Lithospheric structure of Southeast Anatolia from joint inversion of local and teleseismic data

Abstract

A joint tomographic inversion of local and teleseismic arrival times recorded at 41 seismic stations in southeast Anatolia is conducted to study the 3-D lithospheric velocity structure and its relation to the prevailing tectonic processes. A total of 21300 arrivals from local and teleseismic events are used in the final inversion. The tomographic model reveals prominent lower crustal/uppermost mantle low-velocity anomalies. High-velocity zones are imaged in the western part of the study area. The background seismic activity occurs mainly at the low-velocity areas and to a lesser extent in some high-velocity zones. Large crustal earthquakes occur in average velocity zones, but not in high-velocity areas that can resist stress. Results of the checkerboard resolution test indicate the reliability of the obtained images; while the large hit counts at most depth slices denote reasonable ray-path coverage for most parts of the study area. The obtained velocity anomalies are generally consistent with many previous geophysical measurements and give much deeper understanding of the current seismotectonic processes occurring in the region.