Robust inversion of IASP91 travel time residuals for mantle P and S velocity structure, earthquake mislocations, and station corrections

1994 ◽  
Vol 99 (B7) ◽  
pp. 13727-13755 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Vasco ◽  
Lane R. Johnson ◽  
R. Jay Pulliam ◽  
Paul S. Earle
1981 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1805-1828
Author(s):  
Kazuya Fujita ◽  
E. R. Engdahl ◽  
Norman H. Sleep

Abstract Teleseismically determined epicenters for thrust zone earthquakes in the central Aleutian Islands are systematically mislocated by about 40 km to the north relative to local network solutions. We attribute the mislocation to travel-time anomalies produced by the higher P-wave velocity in the subducting slab. These travel-time anomalies can be estimated by seismic ray tracing through a thermally modeled velocity structure for the slab. Observed teleseismic station residuals and slab travel-time anomalies computed from local network hypocenters, plotted as a function of event distance to the center of curvature of the island arc, show good agreement. This distance versus residual relationship can be used to validate the local network hypocenters and to constrain the length of subducting lithosphere. Computed slab source corrections, when incorporated in a standard location program, reduce teleseismic mislocations to 20 km; the addition of empirical station corrections reduces the mislocation to about 10 to 15 km. Depth and origin time estimates can be further improved through use of better station corrections, a local station within 2°, and depth phases.


1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Plomerová ◽  
V. Babuska ◽  
R. Scarpa

Jeffreys-Bullen (absolute) and relative P-wave travel-time residuals were analyzed over Italy and its surrounding using P arrival times from the ISC bulletins supplemented by the data from local observatories. We analyzed the travel-time station corrections by two independent methods to obtain information on lateral variations of the velocity structure over the area and a view of possible upper mantle anisotropy. In the first method, the station corrections are computed as a constant and two cosine terms with appropriate phase shifts. Besides a static term, the second method allows us to study the relative residuals in dependence both on azimuths and incidence angles and thus to investigate their spatial variations and to map lateral variations of anisotropic structure of the subcrustal lithosphere. The high and low-velocity directions inferred from the spatial distribution of the relative residuals as well as the high- and low-velocity upper mantle heterogeneities reflect the geodynamic development of the region, governed by the collision between the African and Eurasian plates


1968 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 1243-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Tucker ◽  
Eugene Herrin ◽  
Helen W. Freedman

Abstract Some of the statistical aspects of estimating travel-time anomalies and station corrections are considered. In order to estimate these quantities using earthquake data the events themselves must first be located. We investigated the use of the Gauss-Newton iterative technique to obtain a least-squares epicenter location employing Monte Carlo methods. Results of these studies indicate that the Gauss-Newton process converges to an absolute minimum and that confidence ellipses computed by linear techniques are reliable for reasonable networks of well-distributed stations. Also the Monte Carlo studies indicate that a least-squares solution may be inaccurate if appreciable travel-time anomalies or station-error means exist. We then expanded the location procedure to include the estimation of travel-time anomalies and station corrections. In order to obtain these estimates data from some 278 large earthquakes were analyzed by using a modified Seidel iterative process.


1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Le Meur ◽  
J. Virieux ◽  
P. Podvin

