Michael H. Ritzwoller

Eurasian surface wave tomography: Group velocities

This paper presents the results of a study of the dispersion characteristics of broadband fundamental surface waves propagating across Eurasia. The study is broader band, displays denser and more uniform data coverage, and demonstrates higher resolution than previous studies of Eurasia performed on this scale. In addition, the estimated group velocity maps reveal the signatures of geological and tectonic features never before displayed in similar surface wave studies. We present group velocity maps from 20 s to 200 s period for Rayleigh waves and from 20 s to 125 s for Love waves. Broadband waveform data from about 600 events from 1988 through 1995 recorded at 83 individual stations across Eurasia have produced about 9000 paths for which individual dispersion curves have been estimated. Dispersion curves from similar paths are clustered to reduce redundancy, to identify outliers for rejection, and to assign uncertainty estimates. On average, measurement uncertainty is about 0.030–0.040 km/s and is not a strong function of frequency. Resolution is estimated from “checker-board” tests, and we show that average resolutions across Eurasia range from 5° to 7.5° but degrade at periods above about 100 s and near the periphery of the maps. The estimated maps produce a variance reduction relative to the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) of more than 90% for Rayleigh waves below 60 s period but reduce to about 70% between 80 and 200 s period. For Love waves, variance reductions are similar, being above 90% for most periods below 100 s and falling to 70% at 150 s. Synthetic experiments are presented to estimate the biases that theoretical approximations should impart to the group velocity maps, in particular source group time shifts, azimuthal anisotropy, and systematic event mislocations near subducting slabs. The most significant problems are probably caused by azimuthal anisotropy, but above 100 s the effect of source group time shifts may also be appreciable. These effects are probably below the signal levels that we interpret here, however. Many known geological and tectonic structures are observed in the group velocity maps. Of particular note are the signatures of sedimentary basins, continental flood basalts, variations in crustal thickness, backarc spreading, downgoing slabs, and continental roots. Comparison of the estimated group velocity maps with those predicted by CRUST5.1/S16B30 is qualitatively good, but there are significant differences in detail which provide new information that should help to calibrate future crustal and upper mantle models of Eurasia.

A Fast and Reliable Method for Surface Wave Tomography

Abstract — We describe a method to invert regional or global scale surface-wave group or phase-velocity measurements to estimate 2-D models of the distribution and strength of isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic velocity variations. Such maps have at least two purposes in monitoring the nuclear Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT): (1) They can be used as data to estimate the shear velocity of the crust and uppermost mantle and topography on internal interfaces which are important in event location, and (2) they can be used to estimate surface-wave travel-time correction surfaces to be used in phase-matched filters designed to extract low signal-to-noise surface-wave packets.¶The purpose of this paper is to describe one useful path through the large number of options available in an inversion of surface-wave data. Our method appears to provide robust and reliable dispersion maps on both global and regional scales. The technique we describe has a number of features that have motivated its development and commend its use: (1) It is developed in a spherical geometry; (2) the region of inference is defined by an arbitrary simple closed curve so that the method works equally well on local, regional, or global scales; (3) spatial smoothness and model amplitude constraints can be applied simultaneously; (4) the selection of model regularization and the smoothing parameters is highly flexible which allows for the assessment of the effect of variations in these parameters; (5) the method allows for the simultaneous estimation of spatial resolution and amplitude bias of the images; and (6) the method optionally allows for the estimation of azimuthal anisotropy.¶We present examples of the application of this technique to observed surface-wave group and phase velocities globally and regionally across Eurasia and Antarctica.

Crustal and upper mantle structure beneath Antarctica and surrounding oceans

We present and discuss a new model of the crust and upper mantle at high southern latitudes that is produced from a large, new data set of fundamental mode surface wave dispersion measurements. The inversion for a 2°×2° shear velocity model breaks into two principal steps: first, surface wave tomography in which dispersion maps are produced for a discrete set of periods for each wave type (Rayleigh group velocity, 18–175 s; Love group velocity, 20–150 s; Rayleigh and Love phase velocity, 40–150 s) and, second, inversion for a shear velocity model. In the first step, we estimate average resolution at high southern latitudes to be about 600 km for Rayleigh waves and 700 km for Love waves. The second step is a multistage process that culminates in a Monte Carlo inversion yielding an ensemble of acceptable models at each spatial node. The middle of the ensemble (median model) together with the half width of the corridor defined by the ensemble summarize the results of the inversion. The median model fits the dispersion maps at about the measurement error (group velocities, 20–25 m/s; phase velocities, 10–15 m/s) and the dispersion data themselves at about twice the measurement error. We refer to the features that appear in every member of the ensemble as “persistent.” Some of persistent features are the following: (1) Crustal thickness averages ∼27 km in West Antarctica and ∼40 km in East Antarctica, with maximum thicknesses approaching 45 km. (2) Although the East Antarctic craton displays variations in both maximum velocity and thickness, it appears to be a more or less average craton. (3) The upper mantle beneath much of West Antarctica is slow and beneath the West Antarctic Rift is nearly indistinguishable from currently dormant extensional regions such as the western Mediterranean and the Sea of Japan. Our model is therefore consistent with evidence of active volcanism underlying the West Antarctic ice sheet, and we hypothesize that the West Antarctic Rift is the remnant of events of lithospheric rejuvenation in the recent past that are now quiescent. (4) The Australian-Antarctic Discordance is characterized by a moderately high velocity lid to a depth of 70–80 km with low velocities wrapping around the discordance to the south. There is a weak trend of relatively high velocities dipping to the west at greater depths that requires further concentrated efforts to resolve. (5) The strength of radial anisotropy (vsh − vsv)/vsv in the uppermost mantle across the Southern Hemisphere averages ∼4%, similar to the Preliminary Reference Earth Model. Radial anisotropy appears to be slightly stronger in West Antarctica than in East Antarctica and in the thinner rather than the thicker regions of the East Antarctic craton.

