Rayleigh Wave Dispersion and A 1d S-velocity Model of The Fennoscandian Mantle

We derive a Rayleigh wave dispersion curve from surface wave data recorded at the SVEKALAPKO tomographic array deployed in Southern Finland from September 1998 to March 1999. After a suite of processing steps, complex spectral amplitudes of the Rayleigh wave train are determined for each available seismogram. The process- ing includes low-pass filtering, instrument correction, deconvolution using a standard earth model to compress the Rayleigh wave train, computation of Gabor matrices (sonograms) to pick group travel times, and finally estimation of complex spectral amplitudes in a Gaussian time window of frequency-dependent width centered on the group travel time. Spectral amplitude values are only accepted if the signal-to-noise ratio in the considered frequency interval is above a pre-chosen threshold and if the picked group travel time does not deviate too strongly from that predicted by a stan- dard earth model. The final dataset contains spectral amplitude values at 34 selected periods from 52 earthquakes observed at on average 25 stations.

For each selected frequency, we determine a phase velocity by fitting plane waves propagating across the array with this velocity to the complex spectral amplitudes of all earthquakes and stations. Errors are estimated with a bootstrap method. We obtain reliable phase velocities in the frequency band from 8 mHz to 50 mHz. Phase veloci- ties for lower frequencies exhibit large errors due to the lack of big earthquakes during the time of deployment. The phase velocities are substantially higher than predicted by standard earth model ak135 below 20 mHz and slightly lower above 25 mHz.

We have inverted the dispersion curve for a 1D shear wave velocity model down to about 400 km depth and obtain a 50 km thick crust and a fast upper mantle with a sub- Moho velocity of 4.7 km/s. Our data do not require a low-velocity zone in the upper mantle. Indeed, the dispersion curve can be explained by a nearly straight velocity profile from the Moho to the 410 km discontinuity.