Description: Shear-wave splitting parameters (fast polarization direction and delay time) are determined using data from LA RISTRA (Colorado pLAteau RIo Grande Rift/Great Plains Seismic TRAnsect), a deployment of broadband seismometers extending from the Great Plains, across the Rio Grande Rift and the Jemez Lineament, to the Colorado Plateau. Results show that the fast polarization directions are sub-parallel to North American absolute plate motion. The largest deviations from the plate motion are observed within the western edge of the Great Plains and in the interior of the Colorado Plateau where lithospheric anisotropy may be significant. Delay times range from 0.8 to 1.8 seconds with an average value of 1.4 seconds; the largest values are along the Jemez Lineament and the Rio Grande Rift which are underlain by an uppermost mantle low velocity zone extending to depths of ∼200 km. The anisotropy beneath the central part of LA RISTRA shows a remarkably consistent pattern with a mean fast direction of 40° ± 6°. Seismic anisotropy can be explained by differential horizontal motion between the North American lithosphere and westerly to southwesterly flow of the asthenospheric mantle. The approximately N-S fast direction found beneath western Texas is similar to that observed beneath the southern rift and may reflect a different dynamic regime.

Description: The Anatolian plateau-Caucasus-Caspian region is an area of complex lithospheric structure accompanied by large variations in seismic wave velocities. Despite the complexity of the region, little is known about the detailed lithospheric structure. Using data from 31 new, permanent broadband seismic stations along with results from a previous 29 temporary seismic stations and 3 existing global seismic stations in the region, a 3-D velocity model is developed using joint inversion of teleseismic receiver functions and surface waves. Both group and phase dispersion curves (Love and Rayleigh) were derived from regional and teleseismic events. Additional Rayleigh wave group dispersion curves were determined using ambient noise correlation. Receiver functions were calculated using P arrivals from 789 teleseismic (30°–90°) earthquakes. The stacked receiver functions and surface wave dispersion curves were jointly inverted to yield the absolute shear wave velocity to a depth of 100 km at each station. The depths of major discontinuities (sediment-basement, crust-mantle, and lithosphere-asthenosphere) were inferred from the velocity-depth profiles at the location of each station. Distinct spatial variations in crustal and upper mantle shear velocities were observed. The Kura basin showed slow (∼2.7–2.9 km/s) upper crustal (0–11 km) velocities but elevated (∼3.8–3.9 km/s) velocities in the lower crust. The Anatolian plateau varied from ∼3.1–3.2 in the upper crust to ∼3.5–3.7 in the lower crust, while velocities in the Arabian plate (south of the Bitlis suture) were slightly faster (upper crust between 3.3 and 3.4 km/s and lower crust between 3.8 and 3.9 km/s). The depth of the Moho, which was estimated from the shear velocity profiles, was 35 km in the Arabian plate and increased northward to 54 km at the southern edge of the Greater Caucasus. Moho depths in the Kura and at the edge of the Caspian showed more spatial variability but ranged between 35 and 45 km. Upper mantle velocities were slow under the Anatolian plateau but increased to the south under the Arabian plate and to the east (4.3–4.4 km/s) under the Kura basin and Greater Caucasus. The areas of slow mantle coincided with the locations of Holocene volcanoes. Differences between Rayleigh and Love dispersions at long wavelengths reveal a pronounced variation in anisotropy between the Anatolian plateau and the Kura basin.

Description:  — Observations based on relatively limited data recorded by sparsely distributed stations have indicated that regional seismic phase propagation (Lg and Sn) is very complex in the Middle East. Accurate characterization of regional seismic wave propagation in this region necessitates the use of a large number of seismic stations. We have compiled a large data set of regional and local seismograms recorded in the Middle East. This data set comprises approximately four years of data from national short-period networks in Turkey and Syria, data from temporary broadband arrays in Saudi Arabia and the Caspian Sea region, and data from GSN, MEDNET, and GEOFON stations in the Middle East. We have used this data set to decipher the character and pattern of regional seismic wave propagation. We have mapped zones of blockage as well as inefficient and efficient propagation for Lg, Pg, and Sn throughout the Middle East. Two tomographic techniques have been developed in order to objectively determine regions of lithospheric attenuation in the Middle East.¶We observe evidence of major increase in Lg attenuation, relative to Pg, across the Bitlis suture and the Zagros fold and thrust belt, corresponding to the boundary between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. We also observe a zone of inefficient Sn propagation along the Dead Sea fault system which coincides with low Pn velocities along most of the Dead Sea fault system and with previous observations of poor Sn propagation in western Jordan. Our observations indicate that in the northern portion of the Arabian plate (south of the Bitlis suture) there is also a zone of inefficient Sn propagation that would not have been predicted from prior measurements of relatively low Pn velocities. Mapped high attenuation of Sn correlates well with regions of Cenozoic and Holocene basaltic volcanism. These regions of uppermost mantle shear-wave attenuation most probably have anomously hot and possibly thin lithosphere.

Description: Shear-wave splitting parameters (fast polarization direction and delay time) are determined using data from LA RISTRA (Colorado pLAteau RIo Grande Rift/Great Plains Seismic TRAnsect), a deployment of broadband seismometers extending from the Great Plains, across the Rio Grande Rift and the Jemez Lineament, to the Colorado Plateau. Results show that the fast polarization directions are sub-parallel to North American absolute plate motion. The largest deviations from the plate motion are observed within the western edge of the Great Plains and in the interior of the Colorado Plateau where lithospheric anisotropy may be significant. Delay times range from 0.8 to 1.8 seconds with an average value of 1.4 seconds; the largest values are along the Jemez Lineament and the Rio Grande Rift which are underlain by an uppermost mantle low velocity zone extending to depths of similar to200 km. The anisotropy beneath the central part of LA RISTRA shows a remarkably consistent pattern with a mean fast direction of 40degrees+/-6degrees. Seismic anisotropy can be explained by differential horizontal motion between the North American lithosphere and westerly to southwesterly flow of the asthenospheric mantle. The approximately N-S fast direction found beneath western Texas is similar to that observed beneath the southern rift and may reflect a different dynamic regime.

Description: Despite its role in Arabia-Eurasia convergence between the Black and Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region lacks a comprehensive catalog. To address the issue, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Institute of Earth Sciences (IES) at Ilia State University generated a new, comprehensive seismic catalog for the Caucasus region by combining data in the IES bulletin with bulletins of the Republic Seismic Survey Center of Azerbaijan, monitoring centers in Turkey and Armenia, and the ISC covering the period 1951 to 2019. We present the bulletin that contains some 20,000 relocated events. We first relocated each event using the single-event location algorithm iLoc and RSTT predictions and identified GT events. Then we relocated the entire seismicity of the Caucasus region with the multiple-event location algorithm Bayesloc, using the iLoc results as initial locations and the GT events as constraints. We show that each relocation step leads to significant improvements, as indicated by tightening of event clusters. The improved view of the seismicity reveals a narrow band of crustal events along the southern flank of the Greater Caucasus we interpret as a megathrust, and confirms both a region of deep seismicity beneath the northeastern Caucasus and a possible area of slab detachment in the central part of the range.