ALBERT

Description: In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion.

Description: We present a new, S-velocity model of the European upper mantle, constrained by inversions of seismic waveforms from broad-band stations in Europe and surrounding regions. We collected seismograms for the years 1990–2007 from all permanent stations in Europe for which data were available. In addition, we incorporated data from temporary experiments. Automated multimode inversion of surface and S-wave forms was applied to extract structural information from the seismograms, in the form of linear equations with uncorrelated uncertainties. The equations were then solved for seismic velocity perturbations in the crust and mantle with respect to a 3-D reference model with a realistic crust. We present two versions of the model: one for the entire European upper mantle and another, with the highest resolution, focused on the upper 200 km of the mantle beneath western and central Europe and the circum Mediterranean. The mantle lithosphere and asthenosphere are well resolved by both models. Major features of the lithosphere–asthenosphere system in Europe and the Mediterranean are indentified. The highest velocities in the mantle lithosphere of the East European Craton (EEC) are found at about 150 km depth. There are no indications for a deep cratonic root below about 330 km depth. Lateral variations within the cratonic mantle lithosphere are resolved as well. The locations of kimberlites correlate with reduced S-wave velocities in the shallow cratonic mantle lithosphere. This anomaly is present in regions of both Proterozoic and Archean crust, pointing to an alteration of the mantle lithosphere after the formation of the craton. Strong lateral changes in S-wave velocity are found at the northwestern margin of the EEC and may indicate erosion of cratonic mantle lithosphere beneath the Scandes by hot asthenosphere. The mantle lithosphere beneath western Europe and between the Tornquist–Teisseyre Zone and the Elbe Line shows moderately high velocities and is of an intermediate character, between cratonic lithosphere and the thin lithosphere of central Europe. In central Europe, Caledonian and Variscian sutures are not associated with strong lateral changes in the lithosphere–asthenosphere system. Cenozoic anorogenic intraplate volcanism in central Europe and the circum Mediterranean is found in regions of shallow asthenosphere and close to changes in the depth of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. Very low velocities at shallow upper-mantle depths are present from eastern Turkey towards the Dead Sea transform fault system and Sinai, beneath locations of recent volcanism. Low-velocity anomalies extending vertically from shallow upper mantle down to the transition zone are found beneath the Massif Central, Sinai and the Dead Sea, the Canary Islands and Iceland.

Description: Depth distributions of seismic velocities and their directional dependence (anisotropy) in the crust and mantle beneath cratons yield essential constraints on processes of their formation and evolution. Despite recent progress in mapping the lateral extent of cratonic roots around the globe, profiles of seismic velocities within them remain uncertain. In this study we employ a novel combination of waveform-analysis techniques and measure inter-station Rayleigh- and Love-wave phase velocities in broad period ranges that enable resolution from the upper crust to deep upper mantle. Sampling a selection of 10 Archean and Proterozoic locations, we derive new constraints on the isotropic and radially anisotropic seismic structure of Precambrian lithosphere. Shear-wave speed VS is consistently higher in the lithosphere of cratons than in the lithosphere of Proterozoic foldbelts. Because known effects of compositional variations in the lithosphere on VS are too small to account for the difference, this implies that temperature in cratonic lithosphere is consistently lower, in spite of sub-lithospheric mantle beneath continents being thermally heterogeneous, with some cratons underlain, as we observe, by a substantially hotter asthenosphere compared to others. Lithospheric geotherms being nearly conductive, this confirms that the stable, buoyant lithosphere beneath cratons must be substantially thicker than beneath younger continental blocks. An increase in VS between the Moho and a 100-150 km depth is consistently preferred by the data in this study and is present in seismic models of continents published previously. We argue that this is largely due to the transition from spinel peridotite to garnet peridotite, proposed previously to give rise to the “Hales discontinuity” within this depth interval. The depth and the width of the phase transformation depend on mantle composition; it is likely to occur deeper and over a broader depth interval beneath cratons than elsewhere because of the high Cr content in the depleted cratonic lithosphere, as evidenced by a number of xenolith studies. Seismic data available at present would be consistent with both a sharp and a gradual increase in VS in the upper lithosphere (a Hales discontinuity or a “Hales gradient”). The VS profile in the upper mantle lithosphere is not shaped by the temperature distribution only; this needs to be considered when relating seismic velocities to lithospheric temperatures. Radial anisotropy in the upper crust is observed repeatedly and indicates vertically oriented anisotropic fabric (VSH 〈 VSV); this may yield a clue on how cratons grew, lending support to the view that distributed crustal shortening with sub-vertical flow patterns occurred over large scales in hot ancient orogens. In the lower crust and upper lithospheric mantle, radial anisotropy consistently reveals horizontal fabric (VSH 〉 VSV); the fabric can be interpreted as a record of (sub-)horizontal ductile flow in the lower crust and lithospheric mantle at the time of the formation and stabilisation of the cratons. We also find indications for radial anisotropy below 200 km depth, corroborating recent evidence for anisotropy in the asthenosphere beneath cratons due to current and recent asthenospheric flow.