Seismic evidence for widespread western-US deep-crustal deformation caused by extension

Laboratory experiments have established that many of the materials comprising the Earth are strongly anisotropic in terms of seismic-wave speeds. Observations of azimuthal and radial anisotropy in the upper mantle are attributed to the lattice-preferred orientation of olivine caused by the shear strains associated with deformation, and provide some of the most direct evidence for deformation and flow within the Earth’s interior. Although observations of crustal radial anisotropy would improve our understanding of crustal deformation and flow patterns resulting from tectonic processes, large-scale observations have been limited to regions of particularly thick crust. Here we show that observations from ambient noise tomography in the western United States reveal strong deep (middle to lower)-crustal radial anisotropy that is confined mainly to the geological provinces that have undergone significant extension during the Cenozoic Era (since ∼65 Myr ago). The coincidence of crustal radial anisotropy with the extensional provinces of the western United States suggests that the radial anisotropy results from the lattice-preferred orientation of anisotropic crustal minerals caused by extensional deformation. These observations also provide support for the hypothesis that the deep crust within these regions has undergone widespread and relatively uniform strain in response to crustal thinning and extension.

Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps of Tibet and the surrounding regions from ambient seismic noise tomography

Ambient noise tomography is applied to the significant data resources now available across Tibet and surrounding regions to produce Rayleigh wave phase speed maps at periods between 6 and 50 s. Data resources include the permanent Federation of Digital Seismographic Networks, five temporary U.S. Program for Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere (PASSCAL) experiments in and around Tibet, and Chinese provincial networks surrounding Tibet from 2003 to 2009, totaling ∼600 stations and ∼150,000 interstation paths. With such a heterogeneous data set, data quality control is of utmost importance. We apply conservative data quality control criteria to accept between ∼5000 and ∼45,000 measurements as a function of period, which produce a lateral resolution between 100 and 200 km across most of the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions to the east. Misfits to the accepted measurements among PASSCAL stations and among Chinese stations are similar, with a standard deviation of ∼1.7 s, which indicates that the final dispersion measurements from Chinese and PASSCAL stations are of similar quality. Phase velocities across the Tibetan Plateau are lower, on average, than those in the surrounding nonbasin regions. Phase velocities in northern Tibet are lower than those in southern Tibet, perhaps implying different spatial and temporal variations in the way the high elevations of the plateau are created and maintained. At short periods ( 20 s), very high velocities are imaged in the Tarim Basin, the Ordos Block, and the Sichuan Basin. These phase velocity dispersion maps provide information needed to construct a 3-D shear velocity model of the crust across the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions.

Surface wave tomography of the western United States from ambient seismic noise: Rayleigh wave group velocity maps

We have applied ambient noise surface wave tomography to data that have emerged continuously from the EarthScope USArray Transportable Array (TA) between October 2004 and January 2007. Estimated Greens functions result by cross-correlating noise records between every station-pair in the network. The 340 stations yield a total of more than 55,000 interstation paths. Within the 5- to 50-s period band, we measure the dispersion characteristics of Rayleigh waves using frequency-time analysis. High-resolution group velocity maps at 8-, 16-, 24-, 30-, and 40-s periods are presented for the western United States. The footprint of the TA encloses a region with a resolution of about the average interstation spacing (∼70 km). Velocity anomalies in the group velocity maps correlate well with the dominant geological features of the western United States. Coherent velocity anomalies are associated with the Sierra Nevada, Peninsular, and Cascade Ranges, Great Valley, Salton Trough, and Columbia basins, the Columbia River flood basalts, the Snake River Plain and Yellowstone, and mantle wedge features associated with the subducting Juan de Fuca plate.

