Probing the sources of ambient seismic noise near the coasts of southern Italy

Abstract

In this study we probe the source of ambient noise in the southern Apennines and the Calabrian Arc by cross‐correlating two months of ambient seismic noise records collected during the Calabria‐Apennine‐Tyrrhenian/Subduction‐Collision‐Acretion Network (CAT/SCAN) project. Significant Rayleigh wave energy is observed on the vertical component of the noise correlation stacks and reveals multiple sources of ambient noise in southern Italy. The most dominant noise sources are found along (1) the Tyrrhenian coast of northern Calabria‐southern Campania and (2) the Adriatic Sea near the Gargano Promontory. Enhanced ocean currents evident from buoy records during the study period could be responsible for the observed microseisms. We validate the source locations using earthquake records and the consistency between noise and earthquake correlation functions supports the observed dominant directions of ambient seismic noise.