[1] In offshore surveys, the deep crust is generally investigated by traveltime tomography applied to sparse ocean bottom seismometer data. The inferred velocity models are of limited resolution precluding a quantitative analysis of deep tectonic discontinuities. If dense arrays of ocean bottom seismometers can be deployed, the resulting data sets become amenable to full waveform processing, which should lead to a significant improvement in the resolution of structures. Such acquisition and processing were achieved on the eastern Nankai subduction zone. Full waveform inversion is entirely implemented in the frequency domain, enabling efficient finite difference wave modeling and allowing to limit the inversion to a few discrete frequencies of increasing value. Such a hierarchical procedure defines a multiresolution approach to seismic imaging. The data set was recorded by 93 instruments deployed along a 105-km-long profile. Thirteen frequencies ranging from 3 to 15 Hz were inverted sequentially. Wavelengths imaged by the full waveform inversion typically range between 0.5 and 8 km. Full waveform tomography reveals an intense compression in the upper prism and underlying backstop, as evidenced by several thrusts, the frontal ones still active, corresponding to negative velocity anomalies. The subducting Paleo-Zenisu ridge is also reconstructed, above which stands the décollement. Velocities in the upper mantle beneath the ridge are rather low (7.5 km s À1 ), suggesting partially serpentinized mantle beneath the ridge. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of full waveform tomography based on dense ocean bottom seismometer data sets and its ability to quantitatively image the entire crust with a significantly improved resolution compared to what is usually achieved through traveltime tomography.Citation: Operto, S., J. Virieux, J.-X. Dessa, and G. Pascal (2006), Crustal seismic imaging from multifold ocean bottom seismometer data by frequency domain full waveform tomography: Application to the eastern Nankai trough,
[1] The 26 December 2004 Sumatra earthquake (M w = 9.1) initiated around 30 km depth and ruptured 1300 km of the Indo-Australian -Sunda plate boundary. During the Sumatra-OBS (ocean bottom seismometer) survey, a wide-angle seismic profile was acquired across the epicentral region. A seismic velocity model was obtained from combined travel time tomography and forward modeling. Together with reflection seismic data from the SeaCause II cruise, the deep structure of the source region of the great earthquake is revealed. Four to five kilometers of sediments overlie the oceanic crust at the trench, and the subducting slab can be imaged down to a depth of 35 km. We find a crystalline backstop 120 km from the trench axis, below the fore-arc basin. A high-velocity zone at the lower landward limit of the ray-covered domain, at 22 km depth, marks a shallow continental Moho, 170 km from the trench. The deep structure obtained from the seismic data was used to construct a thermal model of the fore arc in order to predict the limits of the seismogenic zone along the plate boundary fault. Assuming 100°-150°C as its updip limit, the seismogenic zone is predicted to begin 5-30 km from the trench. The downdip limit of the 2004 rupture as inferred from aftershocks is within the 350°-450°C temperature range, but this limit is 210-250 km from the trench axis and is much deeper than the fore-arc Moho. The deeper part of the rupture occurred along the contact between the mantle wedge and the downgoing plate.
International audienceWe present results from multibeam bathymetric data acquired during 2005 and 2006, in the region of maximum slip of the 26 Dec. 2004 earthquake (Mw 9.2). These data provide high-resolution images of seafloor morphology of the entire NW Sumatra forearc from the Sunda trench to the submarine volcanic arc just north of Sumatra. A slope gradient analysis of the combined dataset accurately highlights those portions of the seafloor shaped by active tectonic, depositional and/or erosional processes. The greatest slope gradients are located in the frontal 30 km of the forearc, at the toe of the accretionary wedge. This suggests that long-term deformation rates are highest here and that probably only minor amounts of slip are accommodated by other thrust faults further landward. Obvious N–S oriented lineaments observed on the incoming oceanic plate are aligned sub-parallel to the fracture zones associated with the Wharton fossil spreading center. Active strike-slip motion is suggested by recent deformation with up to 20–30 m of vertical offset. The intersection of these N–S elongated bathymetric scarps with the accretionary wedge partly controls the geometry of thrust anticlines and the location of erosional features (e.g. slide scars, canyons) at the wedge toe. Our interpretation suggests that these N–S lineaments have a significant impact on the oceanic plate, the toe of the wedge and further landward in the wedge. Finally, the bathymetric data indicate that folding at the front of the accretionary wedge occurs primarily along landward-vergent (seaward-dipping) thrusts, an unusual style in accretionary wedges worldwide. The N–S elongated lineaments locally act as boundaries between zones with predominant seaward versus landward vergence
[1] The easternmost segment of the Nankai trough remained unruptured during the 1944 and 1946 earthquakes that affected the rest of the trench. It is therefore a zone of seismic gap that also undergoes a peculiar tectonic regime due to its proximity with the Izu collision zone. We investigate this area with densely sampled active seismic data. One hundred ocean bottom seismometers, spaced only 1 km apart, were deployed along a line perpendicular to the trough. A two-step tomographic approach, designed for this type of acquisition, is applied: first, a long-wavelength velocity model is built by a linearized inversion of first arrival travel times, its resolution is assessed, and its reliability is confirmed through a semiglobal approach in which a large range of starting models is tested; second, this tomographic model is used to exploit late reflected arrivals with a prestack depth migration, the result of which is validated by classically modeling refraction and reflection travel times in the derived structural model. Thus both velocities and discontinuities are mapped in our model with a minimum of data interpretation and a priori knowledge. Our results bring new insights on the deep crustal zones of the margin and its evolution. The existence of presently inactivated major thrusts is very clearly evidenced in the backstop. A general timing for its evolution and deformation is proposed. Farther seaward, the presence of a subducted ridge beneath the accretionary wedge is confirmed. Its compressive structure and origin are demonstrated. It exhibits a thickened lower crust which nature is discussed. Besides, strong analogies between this ''Paleo-Zenisu'' subducting ridge and the Zenisu ridge, observed farther south, are also emphasized, bringing evidences for a steady state crustal deformation pattern.
International audienceForearc tectonics at accretionary convergent margins has variously been studied using analogue and numerical modelling techniques. Numerous geophysical investigations have targeted the subsurface structure of active forearc settings at convergent margins. However, several critical details of the structure, mode of tectonic evolution and the role forearcs play in the subduction seismic cycle remain to be further understood, especially for large accretionary margins. In this study, we present a high-resolution deep seismic reflection image of the northern Sumatran subduction forearc, near the 2004 December 26 Sumatra earthquake epicentral region. The profile clearly demarcates the backthrust branches at the seaward edge of the Aceh forearc basin, along which the inner forearc continues to evolve. Sharp bathymetric features at the seafloor suggest that the imaged backthrusts are active. Coincident wide-angle seismic tomographic image of the Sumatra forearc allows us to image the geometry of the seaward dipping backstop buttress, with which the imaged backthrust branches are associated. The presence of forearc backthrusting confirms model predictions for the development of backthrusting over seaward dipping backstops. The West Andaman fault at the seaward edge of Aceh basin appears to be a shallow tributary of the backthrust and sheds light on the complex deformation of the forearc. Uplifting along the backthrust branches may explain the presence of forearc islands observed all along Sumatran margin and help further constrain the tectonic models for their evolution. Moreover, if these backthrusts slip coseismically, they would contribute to tsunamigenesis and seismic risk in the region
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