A synoptic view of the distribution and connectivity of the mid-crustal low velocity zone beneath Tibet

[1] Based on 1–2 years of continuous observations of seismic ambient noise data obtained at more than 600 stations in and around Tibet, Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps are constructed from 10 s to 60 s period. A 3-D Vsv model of the crust and uppermost mantle is derived from these maps. The 3-D model exhibits significant apparently inter-connected low shear velocity features across most of the Tibetan middle crust at depths between 20 and 40 km. These low velocity zones (LVZs) do not conform to surface faults and, significantly, are most prominent near the periphery of Tibet. The observations support the internal deformation model in which strain is dispersed in the deeper crust into broad ductile shear zones, rather than being localized horizontally near the edges of rigid blocks. The prominent LVZs are coincident with strong mid-crustal radial anisotropy in western and central Tibet and probably result at least partially from anisotropic minerals aligned by deformation, which mitigates the need to invoke partial melt to explain the observations. Irrespective of their cause in partial melt or mineral alignment, mid-crustal LVZs reflect deformation and their amplification near the periphery of Tibet provides new information about the mode of deformation across Tibet.

Shear velocity structure of central Eurasia from inversion of surface wave velocities

We present a shear velocity model of the crust and upper mantle beneath central Eurasia by simultaneous inversion of broadband group and phase velocity maps of fundamental-mode Love and Rayleigh waves. The model is parameterized in terms of velocity depth profiles on a discrete 2 2 grid. The model is isotropic for the crust and for the upper mantle below 220 km but, to fit simultaneously long period Love and Rayleigh waves, the model is transversely isotropic in the uppermost mantle, from the Moho discontinuity to 220 km depth. We have used newly available a priori models for the crust and sedimentary cover as starting models for the inversion. Therefore, the crustal part of the estimated model shows good correlation with known surface features such as sedimentary basins and mountain ranges. The velocity anomalies in the upper mantle are related to differences between tectonic and stable regions. Old, stable regions such as the East European, Siberian, and Indian cratons are characterized by high upper-mantle shear velocities. Other large high velocity anomalies occur beneath the Persian Gulf and the Tarim block. Slow shear velocity anomalies are related to regions of current extension (Red Sea and Andaman ridges) and are also found beneath the Tibetan and Turkish‐Iranian Plateaus, structures originated by continent‐continent collision. A large low velocity anomaly beneath western Mongolia corresponds to the location of a hypothesized mantle plume. A clear low velocity zone in vSH between Moho and 220 km exists across most of Eurasia, but is absent for vSV. The character and magnitude of anisotropy in the model is on average similar to PREM, with the most prominent anisotropic region occurring beneath the Tibetan Plateau.

Seismic evidence for catastrophic slab loss beneath Kamchatka

In the northwest Pacific Ocean, a sharp corner in the boundary between the Pacific plate and the North American plate joins a subduction zone running along the southern half of the Kamchatka peninsula with a region of transcurrent motion along the western Aleutian arc. Here we present images of the seismic structure beneath the Aleutian–Kamchatka junction and the surrounding region, indicating that: the subducting Pacific lithosphere terminates at the Aleutian–Kamchatka junction; no relict slab underlies the extinct northern Kamchatka volcanic arc; and the upper mantle beneath northern Kamchatka has unusually slow shear wavespeeds. From the tectonic and volcanic evolution of Kamchatka over the past 10 Myr (refs 3, 4–5) we infer that at least two episodes of catastrophic slab loss have occurred. About 5 to 10 Myr ago, catastrophic slab loss shut down island-arc volcanic activity north of the Aleutian–Kamchatka junction. A later episode of slab loss, since about 2 Myr ago, seems to be related to the activity of the worlds most productive island-arc volcano, Klyuchevskoy. Removal of lithospheric mantle is commonly discussed in the context of a continental collision, but our findings imply that episodes of slab detachment and loss are also important agents in the evolution of oceanic convergent margins.

New and refined constraints on three‐dimensional Earth structure from normal modes below 3 mHz

We present the results of generalized spectral fitting (GSF) regressions which estimate normal mode structure coefficients for the observable spheroidal and toroidal free oscillation multiplets below 3 mHz. The size, accuracy, and precision of our new catalogue of modal constraints make it a powerful new tool for assessing and refining three-dimensional Earth models. The estimates include more than 3100 coefficients for 90 multiplets and 25 pairs of coupled multiplets, including several deep mantle overtones previously obscured by fundamental modes. The coefficients constrain mantle structures of both even and odd spherical harmonic degrees, through degree 12 in some cases. Improvements in accuracy and precision have been achieved with three innovations: the development of GSF, an enhancement of the established spectral fitting technique which incorporates both Coriolis and structural coupling between multiplets; the application of GSF to an edited, high signal-to-noise and geographically diverse data set of more than 4500 seismograms from 33 high moment earthquakes; and the assignment of coefficient uncertainties using a Monte Carlo method to simulate the effects of seismic noise, theoretical errors, and coefficient covariances. The results of GSF are assessed by examining the internal consistency of estimated coefficients and through comparisons with recent mantle models. The new catalogue of structure coefficients and uncertainties is available as an electronic supplement to this paper and through the University of Colorado internet site.