Beschreibung: Many studies have sought to seismically image plumes rising from the deep mantle in order to settle the debate about their presence and role in mantle dynamics, yet the predicted seismic signature of realistic plumes remains poorly understood. By combining numerical simulations of flow, mineral-physics constraints on the relationships between thermal anomalies and wave speeds, and spectral-element method based computations of seismograms, we estimate the delay times of teleseismic S and P waves caused by thermal plumes. Wave front healing is incomplete for seismic periods ranging from 10 s (relevant in traveltime tomography) to 40 s (relevant in waveform tomography). We estimate P -wave delays to be immeasurably small (〈0.3 s). S -wave delays are larger than 0.4 s even for S waves crossing the conduits of the thinnest thermal plumes in our geodynamic models. At longer periods (〉20 s), measurements of instantaneous phase misfit may be more useful in resolving narrow plume conduits. To detect S -wave delays of 0.4–0.8 s and the diagnostic frequency dependence imparted by plumes, it is key to minimize the influence of the heterogeneous crust and upper mantle. We argue that seismic imaging of plumes will advance significantly if data from wide-aperture ocean-bottom networks were available since, compared to continents, the oceanic crust and upper mantle are relatively simple.

Beschreibung: Rayleigh wave amplitudes are the primary data set used for imaging shear attenuation in the upper mantle on a global scale. In addition to attenuation, surface-wave amplitudes are influenced by excitation at the earthquake source, focusing and scattering by elastic heterogeneity, and local structure at the receiver and the instrument response. The challenge of isolating the signal of attenuation from these other effects limits both the resolution of global attenuation models and the level of consistency between different global attenuation studies. While the source and receiver terms can be estimated using relatively simple approaches, focusing effects on amplitude are a large component of the amplitude signal and are sensitive to multiscale velocity anomalies. In this study we investigate how different theoretical treatments for focusing effects on Rayleigh wave amplitude influence the retrieved attenuation models. A new data set of fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave phase and amplitude at periods of 50 and 100 sis analysed. The amplitudes due to focusing effects are predicted using the great-circle ray approximation (GCRA), exact ray theory (ERT), and finite-frequency theory (FFT). Phase-velocity maps expanded to spherical-harmonic degree 20 and degree 40 are used for the predictions. After correction for focusing effects, the amplitude data are inverted for global attenuation maps and frequency-dependent source and receiver correction factors. The degree-12 attenuation maps, based on different corrections for focusing effects, all contain the same large-scale features, though the magnitude of the attenuation variations depends on the focusing correction. The variance reduction of the amplitudes strongly depends on the predicted focusing amplitudes, with the highest variance reduction for the ray-based approaches at 50 s and for FFT at 100 s. Although failure to account for focusing effects introduces artefacts into the attenuation models at higher spherical-harmonic degrees, the low-degree structure can be robustly retrieved. The new attenuation maps compare favourably with previous attenuation studies derived using independent amplitude data sets.

Beschreibung: The splitting of the Earth's free-oscillation spectra places important constraints on the wave speed and density structure of the Earth's mantle and core. We present a new set of 164 self-coupled and 32 cross-coupled splitting functions. They are derived from modal spectra up to 10 mHz for 91 events with M w  ≥ 7.4 from the last 34 yr (1976–2010). Our data include the 2001 June 23 Peru event ( M w  = 8.4), the Sumatra events of 2004 ( M w  = 9.0) and 2005 ( M w  = 8.6), the 2008 Wenchuan, China event ( M w  = 7.9) and the 2010 Chile event ( M w  = 8.8). The new events provide significant improvement of data coverage particularly in continental areas. Almost half of the splitting functions have never been measured before. In particular, we measured 33 new modes sensitive to mantle compressional wave velocity, 10 new inner-core sensitive modes and 22 new cross-coupled splitting functions. These provide new constraints on the large-scale compressional structure of the mantle and the odd-degree structure of the mantle and inner core and can be used in future inversions of heterogeneous Earth structure. Our new splitting function coefficient data set will be available online.

Beschreibung: We propose a simple method where the inversion of synthetic data, corresponding to a zero-mean random input vector, is used to infer the average horizontal and vertical resolution lengths of tomographic models. The method works well if the resolution operator has a diagonally dominant structure. This assumption, although often verified in seismic tomography, can be tested by simply cross-correlating the input with the output of the synthetic simulation. The method is as efficient as a single checkerboard test, but reveals more easily interpretable information.

Beschreibung: We present the new model SP12RTS of isotropic shear-wave ( V S ) and compressional-wave ( V P ) velocity variations in the Earth's mantle. SP12RTS is derived using the same methods as employed in the construction of the shear-wave velocity models S20RTS and S40RTS, and the same data types. SP12RTS includes additional traveltime measurements of P -waves and new splitting measurements: 33 normal modes with sensitivity to the compressional-wave velocity and 9 Stoneley modes with sensitivity primarily to the lowermost mantle. Contrary to S20RTS and S40RTS, variations in V S and V P are determined without invoking scaling relationships. Lateral velocity variations in SP12RTS are parametrised using spherical harmonics up to degree 12, to focus on long-wavelength features of V S and V P and their ratio R . Large-low-velocity provinces (LLVPs) are observed for both V S and V P . SP12RTS also features an increase of R up to 2500 km depth, followed by a decrease towards the core–mantle boundary. A negative correlation between the shear-wave and bulk-sound velocity variations is observed for both the LLVPs and the surrounding mantle. These characteristics can be explained by the presence of post-perovskite or large-scale chemical heterogeneity in the lower mantle.