Three-dimensional S-wave structure of the upper mantle beneath Turkey from surface wave tomography

Abstract

A 3-D upper-mantle structure beneath Turkey is investigated using phase speeds of fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves employing a conventional two-station method with high-density seismic networks in Turkey. We analyse 289 seismic events with moment magnitude 5.5 and greater, and with focal depth shallower than 100 km between 2006 and 2008. Waveform data are derived from 164 three-component broad-band seismic stations operated by two national seismic networks. At first, Rayleigh-wave phase speed maps are obtained from the inversion of two-station phase speeds using about 1000-3000 paths, depending on the period of Rayleigh waves. The three-dimensional S-wave model is then obtained in the depth range from 40 to 180 km using the phase speed maps in the period range from 25 to 120 s. Our model reveals the fast anomalies in the north of Cyprus associated with the subducted portion of the African oceanic lithosphere from the Cyprus trench. We identify a vertical discontinuity of the fast anomaly associated with the Cyprus slab starting at 60-80 km depth which may represent a minor tear of the Cyprus slab. We observed that the western part of the Cyprus slab is getting closer to the edge of the Hellenic slab beneath the Isparta Angle (IA) and Antalya Basin. Our model also indicates a slow wave speed anomaly beneath the IA and Antalya Basin probably due to hot materials of asthenosphere rising from a tear of the subducted African oceanic lithosphere; that is, a slab tear between the Cyprus and the Hellenic subductions. In the eastern part of Turkey, a widespread slow anomaly appears in the model that corresponds to the Eastern Anatolian Accretionary Complex (EAAC). Our model shows a fast anomaly beneath the EAAC that can be interpreted as the detached portion of the subducted Arabian lithosphere. © 2012 The Authors Geophysical Journal International © 2012 RAS.