Developing regionalized models of lithospheric thickness and velocity structure across Eurasia and the Middle East from jointly inverting P-wave and S-wave receiver functions with Rayleigh wave group and phase velocities
In this project, we are developing models of lithospheric structure for a wide variety of tectonic regions throughout Eurasia and the Middle East by regionalizing 1D velocity models obtained by jointly inverting P-wave and S-wave receiver functions with Rayleigh wave group and phase velocities. We expect the regionalized velocity models will improve our ability to predict travel-times for local and regional phases, such as Pg, Pn, Sn and Lg, as well as travel-times for body-waves at upper mantle triplication distances in both seismic and aseismic regions of Eurasia and the Middle East. We anticipate the models will help inform and strengthen ongoing and future efforts within the NNSA labs to develop 3D velocity models for Eurasia and the Middle East, and will assist in obtaining model-based predictions where no empirical data are available and for improving locations from sparse networks using kriging. The codes needed to conduct the joint inversion of P-wave receiver functions (PRFs), S-wave receiver functions (SRFs), and dispersion velocities have already been assembled as part of ongoing research on lithospheric structure in Africa. The methodology has been tested with synthetic 'data' and case studies have been investigated with data collected at an open broadband stations in South Africa. PRFs constrain the size and S-P travel-time of seismic discontinuities in the crust and uppermost mantle, SRFs constrain the size and P-S travel-time of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and dispersion velocities constrain average S-wave velocity within frequency-dependent depth-ranges. Preliminary results show that the combination yields integrated 1D velocity models local to the recording station, where the discontinuities constrained by the receiver functions are superimposed to a background velocity model constrained by the dispersion velocities. In our first year of this project we will (i) generate 1D velocity models for open broadband seismic stations in the western half of the study area (Eurasia and the Middle East) and (ii) identify well located seismic events with event-station paths isolated to individual tectonic provinces within the study area and collect broadband waveforms and source parameters for the selected events. The 1D models obtained from the joint inversion will then be combined with published geologic terrain maps to produce regionalized models for distinctive tectonic areas within the study area, and the models will be validated through full waveform modeling of well-located seismic events recorded at local and regional distances.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 966531
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-PROC-414499; TRN: US200921%%635
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: Monitoring Research Review, Tucson, AZ, United States, Sep 21 - Sep 23, 2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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