Description: We apply the Automated Multimode Inversion of surface and S-wave forms to a large global data set, verify the accuracy of the method and assumptions behind it, and compute an Sv-velocity model of the upper mantle (crust–660 km). The model is constrained with ∼51 000 seismograms recorded at 368 permanent and temporary broadband seismic stations. Structure of the mantle and crust is constrained by waveform information both from the fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves (periods from 20 to 400 s) and from S and multiple S waves (higher modes). In order to enhance the validity of the path-average approximation, we implement the automated inversion of surface- and S-wave forms with a three-dimensional (3-D) reference model. Linear equations obtained from the processing of all the seismograms of the data set are inverted for seismic velocity variations also relative to a 3-D reference, in this study composed of a 3-D model of the crust and a one-dimensional (1-D), global-average depth profile in the mantle below. Waveform information is related to shear- and compressional-velocity structure within approximate waveform sensitivity areas. We use two global triangular grids of knots with approximately equal interknot spacing within each: a finely spaced grid for integration over sensitivity areas and a rougher-spaced one for the model parametrization. For the tomographic inversion we use LSQR with horizontal and vertical smoothing and norm damping. We invert for isotropic variations in S- and P-wave velocities but also allow for S-wave azimuthal anisotropy—in order to minimize errors due to possible mapping of anisotropy into isotropic heterogeneity. The lateral resolution of the resulting isotropic upper-mantle images is a few hundred kilometres, varying with data sampling. We validate the imaging technique with a ‘spectral-element’ resolution test: inverting a published global synthetic data set computed with the spectral-element method using a laterally heterogeneous mantle model we are able to reconstruct the synthetic model accurately. This test confirms both the accuracy of the implementation of the method and the validity of the JWKB and path-average approximations as applied in it. Reviewing the tomographic model, we observe that low-Sv-velocity anomalies beneath mid-ocean ridges and backarc basins extend down to ∼100 km depth only, shallower than according to some previous tomographic models; this presents a close match to published estimates of primary melt production depth ranges there. In the seismic lithosphere beneath cratons, unambiguous high velocity anomalies extend to ∼200 km. Pronounced low-velocity zones beneath cratonic lithosphere are rare; where present (South America; Tanzania) they are neighboured by volcanic areas near cratonic boundaries. The images of these low-velocity zones may indicate hot material—possibly of mantle-plume origin—trapped or spreading beneath the thick cratonic lithosphere.

