Structure of the upper mantle in Asia from phase and group velocities of Rayleigh waves

Abstract

Dispersion curves of phase velocities of Rayleigh waves are determined by the method of frequency-time analysis in a range of periods of 10–200 s from data of 43 interstation traces in Central Asia. Because the joint use of phase and group velocities significantly decreases the uncertainty in the determination of S wave velocity structures, the same traces were used for calculating group velocities from tomographic reconstructions obtained in [Yanovskaya and Kozhevnikov, 2003, 2006] and determining average velocity structures along these traces. The velocity structures were calculated by the Monte Carlo and linear inversion methods, which gave consistent results. Using velocity values obtained at fixed depths by the 2-D tomography method, lateral variations in velocities at these depths were estimated, which allowed us to construct smoothed vertical velocity structures at some points in the region. The resulting structures were used as initial approximations for constructing local velocity structures solely from previously obtained local dispersion curves of group velocities in the area (32°–56°N, 80°–120°E). Based on these structures, we mapped the lateral distribution of velocity variations at upper mantle depths of 75–400 km and along three vertical profiles. The inferred velocity variations are in good agreement with data on the tectonics of the region.