Takuo Shibutani

Genetic algorithm inversion for receiver functions with application to crust and uppermost mantle structure beneath eastern Australia

Genetic algorithm (GA) inversion, a nonlin- ear global optimization technique, has been applied to determine crustal and uppermost mantle velocity struc- ture from teleseismic receiver functions. With a new vicinity of the receiver. The influence of the source can be largely eliminated by source equalization in which the radial component of motion is deconvolved with the vertical component to generate a receiver function (Langston,1979) which isolates conversions from P to

Aftershock distribution of the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake derived from a combined analysis of temporary online observations and permanent observations

generated at boundaries beneath the recording site. The receiver function waveform can be inverted in the

Detailed structure of the upper mantle discontinuities around the Japan subduction zone imaged by receiver function analyses

The 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake (Mj = 6.8) occurred on 23 October 2004 in the northeastern part of the Niigata-Kobe Tectonic Zone where large contraction rates were observed. The mainshock was followed by an anomalously intense aftershock activity that included nine Mj ≥5.5 aftershocks. We deployed three temporary online seismic stations in the aftershock area from 27 October, combined data from the temporary stations with those from permanent stations located around the aftershock area, and determined the hypocenters of the mainshock and aftershocks with a joint hypocenter determination (JHD) technique. The resulting aftershock distribution showed that major events such as the mainshock, the largest aftershock (Mj = 6.5), the aftershock on 27 October (Mj = 6.1), etc. occurred on different fault planes that were located nearly parallel or perpendicular to each other. This might be due to heterogeneous structure in the source region. The strain energy was considered to have been enough accumulated on the individual fault planes. These features are probably a cause of the anomalous intensity of the aftershock activity.

The 2000 Western Tottori Earthquake—Seismic activity revealed by the regional seismic networks—

High-resolution receiver function (RF) images of the upper mantle structure beneath the Japan Islands are obtained by RF analysis of the P-wave coda portions of 389 teleseismic events observed at 138 high-density broadband stations. We construct RFs through frequency-domain division using a water level of 0.01 and Gaussian low-pass filters of 1.0, 0.5, 0.3, and 0.1 Hz, and produce depth-migrated RFs using the one-dimensional IASP91 velocity model. The RF images clearly resolve the subducting Pacific Plate to a depth of 200 km, and reveal a local 30 km elevation of the 410 km discontinuity within the subducting plate. The 660 km discontinuity is also found to exhibit a broad 50 km depression under the influence of the stagnating slab. From analysis of the frequency dependence of the RFs, the thickness of the 410 km discontinuity is inferred to vary on a relatively local scale, whereas the 660 km transition is sharp throughout the Japan Islands.

Improvement in the Extended-Time Multitaper Receiver Function Estimation Technique

On October 6, 2000, the 2000 Western Tottori Earthquake (Mjma 7.3) occurred in the western Tottori prefecture area, southwestern Japan. It initiated at a depth of 12 km at the bottom of the seismogenic zone, which was derived from aftershock distribution. The aftershocks extend over a 35 km length in a north-northwest direction. Spatial and temporal distribution of the aftershocks exhibits local characteristics in the fault region. The northern part consists of earthquake clusters while the southern part consists of a rather simple lineament of aftershocks, and the spreading and decaying rate of the aftershocks is slower in the northern part. This contrast is possibly due to the heterogeneity of the fault system and probably affected the rupture process of the mainshock. Two swarm sequences occurred in the surrounding region after the mainshock. One initiated 48 hours after the mainshock 25 km southwest of the main aftershock distribution. The other started 20 hours after the mainshock northeast of the mainshock on the southeast flank of Daisen volcano. These activities are probably induced seismicity due to stress changes in the focal region. Pre-seismic swarm activities occurred in the focal region from 1989 and deep low-frequency earthquakes were observed since 1999. It is important to understand the relationship between these possible precursory phenomena and the occurrence of the mainshock.

Three-dimensional shear wave velocity structure in the upper mantle beneath the Philippine Sea region

Abstract Receiver functions are calculated by deconvolving the vertical component of teleseismic P waves from the corresponding horizontal components. In order to carry out stable spectral divisions in the deconvolutions, various techniques have been developed, such as the water level method, multitaper method, and extended-time multitaper method. In this study, we propose an improvement of the extended-time multitaper method to correctly estimate the amplitudes of the receiver functions with any time lengths.