Description: The lithospheric structure of the Aegean region is investigated by analysis of Rayleigh-wave fundamental mode dispersion measurements. Isotropic 1-D models for almost 100 two-station ray paths across the region display distinct variations in the Moho depth and crustal S-wave velocities. The descending slab of the subducting African plate can be resolved down to 120 km depth beneath the volcanic arc. Three different regions are distinguished in terms of Moho depth: (1) The forearc, with large crustal thicknesses between 38 and 48 km and an average of 43 km, (2) the northern Aegean, with an average Moho depth of 28 km and (3) the southern Aegean (central volcanic arc, i.e. Cyclades, and Sea of Crete) with an even thinner crust of around 25 km. Lateral variations in structure between 25 and 55 km depth indicate a marked difference between the western and eastern forearc, collocated with pronounced changes in trench and slab geometry as well as published deformation rates. S velocities between 25 and 55 km depth are low everywhere beneath the forearc but increase from the Peleponnesus to Crete. An abrupt change occurs between western and central Crete in terms of the visibility of the Aegean Moho and the seismic structure of the lithospheric mantle wedge: An Aegean mantle wedge with S velocities above 4.4 km s−1 is only observed to the east of central Crete, whereas to the west velocities of less than 4.0 km s−1 occur down to the plate contact. These low velocities above the slab may indicate the presence of a melange of metamorphic rocks at the depths. A low-velocity asthenospheric layer is observed beneath the Sea of Crete and the Cyclades below 40 km depth, between the thinned lithosphere above and the slab below. The observed radial anisotropy in the northern part of the Aegean is likely to be due to preferred orientation of anisotropic minerals within the lower crust, possibly caused by lateral ductile flow associated with recent lithospheric extension.

Description: Understanding the enigmatic intraplate volcanism in the Tristan da Cunha region requires knowledge of the temperature of the lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath it. We measured phasevelocity curves of Rayleigh waves using cross-correlation of teleseismic seismograms from an array of ocean-bottom seismometers around Tristan, constrained a region-average, shear-velocity structure, and inferred the temperature of the lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath the hotspot. The ocean-bottom data set presented some challenges, which required data-processing and measurement approaches different from those tuned for land-based arrays of stations. Having derived a robust, phase-velocity curve for the Tristan area, we inverted it for a shear wave velocity profile using a probabilistic (Markov chain Monte Carlo) approach. The model shows a pronounced low-velocity anomaly from 70 to at least 120 km depth. VS in the low velocity zone is 4.1–4.2 km/s, not as low as reported for Hawaii (4.0 km/s), which probably indicates a less pronounced thermal anomaly and, possibly, less partial melting. Petrological modeling shows that the seismic and bathymetry data are consistent with a moderately hot mantle (mantle potential temperature of 1,410–1,4308C, an excess of about 50–1208C compared to the global average) and a melt fraction smaller than 1%. Both purely seismic inversions and petrological modeling indicate a lithospheric thickness of 65–70 km, consistent with recent estimates from receiver functions. The presence of warmer-than-average asthenosphere beneath Tristan is consistent with a hot upwelling (plume) from the deep mantle. However, the excess temperature we determine is smaller than that reported for some other major hotspots, in particular Hawaii.

Description: The increasingly dense coverage of Europe with broad-band seismic stations makes it possible to image its lithospheric structure in great detail, provided that structural information can be extracted effectively from the very large volumes of data. We develop an automated technique for the measurement of interstation phase velocities of (earthquake-excited) fundamental-mode surface waves in very broad period ranges. We then apply the technique to all available broad-band data from permanent and temporary networks across Europe. In a new implementation of the classical two-station method, Rayleigh and Love dispersion curves are determined by cross-correlation of seismograms from a pair of stations. An elaborate filtering and windowing scheme is employed to enhance the target signal and makes possible a significantly broader frequency band of the measurements, compared to previous implementations of the method. The selection of acceptable phase-velocity measurements for each event is performed in the frequency domain, based on a number of fine-tuned quality criteria including a smoothness requirement. Between 5 and 3000 single-event dispersion measurements are averaged per interstation path in order to obtain robust, broad-band dispersion curves with error estimates. In total, around 63,000 Rayleigh- and 27,500 Love-wave dispersion curves between 10 and 350 s have been determined, with standard deviations lower than 2 per cent and standard errors lower than 0.5 per cent. Comparisons of phase-velocity measurements using events at opposite backazimuths and the examination of the variance of the phase-velocity curves are parts of the quality control. With the automated procedure, large data sets can be consistently and repeatedly measured using varying selection parameters. Comparison of average interstation dispersion curves obtained with different degrees of smoothness shows that rough perturbations do not systematically bias the average dispersion measurement. They can, therefore, be treated as random but they do need to be removed in order to reduce random errors of the measurements. Using our large new data set, we construct phase-velocity maps for central and northern Europe. According to checkerboard tests, the lateral resolution in central Europe is ≤150 km. Comparison of regional surface-wave tomography with independent data on sediment thickness in North-German Basin and Polish Trough confirms the high-resolution potential of our phase-velocity measurements. At longer periods, the structure of the lithosphere and asthenosphere around the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ) is seen clearly. The region of the Tornquist-Teisseyre-Zone in the southeast is associated with a stronger lateral contrast in lithospheric thickness, across the TESZ compared to the region across the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist-Zone in the northwest.

