Open AccessCrust and uppermost mantle structure of the Iceland‐Faroes region from Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion
Author(s) -
Clark R. A.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1983.tb02816.x
Subject(s) - geology , crust , lithosphere , mantle (geology) , rayleigh wave , seismology , ridge , group velocity , mid atlantic ridge , shear velocity , geophysics , tectonics , paleontology , surface wave , meteorology , geography , physics , optics , telecommunications , turbulence , computer science
Summary Fundamental mode Rayleigh wave group velocities over the period range 13—85 s have been measured at stations in the British Isles from earthquakes in the Iceland—Jan Meyen region. Published models for the British Isles upper mantle have been used to correct the observations for the continental portion of their propagation path, and thus isolate the group velocity dispersion curve associated with the Iceland—Faroes Ridge area alone. This has been inverted to shear‐velocity depth profiles to a depth of c . 150 km using a combined Monte‐Carlo/Hedgehog technique. The results show that the Iceland—Faroes Ridge has an anomalous crustal thickness, for oceanic areas, of 20—24 km, supporting the conclusion of other published geophysical studies. Upper mantle structure, which has been determined for the first time, appears less atypical of oceanic regions, with a lithospheric thickness of some 60 km and ‘lid’ velocities of 4.5—4.55 km s ‐1 .