Upper mantle P velocity structure beneath the Midwestern United States derived from triplicated waveforms

Upper mantle seismic velocity structures in both vertical and horizontal directions are key to understanding the structure and mechanics of tectonic plates. Recent deployment of the USArray Transportable Array (TA) in the Midwestern United States provides an extraordinary regional earthquake data set to investigate such velocity structure beneath the stable North American craton. In this paper, we choose an M_w5.1 Canadian earthquake in the Quebec area, which is recorded by about 400 TA stations, to examine the P wave structures between the depths of 150 km to 800 km. Three smaller Midwestern earthquakes at closer distance to the TA are used to investigate vertical and horizontal variations in P velocity between depths of 40 km to 150 km. We use a grid-search approach to find the best 1-D model, starting with the previously developed S25 regional model. The results support the existence of an 8° discontinuity in P arrivals caused by a negative velocity gradient in the lithosphere between depths of 40 km to 120 km followed by a small (∼1%) jump and then a positive gradient down to 165 km. The P velocity then decreases by 2% from 165 km to 200 km, and we define this zone as the regional lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). Beneath northern profiles, waves reflected from the 410 discontinuity (410) are delayed by up to 1 s relative to those turning just below the 410, which we explain by an anomaly just above the discontinuity with P velocity reduced by ∼3%. The 660 discontinuity (660) appears to be composed of two smaller velocity steps with a separation of 16 km. The inferred low-velocity anomaly above 410 may indicate high water concentrations in the transition zone, and the complexity of the 660 may be related to Farallon slab segments that have yet to sink into the deep mantle

Juan de Fuca subduction zone from a mixture of tomography and waveform modeling

Seismic tomography images of the upper mantle structures beneath the Pacific Northwestern United States display a maze of high-velocity anomalies, many of which produce distorted waveforms evident in the USArray observations indicative of the Juan de Fuca (JdF) slab. The inferred location of the slab agrees quite well with existing contour lines defining the slab's upper interface. Synthetic waveforms generated from a recent tomography image fit teleseismic travel times quite well and also some of the waveform distortions. Regional earthquake data, however, require substantial changes to the tomographic velocities. By modeling regional waveforms of the 2008 Nevada earthquake, we find that the uppermost mantle of the 1D reference model AK135, the reference velocity model used for most tomographic studies, is too fast for the western United States. Here, we replace AK135 with mT7, a modification of an older Basin-and-Range model T7. We present two hybrid velocity structures satisfying the waveform data based on modified tomographic images and conventional slab wisdom. We derive P and SH velocity structures down to 660 km along two cross sections through the JdF slab. Our results indicate that the JdF slab is subducted to a depth of 250 km beneath the Seattle region, and terminates at a shallower depth beneath Portland region of Oregon to the south. The slab is about 60 km thick and has a P velocity increase of 5% with respect to mT7. In order to fit waveform complexities of teleseismic Gulf of Mexico and South American events, a slab-like high-velocity anomaly with velocity increases of 3% for P and 7% for SH is inferred just above the 660 discontinuity beneath Nevada

Hot mantle upwelling across the 660 beneath Yellowstone

P-to-s receiver functions mapped to depth through P and S body-wave tomography models image continuous 410 and 660 km discontinuities beneath the area covered by USArray prior to the year 2011. Mean depths to the 410 and 660 km discontinuities of 410 and 656 km imply a mantle transition zone that is about 4 km thicker than the global average and hence has a slightly cooler mean temperature and/or enhanced water content. Compared to the mean 660 depth beneath this ~2000 km wide area, the 660 beneath the Yellowstone hotspot is deflected upward by 12–18 km over an area about 200 km wide. This is the most anomalous shallowing of the 660 imaged and its horizontal extent is similar to the area where P and S tomography image low-velocity mantle extending from the top of the transition zone to about 900 km depth. Together, these results indicate a high-temperature, plume-like upwelling extending across the 660. The depth of 410 km discontinuity beneath the Yellowstone region is within 5 km of the mean depth implying that the plume is vertically heterogeneous and possibly discontinuous. Tomography indicates a similar vertically heterogeneous thermal plume. The irregular plume structure may be intrinsic to the dynamics of upwelling through the transition zone, or distortion may be caused by subduction-induced mantle flow. Topography of the 410 and 660 confirms that subducted slabs beneath the western U.S. are highly segmented, as inferred from recent tomography studies. We find no evidence of regionally pervasive velocity discontinuities between 750 and 1400 km depth. The plume's depth of origin within the lower mantle remains uncertain

