Anisotropic structure of the central European lower crust from ambient noise inversion

Previous research of the Bohemian Massif (BM) crust with the use of ambient noise tomography (ANT) indicates a transversely isotropic structure of the lower crust (Kvapil et al. 2021). In this study, we have developed a new approach for evaluations of localised seismic anisotropy by travel time integration method.

The method calculates synthetic Rayleigh (vertical ZZ correlation) and Love (transverse TT correlation) velocities and derives the v_SH/v_SV from the initial 3D isotropic v_SV model. The higher ratio of measured v_SH/v_SV to synthetic v_SH/v_SV indicates the existence of velocity anisotropy in the lower crust of the BM in the reference ANT model (Kvapil et al., 2021). The new method evaluates azimuthal variations of the synthetic parameters due to heterogeneities reflecting local geology effects and corrects the observed velocity ratios. Then the 1D stochastic joint (ZZ, TT) inversion is applied to retrieve the depth dependence of the velocity ratio. We use cross-correlation of ambient noise and earthquake data from seismic stations included in the AlpArray, PACASE, and Adria Array passive seismic experiments and data from the PASSEQ experiment, which complement the sparse coverage in the northern part of the BM.

Seismic anisotropy records the stress/strain conditions of each originally independent tectonic microplates during the formation of the BM crust. We demonstrate that synthetic modelling over the reference isotropic velocity model is an efficient tool for extracting radial and azimuthal shear velocity anisotropy in the lower crust directly from Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion curves. Regions with consistent parameters of seismic anisotropy correlate well with the major tectonic units of the BM. We show that variations in azimuthal and radial anisotropy of the lower crust on a regional scale can provide constraints for the reconstruction of geodynamic processes during the formation of the BM. We present complementary studies of the anisotropic structure of the mantle lithosphere in contributions by Zlebcikova et al. (GD7.1, EGU 2024), which shows an anisotropic model of the upper mantle derived from a 3D coupled anisotropic-isotropic teleseismic tomography (code anitomo), and in contributions by Vecsey et al. (GD7.1, EGU 2024), suggesting a new method for evaluation of anisotropy from shear waves.