Earth's Interior Research Articles

Initial Study of Students' Critical Thinking Ability Level and Concept Mastery on Earth Structure Material

Critical thinking and concept mastery is an important ability for every student to have. So, educators need to get information about the level of skills possessed by student. This study aims to describe the initial level of critical thinking skills and mastery of students' concepts, as well as the relationship between critical thinking skills and mastery of students' concepts on earth structure material in class VIII at SMP Negeri 2 Namang. The methodology used in the research is descriptive quantitative, using a critical thinking ability test and concept mastery test, and qualitative, using interviews. Students' critical thinking and concept mastery tests showed an average score of 43.78 and 55.94, with a fairly low category. The average value of the inference indicator was 25.97, and the indicator of making further explanations was 37.01. Both are the lowest indicators that still need to be improved. In contrast, the average value of the strategy and tactics indicator is 73.95, which is in the high category. The significance value obtained is <0.001, which indicates that there is a strong, significant, and directly proportional relationship between critical thinking skills and concept mastery, with a correlation coefficient value of 0.803. The results of the interview show the low enthusiasm of students in learning the structure of the earth due to the lack of a variety of media used and test questions that are not used to being done.

DRRGlobal: Uncovering the weak phases from global seismograms using the damped rank-reduction method

Some target seismic signals in the earthquake data can be very weak compared with interfering phases, and are thus difficult to detect, which further hinders the effective usage of these weak phases for subsequent high-resolution imaging of earth interiors. The strong ambient noise makes this situation even more troublesome since the weak signals can be mostly buried in the noise. Here, we present an open-source package for uncovering the weak phases from global seismograms. We adopt a two-step scheme to reconstruct and denoise array data. The first step is weighted average interpolation which puts the data into irregular grids. The second step adopts the weighted projection-onto-convex sets based on damped rank-reduction to further interpolate and denoise for the binned data. Taking the complexity of the weak signal into consideration, we adopt the automatic strategy to select an appropriate rank in different localized windows. We conduct several synthetic tests to carefully investigate the performance regarding effectiveness, robustness, and efficiency, and compare the algorithm with the frequency–wavenumber-domain projection onto convex sets method that is already used in the global seismology literature. Finally, the proposed framework is validated via a recorded array data set of the 1995 May 5 Philippines earthquake.

Dense Hydrated Magnesium Carbonate MgCO3·3H2O Phases.

The study of the structural stability of carbonates under different pressure and temperature conditions is important for modeling the carbon budget in the Earth's interior and the stability of carbonation products of carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions. In this work, we confirm the existence of the two dense polymorphs of the hydrated magnesium carbonate MgCO3·3H2O nesquehonite mineral previously reported, and we characterize their structures using synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 3.1 and 11.6 GPa. Phase transitions entail the distortion and atomic rearrangement of the Mg-centered polyhedra and the tilting of the [CO3] carbonate units. In particular, the Mg coordination number increases from 6 in nesquehonite to 7 in the second high-pressure phase, while maintaining a topology based on complex MgCO3(H2O)2 chains. We also studied their vibrational behavior upon compression using Raman spectroscopy and complemented the experimental results with density-functional theory (DFT) calculations. The role played by hydrogen bonds in the compressibility and the polymorphism of this hydrated carbonate is also discussed.

Effect of stress conditions on concentrated leak erosion resistant of fine-grained soils with different characteristics

AbstractInternal erosion is one of the most important factors that cause earth structures that retain water, such as embankment dams, to collapse. Concentrated leak erosion, one of the forms of internal erosion, occurs in cracked fine-grained soils and pressurized flow conditions. To evaluate the concentrated leak erosion risk of cracks/voids, it is necessary to ascertain the erosion resistance of these materials. The erosion rate and critical shear stresses determine internal erosion resistance in concentrated leak erosion. This study determined soil’s concentrated leak erosion resistance using test equipment that allowed the flow to pass through a hole with stress-free (no loading), anisotropic-compression stress, anisotropic-expansion stress, and isotropic stress conditions. The stresses that developed in the samples’ hole wall where erosion occurred were determined with numerical modeling as pre-experimental stress conditions. The experiments were performed under a single hydraulic head on four selected cohesive soils with different erosion sensitivity. Time-dependent flow rates obtained from the test system can be used to determine hydraulic parameters, such as energy grade lines, with the help of basic theorems of pipe hydraulics in theoretical hydraulic models. Moreover, the erosion rates were quantitatively determined using the continuity equation, while critical shear stresses were qualitatively compared for concentrated leak erosion developed by the dispersion mechanism. As a result of the experiments, stress conditions influence the concentrated leak erosion resistance in the soil samples with dispersive erosion. Moreover, the shear strength in the Mohr–Coulomb hypothesis can explain the erosion resistance in these soils under stress conditions depending on the sand/clay ratio.

