Open AccessShear wave splitting in the Alpine region
Author(s) -
Gerrit Hein,
Petr Kolínský,
Irene Bianchi,
Götz Bokelmann,
György Hétenyi,
Rafael Abreu,
Ivo Allegretti,
Maria-Theresia Apoloner,
Coralie Aubert,
Simon Besançon,
Maxime Bès de Berc,
Didier Brunel,
Marco Capello,
Martina Čarman,
A. Cavaliere,
Jérôme Chèze,
C. Chiarabba,
John Clinton,
Glenn Cougoulat,
Wayne Crawford,
Luigia Cristiano,
Tibor Czifra,
Ezio D’Alema,
Stefania Danesi,
Romuald Daniel,
Anke Dannowski,
Iva Dasović,
A. Deschamps,
JeanXavier Dessa,
Cécile Doubre,
Sven Egdorf,
Tomislav Fiket,
Kasper D. Fischer,
Wolfgang Friederich,
Florian Fuchs,
Sigward Funke,
Domenico Giardini,
Aladino Govoni,
Zoltán Gráczer,
Gidera Gröschl,
Stefan Heimers,
B. Heit,
Davorka Herak,
Marijan Herak,
J Huber,
Dejan Jarić,
Petr Jedlička,
Yanmin Jia,
Hélène Jund,
Edi Kissling,
Stefan Klingen,
Bernhard Klotz,
Heidrun Kopp,
M. Korn,
Josef Kotek,
Lothar Kühne,
Krešo Kuk,
Dietrich Lange,
Jürgen Loos,
Sara Lovati,
D. Malengros,
Lucia Margheriti,
Christophe Maron,
Xavier Martín,
Marco Massa,
Francesco Mazzarini,
Thomas Meier,
Laurent Métral,
Irene Molinari,
Milena Moretti,
Anrdi,
Jurij Pahor,
Anne Paul,
Catherine Péquegnat,
Daniel Peter Petersen,
Damiano Pesaresi,
Davide Piccinini,
Claudia Piromallo,
Thomas Plenefisch,
Jaroslava Plomerová,
Silvia Pondrelli,
Snježan Prevolnik,
Roman Racine,
Marc Régnier,
Miriam Reiss,
Joachim Ritter,
Georg Rümpker,
Simone Salimbeni,
M. Santulin,
Werner Scherer,
Sven Schippkus,
Detlef SchulteKortnack,
Vesna Šipka,
Stefano Solarino,
Daniele Spallarossa,
Kathrin Spieker,
Josip Stipčević,
Angelo Strollo,
Bálint Süle,
Gyöngyvér Szanyi,
Eszter Szűcs,
Christine Thomas,
Martin Thorwart,
Frederik Tilmann,
Stefan Ueding,
Massimiliano Vallocchia,
Luděk Vecsey,
René Voigt,
Joachim Wassermann,
Zoltán Wéber,
Christian Weidle,
Viktor Wesztergom,
Gauthier Weyland,
Stefan Wiemer,
Felix Noah Wolf,
David Wolyniec,
Thomas Zieke,
Mladen Živčić,
Helena Munzarová
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1093/gji/ggab305
Subject(s) - shear wave splitting , geology , seismic anisotropy , seismometer , seismology , geodynamics , anisotropy , shear (geology) , geodesy , geophysics , mantle (geology) , tectonics , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics
SUMMARY To constrain seismic anisotropy under and around the Alps in Europe, we study SKS shear wave splitting from the region densely covered by the AlpArray seismic network. We apply a technique based on measuring the splitting intensity, constraining well both the fast orientation and the splitting delay. Four years of teleseismic earthquake data were processed, from 723 temporary and permanent broad-band stations of the AlpArray deployment including ocean-bottom seismometers, providing a spatial coverage that is unprecedented. The technique is applied automatically (without human intervention), and it thus provides a reproducible image of anisotropic structure in and around the Alpine region. As in earlier studies, we observe a coherent rotation of fast axes in the western part of the Alpine chain, and a region of homogeneous fast orientation in the Central Alps. The spatial variation of splitting delay times is particularly interesting though. On one hand, there is a clear positive correlation with Alpine topography, suggesting that part of the seismic anisotropy (deformation) is caused by the Alpine orogeny. On the other hand, anisotropic strength around the mountain chain shows a distinct contrast between the Western and Eastern Alps. This difference is best explained by the more active mantle flow around the Western Alps. The new observational constraints, especially the splitting delay, provide new information on Alpine geodynamics.