Application of a multiplet-location coupled technique to microseismic data for identification of rock slope active surfaces

In rock slope analysis, formation and growth of microcracks are usually coupled with the propagation of elastic waves that can be detected by a suitable microseismic monitoring system. The correct analysis and interpretation of the recorded activity can provide information on the size and the type of the rupture mechanisms. A combination of the coherency computation and the source location techniques, typically used in seismic signal processing, is here proposed to this aim. The application to a microseismic dataset recorded by the microseismic monitoring system installed on the Matterhorn Peak, has evidenced the effectiveness of this approach. In particular the coherency has allowed to identify a set of similar appearing events, while the location of the corresponding hypocenters has evidenced the alignment of the sources on a planar surface, whose orientation is closed to the orientation of a discontinuity system resulting from a morphostructural surve