К оценке геодинамической устойчивости геосфер Земли

The Earth, as a system, is characterized by certain average state parameters (density, temperature). These parameters cannot but depend on similar states of internal geospheres (subsystems), which follow the unified law of increasing entropy of the cooling Earth from the center in the direction of the Earth's radius. As a model for assessing the dynamic stability of the Earth's internal geospheres relative to each other, the principle of the golden proportion (golden section) was used with the given parameters of density, temperature, power of the geospheres to the extreme ratios of their states at points (0.618; 1.618; 2.618), which determine the conditions for the stable dynamic equilibrium of the compared parameters of geospheres. And if these relations satisfied the known theoretical, model, geophysical data, then the conclusion was made that the geospheres in the compared parameter relations were in a state close to a stable dynamic equilibrium of the exchange of matter and energy between them. Otherwise, it was recognized that the compared geospheres of the Earth were in a state of either unstable dynamic equilibrium with an assessment of the level of this deviation from the golden numbers, or the known values of the density and temperature of the geospheres, as well as their structure, should be subject to clarification. Average model estimates of the parameters of the Earth's internal geospheres reach a stable dynamic equilibrium at a level of deviation from the golden numbers of up to 2.72 %. This allows estimating the model duration of the modern geological activity of the Earth for another 124 million years until the formation of a new state of the existing continents. The instability of the dynamic equilibrium of density and temperature of matter is established at the boundaries: continental and oceanic crust; oceanic crust and Golitsin layer; at the boundary between the outer part of the Earth's core and the lower mantle; inside the Earth's core at the level of identified transition zones in the four-layer core model. The presence of spheres with a high core density from 16.05 to 26.45 g/cm3 suggests the stratification of its central part into essentially gold and platinoid. The presence of instability boundaries in the dynamic state of geospheres is in good agreement with the concept of plate tectonics and with the depths of plume origin. It can be assumed that the relative equilibrium of the internal structure of the Earth will continue for about 124 million years until the beginning of the formation of a new Pangea Proxima, which, according to Cristofor Scotese, will arise in 200 million years.

Global mantle conductivity imaging using 3-D geomagnetic depth sounding with real earth surface conductivity constraint

The water content in the Earth's interior is of great significance for material circulation and the dynamic evolution of the planet. The water content in mantle minerals significantly affects their conductivities. By measuring the variations in conductivity within the Earth, we can infer the water content in the mantle and study the movement and processes of materials within the Earth. The geomagnetic depth sounding is a widely used method for imaging the mantle conductivity as it has large sounding depth. However, the ocean induction effects can seriously impact geomagnetic data that can't be well corrected using conventional methods. Here, we present a novel three-dimensional inversion method for geomagnetic depth sounding to overcome the ocean induction effects by directly adopt the real earth surface conductivity into the inverse model. In this method, the unstructured tetrahedral grids are used to represent the model in multi-scale and the vector finite-element method is adopted to accurately compute the geomagnetic responses. The synthetic model tests show that the earth surface conductivity has serious effect on the inversion results, but it can be well suppressed by directly modeling it in the inverse model. We further invert the data from 128 geomagnetic stations around the world and obtain a more accurate new model of global mantle conductivity.

