The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP): Active Rift Processes in the Brawley Seismic Zone

The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), funded by NSF and USGS, acquired seismic data in and across the Salton Trough in southern California and northern Mexico in March 2011. The project addresses both rifting processes at the northern end of the Gulf of California extensional province and earthquake hazards at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault system. Seven lines of onshore refraction and low-fold reflection data were acquired in the Coachella, Imperial, and Mexicali Valleys, two lines and a grid of airgun and OBS data were acquired in the Salton Sea, and onshore-offshore data were recorded. Almost 2800 land seismometers and 50 OBS's were used in almost 5000 deployments at almost 4300 sites, in spacing as dense as 100 m. These instruments received seismic signals from 126 explosive shots up to 1400 kg and over 2300 airgun shots. In the central Salton Trough, North American lithosphere appears to have been rifted completely apart. Based primarily on a 1979 seismic refraction project, the 20-22 km thick crust is apparently composed entirely of new crust added by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. Active rifting of this new crust is manifested by shallow (<10km depth) seismicity in the oblique Brawley Seismic Zone (BSZ), small Salton Buttes volcanoes aligned perpendicular to the transform faults, very high heat flow (~140 mW/m2), and geothermal energy production. This presentation is focused on an onshore-offshore line of densely sampled refraction and low-fold reflection data that crosses the Brawley Seismic Zone and Salton Buttes in the direction of plate motion. At the time of abstract submission, data analysis was very preliminary, consisting of first-arrival tomography of the onshore half of the line for upper crustal seismic velocity. Crystalline basement (>5 km/s), comprised of late-Pliocene to Quaternary sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow, occurs at ~2 km depth beneath the Salton Buttes and geothermal field and ~4 km depth south of the BSZ. Preliminary result suggests that the velocity of basement is lower in the BSZ than to the south, which may result from fracturing. Basement velocity appears to be highest beneath the Salton Buttes and Salton Sea geothermal field, which may be caused by more intense metamorphism, hydrothermal mineralization, and/or magmatism. Ongoing analysis will be presented at the meeting, including work with onshore-offshore data currently in progress and low-fold reflection imaging of the lower crust.