Lithospheric structure of the Illinois Basin from teleseismic P-wave tomography

We examine heterogeneity of the crust and upper mantle associated with a major intracratonic basin, using arrival time data from a regional EarthScope experiment extending across the western margin of the Illinois Basin. We measured 24,062 P-wave residuals associated with 399 teleseismic events recorded from January 2012 to March 2013 by 122 stations in the Illinois Basin region. We used data from the Ozark Illinois INdiana Kentucky (OIINK) Flexible Array, the permanent New Madrid Seismic Network, and a portion of the Earthscope Transportable Array. Precise relative arrival times were determined using array cross-correlation methods. We plotted the measured arrivals as residual maps to identify first order patterns of velocity heterogeneity and to fix outliers. These data were then inverted for P-wave velocity using non-linear tomography code developed by Steven Roecker. Our preliminary results indicate the upper 200 km of the mantle can be characterized by two blocks with a transition zone centered roughly parallel to the Ohio River boundary of Illinois and Kentucky. Estimated P-wave velocities are higher in Kentucky, located southeast of the transition zone compared to Missouri and Illinois, located northwest. We caution that at this stage our tomography model may be biased as we have not accounted for variations in crustal structure or applied corrections associated with the Illinois Basin. Parallel work with receiver functions by our group and the known geometry of the Illinois Basin will be used to calculate these corrections and modify the tomographic model accordingly.