Two-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic waves on a rotating sphere under a non-Malkus field: I. Continuous spectrum and its ray-theoretical interpretation

Two-dimensional ideal incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) linear waves at the surface of a rotating sphere are studied as a model to imitate the outermost layer of the Earth's core or the solar tachocline. This thin conducting layer is permeated by a toroidal magnetic field the magnitude of which depends only on the latitude. The Malkus background field, which is proportional to the sine of the colatitude, provides two well-known groups of branches; on one branch, retrograde Alfvén waves gradually become fast magnetic Rossby (MR) waves as the field amplitude decreases, and on the other, prograde Alfvén waves undergo a gradual transition into slow MR waves. In the case of non-Malkus fields, we demonstrate that the associated eigenvalue problems can yield a continuous spectrum instead of Alfvén and slow MR discrete modes. The critical latitudes attributed to the Alfvén resonance eliminate these discrete eigenvalues and produce an infinite number of singular eigenmodes. The theory of slowly varying wave trains in an inhomogeneous magnetic field shows that a wave packet related to this continuous spectrum propagates toward a critical latitude corresponding to the wave and is eventually absorbed there. The expected behaviour whereby the retrograde propagating packets pertaining to the continuous spectrum approach the latitudes from the equatorial side and the prograde ones approach from the polar side is consistent with the profiles of their eigenfunctions derived using our numerical calculations. Further in-depth discussions of the Alfvén continuum would develop the theory of the “wave–mean field interaction” in the MHD system and the understanding of the dynamics in such thin layers.

A long section of serpentinized depleted mantle peridotite.

The upper mantle is critical for our understanding of terrestrial magmatism, crust formation, and element cycling between Earth's solid interior, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Mantle composition and evolution have been primarily inferred by surface sampling and indirect methods. We recovered a long (1268-meter) section of serpentinized abyssal mantle peridotite interleaved with thin gabbroic intrusions. We find depleted compositions with notable variations in mantle mineralogy controlled by melt flow. Dunite zones have predominantly intermediate dips, in contrast to the originally steep mantle fabrics, indicative of oblique melt transport. Extensive hydrothermal fluid-rock interaction is recorded across the full depth of the core and is overprinted by oxidation in the upper 200 meters. Alteration patterns are consistent with vent fluid composition in the nearby Lost City hydrothermal field.

Controllable Seismic Velocity Synthesis Using Generative Diffusion Models

AbstractAccurate seismic velocity estimations are vital to understanding Earth's subsurface structures, assessing natural resources, and evaluating seismic hazards. Machine learning‐based inversion algorithms have shown promising performance in regional (i.e., for exploration) and global velocity estimations, while their effectiveness hinges on access to large and diverse training data sets whose distributions generally cover the target solutions. Additionally, enhancing the precision and reliability of velocity estimation also requires incorporating prior information, for example, geological classes, well logs, and subsurface structures, but current statistical or neural network‐based methods are not flexible enough to handle such multimodal information. To address both challenges, we propose to use conditional generative diffusion models for seismic velocity synthesis in which we readily incorporate those priors. This approach enables the generation of seismic velocities that closely match the expected target distribution, offering data sets informed by both expert knowledge and measured data to support training for data‐driven geophysical methods. We demonstrate the flexibility and effectiveness of our method through training diffusion models on the OpenFWI data set under various conditions, including class labels, well logs, reflectivity images, and the combination of these priors. The performance of the approach under out‐of‐distribution conditions further underscores its generalization ability, showcasing its potential to provide tailored priors for velocity inverse problems and create specific training data sets for machine learning‐based geophysical applications.

Experimental Study of Soil Compaction with Proctor Standard Test Equipment

Soil is the surface layer of the earth which consists of minerals, organic materials, air, living things. Clay soil is one type of soil that is important in determining the bearing capacity of subgrade required for construction. The bearing capacity of the soil is obtained by compacting it, using the TS-365 Automatic Standard Proctor. Soil compaction is the process of removing air from the pores of the soil, and is effective for improving soil properties in order to increase the density (density) of the soil so that shear strength increases, soil settlement decreases, and soil permeability decreases. The standard proctor test uses 5 separate soil samples weighing 2 kg, with a mixture of 16%, 19%, 22%, 25% and 28% air respectively. The test results show that the soil obtained from the Pojok sub-district area. Mojoroto, East Java obtained the results of soil compaction data using a standard proctor test, it was obtained that the optimum dry volume weight of the soil was 1,630 gr/cm3 and the optimum water content was 32%. So that the results of soil testing in the laboratory can be used as a reference for controlling soil compaction in construction.

