Ambient noise tomography of the western Corinth Rift, Greece

TitleAmbient noise tomography of the western Corinth Rift, Greece
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsGiannopoulos, D, Rivet, D, Sokos, E, Deschamps, A, Mordret, A, Lyon-Caen, H, Bernard, P, Paraskevopoulos, P, Tselentis, G-A
JournalGeophysical Journal International
Volume211
Issue1
Pagination284 - 299
Date PublishedFeb-07-2018
ISSN0956-540X
Abstract

Three years of continuous waveform data recorded at 22 stations from the Corinth Rift Laboratory and the Hellenic Unified Seismological Network are used to perform an ambient noise surface wave tomography of the western Corinth Rift. All available vertical component time-series were cross-correlated to extract empirical Rayleigh-wave Green's functions. Group velocity dispersion curves were measured for each station-pair by applying frequency-time analysis and then inverted to build 2-D group velocity maps between 1 and 6 s period. Finally, we locally inverted these velocity maps using a neighbourhood algorithm to assess the 3-D shear-velocity model of the shallow crustal structure of the western Corinth Rift. Across all studied periods the southern coast of the Corinth Gulf is generally imaged as a region of lower velocities compared to the northern coast. At periods up to 3 s, the spatial variation of the group velocities is correlated with the surface geology of the area. Lower velocities are observed in areas where mostly Plio-Quaternary syn-rift sediments are present, such as offshore regions of the rift, the Mornos delta and the largest part of the southern coast. Higher velocities are observed in pre-rift basement structures which are dominated mostly by carbonates. At periods above 3 s, where Rayleigh-waves begin to sense deeper structures below the sediments within the underlying basement, our study highlights the presence of a distinct zone of lower velocities across the southern part of the rift with an elongation in the WNW–ESE direction. The interpretation of this low velocity includes two arguments, the present-day active tectonic regime and the possible involvement of fluids circulation processes at depth within a highly fractured upper crust in the vicinity of the major faults zones. In general, the results demonstrate good agreement with the major geological and tectonic features of the area, as well as with previous local earthquake tomography studies and support the assumption of fluid circulations at depth. This work intends to be the base for further investigations towards the study of the Corinth Rift structure using long-time series of ambient noise data.

URLhttps://academic.oup.com/gji/article/211/1/284/3965337
DOI10.1093/gji/ggx298