Description: The Walvis Ridge (WR) is the most prominent hotspot track related to the opening in the South Atlantic Ocean. Several hypotheses have been developed to explain its origin and evolution. The presence of a massive magmatic structure at the landfall of the WR in Northwest Namibia raised speculation about the role of a hotspot during the opening of the South Atlantic ocean. To investigate its deeper velocity structure at the junction of the WR with the African continent was the focus of the amphibious seismological WALPASS experiment. In total 12 oceanbottom seismometers and 28 broad-band land stations were installed between 2010 and 2012 to acquire seismological data. Here,we present the results of seismic ambient noise tomography to investigate to which extent the Tristan hotspot modified the crustal structure in the landward prolongation of the ridge and in the adjacent oceanic basins. For the tomography, vertical and hydrophone component cross correlations for 〉300 d for OBS stations and between 1 and 2 yr for land stations data were analysed. More than 49 000 velocity measurements (742 dispersion curves) were inverted for group velocity maps at 75 individual signal periods, which then had been inverted for a regional 3-D shear wave velocity model. The resulting 3-D model reveals structural features of the crust related to the continent–ocean transition and its disturbance caused by the initial formation of the WR ∼130 Ma. We found relatively thick continental crust below Northwest Namibia and below the near-shore part of the WR, a strong asymmetry offshore with typical, thin oceanic crust in the Namibe Basin (crossing over into the Angola Basin further offshore) to the North and a wide zone of transitional crust towards the Walvis Basin south of the WR.

Description: The SWATH‐D experiment involved the deployment of a dense temporary broadband seismic network in the Eastern Alps. Its primary purpose was enhanced seismic imaging of the crust and crust–mantle transition, as well as improved constraints on local event locations and focal mechanisms in a complex part of the Alpine orogen. The study region is a key area of the Alps, where European crust in the north is juxtaposed and partially interwoven with Adriatic crust in the south, and a significant jump in the Moho depth was observed by the 2002 TRANSALP north–south profile. Here, a flip in subduction polarity has been suggested to occur. This dense network encompasses 163 stations and complements the larger‐scale sparser AlpArray seismic network. The nominal station spacing in SWATH‐D is 15 km in a high alpine, yet densely populated and industrialized region. We present here the challenges resulting from operating a large broadband network under these conditions and summarize how we addressed them, including the way we planned, deployed, maintained, and operated the stations in the field. Finally, we present some recommendations based on our experiences.

Description: The Bransfield Strait is a seismically active extensional rift located between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. The Strait is partly located on continental crust including areas within the transition to seafloor spreading. The amphibious seismic network BRAVOSEIS is an international effort focused on the seismological research of submarine volcanoes and rift dynamics in the Bransfield Strait. This network is the onshore component of the entire network consisting of 15 broadband land stations deployed in the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula between January 2018 and February 2020. The offshore components (network code ZX) include 9 broadband ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) across the Central Bransfield Basin and a group of 6 hydrophone moorings spanning the rift area of 200 x 100 km2, with inter-station distance of ~30 km. Additionally, a smaller offshore array consisting of 15 short-period OBSs with an aperture of 20 km and a narrow inter-station distance of ~4 km was deployed around the Orca submarine volcanic edifice south of King George Island. The data will be used to study the geodynamics of the Bransfield Strait and the evolution of the incipient rifting zone in the domain where extension has been suggested. Seismological methods will include earthquake location, source mechanism, surface wave analysis with ambient noise and earthquake data, receiver function and shear wave splitting. The results may shed light on the crustal structure and tectonic regime in the region and image the location and extent of magma accumulations related to submarine volcanic structures. Finally, the results should provide clues to assess the internal processes that occur in the submarine volcanoes of the area undergoing rifting. Waveform data are available from the GEOFON data centre, under network code 5M and are embargoed until Mar 2024. Acknowledgments: We thank all participants in the BRAVOSEIS 2018, 2019, and 2020 cruises, with a special acknowledgement to Capt. Jose Emilio Regodon and his crew at R/V Hesperides; Capt. Juan Carlos Hernandez and his crew at Sarmiento de Gamboa; Miki Ojeda, Ezequiel Gonzalez, and all the UTM staff involved in the planification and realization of the surveys. We also thank the Spanish Polar Committee and institutions involved in the management of the Spanish Antarctic campaigns and the development of the Spanish Polar Program. We are grateful for the help and support that we always find in the personnel of the Antarctic Bases, especially the Spanish Bases Juan Carlos I and Gabriel de Castilla.

Description: This dataset contains a high resolution Moho map of the in the Eastern Alps focused on the SWATH-D network. The Moho map was produced by manually picking the Moho on narrow transects (CCP stacks) calculated with the receiver function method. These manual picks were then fit with a spline in 3-D. Three separate and sometimes overlapping maps are included corresponding to the European, Adriatic, and Pannonian Mohos. In addition to Moho depth, Ps travel time and crustal average Vp/Vs are also reported.

Description: In this study, 3-D models of P-wave velocity (Vp) and P- and S-wave ratio (Vp/Vs) of the crust and upper mantle in the Eastern and eastern Southern Alps (northern Italy and southern Austria) were calculated using local earthquake tomography (LET). The dataset includes high-quality arrival-times from well-constrained hypocenters observed by the dense, temporary seismic networks of the AlpArray AASN and SWATH-D. The resolution of the LET was checked by synthetic tests and analysis of the Model Resolution Matrix. The small inter-station spacing (average of ∼15 km within the SWATH-D network) allowed us to image crustal structure at unprecedented resolution across a key part of the Alps. The derived P velocity model revealed a highly heterogeneous crustal structure in the target area. One of the main findings is that the lower crust is thickened, forming a bulge at 30-50 km depth just south of and beneath the Periadriatic Fault and the Tauern Window. This indicates that the lower crust decoupled both from its mantle substratum as well as from its upper crust. The Moho, taken to be the iso-velocity contour of Vp=7.25 km/s, agrees with the Moho depth from previous studies in the European and Adriatic forelands. It is shallower on the Adriatic side than on the European side. This is interpreted to indicate that the European Plate subducted beneath the Adriatic Plate in the Eastern and eastern Southern Alps.

Description: The Argentine Andes between 34° and 36°S comprise a region that lies immediately south of the transition from the Chilean-Pampean flat-slab to a normal subduction segment. Several key changes take part through this area, such as a westward shift of the magmatic arc front, the end of Paleozoic outcrops of the Frontal Cordillera denoting a decline in exhumation, the change in strike of the orogenic belt, and a ∼2 km decrease in maximum and mean topography. We assess the associated segmentation of the deformation by studying the local seismicity. By analyzing one year of seismological data obtained from a local network, we found a significant shift in the low magnitude (M 〈 3) crustal seismicity pattern at ∼34.8°S. To the north, most events occur along the topographic front. In contrast, to the south, no events are observed in the frontal region but are instead located closer to the Andean axis. In addition, we used gravity data to determine elastic thickness in the region to compare crustal seismic activity with the pattern of crustal rigidity. We discuss this and other geological, tectonic, and climatic factors as possible controls on seismicity segmentation. We do not find a controlling role by neither elastic thickness nor precipitation patterns. Instead, we propose a thermal contrast due to the volcanic arc's geometry, and differing stress transfer from the subducting slab owing to mantle wedge heterogeneities, as the main active controls on the seismicity distribution; modulated by a passive control by pre-Andean rheological features of the crust.