Upper Crustal Velocity Structure in Slovenia from Rayleigh Wave Dispersion

Abstract

—The inversion of surface-wave dispersion curves can provide information on the average elastic properties of the upper crustal layers that are usually poorly sampled by body waves. The broad band digital records of earthquakes which recently occurred in Slovenia and neighbouring regions are used to extract the group velocity of the fundamental mode of Rayleigh waves, using frequency-time analysis (FTAN). The obtained dispersion curves permit a good resolution for the velocity and the thickness of the upper crust. The thickness of the uppermost sedimentary layer varies between 4 and 6 km and its shear-wave velocity is less than 3 km/s. The lower sedimentary layer is 7 to 9 km thick and its shear-wave velocity ranges from about 3.05 km/s in eastern Slovenia, to about 3.25 km/s in western Slovenia. The shear-wave velocity in the crystalline layer is around 3.5 – 3.7 km/s in the eastern part, while in the western part it reaches a rather high value of about 3.85 km/s.