A Robust Workflow for Acquiring and Preprocessing Ambient Vibration Data from Small Aperture Ocean Bottom Seismometer Arrays to Extract Scholte and Love Waves Phase-Velocity Dispersion Curves

The phase-velocity dispersion curve (DC) is an important characteristic of the propagation of surface waves in sedimentary environments. Although the procedure for DC estimation in onshore environments using ambient vibration recordings is well established, the DC estimation in offshore environments using Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) array recordings of ambient vibrations presents three additional challenges: (1) the localization of sensors, (2) the orientation of the OBS horizontal components, and (3) the clock error. Here, we address these challenges in an inherent preprocessing workflow to ultimately extract the Love and Scholte wave DC from small aperture OBS array measurements performed between 2018 and 2020 in Lake Lucerne (Switzerland). The arrays have a maximum aperture of 679 m and a maximum deployment water depth of 81 m. The challenges related to the OBS location on the lake floor are addressed by combining the multibeam bathymetry map and the backscatter image for the investigated site with the differential GPS coordinates of the OBS at recovery. The OBS measurements are complemented by airgun surveys. Airgun data are first used to estimate the misorientation of the horizontal components of the OBS and second to estimate the clock error. To assess the robustness of the preprocessing workflow, we use two array processing methods, namely the three-component high-resolution frequency-wavenumber and the interferometric multichannel analysis of surface waves, to estimate the dispersion characteristics of the propagating Scholte and Love waves for one of the OBS array sites. The results show the effectiveness of the preprocessing workflow. We observe the phase-velocity dispersion curve branches in the frequency range between 1.2 and 3.2 Hz for both array processing techniques.

Quasi-Love wave scattering reveals tectonic history of Australia and its margins reflected by mantle anisotropy

The Australian continental crust preserves a rich geological history, but it is unclear to what extent this history is expressed deeper within the mantle. Here an investigation of Quasi-Love waves is performed to detect scattering of seismic surface waves at mantle depths (between 100–200 km) by lateral gradients in seismic anisotropy. Across Australasia 275 new observations of Quasi-Love waves are presented. The inferred scattering source and lateral anisotropic gradients are preferentially located either near the passive continental margins, or near the boundaries of major geological provinces within Australia. Pervasive fossilized lithospheric anisotropy within the continental interior is implied, on a scale that mirrors the crustal geology at the surface, and a strong lithosphere that has preserved this signal over billions of years. Along the continental margins, lateral anisotropic gradients may indicate either the edge of the thick continental lithosphere, or small-scale dynamic processes in the asthenosphere below.

Finite-Difference Modeling and Characteristics Analysis of Love Waves in Anisotropic-Viscoelastic Media

ABSTRACT In this study, the characteristics of Love waves in viscoelastic vertical transversely isotropic layered media are investigated by finite-difference numerical modeling. The accuracy of the modeling scheme is tested against the theoretical seismograms of isotropic-elastic and isotropic-viscoelastic media. The correctness of the modeling results is verified by the theoretical phase-velocity dispersion curves of Love waves in isotropic or anisotropic elastic or viscoelastic media. In two-layer half-space models, the effects of velocity anisotropy, viscoelasticity, and attenuation anisotropy of media on Love waves are studied in detail by comparing the modeling results obtained for anisotropic-elastic, isotropic-viscoelastic, and anisotropic-viscoelastic media with those obtained for isotropic-elastic media. Then, Love waves in three typical four-layer half-space models are simulated to further analyze the characteristics of Love waves in anisotropic-viscoelastic layered media. The results show that Love waves propagating in anisotropic-viscoelastic media are affected by both the anisotropy and viscoelasticity of media. The velocity anisotropy of media causes substantial changes in the values and distribution range of phase velocities of Love waves. The viscoelasticity of media leads to the amplitude attenuation and phase velocity dispersion of Love waves, and these effects increase with decreasing quality factors. The attenuation anisotropy of media indicates that the viscoelasticity degree of media is direction dependent. Comparisons of phase velocity ratios suggest that the change degree of Love-wave phase velocities due to viscoelasticity is much less than that caused by velocity anisotropy.

Microtremor surveys based on rotational seismology: theoretical analysis with focus on separation of Rayleigh and Love waves in general wavefield of microtremors

SUMMARY The applicability of rotational seismology to the general wavefield of microtremors is theoretically demonstrated based on a random process model of a 2-D wavefield. We show the effectiveness of taking the rotations (i.e. spatial differentiation) of microtremor waveforms in separating the Rayleigh and Love waves in a wavefield where waves are simultaneously arriving from various directions with different intensities. This means that a method based on rotational seismology (a rotational method) is capable of separating Rayleigh and Love waves without adopting a specific array geometry or imposing a specific assumption on the microtremor wavefield. This is an important feature of a rotational method because the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method, a conventional approach for determining phase velocities in microtremor array surveys, requires either the use of a circular array or the assumption of an isotropic wavefield (i.e. azimuthal averaging of correlations is required). Derivatives of the SPAC method additionally require the assumption that Rayleigh and Love waves are uncorrelated. We also show that it is possible to apply a rotational method to determine the characteristics of Love waves based on a simple three-point microtremor array that consists of translational (i.e. ordinary) three-component sensors. In later sections, we assume realistic data processing for microtremor arrays with translational sensors to construct a theoretical model to evaluate the effects of approximating spatial differentiation via finite differencing (i.e. array-derived rotation, ADR) and the effects of incoherent noise on analysis results. Using this model, it is shown that in a short-wavelength range compared to the distance for finite differencing (e.g. $\lambda < 3h$, where $\lambda $ and $h$ are the wavelength and distance for finite differencing, respectively), the leakage of unwanted wave components can determine the analysis limit. It is also shown that in a long-wavelength range (e.g. $\lambda > 3h$), the signal intensity gradually decreases, and thus the effects of incoherent noise increase (i.e. the signal-to-noise ratio, SNR decreases) and determine the analysis limit. We derive the relation between the SNR and wavelength. Although the analysis results quantitatively depend on the array geometry used for finite differencing, the qualitative understanding supported by mathematical expressions with a physically clear meaning can serve as a guideline for the treatment of data obtained from ADR.