To investigate seismic resolution of deep mantle plumes as well as the robustness of the anti-correlation between bulk sound speed and S wave speed imaged in the lowermost mantle, we use a Spectral Element Method (SEM) to simulate global seismic wave propagation in 3-D wavespeed models and measure frequency-dependent P-, S-, Pdiff- and Sdiff-wave traveltime anomalies caused by plume structures in the lowermost mantle. We compare SEM time delay measurements with calculations based on ray theory and show that an anti-correlation between bulk sound speed and S-wave speed could be produced as an artifact. This is caused by different wavefront healing effects between P waves and S waves in thermal plume models. The bulk sound speed structure remains poorly resolved when P-wave and S-wave measurements are at different periods with similar wavelength. The differences in wave diffraction between the two types of waves depend on epicentral distance and wave frequency. The artifact in anti-correlation is also confirmed in tomographic inversions based on ray theory using Pdiff and Sdiff time delay measurements made on the SEM synthetics. This indicates a chemical origin of "superplumes" in the lowermost mantle may not be necessary to explain observed seismic traveltimes. The same set of Pdiff and Sdiff measurements are inverted using finite-frequency tomography based on Born sensitivity kernels. We show that wavefront healing effects can be accounted for in finite-frequency tomography to recover the true velocity model. / Master of Science

The problem of fitting a material property of the earth to a certain model by analysing a returned seismic signal is investigated here. Analysis proceeds with methods taken from the theory of inverse problems. Seismic wave inversion is tack- led by minimisation of the objective function with respect to the model parameters. Absorbing boundary conditions are implemented using an exponentially decaying ansatz. / Physics / Ph. D. (Physics)

No description available.

Modern oil and gas exploration depends on a variety of geophysical prospect tools. One of them is reflection seismology that allows to obtain interwell information of sufficient resolution economically. This exploration method collects reflection seismic data on the surface of an area of prospect interest and then uses them to build seismic images of the subsurface. All imaging approaches can be divided into two groups: wave equation-based methods and integral schemes. Kirchhoff migration, which belongs to the second group, is an indispensable tool in seismic imaging due to its flexibility and relatively low computational cost. Unfortunately, the classic formulation of this method images only a part of the surface data, if so-called multipathing is present in it. That phenomenon occurs in complex geologic settings, such as subsalt areas, when seismic waves travel between a subsurface point and a surface location through more than one path. The quality of imaging with Kirchhoff migration in complex geological areas can be improved if multiple paths of ray propagation are included in the integral. Multiple arrivals can be naturally incorporated into the imaging operator if it is expressed as an integral over subsurface take-off angles. In this form, the migration operator involves escape functions that connect subsurface locations with surface seismic data values through escape traveltime and escape positions. These escape quantities are functions of phase space coordinates that are simply related to the subsurface reflection system. The angle-domain integral operator produces output scattering- and dip-angle image gathers, which represent a convenient domain for subsurface analysis. Escape functions for angle-domain imaging can be simply computed with initial-value ray tracing, a Lagrangian computational technique. However, the computational cost of such a bottom-up approach can be prohibitive in practice. The goal of this work was to construct a computationally efficient phase space imaging framework. I designed several approaches to computing escape functions directly in phase space for mapping surface seismic reflection data to the subsurface angle domain. Escape equations have been introduced previously to describe distribution of escape functions in the phase space. Initially, I employed these equations as a basis for building an Eulerian numerical scheme using finite-difference method in the 2-D case. I show its accuracy constraints and suggest a modification of the algorithm to overcome them. Next, I formulate a semi-Lagrangian approach to computing escape functions in 3-D. The second method relies on the fundamental property of continuity of these functions in the phase space. I define locally constrained escape functions and show that a global escape solution can be reconstructed from local solutions iteratively. I validate the accuracy of the proposed methods by imaging synthetic seismic data in several complex 2-D and 3-D models. I draw conclusions about efficiency by comparing the compute time of the imaging tests with the compute time of a well-optimized conventional initial-value ray tracing. / text

Subduction zone structure and kinematics are topics of ongoing investigation with broadband seismology. Recent advances in experimental observations of mantle materials at high temperatures and pressure, expanded broadband seismic datasets, new seismic analysis methods, and advances in computational modeling are ever increasing our capacity for synthesized investigation of tectonic environments. With the resulting expanded capability for interpretation, the geophysical community is in a position to build more refined and detailed models of subduction zone processes. This study takes part in these advances by refining structural observations of the subducting slab and making new observations of mantle kinematics in a part of the South American subduction zone in Chile and Argentina (between 30 degrees and 36 degrees S). First, I investigate the utility of multiple-event earthquake relocation algorithms for accurate locations using a regional dataset for seismic events in Nevada and then I apply the observations resulting from this study in the determination of new Wadati-Benioff zone seismicity hypocenter locations for the study area in South America. I interpolate new contours of the top of the subducting slab from this seismicity that, when interpreted with focal mechanism solutions for these events, are consistent with its deformation due to slab pull. I use shear wave splitting of teleseismic earthquake waves and s-waves from local earthquakes to characterize mantle strain within the mantle wedge and within and below the subducting slab. From these observations, I conclude that mantle flow in subduction zones is quite responsive to local changes in slab geometry as well as the thermal state of and shear stresses in the mantle wedge.

No description available.

Seismic data from 106 station pair-paths, from the CNSN (Canadian National Seismic Network) and POLARIS (Portable Observatories for Lithospheric Analysis and Research Investigating Seismicity) seismic networks, were used to measure surface waves from earthquake events. Fundamental-mode Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves were generated and inverted to obtain dispersion maps and S-velocity cross-sections. Results show a clear distinction between the Cordilleran and cratonic lithospheres. The Cordilleran lithopshere shows a low-velocity perturbation with values ranging from -2% to -5%, while the cratonic lithosphere shows a high-velocity perturbation with values ranging from 3% to 9%. The large range in perturbation between the Cordilleran and cratonic lithospheres resolves the Cordilleran/craton boundary, showing that the boundary is present down to 200 km in depth and dips under the cratonic lithosphere. A high-velocity anomaly within the already high velocity cratonic lithosphere is present under Great Slave Lake and is interpreted as preserved Precambrian slab material. Many small high-velocity perturbations, reaching about 4%, are present at depths of 300+ km throughout the survey, and interpreted as being remnants of the Kula or Farallon plates. / February 2017

Tilt and strain meters were installed on the Portland State University campus in the summer of 1982 and data was collected for 4 months. Instrument selection, operation, installation and performance are discussed. Suggestions that could enhance data quality and data collection efficiency are presented. An analysis procedure is suggested and an example of this procedure for an interval of data is discussed. The influence of the temperature, pressure, rainfall and solid earth tides on the signal is investigated, as well as the correlation between similar channels of the different tilt instruments. The temperature, rainfall and solid earth tides were all determined to have an influence on the instruments. A statistical test of the influence of the barometric pressure on the signal revealed no significant influence. A very low correlation between similar components of the different tilt instruments was observed aside from their thermal dependence. It was concluded that in order to obtain high quality data for the use in quantitative calculations, the temperature influence on the raw record must be minimized.

The neotectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean is intimately tied to interactions between the underthrusting/subducting slab along the southern margin of Anatolia and the overriding plate. The lateral variations in the subduction zone can be viewed as a temporal analogue of the transition between continuous subduction and subduction termination by continent-continent collision. By investigating the lateral variations along this subduction zone in the overriding plate, we can gain insight into the processes that precede continent collision. This dissertation summarizes the results of three studies that focus on different parts of the subduction margin: 1) In the west, where the development of a slab tear represents the transition between continuous and enigmatic subduction, 2) In the east, where continent-continent collision between the Arabian and Eurasian Plate is leading to the development of the third largest orogenic plateau on earth after complete slab detachment, and 3) In central Anatolia, where the subducting slab is thought to be in the processes of breaking up, which is affecting the flow of mantle material leading to volcanism and uplift along the margin. In the first study, we interpret that variations in the composition of material in the downgoing plate (i.e. a change from the subduction of oceanic material to continental material) may have led to the development of a slab tear in the eastern Aegean. This underthrusting, buoyant continental fragment is controlling overriding plate deformation, separating the highly extensional strains of western Anatolia from the much lower extensional strains of central Anatolia. Based on intermediate depth seismicity, it appears that the oceanic portion of the slab is still attached to this underthrusting continental fragment. In the second study, we interpret that the introduction of continental lithosphere into the north-dipping subduction zone at the Arabian-Eurasian margin led to the rollback and eventual detachment of the downgoing oceanic lithosphere attached to the Arabian Plate. After detachment, high rates of exhumation in the overriding plate are recorded due to the removal of the oceanic lithosphere and accompanying rebound of the Arabian continental lithosphere. In the third study, we image a transitional stage between the complete slab breakoff of the second study and the continuous subduction slab of the first study. We interpret that trench-perpendicular volcanism and ~2 km of uplift of flat-lying carbonate rocks along the southern margin of Turkey can be attributed to the rollback and ongoing segmentation of the downgoing slab as attenuated continental material is introduced into the subduction zone. Combining these three studies allows us to understand the terminal processes of a long-lived subduction zone as continental material is introduced.

Before raw seismic data records are interpretable by geologists, geophysicists must process these data using a technique called migration. Migration spatially repositions the acoustic energy in a seismic record to its correct location in the subsurface. Traditional migration techniques used a transpose approximation to a true acoustic propagation operator. Conventional least squares migration uses a true inverse operator, but is limited in functionality by the large size of modern seismic datasets. This research uses a new technique, called stabilized least squares migration, to correctly migrate seismic data records using a true inverse operator. Contrary to conventional least squares migration, this new technique allows for errors over ten percent in the underlying subsurface velocity model, which is a large limitation in conventional least squares migration. The stabilized least squares migration also decreases the number of iterations required by conventional least squares migration algorithms by an average of about three iterations on the sample data tested in this research.