Identifying Seismic Anisotropy Patterns in the Alps and Apennines with Splitting Intensity and Backazimuthal Dependencies

The current tectonics of the Alps and Apennines are driven and influenced by current and
past subduction systems. Computational advances over the years made it possible to
identify remnant and active slabs until great depths and large seismic deployments
revealed mostly clockwise rotation SKS splitting measurements. But the effects of layered
anisotropy and regional upper mantle flow through possible tears in the slabs remain
unknown. A comparison of several seismological methods can be a very efficient tool to
separate lithospheric and asthenospheric anisotropy. This study tries to understand if
anisotropy patterns change with depth in some regions (e.g., possible subslab mantle flow
in the Western Alps) and if tears can be identified with shear wave splitting measurements
(e.g., Central Apennines). Furthermore, splitting intensities will be analyzed for
backazimuthal dependencies and used to correct velocities in a full-waveform tomography.
By mapping and comparing existing and new anisotropy measurements (e.g., SKS, Pn
anisotropy, azimuthal anisotropy from surface waves tomography, and splitting intensities)
we intend to identify anisotropic depth dependencies.