ALBERT

Description: Geophysical and geological data suggest that Tibetan middle crust is a partially molten, mechanically weak layer, but it is debated whether this low-viscosity layer is present beneath the entire plateau, what its properties are, how it deforms, and what role it has played in the plateau's evolution. Broad-band seismic surface waves yield resolution in the entire depth range of the Tibetan crust and can be used to constrain its shear-wave velocity structure (indicative of crustal composition, temperature and partial melting) and radial anisotropy (indicative of the patterns of deformation). We measured Love- and Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity curves in broad period ranges (up to 7–200 s) for a few tens of pairs and groups of stations across Tibet, combining, in each case, hundreds of interstation measurements, made with cross-correlation and waveform-inversion methods. Shear-velocity profiles were then determined by extensive series of non-linear inversions of the data, designed to constrain the depth-dependent ranges of isotropic-average shear speeds and radial anisotropy. Shear wave speeds within the Tibetan middle crust are anomalously low and, also, show strong lateral variations across the plateau. The lowest mid-crustal shear speeds are found in the north and west of the plateau (~3.1–3.2 km s –1 ), within a pronounced low-velocity zone. In southeastern Tibet, crustal shear wave speeds increase gradually towards southeast, whereas in the north, the change across the Kunlun Fault is relatively sharp. The lateral variations of shear speeds within the crust are indicative of those in temperature. A mid-crustal temperature of 800 °C, reported previously, can account for the low shear velocities across Lhasa. In the north, the temperature is higher and exceeds the solidus, resulting in partial melting that we estimate at 3–6 per cent. Strong radial anisotropy is required by the data in western-central Tibet (〉5 per cent) but not in northeastern Tibet. The amplitude of radial anisotropy in the crust does not correlate with isotropic-average shear speed (and, by inference, with crustal rock viscosity) or with surface elevation. Instead, radial anisotropy is related to the deformation pattern and is the strongest in regions experiencing extension (crustal flattening), as noted previously. The growth of Tibet by the addition of Indian crustal rocks into its crust from the south is reflected in the higher crustal seismic velocities (and, thus, lower temperatures) in the southern compared to northern parts of the plateau (more recently added rocks having had less time to undergo radioactive heating within the thickened Tibetan crust). Gravity-driven flattening—the basic cause of extension and normal faulting in the southern, western and central Tibet—is evidenced by pervasive radial anisotropy in the middle crust beneath the regions undergoing extension; the overall eastward flow of the crust is directed by the boundaries and motions of the lithospheric blocks that surround Tibet.

Description: This work presents a teleseismic P -wave receiver function study on 34 stations deployed across Ireland in order to determine the first-order crustal properties, thickness ( H ) and mean crustal V p / V s , over the entire island. We apply the H – V p / V s stacking method, which exploits the information contained in both the Ps and the multiple phases from the free-surface. In this way, we obtain the first Moho depth and V p / V s maps of Ireland based on a uniform distribution of measurements. The results are used to examine in detail the lateral variation of crustal thickness and V p / V s ratio across the major terrane boundaries in Ireland. Our results show a good agreement with the available previous estimates from onshore wide-angle/refraction experiments and add new information in poorly constrained areas such as Northern Ireland and the NW coast of Ireland. The mean V p / V s ratio is 1.73 ± 0.05 with a consistently low (1.70) value in the Leinster domain and in central Ireland. The mean crustal thickness is 30.9 ± 2.3 km. The southern portion of the island shows a nearly flat Moho at a depth of 32–33 km, while north of the Southern Uplands Fault, a relatively higher spatial frequency variation in Moho topography exists with values ranging from 28 to 32 km. This reflects the complex history of multiphase terranes accretion during the Caledonian orogeny, although locally, the superposition of more recent geological processes is not excluded. Crossing the Iapetus Suture Zone, our results support the presence of a ‘transitional’ Moho, that is, a 3–4 km smooth seismic transition between crust and mantle, while Moho depth remains constant. Anomalous values in Northern Ireland are interpreted as evidence of a 5- to 6-km-thick high S -wave velocity layer just above the Moho.

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: Azimuthal seismic anisotropy, the dependence of seismic wave speeds on propagation azimuth, is largely due to fabrics within the Earth's crust and mantle, produced by deformation. It thus provides constraints on the distribution and evolution of deformation within the upper mantle. Here, we present a new global, azimuthally anisotropic model of the crust, upper mantle and transition zone. Two versions of this new model are computed: the rough SL2016svAr and the smooth SL2016svA. Both are constrained by a very large data set of waveform fits (~750 000 vertical component seismogram fits). Automated, multimode waveform inversion was used to extract structural information from surface and S wave forms in broad period ranges (dominantly from 11 to 450 s, with the best global sampling in the 20–350 s range), yielding resolving power from the crust down to the transition zone. In our global tomographic inversion, regularization of anisotropy is implemented to more uniformly recover the amplitude and orientation of anisotropy, including near the poles. Our massive waveform data set, with complementary large global networks and high-density regional array data, produces improved resolution of global azimuthal anisotropy patterns. We show that regional scale variations, related to regional lithospheric deformation and mantle flow, can now be resolved by the global models, in particular in densely sampled regions. For oceanic regions, we compare quantitatively the directions of past and present plate motions and the fast-propagation orientations of anisotropy. By doing so, we infer the depth of the boundary between the rigid, high-viscosity lithosphere (preserving ancient, frozen fabric) and the rheologically weak asthenosphere (characterized by fabric developed recently). The average depth of thus inferred rheological lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) beneath the world's oceans is ~115 km. The LAB depth displays a clear dependence on the age of the oceanic lithosphere, closely matching the 1200 °C half-space cooling isotherm for all oceanic ages. In continental regions, azimuthal anisotropy is characterized by smaller-scale 3-D variations. Quantitative comparisons of the tomographic models with global SKS splitting measurements confirm the basic agreement of the two types of anisotropy analysis; they also offer a new insight into the average rheological thickness of continental lithosphere. In spite of significant recent improvements in the resolution of upper-mantle anisotropic structure, correlations between the anisotropic components of current global tomographic models remain much lower than between the isotropic ones. Our comparisons of the current models show which features are resolved consistently by different models, and therefore provide a means to estimate the robustness of anisotropic patterns and amplitudes. Significantly lower correlations are observed at depths greater than ~300 km, compared to those shallower, which suggests that global azimuthal anisotropy models are yet to reach consensus on the nature of anisotropy in the transition zone.