Shear velocity structure and azimuthal anisotropy beneath eastern North America from Rayleigh wave inversion

Abstract

We have obtained shear velocity structure beneath the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada using Rayleigh wave phases and amplitudes. Thin crust (36–42 km) is observed along the Atlantic coast and in the eastern Appalachian orogen, and thick crust (42–46 km) is imaged in the western Appalachians and in the western New York portion of the Grenville Province. The variation of crustal thickness correlates well with the observed Bouguer gravity anomalies. In the upper mantle, the high‐velocity continental keel of cratonic North America is present in the western part of the study area, while a broad low‐velocity region is imaged in New England from the Hudson River valley to the White Mountains. This low‐velocity anomaly is probably the consequence of past heating of the lithospheric mantle associated with the Monteregian hotspot and may represent intrusion of asthenosphere into the edge of the keel. In addition to lateral variations in velocity, we estimate the azimuthal dependence of phase velocity. Strong and relatively uniform shear wave splitting is observed in the study region, but at periods of 100 s or less, the average azimuthal anisotropy of Rayleigh waves is less than 1% and is not significantly different from zero at any individual period. This small degree of azimuthal anisotropy is not consistent with a substantial contribution to shear wave splitting from fossil anisotropy in the lithosphere. Much of the source of the shear wave splitting must lie deeper than 200 km.