Joint inversion of Rayleigh wave phase velocity and ellipticity using USArray: Constraining velocity and density structure in the upper crust

Rayleigh wave ellipticity, or H/V ratio, observed on the surface is particularly sensitive to shallow earth structure. In this study, we jointly invert measurements of Rayleigh wave H/V ratio and phase velocity between 24–100 and 8–100 sec period, respectively, for crust and upper mantle structure beneath more than 1000 USArray stations covering the western United States. Upper crustal structure, in particular, is better constrained by the joint inversion compared to inversions based on phase velocities alone. In addition to imaging Vs structure, we show that the joint inversion can be used to constrain Vp/Vs and density in the upper crust. New images of uppermost crustal structure (<3 km depth) are in excellent agreement with known surface features, with pronounced low Vs, low density, and high Vp/Vs anomalies imaged in the locations of several major sedimentary basins including the Williston, Powder River, Green River, Denver, and San Juan basins. These results demonstrate not only the consistency of broadband H/V ratios and phase velocity measurements, but also that their complementary sensitivities have the potential to resolve density and Vp/Vs variations

Analysis of teleseismic P waves with a 5200-station array in Long Beach, California: Evidence for an abrupt boundary to Inner Borderland rifting

We analyze teleseismic P waves from four Mw ≥ 6.5 earthquakes recorded by a petroleum industry survey in Long Beach, California. The survey used a 2-D array with up to 5200 seismometers, 120 m mean spacing, and 7 – 10 km aperture. At frequencies near 1 Hz, P wave travel times and amplitudes exhibit coherent lateral variations over scales as short as ~400 m, including locally delayed travel times and increased amplitudes at the crest of the Long Beach anticline. Deeper heterogeneity is indicated by P wave phase velocities that deviate from reference model predictions for events from southwestern azimuths. We postulate that a sharp northeastward increase in Moho depth from the Inner Borderland (IB) to mainland southern California causes the anomalous phase velocities. Elastic forward modeling finds the travel times are fit well by a Moho that dips 65° to the northeast and flattens ~10 km southwest of the Newport-Inglewood fault zone. Constraining the felsic thickness of mainland crust to 28 km requires an 8 km thick layer with a P-velocity of 7 km/s beneath it, which could result from basal accretion of former Farallon ocean crust or magmatic underplating during Miocene volcanism. Forward models with a 65° Moho dip predict a P-to-s conversion with a phase velocity of ~5 km/s. Deconvolution of the array's mean P wave signal isolates a similar later arriving phase. The steep crust thickness transition supports a locally abrupt boundary to IB rifting. Our results highlight the utility of dense short-period arrays for passive imaging at near surface to uppermost mantle depths

An anisotropic contrast in the lithosphere across the central San Andreas fault

Seismic anisotropy of the lithosphere and asthenosphere was investigated with a dense broadband seismic transect nearly orthogonal to the central San Andreas fault (SAF). A contrast in SK(K)S splitting was found across the SAF, with a clockwise rotation of the fast orientation ~26° closer to the strike of the SAF and greater delay times for stations located within 35 km to the east. Dense seismograph spacing requires heterogeneous anisotropy east of the SAF in the uppermost mantle or crust. Based on existing station coverage, such a contrast in splitting orientations across the SAF may be unusual along strike and its location coincides with the high‐velocity Isabella anomaly in the upper mantle. If the Isabella anomaly is a fossil slab fragment translating with the Pacific plate, the anomalous splitting east of the SAF could indicate a zone of margin‐parallel shear beneath the western edge of North America

3-D crustal structure of the western United States: application of Rayleigh-wave ellipticity extracted from noise cross-correlations

We present a new 3-D seismic model of the western United States crust derived from a joint inversion of Rayleigh-wave phase velocity and ellipticity measurements using periods from 8 to 100 s. Improved constraints on upper-crustal structure result from use of short-period Rayleigh-wave ellipticity, or Rayleigh-wave H/V (horizontal to vertical) amplitude ratios, measurements determined using multicomponent ambient noise cross-correlations. To retain the amplitude ratio information between vertical and horizontal components, for each station, we perform daily noise pre-processing (temporal normalization and spectrum whitening) simultaneously for all three components. For each station pair, amplitude measurements between cross-correlations of different components (radial–radial, radial–vertical, vertical–radial and vertical–vertical) are then used to determine the Rayleigh-wave H/V ratios at the two station locations. We use all EarthScope/USArray Tranportable Array data available between 2007 January and 2011 June to determine the Rayleigh-wave H/V ratios and their uncertainties at all station locations and construct new Rayleigh-wave H/V ratio maps in the western United States between periods of 8 and 24 s. Combined with previous longer period earthquake Rayleigh-wave H/V ratio measurements and Rayleigh-wave phase velocity measurements from both ambient noise and earthquakes, we invert for a new 3-D crustal and upper-mantle model in the western United States. Correlation between the inverted model and known geological features at all depths suggests good resolution in five crustal layers. Use of short-period Rayleigh-wave H/V ratio measurements based on noise cross-correlation enables resolution of distinct near surface features such as the Columbia River Basalt flows, which overlie a thick sedimentary basin

