HR: 0830h
AN: S31F-0828    [PDF]
TI: Evidence of a Subducting Slab Beneath Taiwan From a Joint Observation of Seismic Waveforms and Travel Times
AU: * Chen, P
EM: bob@earth.sinica.edu.tw
AF: Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Sec 2, Nankang, Taipei, 115 Taiwan
AU: Huang, B
EM: hwbs@earth.sinica.edu.tw
AF: Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Sec 2, Nankang, Taipei, 115 Taiwan
AU: Liang, W
EM: wtl@earth.sinica.edu.tw
AF: Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Sec 2, Nankang, Taipei, 115 Taiwan
AB: We propose that the effects of a near-receiver slab is straightforward to observe with a seismic array. While this proposal is globally applicable, the application on data of the "Broadband Array in Taiwan for Seismology (BATS)" is significant for local studies. The Tonga-Kermadec earthquakes exhibit consistently negative travel time anomalies and reduced P wave amplitudes for stations in central Taiwan, suggesting the presence of an aseismic subducted slab. This suggestion is enhanced by the correlations of amplitude ratios with earthquake latitudes, which can be seen for station as north as 24.3\deg (TDCB). The more reduction in amplitudes for earthquakes with more negative latitudes is consistent with the southward propagation of the "arc-continent collision". In an attempt to seek for the "equivalent planar slab", we model the joint observations of travel time anomalies and amplitude reductions for stations SSLB and TPUB, using 2-D pseudospectrum method. The probable range of slab extent to produce the observations (without corrections for station effects) of both stations is 400 km long, 4% velocity anomalies to 500 km long, 3% velocity anomalies.
DE: 7200 SEISMOLOGY
DE: 7203 Body wave propagation
DE: 8100 TECTONOPHYSICS
DE: 8123 Dynamics, seismotectonics
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting