Shear wave velocity structure of the upper-mantle beneath the northern Zagros collision zone revealed by nonlinear teleseismic tomography and Bayesian Monte-Carlo joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and teleseismic P-wave coda

Publication date: Available online 30 January 2020Source: Physics of the Earth and Planetary InteriorsAuthor(s): Meysam Mahmoodabadi, Farzam Yaminifard, Mohammad Tatar, Ayoub KavianiAbstractThe continental collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates plays an important role in the geodynamical evolution of the Zagros and Iranian plateau. In order to investigate the upper mantle structure across the collision zone, we calculated the absolute and relative shear-wave velocity structure along a dense and long temporary seismic profile in NW Iran. The probabilistic 1-D absolute shear-wave velocity (Vs) depth profiles beneath 23 seismic stations were calculated using a trans-dimensional joint inversion approach of P-wave coda together with the Rayleigh wave phase and group velocity dispersion data. These 1-D models are then interpolated to obtain a 2-D Vs model along the profile. In addition, we used a nonlinear teleseismic tomography method to determine shear wave velocity variations beneath 44 seismic stations. Both the absolute and relative velocity models, obtained by different data sets and methods, show a thick (>150 km) high-velocity anomaly beneath the northern part of the Zagros, which could be the thickened Zagros lithosphere associated with continental shortening. A relatively thin lithosphere (~80 km) and lower S-wave velocity beneath Central Iran may suggest a weakened Iranian mantle lithosphere by upwelling of the hot asthenosphere following slab break-off. T...
Source: Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors - Category: Physics Source Type: research