S-Wave Velocity Images of the Crust in the Southeast Margin of Tibet Revealed by Receiver Functions

2019 ◽  
Vol 176 (10) ◽  
pp. 4223-4241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hengchu Peng ◽  
Jiafu Hu ◽  
José Badal ◽  
Haiyan Yang
2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.S. Kim ◽  
J.F. Cassidy ◽  
S.E. Dosso ◽  
H. Kao

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakshit Joshi ◽  
Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun ◽  
Klaus Mosegaard ◽  
Felix Bissig ◽  
Amir Khan ◽  
...  

<p>Since InSight (the Interior Exploration using Geodesy and Heat Transport) landed 26 months ago and deployed an ultra sensitive broadband seismometer(SEIS) on the surface of Mars, around 500 seismic events of diverse variety have been detected, making it possible to directly analyze the subsurface properties of Mars for the very first time. One of the primary goals of the mission is to retrieve the crustal structure below the landing site. Current estimates differ by more than 100% for the average crustal thickness. Since data from orbital gravity measurementsprovide information on relative variations of crustal thickness but not absolute values, this landing site measurement could serve as a tie point to retrieve global crustal structure models. To do so, we propose using a joint inversion of receiver functions and apparent incidence angles, which contain information on absolute S-wave velocities of the subsurface. Since receiver function inversions suffer from a velocity depth trade-off, we in addition exploit a simple relation which defines apparent S-wave velocity as a function of observed apparent P-wave incidence angles to constrain the parameter space. Finally we use the Neighbourhood Algorithm for the inversion of a suitable joint objective function. The resulting ensemble of models is then used to derive the full uncertainty estimates for each model parameter. Before its application on data from InSight mission, we successfully tested the method on Mars synthetics and terrestrial data from various geological settings using both single and multiple events. Using the same method, we have previously been able to constrain the S-wave velocity and depth for the first inter-crustal layer of Mars between 1.7 to 2.1 km/s and 8 to 11 km, respectively. Here we present the results of applying this technique on our selected data set from the InSight mission. Results show that the data can be explained equally well by models with 2 or 3 crustal layers with constant velocities. Due to the limited data set it is difficult to resolve the ambiguity of this bi-modal solution. We therefore investigate information theoretic statistical tests as a model selection criteria and discuss their relevance and implications in seismological framework.</p><div></div><div></div><div></div>


2013 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Badal ◽  
Yun Chen ◽  
Mimoun Chourak ◽  
Jacek Stankiewicz

Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. S533-S547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minao Sun ◽  
Liangguo Dong ◽  
Jizhong Yang ◽  
Chao Huang ◽  
Yuzhu Liu

Elastic least-squares reverse time migration (ELSRTM) is a powerful tool to retrieve high-resolution subsurface images of the earth’s interior. By minimizing the differences between synthetic and observed data, ELSRTM can improve spatial resolution and reduce migration artifacts. However, conventional ELSRTM methods usually assume constant density models, which cause inaccurate amplitude performance in resulting images. To partially remedy this problem, we have developed a new ELSRTM method that considers P- and S-wave velocity and density variations. Our method can simultaneously obtain P- and S-wave velocity and density images with enhanced amplitude fidelity and suppressed parameter crosstalk. In addition, it can provide subsurface elastic impedance images by summing the inverted velocity images with the density image. Compared with the conventional ELSRTM method, our method can improve the quality of final images and provide more accurate reflectivity estimates. Numerical experiments on a horizontal reflector model and a Marmousi-II model demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.


2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 1688-1707
Author(s):  
Mei Feng ◽  
Meijian An ◽  
James Mechie ◽  
Wenjin Zhao ◽  
Guangqi Xue ◽  
...  

SUMMARY We present an updated joint tomographic method to simultaneously invert receiver function waveforms and surface wave dispersions for a 3-D S-wave velocity (Vs) model. By applying this method to observations from ∼900 seismic stations and with a priori Moho constraints from previous studies, we construct a 3-D lithospheric S-wave velocity model and crustal-thickness map for the central–east Tibetan plateau. Data misfit/fitting shows that the inverted model can fit the receiver functions and surface wave dispersions reasonably well, and checkerboard tests show the model can retrieve major structural information. The results highlight several features. Within the plateau crustal thickness is >60 km and outwith the plateau it is ∼40 km. Obvious Moho offsets and lateral variations of crustal velocities exist beneath the eastern (Longmen Shan Fault), northern (central–east Kunlun Fault) and northeastern (east Kunlun Fault) boundaries of the plateau, but with decreasing intensity. Segmented high upper-mantle velocities have varied occurrences and depth extents from south/southwest to north/northeast in the plateau. A Z-shaped upper-mantle low-velocity channel, which was taken as Tibetan lithospheric mantle, reflecting deformable material lies along the northern and eastern periphery of the Tibetan plateau, seemingly separating two large high-velocity mantle areas that, respectively, correspond to the Indian and Asian lithospheres. Other small high-velocity mantle segments overlain by the Z-shaped channel are possibly remnants of cold microplates/slabs associated with subductions/collisions prior to the Indian–Eurasian collision during the accretion of the Tibetan region. By integrating the Vs structures with known tectonic information, we derive that the Indian slab generally underlies the plateau south of the Bangong–Nujiang suture in central Tibet and the Jinsha River suture in eastern Tibet and west of the Lanchangjiang suture in southeastern Tibet. The eastern, northern, northeastern and southeastern boundaries of the Tibetan plateau have undergone deformation with decreasing intensity. The weakly resisting northeast and southeast margins, bounded by a wider softer channel of uppermost mantle material, are two potential regions for plateau expansion in the future.


2019 ◽  
pp. 16-27
Author(s):  
L. P. Vinnik

The application results of the receiver function technique are briefly outlined. The topography of the main seismic boundaries in the mantle transition zone is evaluated with resolution of about 3 km in depth and about 200 km laterally. The maximal amplitudes of depth variations of the main boundaries reach tens of kilometers. The mantle transition zone thinning in the hot spots and the respective increase in temperature by ~100 °C is established. In several regions, two low-velocity layers are revealed in the mantle transition zone, one directly above the 410-km seismic discontinuity and another at a depth of 450 to 500 km. The origin of the first layer is associated with dehydration in the mantle plumes during olivine – walesite phase transformation. The increase in the S-wave velocity at the base of the second layer can explain the observations of the so-called 520-km boundary. The traditional approach to studying the structure of the crust and upper mantle is from surface waves. Receiver functions can provide higher resolution at the same depths when a combination of P- and S-wave receiver functions is used. This type of results was obtained for Fennoscandia, Kaapvaal craton, Indian shield, Central Tien Shan, Baikal rift zone, the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, and the western Mediterranean. S-receiver functions were used in the studies of the lunar crust. The joint P- and S-receiver function inversion provides robust estimates of the parameters of seismic boundaries including weak discontinuities such as the lithosphere – asthenosphere interface of cratons. The parameters determined from receiver functions include the P- to S-wave velocity ratio. In a few regions, a very high (> 2.0) velocity ratio is observed in the lower crust, probably indicating the presence of a fluid with high pore pressure. Receiver functions allow estimating the parameters of azimuthal anisotropy as a function of depth. The changes of the parameters with depth make it possible to distinguish the active anisotropy associated with recent deformations from the frozen anisotropy – the effect of the past tectonic processes.


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