Skip to main content
SHARE
Publication

Joint inversion of seismic and gravity data for imaging seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Utah...

by Ellen Syracuse, Haijiang Zhang, Monica Maceira
Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Tectonophysics
Publication Date
Page Numbers
1 to 13
Volume
TECTO-1275
Issue
TECTO-1275

We present a method for using any combination of body waves travel time measurements, surface wave dispersion observations, and gravity data to simultaneously invert for three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity models. The simultaneous use of disparate data types takes advantage of the differing sensitivities of each data type, resulting in a comprehensive and higher resolution three-dimensional geophysical model. In a case study for Utah, we combine body waves first arrivals mainly from the USArray Transportable Array, Rayleigh wave group and phase velocity dispersion, and Bouguer gravity anomalies to invert for crustal and upper mantle structure of the region. Results show clear delineations, visible in both P- and S-wave velocities, between the three main tectonic provinces in the region. Without the inclusion of the surface wave and gravity constraints, the delineations would be less clear, particularly for S-wave velocities. Indeed, checkerboard tests confirm that the inclusion of the additional datasets dramatically improves S-wave velocity recovery, with more subtle improvements to P-wave velocity recovery, demonstrating the strength of the method in successfully recovering seismic velocity structure from multiple types of constraints.