Application Examples and Capabilities of Combining Passive Seismic Methods to Study Depth Structure of the Earth’s Crust

Application Examples and Capabilities of Combining Passive Seismic Methods to Study Depth Structure of the Earth’s Crust

Ambient noise tomography of an iron-oxide copper–gold (IOCG) deposit under thick cover

As most outcropping and shallow mineral deposits have been found, new technology is imperative to finding the hidden critical mineral deposits required for the renewable energy transition. One such seismic technique, called ambient noise tomography (ANT), has shown promise in recent years as a low cost and low environmental impact passive method of three-dimensional (3D) imaging of shear-wave velocity structure of the Earth. Over the last twenty years the method has been well-established in academia to image crustal and regional scale geological features but has seldom been used at the mineral exploration deposit-scale. In this paper we show the application of seismic ANT at an IOCG deposit in South Australia under more than 750 m of sedimentary cover. A 100-site survey in a 10 by 10 grid with site spacing of 1 km, using 3-component nodal seismometers with a natural-frequency of 5 Hz, was conducted over a two-week period. Data were inverted to generate a 3D velocity model to a depth of 2 km. When compared to drillholes in the survey area, the tomographic model delineates cover sequence lithologies and the depth of crystalline basement. A velocity anomaly in the basement has characteristics of a potential IOCG deposit and is aligned with a gravity anomaly due to brecciated haematite. The results of the paper indicate that ANT is a useful tool for deep cover mineral exploration that can potentially expedite the discovery of new deposits.

Monitoring of Channel Deformations of the Lower Dniester Using Topographic Maps and Satellite Imagery with the Implementation of GIS Technologies

Rivers are one of the most complex formations on the Earth’s surface; they are connected with the deep structure of the Earth, the landscape environment, and unpredictable weather cataclysms. The study aims to investigate the peculiarities of the geological structure and tectonics of the Lower Dniester region, examine the types of meanders, determine the horizontal displacements of the riverbed, and assess the impact of anthropogenic factors on the riverbed and riparian areas. The methodology is based on the use of tectonic maps, geological maps of Quaternary deposits, historical topographic maps, and satellite images to determine the long-term horizontal displacements of the riverbed, identify meander types, and study the meandering characteristics and their relationships with tectonic structures. Horizontal riverbed displacements were measured at 76 points using data from the 1980 map and a Sentinel-2 image obtained in 2020. For the purpose of studying the types of meanders and their analysis, it is proposed to use the characteristics of meanders and their relationships. This approach will allow for more efficient analysis and prediction of changes in channel processes under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors across various temporal scales. The research shows that the Lower Dniester region is influenced by the tectonics of internal structures and the seismically active Vrancea zone in Romania. Additionally, a comparison of cartographic data from 1880 and 1980 and satellite images from 2020 allows us to assess how the territory of the Lower Dniester riparian area has changed under the influence of anthropogenic factors.

Spectral induced polarization tomography inversion: Hybridizing homotopic continuation with Bayesian inversion

Induced polarization tomography offers the potential to better characterize the subsurface structures by considering spectral content from data acquisition over a broad frequency range. Spectral induced polarization (SIP) tomography is generally defined as a nonlinear inverse problem commonly solved through deterministic gradient-based methods. To this end, the spectral parameters, i.e., direct current resistivity, chargeability, relaxation time, and frequency exponent, are resolved by individually or simultaneously inverting all frequency data, followed by fitting a generalized Cole-Cole model to the inverted complex resistivities. Due to the high correlation between the Cole-Cole model parameters and a lack of knowledge about the initial approximation of the spectral parameters, using the classical least-squares methods may lead to inaccurate solutions and impede reliable uncertainty analysis. To cope with these limitations, we introduce a new approach based on a hybrid application of a globally convergent homotopic continuation method and a Bayesian inference to reconstruct the distribution of the subsurface spectral parameters. The homotopic optimization, owing to its fast and global convergence, is first implemented to invert multifrequency SIP data sets aimed at retrieving the complex-valued resistivity. Then, Bayesian inversion based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling method, along with a priori information including the lower and upper bounds of the prior distributions, is used to invert the complex resistivity for the Cole-Cole model parameters. By applying the MCMC inversion algorithm, a full nonlinear uncertainty appraisal can be provided. We numerically evaluate the performance of our method using synthetic and real data examples in the presence of topographical effects. Numerical results prove that the homotopic continuation method outperforms the classic, smooth inversion algorithm in the sense of approximation accuracy and computational efficiency. In addition, we determine that our hybrid inversion strategy provides reliable representations of the main features and structure of the earth’s subsurface in terms of the spectral parameters.

