One-dimensional Shear Velocity Structure of Northern Africa from Rayleigh Wave Group Velocity Dispersion

Abstract

Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion measurements from 10 s to 160 s periods have been made for paths traversing Northern Africa. Data were accumulated from the IRIS DMC, GEOSCOPE, and MEDNET seismic networks covering the years 1991–1997. The group velocity measurements are made including the effects of debiasing for instantaneous period and a single-iteration, mode-isolation (phase match) filter. The curves are grouped by tectonic province and compared to tomographic model-based curves in an effort to test and validate the tomographic models. Within each tectonic category (rift, orogenic zone, or craton) group velocity curves from various provinces are similar. Between tectonic categories, however, there are marked differences. The rift related paths exhibit the lowest group velocities observed, and cratonic paths the fastest. One-dimensional shear velocity inversions are performed, and while highly nonunique, the ranges of models show significant differences in upper mantle velocities between the tectonic provinces.This work is part of a larger project to determine group velocity maps for North Africa and the Middle East. The work presented here provides important tools for the validation of tomographic group velocity models. This is accomplished by comparing group velocity curves calculated from the tomographic models with carefully selected high-quality group velocity measurements. The final group velocity models will be used in M s measurements, which will contribute to the m b :M s discriminant important to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The improved shear wave velocity models provided by this study also contribute to the detection, location, and identification of seismic sources.Key wordsSeismologysurface wavesAfricamantlecrustlithosphere