A Middle Crustal Channel of Radial Anisotropy Beneath the Northeastern Basin and Range

A challenge in interpreting the origins of seismic anisotropy in deformed continental crust is that composition and rheology vary with depth. We investigated anisotropy in the northeastern Basin and Range where prior studies found prevalent depth‐averaged positive radial anisotropy (VSH > VSV). This study focuses on depth‐dependence of anisotropy and potentially distinct structures beneath three metamorphic core complexes (MCCs). Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion were measured using ambient noise interferometry, and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo inversions for VS structure were tested with several (an)isotropic parameterizations. Acceptable data fits with minimal introduction of anisotropy are achieved by models with anisotropy concentrated in the middle crust. The peak magnitude of anisotropy from the mean of the posterior distributions ranges from 3.5-5% and is concentrated at 8-20 km depth. Synthetic tests with one uniform layer of anisotropy best reproduce the regional mean results with 9% anisotropy at 6-22 km depth. Both magnitudes are plausible based on exhumed middle crustal rocks. The three MCCs exhibit ~5% higher isotropic upper crustal VS, likely due to their anomalous levels of exhumation, but no distinctive (an)isotropic structures at deeper depths. Regionally pervasive middle crustal positive radial anisotropy is interpreted as a result of subhorizontal foliation of mica‐bearing rocks deformed near the top of the ductile deformation regime. Decreasing mica content with depth and more broadly distributed deformation at lower stress levels may explain diminished lower crustal anisotropy. Absence of distinctive deep crustal VS beneath the MCCs suggests overprinting by ductile deformation since the middle Miocene.The facilities of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services, and specifically the IRIS Data Management Center (https://ds.iris.edu/ds/nodes/dmc/), were used for access to waveforms, related metadata, and/or derived products from seismograph networks used in this study (https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/TA; https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/YX_2010; https://doi.org/ 10.7932/BDSN; https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/CI; https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/IW; http://www.fdsn.org/ networks/detail/LB/; https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/US; https://doi.org/ 10.7914/SN/UU). IRIS Data Services are funded through the Seismological Facilities for the Advancement of Geoscience and EarthScope Proposal of the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Cooperative Agreement EAR‐ 1261681

Extracting seismic core phases with array interferometry

Seismic body waves that sample Earth's core are indispensable for studying the most remote regions of the planet. Traditional core phase studies rely on well-defined earthquake signals, which are spatially and temporally limited. We show that, by stacking ambient-noise cross-correlations between USArray seismometers, body wave phases reflected off the outer core (ScS), and twice refracted through the inner core (PKIKP^2) can be clearly extracted. Temporal correlation between the amplitude of these core phases and global seismicity suggests that the signals originate from distant earthquakes and emerge due to array interferometry. Similar results from a seismic array in New Zealand demonstrate that our approach is applicable in other regions and with fewer station pairs. Extraction of core phases by interferometry can significantly improve the spatial sampling of the deep Earth because the technique can be applied anywhere broadband seismic arrays exist

An anisotropic contrast in the lithosphere across the central San Andreas fault

Seismic anisotropy of the lithosphere and asthenosphere was investigated with a dense broadband seismic transect nearly orthogonal to the central San Andreas fault (SAF). A contrast in SK(K)S splitting was found across the SAF, with a clockwise rotation of the fast orientation ~26° closer to the strike of the SAF and greater delay times for stations located within 35 km to the east. Dense seismograph spacing requires heterogeneous anisotropy east of the SAF in the uppermost mantle or crust. Based on existing station coverage, such a contrast in splitting orientations across the SAF may be unusual along strike and its location coincides with the high‐velocity Isabella anomaly in the upper mantle. If the Isabella anomaly is a fossil slab fragment translating with the Pacific plate, the anomalous splitting east of the SAF could indicate a zone of margin‐parallel shear beneath the western edge of North America