Is ambient noise tomography across ocean basins possible?

Abstract

Based on year-long cross-correlations of broad-band seismic records obtained at sixty-six stations within or adjacent to the Pacific Basin, we show that broad-band ambient noise is observed to propagate coherently between island stations and between island and continent stations. For many station pairs, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) fundamental mode Rayleigh wave Green functions are observed, which establishes the physical basis for ambient noise tomography across the Pacific. Similar trends for continental and oceanic stations are observed in the relationship between the ambient noise level at a station and the "noise coherence distance" -the longest distance at which a high SNR cross-correlation signal is observed for a station. Because locally generated noise obscures long distance coherent noise, situating stations at quiet locations on islands is necessary for the success of ambient noise tomography. Local noise poses a particular challenge at atoll sites and, on the basis of analysis of data from station H2O, at ocean bottom sites at periods above ∼25 sec. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.