The spatial sensitivity of Sp converted waves—scattered-wave kernels and their applications to receiver-function migration and inversion

Abstract

We characterize the spatial sensitivity of Sp converted waves to improve constraints on lateral variations in uppermost-mantle velocity gradients, such as the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) and the mid-lithospheric discontinuities. We use SPECFEM2D to generate 2-D scattering kernels that relate perturbations from an elastic half-space to Sp waveforms. We then show that these kernels can be well approximated using ray theory, and develop an approach to calculating kernels for layered background models. As proof of concept, we show that lateral variations in uppermost-mantle discontinuity structure are retrieved by implementing these scattering kernels in the first iteration of a conjugate-directions inversion algorithm. We evaluate the performance of this technique on synthetic seismograms computed for 2-D models with undulations on the LAB of varying amplitude, wavelength and depth. The technique reliably images the position of discontinuities with dips <35° and horizontal wavelengths >100–200 km. In cases of mild topography on a shallow LAB, the relative brightness of the LAB and Moho converters approximately agrees with the ratio of velocity contrasts across the discontinuities. Amplitude retrieval degrades at deeper depths. For dominant periods of 4 s, the minimum station spacing required to produce unaliased results is 5 km, but the application of a Gaussian filter can improve discontinuity imaging where station spacing is greater.