High resolution 3-D velocity structure in the source region of the 2000 Western Tottori Earthquake in southwestern Honshu, Japan using very dense aftershock observations

The three-dimensional shear wave velocity structure in the upper mantle beneath the Philippine Sea was investigated with Rayleigh wave phase velocities in the periods 30–100 s. More than 900 Rayleigh wave phase velocity curves were obtained for this region with good path coverage. The phase velocity data were inverted for the phase velocity distribution maps in the Philippine Sea with 2-D tomographic technique without any a priori regionalization. The resolutions of the tomographic analysis were quite good in almost of the target region. The phase velocity maps were inverted for the 3-D shear wave velocity structure in the upper mantle down to 220 km.In the shallow depths lateral heterogeneities with short wavelength were seen in the shear wave velocity maps. This might be related with complicated surface structures. In the middle depths the shear wave velocity was well correlated to the main tectonic features seen at the surface and well explained by the evolution history of the Philippine Sea. The older western Philippine Sea had higher shear wave velocities than the younger eastern Philippine Sea. In the western Philippine Sea the central basin ridge, which is the youngest in this area, showed the low velocity anomaly. This is supported by the fact that the West Philippine Basin was formed in this area. In the depths 150–200 km the low velocity anomaly was dominant inside the Philippine Sea, which might suggest the existence of the mantle return flows. The thickness of the lithosphere in the south of the West Philippine Basin reached about 100 km, which is much thicker than the results of previous studies for this region.

Upper mantle imaging beneath the Japan Islands by Hi-net tiltmeter recordings

We carried out high density aftershock observations a week after the 2000 Western Tottori Earthquake for 40 days. We deployed 72 seismic stations in and around the aftershock area. The average spacing of the stations in the aftershock area was 4–5 km. We determined accurate hypocenters and focal mechanisms for ∼1,000 aftershocks and obtained a high resolution 3-D velocity structure in the source region. High P and S wave velocity anomalies (> 4%) near the southeasternmost aftershock area at 2 km depth correlated with Jurassic to Late Cretaceous plutonic and high pressure metamorphic rocks. The depth distribution of the P and S wave velocities along the mainshock fault showed that high velocity anomalies were located at the shallow southeastern edge and the deeper central part of the aftershock area. The ratio between P and S wave velocities in the high velocity anomalies was a little higher (∼1.75) than the average value (∼1.70) in the upper crust. These results indicate that the high velocity anomalies could correspond to the plutonic or metamorphic rocks. The distributions of the high velocity anomalies and large slips of the mainshock were complementary. These suggest that the high velocity anomalies could be stronger than the surrounding materials and might behave as barriers to the mainshock rupture.

Upper mantle transition zone structure beneath the Philippine Sea Region

We present a novel receiver-function image of the upper mantle structure around the Japan subduction zone. To increase the amount of available waveform data containing the relatively lower frequency component, we examined whether the Hi-net tiltmeter recordings are usable for imaging the upper mantle discontinuities by comparing them with broadband seismograms in different frequency bands. We found that the two are comparable at a frequency band between 0.02 and 0.16 Hz. To make receiver functions from tiltmeter data, stacked vertical components of broadband seismograms were used as source-time functions. Since such source-time functions may include biases from local structure, we also produced regional stacked source-time functions. The receiver function with the above frequency band does not seem to be affected by local structure. In the images derived from the receiver-function gathers, we were able to visualize both the oceanic Moho and the lower slab boundary, which could be traced down to depths of 400 km and 600 km, respectively. These images also show an uplift of the 410-km discontinuity and a depression of the 660-km discontinuity in the regions that are probably affected by the cold subducting Pacific slab.

Three dimensional velocity structure around aftershock area of the 2004 mid Niigata prefecture earthquake (M6.8) by the Double-Difference tomography

Seismic structure of the upper mantle transition zone beneath the Philippine Sea region is studied using waveform modeling. Models AZ41 and AZ40 were derived to represent the structure beneath the north central part and northwestern regions, respectively. AZ41 has high-velocity anomalies from 510 km to 660 km 3% faster than a global model ak135, a depression of the ‘660’ discontinuity to 690 km, and a small (+2%) discontinuity at 510 km. Model AZ40 is the same as AZ41 except there is no depression of the ‘660’. On the other hand, the waveforms which sampled the southern region can be explained with the global model ak135. These results support the interpretation that subducted Pacific lithosphere is stagnant above the ‘660’ in the northern part, whereas in the southern part it penetrates into the lower mantle. In accord with earlier suggestions, the different configuration of the subducted slab suggested above could be due to the migration of the trench.