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Crustal and upper-mantle structure in the Eastern Mediterranean from the analysis of surface wave dispersion curves
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Abstract
The dispersive properties of surface waves are used to infer earth structure in the Eastern
Mediterranean region. Using group velocity maps for Rayleigh and Love waves from 7100
s, we
invert for the best 1D crust and uppermantle
structure at a regular series of points. Assembling the
results produces a 3D lithospheric model, along with corresponding maps of sediment and crustal
thickness. A comparison of our results to other studies finds the uncertainties of the Moho estimates to
be about 5 km. We find thick sediments beneath most of the Eastern Mediterranean basin, in the
Hellenic subduction zone and the Cyprus arc. The Ionian Sea is more characteristic of oceanic crust
than the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean region as demonstrated in particular by the crustal thickness.
We also find significant crustal thinning in the Aegean Sea portion of the backarc,
particularly towards
the south. Notably slower Swave
velocities are found in the uppermantle,
especially in the northern
Red Sea and Dead Sea Rift, central Turkey, and along the subduction zone. The low velocities in the
uppermantle
that span from North Africa to Crete, in the Libyan Sea, might be an indication of
serpentinized mantle from the subducting African lithosphere. We also find evidence of a strong
reverse correlation between sediment and crustal thickness which, while previously demonstrated for
extensional regions, also seems applicable for this convergence zone