At a local scale, travel-time tomography requires a simultaneous inversion of earthquake positions and velocity structure. We applied a joint iterative inversion scheme where medium parameters and hypocenter parameters were inverted simultaneously. At each step of the inversion, rays between hypocenters and stations were traced, new partial derivatives of travel-time were estimated and scaling between parameters was performed as well. The large sparse linear system modified by the scaling was solved by the LSQR method at each iteration. We compared performances of two different forward techniques. Our first approach was a fast ray tracing based on a paraxial method to solve the two-point boundary value problem. The rays connect sources and stations in a velocity structure described by a 3D B-spline interpolation over a regular grid. The second approach is the finite-difference solution of the eikonal equation with a 3D linear interpolation over a regular grid. The partial derivatives are estimated differently depending on the interpolation method. The reconstructed images are sensitive to the spatial variation of the partial derivatives shown by synthetic examples. We aldo found that a scaling between velocity and hypocenter parameters involved in the linear system to be solved is important in recovering accurate amplitudes of anomalies. This scaling was estimated to be five through synthetic examples with the real configuration of stations and sources. We also found it necessary to scale Pand S velocities in order to recover better amplitudes of S velocity anomaly. The crustal velocity structure of a 50X50X20 km domain near Patras in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece) was recovered using microearthquake data. These data were recorded during a field experiment in 1991 where a dense network of 60 digital stations was deployed. These microearthquakes were widely distributed under the Gulf of Corinth and enabled us to perform a reliable tomography of first arrival P and S travel-times. The obtained images of this seismically active zone show a south/north asymmetry in agreement with the tectonic context. The transition to high velocity lies between 6 km and 9 km indicating a very thin crust related to the active extension regime.At a local scale, travel-time tomography requires a simultaneous inversion of earthquake positions and velocity structure. We applied a joint iterative inversion scheme where medium parameters and hypocenter parameters were inverted simultaneously. At each step of the inversion, rays between hypocenters and stations were traced, new partial derivatives of travel-time were estimated and scaling between parameters was performed as well. The large sparse linear system modified by the scaling was solved by the LSQR method at each iteration. We compared performances of two different forward techniques. Our first approach was a fast ray tracing based on a paraxial method to solve the two-point boundary value problem. The rays connect sources and stations in a velocity structure described by a 3D B-spline interpolation over a regular grid. The second approach is the finite-difference solution of the eikonal equation with a 3D linear interpolation over a regular grid. The partial derivatives are estimated differently depending on the interpolation method. The reconstructed images are sensitive to the spatial variation of the partial derivatives shown by synthetic examples. We aldo found that a scaling between velocity and hypocenter parameters involved in the linear system to be solved is important in recovering accurate amplitudes of anomalies. This scaling was estimated to be five through synthetic examples with the real configuration of stations and sources. We also found it necessary to scale Pand S velocities in order to recover better amplitudes of S velocity anomaly. The crustal velocity structure of a 50X50X20 km domain near Patras in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece) was recovered using microearthquake data. These data were recorded during a field experiment in 1991 where a dense network of 60 digital stations was deployed. These microearthquakes were widely distributed under the Gulf of Corinth and enabled us to perform a reliable tomography of first arrival P and S travel-times. The obtained images of this seismically active zone show a south/north asymmetry in agreement with the tectonic context. The transition to high velocity lies between 6 km and 9 km indicating a very thin crust related to the active extension regime.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Pesicek ◽  
Trond Ryberg ◽  
Roger Machacca ◽  
Jaime Raigosa

<p>Earthquake location is a primary function of volcano observatories worldwide and the resulting catalogs of seismicity are integral to interpretations and forecasts of volcanic activity.  Ensuring earthquake location accuracy is therefore of critical importance.  However, accurate earthquake locations require accurate velocity models, which are not always available.  In addition, difficulties involved in applying traditional velocity modeling methods often mean that earthquake locations are computed at volcanoes using velocity models not specific to the local volcano.   </p><p>Traditional linearized methods that jointly invert for earthquake locations, velocity structure, and station corrections depend critically on having reasonable starting values for the unknown parameters, which are then iteratively updated to minimize the data misfit.  However, these deterministic methods are susceptible to local minima and divergence, issues exacerbated by sparse seismic networks and/or poor data quality common at volcanoes.  In cases where independent prior constraints on local velocity structure are not available, these methods may result in systematic errors in velocity models and hypocenters, especially if the full range of possible starting values is not explored.  Furthermore, such solutions depend on subjective choices for model regularization and parameterization.</p><p>In contrast, Bayesian methods promise to avoid all these pitfalls.  Although these methods traditionally have been difficult to implement due to additional computational burdens, the increasing use and availability of High-Performance Computing resources mean widespread application of these methods is no longer prohibitively expensive.  In this presentation, we apply a Bayesian, hierarchical, trans-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo method to jointly solve for hypocentral parameters, 1D velocity structure, and station corrections using data from monitoring networks of varying quality at several volcanoes in the U.S. and South America.  We compare the results with those from a more traditional deterministic approach and show that the resulting velocity models produce more accurate earthquake locations.  Finally, we chart a path forward for more widespread adoption of the Bayesian approach, which may improve catalogs of volcanic seismicity at observatories worldwide. </p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailiang Xin ◽  
Haijiang Zhang ◽  
Min Kang ◽  
Rizheng He ◽  
Lei Gao ◽  
...  

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