scholarly journals Lowermost mantle shear-velocity structure from hierarchical trans-dimensional Bayesian tomography

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Mousavi ◽  
Hrvoje Tkalčić ◽  
Rhys Hawkins ◽  
Malcolm Sambridge
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Model Space ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Travel Times ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Lowermost Mantle

The core-mantle boundary (CMB) is the most extreme boundary within the Earth where the liquid, iron-rich outer core interacts with the rocky, silicate mantle. The nature of the lowermost mantle atop the CMB, and its role in mantle dynamics, is not completely understood. Various regional studies have documented significant heterogeneities at different spatial scales. While there is a consensus on the long scale-length structure of the inferred S-wave speed tomograms, there are also notable differences stemming from different imaging methods and datasets. Here we aim to overcome over-smoothing and avoid over-fitting data for the case where the spatial coverage is sparse and the inverse problem ill-posed. Here we present an S-wave tomography model at global scale for the Lowermost Mantle (LM) using the Hierarchical Trans-dimensional Bayesian Inversion (HTDBI) framework, LM-HTDBI. Our HTDBI analysis of ScS-S travel times includes uncertainty, and the complexity of the model is deduced from the data itself through an implicit parameterization of the model space. Our comprehensive resolution estimates indicate that short-scale anomalies are significant and resolvable features of the lowermost mantle regardless of the chosen mantle-model reference to correct the travel times above the D’’ layer. The recovered morphology of the Large-Low-Shear-wave Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) is complex, featuring small high-velocity patches among low-velocity domains. Instead of two large, unified, and smooth LLSVPs, the newly obtained images suggest that their margins are not uniformly flat.

A new analytical method for finding the upper mantle velocity structure from P and S wave travel times of deep earthquakes

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 755-769
Author(s):  
K. L. Kaila
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Focal Depth ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Travel Times ◽  
S Wave ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Wave Travel ◽  
Deep Focus ◽  
Mantle Velocity

abstract A new analytical method for the determination of velocity at the hypocenter of a deep earthquake has been developed making use of P- and S-wave travel times. Unlike Gutenberg's method which is graphical in nature, the present method makes use of the least square technique and as such it yields more quantitative estimates of the velocities at depth. The essential features of this method are the determination from the travel times of a deep-focus earthquake the lower and upper limits Δ1 and Δ2 respectively of the epicentral distance between which p = (dT/dΔ) in the neighborhood of inflection point can be considered stationary so that the travel-time curve there can be approximated to a straight line T = pΔ + a. From p = (1/v*) determined from the straight line least-square fit made on the travel-time observation points between Δ1 and Δ2 for various focal depths, upper-mantle velocity structure can be obtained by making use of the well known relation v = v*(r0 − h)/r0, h being the focal depth of the earthquake, r0 the radius of the Earth, v* the apparent velocity at the point of inflection and v the true velocity at that depth. This method not only gives an accurate estimate of p, at the same time it also yields quite accurate value of a which is a function of focal depth. Calibration curves can be drawn between a and the focal depth h for various regions of the Earth where deep focus earthquakes occur, and these calibration curves can then be used with advantage to determine the focal depths of deep earthquakes in those areas.

Observation of Higher-Mode Surface Waves from an Active Source in the Hutubi Basin, Xinjiang, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanbo Ji ◽  
Baoshan Wang ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Weitao Wang ◽  
Jinbo Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waves ◽  
Wave Velocity ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Group Velocity Dispersion ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Wave Modes

ABSTRACT Basins with thick sediments can amplify and prolong the incoming seismic waves, which may cause serious damage to surface facilities. The amplification of seismic energy depends on the shear-wave velocity of the uppermost layers, which is generally estimated through surface wave analysis. Surface waves may propagate in different modes, and the mechanism of the mode development is not well understood. Exploiting a recently deployed permanent airgun source in the Hutubi basin, Xinjiang, northwest China, we conducted a field experiment to investigate the development of multimode surface waves. We observed surface waves at the frequency of 0.3–5.0 Hz with apparent group velocities of 200–900  m/s, and identified five modes of surface waves (three Rayleigh-wave modes and two Love-wave modes) through time–frequency and particle-motion analyses. We then measured 125 group velocity dispersion curves of the fundamental- and higher-mode surface waves, and further inverted the 1D S-wave velocity structure of the Hutubi basin. The S-wave velocity increases abruptly from 238  m/s at the surface to 643  m/s at 300 m depth. Synthetic seismograms with the inverted velocity structure capture the main features of the surface waves of the different modes. Synthetic tests suggest that the low velocity, high velocity gradient, and shallow source depth are likely the dominant contributing factors in the development of higher-mode surface waves.

