Seismic wide‐angle constraints on the crust of the southern Urals

Abstract

A wide‐angle seismic reflection/refraction data set was acquired during spring 1995 across the southern Urals to characterize the lithosphere beneath this Paleozoic orogen. The wide‐angle reflectivity features a strong frequency dependence. While the lower crustal reflectivity is in the range of 6–15 Hz, the PmP is characterized by frequencies below 6 Hz. After detailed frequency filtering, the seismic phases constrain a new average P wave velocity crustal model that consists of an upper layer of 5.0–6.0 km/s, which correlates with the surface geology; 5–7 km depths at which the velocities increase to 6.2–6.3 km/s; 10–30 km depths at which, on average, the crust is characterized by velocities of 6.6 km/s; and finally, the lower crust, from 30–35 km down to the Moho, which has velocities ranging from 6.8 to 7.4 km/s. Two different S wave velocity models, one for the N‐S and one for the E‐W, were derived from the analysis of the horizontal component recordings. Crustal sections of Poisson's ratio and anisotropy were calculated from the velocity models. The Poisson's ratio increases in the lower crust at both sides of the root zone. A localized 2–3% anisotropy zone is imaged within the lower crust beneath the terranes east of the root. This feature is supported by time differences in the SmS phase and by the particle motion diagrams, which reveal two polarized directions of motion. Velocities are higher in the central part of the orogen than for the Siberian and eastern plates. These seismic recordings support a 50–56 km crustal thickness beneath the central part of the orogen in contrast to Moho depths of ≈ 45 km documented at the edges of the transect. The lateral variation of the PmP phase in frequency content and in waveform can be taken as evidence of different genetic origins of the Moho in the southern Urals.