applying this technique, we successfully process the data from two refraction profiles recently completed in Yixu, Fuzhou City during urban buried fault prospecting. The results show that the shallow structures in the investigation area display three layers, which are sedimentary cover, strongly weathered layer and bedrock, respectively. The buried depth of the upper surface of bedrock ranges from 52m to 58m or so. The variation of P wave velocity in sedimentary cover is considerable.

Research on a large number of seismic events at home and abroad has indicated that tremendous earthquake hazards in urban areas are mostly attributed to earthquakes caused by active faults buried beneath the cities. The identification of urban buried active faults, therefore, is an important and urgent task. High-resolution seismic exploration is an effective geophysical technique that can be used to identify urban buried active fault at present. High-resolution seismic exploration for urban buried active faults is a sophisticated and systematic project, which involves excitation and receiving techniques, observational system, as well as seismic data processing and interpretation. The seismic source is of the first importance among the other problems that should be solved during the exploration. High-resolution seismic exploration for urban active fault calls for specific performance of the seismic source, because of peculiar environment in urban areas and particular characteristics of urban buried faults. For examples, relatively small offset of the fault requires a wider source spectrum, while strong disturbances in urban areas need a higher anti-jamming capability of the source. A comparative experiment on various types of sources, including vibroseis, vacuum accelerating weight drop, hammer-blow, air gun and explosive is carried out along the traverse across the Bayishuiku Fault. The features of various source spectrums are obtained by using spectrum analysis technique. The comparison of time-stacked sections obtained by using vibroseis, vacuum accelerating weight-drop and hammer blow from the traverse across the Bayishuiku Fault in Fuzhou City is presented in this paper. The effectiveness of various seismic sources in the exploration of urban buried active faults is discussed in detail.

In addition to a brief account of characteristics of disturbing waves in urban shallow seismic exploration, an exposition of technical facilities and seismic data acquisition techniques for anti-jamming and high-resolution shallow seismic exploration is given in this paper on the basis of shallow seismic experimental data of active fault surveying in Fuzhou City. The technical measures taken for anti-jamming, improving signal to noise ratio and resolution of seismic data are expounded as well. The experiment shows that the effective approach to accomplishing anti-jamming, high-resolution shallow seismic data acquisition is receiving with mini trace intervals, mini offsets, multi-channel and high-frequency Geophones by using mini-vibrator and the matched seismograph.