Refining the 3D seismic velocity and attenuation models for Katmai National Park, Alaska

We invert data from approximately 4,000 local earthquakes occurring between September 2004 and August 2009 to determine the 3D P-wave velocity and P-wave attenuation structures in the Katmai volcanic region. Arrival information and waveforms for the study come from the Alaska Volcano Observatory’s permanent network of 20 seismometers in the area, which are predominantly single-component, short period instruments. The absolute and relative arrival times are used in a double-difference seismic tomography inversion to solve for an improved velocity model for the main volcanic centers. We use the resulting 3D velocity model to relocate all catalog earthquakes in Katmai between January 1996 and August 2009. Inversions for the quality factor Q are completed using a spectral decay approach to determine source parameters, t*, and site response with a nonlinear inversion. Using the final 3D velocity model to define the ray paths, t* values are then inverted to determine frequency-independent Q models. The final models developed through these inversions reveal a low velocity and low Q zone from the surface to ~7 km depth centered on the volcanic axis and extending ~25 km between Martin and Katmai volcanoes. The relocated hypocenters provide insight into the geometry of seismogenic structures in the area, revealing clustering of events into four distinct zones associated with Martin, Mageik, Trident, and Katmai. While the Martin, Mageik, and Katmai clusters are all at 3-4 km depth, the Trident cluster is slightly deeper at 4-6 km. Many new features are apparent within these clusters, including a strand of earthquakes trending NE-SW between the main Martin and Mageik clusters. Smaller linear features are also visible in the Katmai cluster along with a small migrating swarm which occurred NW of the Katmai caldera during mid-2006. Data from an array of 11 three-component broadband instruments currently deployed in the area between Mageik volcano and Katmai caldera will be added to this study in order to more tightly constrain the velocity and attenuation structures in the area where the low velocity zone is believed to be centered. The addition of this data will also provide us with significantly more S-wave data than has previously been available, allowing inversions to be completed for the S-wave velocity and S-wave attenuation models. These two improvements should allow for higher definition imaging of magma storage areas and plumbing systems feeding Trident, Novarupta, and Katmai. We hope to identify seismic features that shed light on the magma pathways utilized or formed during the 1912 eruption.