Abstract
A large number of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves recorded at twenty three seismic stations was used to investigate the 3-D shear wave velocity structure of the northeastern Brazilian lithosphere. A simple procedure to generate a three-dimensional image of Mohorovicic； discontinuity was applied in northeastern Brazil and the Moho 3-D image was in agreement with several isolated crustal thicknesses obtained with different geophysical methods. A detailed 3-D S wave velocity model is proposed for the region. In the crust, our model is more realist than CRUST2.0 global model, because it shows more details either laterally or in depth than global model, i.e., clear lateral variation and gradual increase of S wave velocity in depth. Down to 100 km depth, the 3-D S wave velocity model in northeastern Brazil is dominated by low velocities and this is consistent either with heat flow measurements or with measurements of the flexural strength of the lithosphere developed in the South American continent. Our 3-D S wave velocity model was also used to obtain the lithosphere thickness in each cell of the northeastern Brazil and the results were consistent with global studies about the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary worldwide.
Highlights
The small quantity and the poor distribution of seismic stations in the Brazilian territory can be considered theThe recent installation of modern seismic stations in the South America continent, as initiative of international institutions (IRIS, GEOFON, GEOSCOPE, etc.) and, mainly, with the seismic data available to the seismological community, has allowed the development of more detailed studies about the earth’s interior in Brazil
A large number of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves recorded at twenty three seismic stations of Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Consortium was used to investigate the 3-D shear wave velocity structure of the northeastern Brazilian lithosphere
A simple procedure was used to generate a three-dimensional image of Mohorovičić Discontinuity in northeastern Brazil and it was in agreement with several isolated crustal thicknesses obtained with different geophysical methods
Summary
The small quantity and the poor distribution of seismic stations in the Brazilian territory can be considered theThe recent installation of modern seismic stations in the South America continent, as initiative of international institutions (IRIS, GEOFON, GEOSCOPE, etc.) and, mainly, with the seismic data available to the seismological community, has allowed the development of more detailed studies about the earth’s interior in Brazil. The investigation was concentrated in specific areas of the continent, such central and western South America ([11]) In this study, they used waveform of Rayleigh waves to image the 3-D S wave velocity structure of the region. In other study in the South America continent, [12] used both Rayleigh (from 10 to 150 s) and Love waves (from 20 to 70 s) group-velocities to analyze the 3-D S-velocity structure of the region. The most recent study about the S wave velocity structure beneath South America continent was presented by [14] He used a group of 128 earthquakes occurred at western South America continent and recorded by 71 seismic stations distributed throughout continental part of the region. None evaluation about spatial resolution (either qualitative or quantitative) of the estimated shear wave velocity in the region is presented. A qualitative evaluation of the resolution (i.e., the terms bad resolution and poor resolution are applied to classify the resolution in depth) is presented and discussed
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