Mapping crustal structure of the Nechako–Chilcotin plateau using teleseismic receiver function analysis,

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.S. Kim ◽  
J.F. Cassidy ◽  
S.E. Dosso ◽  
H. Kao
Keyword(s):  
Wave Velocity ◽  
Crustal Structure ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Receiver Function ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Crustal Thickness ◽  
Receiver Functions ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Velocity Models

This paper presents results of a passive-source seismic mapping study in the Nechako–Chilcotin plateau of central British Columbia, with the ultimate goal of contributing to assessments of hydrocarbon and mineral potential of the region. For the present study, an array of nine seismic stations was deployed in 2006–2007 to sample a wide area of the Nechako–Chilcotin plateau. The specific goal was to map the thickness of the sediments and volcanic cover, and the overall crustal thickness and structural geometry beneath the study area. This study utilizes recordings of about 40 distant earthquakes from 2006 to 2008 to calculate receiver functions, and constructs S-wave velocity models for each station using the Neighbourhood Algorithm inversion. The surface sediments are found to range in thickness from about 0.8 to 2.7 km, and the underlying volcanic layer from 1.8 to 4.7 km. Both sediments and volcanic cover are thickest in the central portion of the study area. The crustal thickness ranges from 22 to 36 km, with an average crustal thickness of about 30–34 km. A consistent feature observed in this study is a low-velocity zone at the base of the crust. This study complements other recent studies in this area, including active-source seismic studies and magnetotelluric measurements, by providing site-specific images of the crustal structure down to the Moho and detailed constraints on the S-wave velocity structure.

Travel times and amplitudes of S waves from nuclear explosions in Nevada

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 385-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto W. Nuttli
Keyword(s):  
Stress Field ◽  
Body Wave ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Travel Times ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Time Curve ◽  
Regional Stress ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Regional Stress Field

Abstract The underground Nevada explosions HALF-BEAK and GREELEY were unique in creating relatively large amplitude and long-period body S waves which could be detected at teleseismic distances. Observations of the travel times of these S waves provide a surface focus travel-time curve which in its major features is similar to a curve calculated from the upper mantle velocity model of Ibrahim and Nuttli (1967). This model includes a low-velocity channel at a depth of 150 to 200 km and regions of rapidly increasing velocity beginning at depths of 400 and 750 km. Observations of the S wave amplitudes suggest that a discontinuous increase in velocity occurs at 400 km, whereas at 750 km the velocity is continuous but the velocity gradient discontinuous. Body wave magnitudes calculated from S amplitudes are 5.3 ± 0.2 for GREELEY and 4.9 ± 0.2 for HALF-BEAK. These are about one unit less than body wave magnitudes from P amplitudes as reported by others. The shape and orientation of the radiation pattern of SH for both explosions are consistent with the Rayleigh and P-wave amplitude distribution of BILBY as given by Toksoz and Clermont (1967). This suggests that the regional stress field is the same at all three sites, and that the direction of cracking as well as the strain energy release in the elastic zone outside the cavity is determined by the regional stress field.

Inferring shear-velocity structure of the upper 200 m using cultural ambient noise at the Ngatamariki geothermal field, Central North Island, New Zealand

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. SJ87-SJ101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Civilini ◽  
Aasha Pancha ◽  
Martha Kane Savage ◽  
Steven Sewell ◽  
John Townend
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ambient Noise ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Shallow Subsurface ◽  
Spatially Correlated ◽  
Geothermal Wells

We have determined subsurface structure using the refraction microtremor (ReMi) method at the Ngatamariki geothermal field, Central North Island, New Zealand. The local geology is such that refraction and reflection studies are hindered by energy scattering and attenuation in the near-surface layers. The ReMi method uses surface waves from ambient noise and active sources to determine S-wave velocities in the shallow subsurface. We have deployed two lines of 72-channel, 10 Hz vertical geophones with 10 m spacing, and we were able to model near-surface S-wave velocity to depths of 57–93 m for 2D profiles and as much as 165 m for 1D profiles. Shear-velocity anomalies were detected on one line that were spatially correlated with a fault. The location of the fault was previously inferred from stratigraphic offset in the geothermal wells, suggesting that the ReMi method can provide important constraints on near-surface geology in noisy geothermal settings.

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