Results of the CO2 diffuse degassing survey from the 2017 IAVCEI CCVG 13th volcanic gas workshop: Pululahua Dome Complex, Ecuador

Pululahua is a potentially active andesite and dacite lava dome complex. This paper presents the results of a survey focused on carbon dioxide (CO2) diffuse degassing at Pululahua, which was conducted during the 2017 International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) Commission of the Chemistry of Volcanic Gases (CCVG) 13th Gas Workshop. Our objective was to conduct a comprehensive investigation of CO2 diffuse degassing by employing standard methods for measuring CO2 flux and temperature, and data processing. These methods were applied to map the spatial distribution of the measured parameters, investigate the origin of CO2, and quantify the volcanic CO2 output within the surveyed area of Pululahua. We carried out a total of 350 soil CO2 flux and 329 soil temperature measurements and collected 12 gas samples for carbon isotopic composition analysis, surrounding the three youngest domes in the complex. In addition, seventeen CO2 flux measurements over a thermal water pool were performed. Our findings indicate that the diffuse emission at Pululahua's crater floor is fed by both biogenic and volcanic CO2. Fluxes from each source are similar in magnitude, with approximately 90% of the measurements falling into an intermediate flux range. The occurrence of volcanic CO2 emissions is supported by the carbon isotopic composition. Diffuse degassing distribution highlights a CO2 anomaly surrounding the younger domes within the crater. We estimated the CO2 diffuse emission using both statistical and geostatistical approaches over area of 3.36 km2, resulting in values of 154.2 t d−1 and 126.2 t d−1 respectively. Based on the geostatistical quantification of the total CO2 emission from soil degassing, Pululahua's crater volcanic CO2 contribution is estimated between 59 and 97 t d−1. Finally, the potential hazards associated with the release of cold CO2 at Pululahua's crater are also discussed.

Development of a modular half-duplex frequency-agile X-band transceiver for CubeSats and robotic spacecraft

The EPFL Spacecraft Team (EST) is working on the Constellation of High-Performance Exospheric Science Satellites (CHESS) mission, which aims to launch a constellation of two CubeSats in 2027. These CubeSats will study the chemical composition of Earth’s exosphere using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. To downlink the collected scientific data, the satellites will utilise a custom X-band transceiver, presented in this paper, operating in the amateur frequency range of 10.45GHz to 10.50GHz. The proposed transceiver architecture employs Software-Defined Radio (SDR) technology and can be easily adapted for different use cases. This modular approach has the potential to be suitable for future spacecraft missions, such as active debris removal or lifetime extension services, where flexible communication systems are required.

Lithospheric structure of the Paraná, Chaco-Paraná, and Pantanal basins: Insights from ambient noise and earthquake-based surface wave tomography

To investigate the lithospheric seismic structure of southern South America beneath the Paraná, Chaco-Paraná, and Pantanal basins, we measure two distinct sets of dispersion curves of Rayleigh waves: the first corresponds to 25,986 phase velocity dispersion curves in the period range 5–50 s, extracted from cross-correlation of the ambient noise between pairs of stations and thus sensitive mainly to crustal structure; the second set is derived from group velocities extracted from earthquake recordings, resulting in 33,888 dispersion curves with periods ranging from 8 to 200 s, allowing us to probe deeper Earth structure. From these data sets, we derive two independent S-wave velocity models following a two-step inversion procedure, resulting in a crustal and a lithospheric mantle model with depths extending up to 50 and 200 km, respectively. Features imaged in our crustal model include low velocity anomalies in agreement with the surface position of the major sedimentary basins and high velocity anomalies within fold-thrust provinces and the basement of the Pantanal basin. In the uppermost mantle, we identify high velocities in the region of the Paraná basin, São Francisco and Amazonian cratons, and Luiz Alves block, and a low velocity feature beneath the Pantanal basin, which suggests a potentially thinner lithosphere under the basin. We also illuminate a strong velocity gradient boundary between the eastern border of the Pantanal basin with the Paraná basin, from crustal to lithospheric mantle depths, which seems to delineate the western and southern borders of the Paraná basin, coinciding with the Western Paraná Suture. Additionally, we construct a Moho depth proxy map for the study area, which has an overall good agreement with previous results, except for a thicker crust beneath the southern Chaco-Paraná basin. This area, together with a thicker crust counterpart in the Paraná basin, has a remarkable correlation with the position of a volcanic layer related to the Paraná Magmatic Province, which leads us to suggest that magmatic processes played an important role in the south Chaco-Paraná basin as well.

