EGU25-10849, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10849
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Mapping Botswana's Crustal Structure from Ambient Seismic Noise
Onkgopotse Ntibinyane1,2, Ehsan Qorbani Chegeni2, and Götz Bokelmann1
Onkgopotse Ntibinyane et al.
  • 1Department of Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
  • 2CTBTO, International Data Center, Vienna, Austria

Botswana is situated in central Southern Africa and is characterized by diverse geology, including prominent cratons such as the Congo and Kalahari cratons, as well as two sedimentary basins. Previous studies of the crustal structure beneath Botswana have primarily relied on traditional regional and teleseismic earthquake tomography. In this study, we use ambient seismic noise tomography to image the crustal structure of Botswana and its surrounding region. Using two years of seismic data (2019–2020) from 40 broadband stations including stations from the Botswana Seismological Network (BSN) and neighbouring regions, cross-correlation functions (CCFs) are computed and used to reconstruct surface waves propagating between station pairs. Dispersions of the surface waves are extracted and used to produce Rayleigh wave group and phase velocity maps of the region. Here we present the first results of Rayleigh wave group velocities and discuss these findings.  This study aims to enhance our ability to image crustal structures in this low-seismicity region. The resulting velocity maps will contribute to the development of detailed 3D velocity models of Botswana’s crustal structure, providing new insights into the region’s subsurface structure and geodynamics. Future work will extend these results by integrating Love wave data and investigating crustal anisotropy.

How to cite: Ntibinyane, O., Qorbani Chegeni, E., and Bokelmann, G.: Mapping Botswana's Crustal Structure from Ambient Seismic Noise, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-10849, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10849, 2025.