Uppermost mantle P wave velocities beneath Turkey and Iran

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980 · Geophys. Res. Lett.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL007i001p00077· OSTI ID:5472664

Chen, C; Chen, W; Molnar, P

The uppermost mantle P wave velocities beneath Turkey and Iran were estimated by applying the conventional travel time-distance relation method to arrival times of well located earthquakes recorded at a few stations. The average uppermost mantle P wave velocity under Turkey is estimated from two stations of the World Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN), Istanbul and Tabriz. The data are consistent with a crust of uniform, but poorly determined, thickness and an uppermost mantle P wave velocity of 7.73 +- 0.08 km/s. This velocity is very similar to that for the Aegean Sea and suggests that its structure could be closely related to that beneath Turkey. For Iran, the results calculated from travel times to three WWSSN stations, Meshed, Shiraz, and Tabriz, can be explained by a crust dipping toward the south-southeast at about 1/sup 0/ with an uppermost mantle P wave velocity of 8.0 +- 0.1 km/s. If the crustal thickness were 34 km in the north it would reach about 49 km in the south. Based on these uppermost mantle velocities, the temperature at Moho beneath Turkey is probably close to the melting temperature of peridotite but that beneath Iran is probably lower.

• Research Organization: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
• OSTI ID: 5472664
• Journal Information: Geophys. Res. Lett.; (United States), Journal Name: Geophys. Res. Lett.; (United States) Vol. 7:1; ISSN GPRLA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580201* -- Geophysics-- Seismology & Tectonics-- (1980-1989)
ASIA
DIMENSIONS
EARTH CRUST
EARTH MANTLE
EARTHQUAKES
IRAN
MIDDLE EAST
SEISMIC EVENTS
SEISMIC P WAVES
SEISMIC WAVES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THICKNESS
TURKEY
WAVE PROPAGATION