Open AccessShear velocity structure of the Northland Peninsula, New Zealand, inferred from ambient noise correlations
Author(s) -
Behr Y.,
Townend J.,
Bannister S.,
Savage M. K.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2009jb006737
Subject(s) - geology , ambient noise level , seismic noise , passive seismic , seismometer , seismology , lithosphere , receiver function , rayleigh wave , crust , noise (video) , geophysics , anisotropy , rayleigh scattering , geodesy , surface wave , tectonics , physics , optics , geomorphology , sound (geography) , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics)
Ambient noise correlation has been successfully applied in several cases to regions with dense seismic networks whose geometries are well suited to tomographic imaging. The utility of ambient noise correlation‐based methods of seismic imaging where either network or noise field characteristics are less ideal has yet to be fully demonstrated. In this study, we focus on the Northland Peninsula of New Zealand using data from five seismographs deployed in a linear pattern parallel to the direction from which most of the ambient noise arrives. Shear wave velocity profiles computed from Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion curves using the Neighborhood Algorithm are in good agreement with the results of a previous active source refraction experiment and a teleseismic receiver function and surface wave analysis. In particular, we compute a path‐averaged Moho depth of ∼28 km along a ∼250 km profile. The use of both Rayleigh and Love wave measurements enables us to estimate the degree of radial anisotropy in the crust, yielding values of 2–15%. These results demonstrate that ambient noise correlation methods provide useful geophysical constraints on lithospheric structure even for nonoptimal network geometries and noise field characteristics.