Finite frequency global P wave tomography
Abstract
The travel time of a finite frequency wave is sensitive to velocity structure off the geometrical ray within a volume known as the Fresnel zone. We compute 3D travel time sensitivity efficiently by using the paraxial approximation in conjunction with ray theory and the Born approximation (Dahlen et al., 2000) to invert global travel times of long-period compressional waves. Our data set consists of 67540 P and 20266 PP-P travel times measured by cross-correlation. The sensitivity of a broad-band P arrival time resembles a hollow-banana surrounding the unperturbed path with sensitivity being zero on the ray. Typical widths of sensitivity kernels at the turning point are about 1000 km and 1300 km for a P wave at 60o and 80o epicentral distance, respectively. The region of insensitivity around the geometrical ray is small near the source and the receiver but can extend to about 400 km near the turning point for a P wave at 80o epicentral distance. Because of the minimax nature, surface reflected PP waves show a much more complicated shape of the sensitivity region, with the banana-doughnut shape replaced by a saddle-shaped region upon passage of a caustic. Not surprisingly, the introduction of such complicated sensitivity has consequences for the final tomographic images. We compare tomographic models inverted with the new method and with the more standard technique of ray theory for the same data fit (i.e. same χ2) and each smoothed to resolve very similar length scales. Depending on depth and size of the anomaly, amplitudes of the velocity perturbations in finite frequency images are on average 30%-60% higher than those obtained with ray theory. This demonstrates a major shortcoming of ray theory. It is not possible to neglect wavefront healing effect, as ray theory does. The images obtained by inverting long-period waves provide unambiguous evidence that a limited number of hot-spots are fed by plumes originating in the lower mantle. To better constrain the P wave velocity structure in the Earth, we combine the long period data with ISC delays obtained at short period. Inverting a combination of low and high frequency waves allows to properly constrain long wavelength heterogeneity with the kernels, while using the high-frequency data (e.g ISC delays) to constrain smaller-scale structure. We shall present the latest results of this inversion and discuss the improvements brought about by the various improvements in the theory.
- Publication:
-
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003EAEJA.....3002M