Yusuke Usui

Thick and anisotropic D″ layer beneath Antarctic Ocean

[1] Waveform modeling and travel times analyses of S, ScS and SKS phases recorded at the broad-band permanent station SYO in the Antarctic are used to determine the shear wave velocity structure and transverse isotropy in the D layer beneath the Antarctic Ocean. The SH wave structure has a discontinuity with the velocity increase of 2.0% at 2550 km. The SV structure is similar to PREM model. The magnitude of the anisotropy is highest at the top of D layer and lowest at the core-mantle boundary. The D layer beneath the Antarctic Ocean is significantly thicker than those beneath Alaska and the Caribbean Sea. We attribute this anisotropic D layer to paleo-slab materials. The subduction in and around the Antarctic Ocean has started ∼180 Ma and is the one of the oldest in the world. It has provided a large amount of the slab materials in the lowermost mantle. Citation: Usui, Y., Y. Hiramatsu, M. Furumoto, and M. Kanao (2005), Thick and anisotropic D layer beneath Antarctic Ocean.

Broadband Seismic Deployments for Imaging the Upper Mantle Structure in the Lützow-Holm Bay Region, East Antarctica

Broadband seismic deployments have been carried out in the Lutzow-Holm Bay region (LHB), Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The recorded teleseismic and local events are of sufficient quality to image the structure and dynamics of the crust and mantle of the terrain. Passive seismic studies by receiver functions and shear wave splitting suggest a heterogeneous upper mantle. Depth variations in topography for upper mantle discontinuities were derived from long period receiver function, indicating a shallow depth discontinuity at 660 km beneath the continental area of LHB. These results provide evidence of paleo upwelling of the mantle plume associated with Gondwana break-up. SKS splitting analysis anticipated a relationship between “fossil” anisotropy in lithospheric mantle and past tectonics. Moreover, active source surveys (DSSs) imaged lithospheric mantle reflections involving regional tectonic stress during Pan-African and succeeding extension regime at the break-up. By combining the active and passive source studies of the mantle structure, we propose an evolution model of LHB for constructing the present mantle structure.