Abstract

CORCHETE, V. Shear-wave Velocity Structure of Greenland from Rayleigh-wave Analysis. Earth Sci. Res. J. [online]. 2016, vol.20, n.1, pp.1-11. ISSN 1794-6190.  https://doi.org/10.15446/esrj.v20n1.41079.

The elastic structure beneath Greenland is shown by means of S-velocity maps for depths ranging from zero to 350 km, determined by the regionalization and inversion of Rayleigh-wave dispersion. The traces of 50 earthquakes, occurring from 1990 to 2011, have been used to obtain Rayleigh-wave dispersion data. These earthquakes were registered by 21 seismic station located in Greenland and the surrounding area. The dispersion curves were obtained for periods between 5 and 200 s, by digital filtering with a combination of MFT (Multiple Filter Technique) and TVF (Time Variable Filtering). Later, all seismic events (and some stations) were grouped to obtain a dispersion curve for each source-station path. These dispersion curves were regionalized and inverted according to the generalized inversion theory, to obtain shear-wave velocity models for a rectangular grid of 16x20 points. The shear-velocity structure obtained through this procedure is shown in the S-velocity maps plotted for several depths. These results agree well with the geology and other geophysical results previously obtained. The obtained S-velocity models suggest the existence of lateral and vertical heterogeneity. The zones with consolidated and old structures present greater S-velocity values than the other zones, although this difference can be very little or negligible in some case. Nevertheless, in the depth range of 15 to 45 km, the different Moho depths present in the study area generate the principal variation of S-velocity. A similar behaviour is found for the depth range from 80 to 230 km, in which the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) generates the principal variations of S-velocity. Finally, the new and interesting feature obtained in this study: the definition of the base of the asthenosphere (for the whole study area and for depths ranging from 130 to 280 km, respectively) should be highlighted.

Keywords : Rayleigh wave; Shear wave; crust; upper mantle; Greenland.

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