P wave seismic velocity and Vp/Vs ratio beneath the Italian peninsula from local earthquake tomography

Abstract

We investigate the P wave velocity structure and the Vp/Vs ratio beneath the Italian peninsula down to 100 and 60 km depth respectively by seismic travel time tomography. We invert data provided by the International Seismological Centre (ISC) (1997–2005), making use of some alternative strategies for the travel time approach in a well constrained and worldwide adopted code (SIMULPS). Resolution for the different layers is discussed and sensitivity analyses are performed through test inversions to explore the resolution characteristics of the model at different spatial scales. The resulting tomographic images provide a detailed sketch of the P wave anomalies, clearly showing, among the other features, the shape of the Ivrea body in the Western Alps, the upwelling of the oceanic crust in the Ligurian Sea and the slab under the Calabrian arc. They are less informative for the Vp/Vs ratio. Nevertheless, some features are very interesting and deserve further investigation like the anomalous decrease of the Vp/Vs ratio under the Ligurian Sea or the variations of the Vp/Vs ratio calculated in the first 10 km depth of the Apenninic region with respect to the lower values of the Alpine region at the same depth. The tomographic cross sections reveal a continuous superposition of two kinds of crusts (transitional over Adriatic) all along the peninsula but do not show any slab, intended as a clear, vertical downgoing high velocity material in either the northern or central Apennines.