The impact of ambient noise sources in subsurface models estimated from noise correlation waveforms

SUMMARY Cross-correlations of seismic ambient noise are frequently used to image Earth structure. Usually, tomographic studies assume that noise sources are uniformly distributed and interpret noise correlations as empirical Green’s functions. However, previous research suggests that this assumption can introduce errors in the estimated models, especially when noise correlation waveforms are inverted. In this paper, we investigate changes in subsurface models inferred from noise correlation waveforms depending on whether the noise source distribution is considered to be uniform. To this end, we set up numerical experiments that mimic a tomographic study in Southern California exploiting ambient noise generated in the Pacific Ocean. Our results show that if the distribution of noise sources is deemed uniform instead of being numerically represented in the wave simulations, the misfit of the estimated models increases. In our experiments, the model misfit increase ranges between 5 and 21 per cent, depending on the heterogeneity of the noise source distribution. This indicates that assuming uniform noise sources introduces source-dependent model errors. Since the location of noise sources may change over time, these errors are also time-dependent. In order to mitigate these errors, it is necessary to account for the noise source distribution. The spatial extent to which noise sources must be considered depends on the propagation distance of the ambient noise wavefield. If only sources near the study area are considered, model errors may arise.

The Composition of Earth's Lower Mantle

Determining the composition of Earth's lower mantle, which constitutes almost half of its total volume, has been a central goal in the Earth sciences for more than a century given the constraints it places on Earth's origin and evolution. However, whether the major element chemistry of the lower mantle, in the form of, e.g., Mg/Si ratio, is similar to or different from the upper mantle remains debated. Here we use a multidisciplinary approach to address the question of the composition of Earth's lower mantle and, in turn, that of bulk silicate Earth (crust and mantle) by considering the evidence provided by geochemistry, geophysics, mineral physics, and geodynamics. Geochemical and geodynamical evidence largely agrees, indicating a lower-mantle molar Mg/Si of ≥1.12 (≥1.15 for bulk silicate Earth), consistent with the rock record and accumulating evidence for whole-mantle stirring. However, mineral physics–informed profiles of seismic properties, based on a lower mantle made of bridgmanite and ferropericlase, point to Mg/Si ∼ 0.9–1.0 when compared with radial seismic reference models. This highlights the importance of considering the presence of additional minerals (e.g., calcium-perovskite and stishovite) and possibly suggests a lower mantle varying compositionally with depth. In closing, we discuss how we can improve our understanding of lower-mantle and bulk silicate Earth composition, including its impact on the light element budget of the core. ▪The chemical composition of Earth's lower mantle is indispensable for understanding its origin and evolution.▪Earth's lower-mantle composition is reviewed from an integrated mineral physics, geophysical, geochemical, and geodynamical perspective.▪A lower-mantle molar Mg/Si of ≥1.12 is favored but not unique.▪New experiments investigating compositional effects of bridgmanite and ferropericlase elasticity are needed to further our insight.

Improved Earthquake Source Parameters with 3D Wavespeed Models in California and Nevada

Abstract Seismic tomography harnesses earthquake data to explore the inaccessible structure of the Earth. Adjoint waveform tomography (AWT), a method of seismic tomography, updates the tomographic model by optimizing the fit between observed earthquake data and synthetic waveforms. The synthetic data are calculated by solving the wave equation through a given 3D model. An important requirement to calculating synthetics is the source information (location, centroid time, depth, and moment tensor). Errors in source information affect the quality of the synthetics produced, which in turn can limit how structure can be inferred in the AWT workflow. To test the effect of updating source information, we used MTTime (Chiang, 2020), a time-domain full-waveform moment tensor inversion code, to calculate the moment tensors and depths of 118 earthquakes that occurred in California and Nevada over a 20-yr period. We calculated 3D Green’s functions using a 3D seismic wavespeed model of California and Nevada (Doody et al., 2023b). We show that the inverted solutions provide better waveform fits than the Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog and increase usable, well-correlated data by up to 7%. Therefore, we argue that recalculating source parameters should be considered in AWT workflows, particularly for smaller magnitude events (Mw<5.0).