Description: Mediterranean tectonics since the Lower Cretaceous has been characterized by a multiphase subduction and collision history with temporally and spatially variable, small‐scale plate configurations. A new shear wave velocity model of the Mediterranean upper mantle (MeRE2020), constrained by a very large set of over 200,000 broadband (8–350 s), interstation, Rayleigh wave, phase velocity curves, illuminates the complex structure and fragmentation of the subducting slabs. Phase velocity maps computed using these measurements were inverted for depth‐dependent, shear wave velocities using a stochastic particle‐swarm‐optimization (PSO) algorithm. The resulting three‐dimensional (3‐D) model makes possible an inventory of slab segments across the Mediterranean. Fourteen slab segments of 200–800 km length along‐strike are identified. We distinguish three categories of subducted slabs: attached slabs reaching down to the bottom of the model; shallow slabs of shorter length in downdip direction, terminating shallower than 300 km depth; and detached slab segments. The location of slab segments are consistent with and validated by the intermediate‐depth seismicity, where it is present. The new high‐resolution tomography demonstrates the intricate relationships between slab fragmentation and the evolution of the relatively small and highly curved subduction zones and collisional orogens characteristic of the Mediterranean realm.

Description: Ireland Array is an array of 20 broadband seismometers that was operated by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies across the Republic of Ireland. The array comprised up to 20 stations running simultaneously, all equipped with Trillium 120PA seismometers and Taurus data loggers. The 20 stations were installed in 20102012. Some of the stations were moved to new locations in Ireland in the course of the operation of the array, either in order to enhance the data sampling of the island or when the old deployment sites became unsuitable. Ireland Array dramatically increased the seismic data sampling of Ireland and enabled advances and discoveries in the studies of the structure and evolution of Ireland’s crust and lithosphere, seismicity of Ireland, and mechanisms of the Paleogene intraplate volcanism in Ireland and surroundings.

Description: The fascinating tectonic evolution of the Mediterranean region comprises subduction at numerous subduction zones, extension and seafloor spreading in back-arc areas, and convergence of major continents and smaller continental blocks between them. The active subduction of the Greater Adria block is a dominant feature of the central Mediterranean dynamics. AdriaArray, the ongoing major international experiment, has produced unprecedentedly dense seismic data sampling of the area. It brings into focus both its structure and dynamics and the methodologies for how to best use the abundant seismic and other data to determine the physical structure and dynamics of the lithosphere and underlying mantle. The Mediterranean lithosphere is highly heterogeneous in its thickness, temperature and mechanical strength. This heterogeneity evolves with time and exerts controls on the intraplate magmatism and seismicity. Combined evidence from seismic anisotropy and the geological record sheds light on the 3D patterns of lithospheric deformation. Physical structure of the lithosphere can be determined with seismic surface waves. Using computational petrology and thermodynamic databases, we can invert surface-wave and other data for temperature and composition at depth, equilibrium lithospheric geotherms and lithospheric thickness. It is essential to use accurate surface-wave measurements and fit them closely, to impose constraints on the models from other available data and physical relationships, and to tune the inversions so as to resolve parameter trade-offs. With these developments, thermodynamic inversions yield increasingly accurate models of the lithospheric temperature, thickness and internal structure, with important inferences on its dynamics, evolution and controls on deformation and volcanism.