A reappraisal of surface wave group velocity tomography in the Subantarctic Scotia Sea and surrounding ridges

Abstract

A reappraisal of surface wave tomography in the remote Scotia Sea region and surrounding ridges is presented. New group velocity dispersion curves were obtained from local and regional earthquakes recorded at permanent Antarctic stations from 2001 to 2013 and used to update the measurements reported by Vuan et al. (2000). Rayleigh and Love group velocity maps for periods ranging from 15 to 50s were retrieved using a tomographic inversion. The group velocity anomalies are clearly associated with the major crustal and upper mantle features of the Antarctic, Scotia and South American plates. The updated dataset allows for considerable decrease of the correlation length of the crustal heterogeneities that can be resolved, especially in the west Scotia Sea, central Scotia Sea and Bransfield Basin. Surface wave tomography results were compared with CRUST 1.0 group velocity maps and revealed specific areas where more detailed information is made available by our regional study. In particular, low group velocity anomalies of the Bransfield Strait rifting and continental fragments that are detached from the Antarctic Peninsula and spreading along the South Scotia ridge are not shown by the reference CRUST 1.0 model. A comparison between the average seismic velocities beneath the west and central Scotia Sea shows that both have an oceanic-type structure; however, the crust of the central sea is thicker (12–14km) and slower than that of the 20Ma old western sea.