Crust and upper mantle shear velocity structure beneath the Tibetan plateau and surrounding regions from interevent surface wave phase velocity inversion

1997 ◽  
Vol 102 (B6) ◽  
pp. 11789-11813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Curtis ◽  
John H. Woodhouse
Keyword(s):  
Surface Wave ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Phase Velocity ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Crust And Upper Mantle ◽  
Velocity Inversion ◽  
Wave Phase Velocity

Surface-Wave Tomography of Eastern and Central Tibet from Two-Plane-Wave Inversion: Rayleigh-Wave and Love-Wave Phase Velocity Maps

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 1359-1371
Author(s):  
Lun Li ◽  
Yuanyuan V. Fu
Keyword(s):  
Surface Wave ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Phase Velocity ◽  
Rayleigh Wave ◽  
Love Wave ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Wave Tomography ◽  
Wave Phase ◽  
Wave Phase Velocity ◽  
Wave Tomography

ABSTRACT An understanding of mantle dynamics occurring beneath the Tibetan plateau requires a detailed image of its seismic velocity and anisotropic structure. Surface waves at long periods (>50  s) could provide such critical information. Though Rayleigh-wave phase velocity maps have been constructed in the Tibetan regions using ambient-noise tomography (ANT) and regional earthquake surface-wave tomography, Love-wave phase velocity maps, especially those at longer periods (>50  s), are rare. In this study, two-plane-wave teleseismic surface-wave tomography is applied to develop 2D Rayleigh-wave and Love-wave phase velocity maps at periods between 20 and 143 s across eastern and central Tibet and its surroundings using four temporary broadband seismic experiments. These phase velocity maps share similar patterns and show high consistency with those previously obtained from ANT at overlapping periods (20–50 s), whereas our phase velocity maps carry useful information at longer periods (50–143 s). Prominent slow velocity is imaged at periods of 20–143 s beneath the interior of the Tibetan plateau (i.e., the Songpan–Ganzi terrane, the Qiangtang terrane, and the Lhasa terrane), implying the existence of thick Tibetan crust along with warm and weak Tibetan lithosphere. In contrast, the dispersal of fast velocity anomalies coincides with mechanically strong, cold tectonic blocks, such as the Sichuan basin and the Qaidam basin. These phase velocity maps could be used to construct 3D shear-wave velocity and radial seismic anisotropy models of the crust and upper mantle down to 250 km across the eastern and central Tibetan plateau.

Upper mantle shear velocity structure beneath the equatorial East Pacific Rise from array-based teleseismic surface-wave dispersion analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiushi Zhai ◽  
Huajian Yao ◽  
Zhigang Peng
Keyword(s):  
Phase Velocity ◽  
Rayleigh Wave ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Wave Phase ◽  
Phase Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Wave Phase Velocity ◽  
Rayleigh Wave Phase Velocity

Summary The Discovery/Gofar transform faults system is associated with a fast-spreading center on the equatorial East Pacific Rise. Most previous studies focus on its regular seismic cycle and crustal fault zone structure, but the characteristics of the upper mantle structure beneath this mid-ocean ridge system are not well known. Here we invert upper mantle shear velocity structure in this region using both teleseismic surface waves and ambient seismic noise from 24 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed in this region in 2008. We develop an array analysis method with multi-dimensional stacking and tracing to determine the average fundamental mode Rayleigh wave phase-velocity dispersion curve (period band 20–100 s) for 94 teleseismic events distributed along the E-W array direction. Then, we combine with the previously measured Rayleigh wave phase-velocity dispersion (period band 2–25 s) from ambient seismic noise to obtain the average fundamental mode (period band 2–100 s) and the first-higher mode (period band 3–7 s) Rayleigh wave phase-velocity dispersion. The average dispersion data are inverted for the 1-D average shear wave velocity (Vs) structure from crust to 200-km depth in the upper mantle beneath our study region. The average Vs between the Moho and 200-km depth of the final model is about 4.18 km/s. There exists an ∼5-km thickness high-velocity lid (LID) beneath the Moho with the maximum Vs of 4.37 km/s. Below the LID, the Vs of a pronounced low-velocity zone (LVZ) in the uppermost mantle (15–60 km depth) is 4.03–4.23 km/s (∼10 per cent lower than the global average). This pronounced LVZ is thinner and shallower than the LVZs beneath other oceanic areas with older lithospheric ages. We infer that partial melting (0.5–5 per cent) mainly occurs in the shallow upper mantle zone beneath this young (0–2 Myr) oceanic region. In the deeper portion (60–200 km depth), the Vs of a weak LVZ is 4.15–4.27 km/s (∼5 per cent lower than the global average). Furthermore, the inferred lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) with ∼15-km thickness can fit well with the conductive cooling model. These results are useful for understanding the depth distribution and melting characteristics of the upper mantle lithosphere and asthenosphere in this active ridge-transform fault region.

scholarly journals Shear velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle of Madagascar derived from surface wave tomography

2017 ◽  
Vol 458 ◽  
pp. 405-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Pratt ◽  
Michael E. Wysession ◽  
Ghassan Aleqabi ◽  
Douglas A. Wiens ◽  
Andrew A. Nyblade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Wave ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Surface Wave Tomography ◽  
Crust And Upper Mantle ◽  
Wave Tomography

scholarly journals Amphibious surface-wave phase-velocity measurements of the Cascadia subduction zone

2019 ◽  
Vol 217 (3) ◽  
pp. 1929-1948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen A Janiszewski ◽  
James B Gaherty ◽  
Geoffrey A Abers ◽  
Haiying Gao ◽  
Zachary C Eilon
Keyword(s):  
Phase Velocity ◽  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Cascadia Subduction Zone ◽  
Crust And Upper Mantle ◽  
Juan De Fuca Plate ◽  
Wave Phase Velocity ◽  
Juan De Fuca ◽  
S Period

SUMMARY A new amphibious seismic data set from the Cascadia subduction zone is used to characterize the lithosphere structure from the Juan de Fuca ridge to the Cascades backarc. These seismic data are allowing the imaging of an entire tectonic plate from its creation at the ridge through the onset of the subduction to beyond the volcanic arc, along the entire strike of the Cascadia subduction zone. We develop a tilt and compliance correction procedure for ocean-bottom seismometers that employs automated quality control to calculate robust station noise properties. To elucidate crust and upper-mantle structure, we present shoreline-crossing Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity maps for the Cascadia subduction zone, calculated from earthquake data from 20 to 160 s period and from ambient-noise correlations from 9 to 20 s period. We interpret the phase-velocity maps in terms of the tectonics associated with the Juan de Fuca plate history and the Cascadia subduction system. We find that thermal oceanic plate cooling models cannot explain velocity anomalies observed beneath the Juan de Fuca plate. Instead, they may be explained by a ≤1 per cent partial melt region beneath the ridge and are spatially collocated with patches of hydration and increased faulting in the crust and upper mantle near the deformation front. In the forearc, slow velocities appear to be more prevalent in areas that experienced high slip in past Cascadia megathrust earthquakes and generally occur updip of the highest-density tremor regions and locations of intraplate earthquakes. Beneath the volcanic arc, the slowest phase velocities correlate with regions of highest magma production volume.

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