loading page

Teleseismic Body-Wave Attenuation Beneath the Conterminous United States from Analysis of EarthScope Transportable Array data
  • +1
  • Maximiliano J Bezada,
  • Joseph Stephen Byrnes,
  • Zhao Zhu,
  • Hwaju Lee
Maximiliano J Bezada
University of Minnesota

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Joseph Stephen Byrnes
University of Minnesota
Author Profile
Zhao Zhu
University of Minnesota
Author Profile
Hwaju Lee
Seoul National University
Author Profile

Abstract

Much information about the North American lithosphere has been gained by imaging seismic wave velocities. Additional constraints on the state of the subsurface can be gained by studying seismic attenuation, which has different sensitivity to physical properties. We produce a model of lateral variations in attenuation across the conterminous U.S. by analyzing P waveforms from deep earthquakes recorded by the EarthScope Transportable Array using a time-domain waveform matching approach. We divide the study area into 12 overlapping tiles and differential attenuation is measured in each tile independently; with analysis being repeated independently for 4 of the tiles. Measurements are combined into a smooth map using a linear inversion. Comparing results for adjacent tiles and for repeated tiles shows that the imaged features are robust. The final map is produced by combining all the measurements and shows generally higher attenuation west of the Rocky Mountain Front than east of it, with significant small length scale variations superimposed on that broad pattern. In general, there is a strong anticorrelation between differential attenuation and shear wave velocities at 90 km depth. However, a given change in velocity may correspond to large or small change in attenuation, depending on the area; suggesting that different physical mechanisms are operating. In some cases, most notably in the Snake River Plain, attenuation and velocity do not show the expected anticorrelation. The southern Intermountain Seismic Belt coincides with a high gradient in the attenuation signal, but even larger gradients further inland do not show any association with seismicity.