Stepwise joint inversion of surface wave dispersion,Rayleigh wave ZH ratio,and receiver function data for 1D crustal shear wave velocity structure

Accurate determination of seismic velocity of the crust is important for understanding regional tectonics and crustal evolution of the Earth. We propose a stepwise joint linearized inversion method using surface wave dispersion, Rayleigh wave ZH ratio （i.e., ellipticity）, and receiver function data to better resolve 1D crustal shear wave velocity （Vs） structure. Surface wave dispersion and Rayleigh wave ZH ratio data are more sensitive to absolute variations of shear wave speed at depths, but their sensi- tivity kernels to shear wave speeds are different and complimentary. However, receiver function data are more sensitive to sharp velocity contrast （e.g., due to the existence of crustal interfaces） and Vp/Vs ratios. The stepwise inversion method takes advantages of the complementary sensitivities of each dataset to better constrain the Vs model in the crust. We firstly invert surface wave dispersion and ZH ratio data to obtain a 1D smooth absolute vs model and then incorporate receiver function data in the joint inver- sion to obtain a finer Vs model with better constraints on interface structures. Through synthetic tests, Monte Carlo error analyses, and application to real data, we demonstrate that the proposed joint inversion method can resolve robust crustal Vs structures and with little initial model dependency.

HYBRID ANALYSIS FOR SURFACE-WAVE EFFECTS ON ELECTRICALLY LARGE 2-D BODIES WITH CRACKS

A hybrid technique to compute the surface-wave scattering of electrically large 2-D bodies with cracks by combining the current-based hybrid method and the finite element method is presented in this letter. Based on the equivalence theorem, the field scattered by a body with cracks can be divided into two parts: the scattering from the body without cracks and that from the cracks. Some numerical results have been obtained and the feasibility of the proposed method is shown.

Rayleigh wave phase velocity tomography and strong earthquake activity on the southeastern front of the Tibetan Plateau

To investigate the relationship between velocity structure and earthquake activity on the southeastern front of the Tibetan Plat- eau, we make use of continuous observations of seismic ambient noise data obtained at 55 broadband stations from the regional Yunnan Seismic Network. These data are used to compute Rayleigh wave Green＇s Functions by cross-correlating between two stations, extracting phase velocity dispersion curves, and finally inverting to image Rayleigh wave phase velocity with periods between 5 and 34 s by ambient noise tomography. The results tie structures in the studied region. Phase velocity anomalies show significant lateral variations in crustal and uppermost man- at short periods （5-12 s） are closely related to regional tectonic features such as sediment thickness and the depth of the crystalline basement. The Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block, enclosed by the Honghe, Xiaojiang and Jianchuan faults, emerges as a large range of low-velocity anomalies at periods of 16-26 s, that in- verts to high-velocity anomalies at periods of 30-34 s. The phase velocity variation in the vicinity of the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block suggests that the low-velocity anomaly area in the middle-lower crust may correspond to lower crustal channel- ized flow of the Tibetan Plateau. The spatial distribution of strong earthquakes since 1970 reveals that the Yunnan region is inhomogeneous and shows prominent characteristics of block motion. However, earthquakes mostly occur in the upper crust, with the exception of the middle-Yunnan block where earthquakes occur at the interface zone between high and low velocity as well as in the low-velocity zones, with magnitudes being generally less than 7. There are few earthquakes of magnitude 5 at the depths of 15-30 km, where gather earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher ones which mainly occur in the interface zone between high and low velocities with others extending to the high-velocity abnormal zone.