ABSTRACT
Surface waves have long had an important role in identifying seismic sources as earthquakes or explosions.  Traveling along the surface of the earth, however, they can also provide information on the shallow earth structure encountered en route.  Because of their propagation path, surface waves are particularly useful in studying aseismic regions or regions without seismic sensors that cannot be directly sampled by other seismic phases.  This talk discusses the results of a high-resolution surface wave study across Western Eurasia and North Africa.  By inverting surface waves and combining the data with information from other sources, we can produce reliable models of the crust and upper mantle structure  across the region, including aseismic regions like Russia and North Africa.  Major tectonic features (i.e. sedimentary basins, crustal thickening in orogenic zones, crustal thinning along ridges, contrasts between oceanic and continental crust) are well-resolved by the study.  Finally, high-resolution surface wave models also allow us to design ideal filters for surface wave signals in order to improve our ability to discriminate between earthquakes and explosions.

Seminar held on February 27, 2002 at New Mexico Tech, MSEC 202 at noon
Sponsored by Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Geophysics Program