HR: 0800h
AN: S51E-1062    [Abstracts]
TI: Sierra Nevada Earthscope Project: Constraints on the Sierran Seismic Structure From Regional Waveform Modelling
AU: * Byerly, K
EM: byerlyk@seis.sc.edu
AF: University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences 701 Sumter St., columbia, SC 29208
AU: Julia, J
EM: jordi@seis.sc.edu
AF: University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences 701 Sumter St., columbia, SC 29208
AU: Owens, T J
EM: owens@seis.sc.edu
AF: University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences 701 Sumter St., columbia, SC 29208
AU: Gilbert, H
EM: hgilbert@geo.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences Gould-Simpson Bldg, Tucson, AZ 85721
AU: Zandt, G
EM: zandt@geo.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences Gould-Simpson Bldg, Tucson, AZ 85721
AU: Jones, C
EM: cjones@cires.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Geological Sciences 3100 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80309
AB: The Sierra Nevada Earthscope Project (SNEP) represents the first FlexArray broadband temporary deployment within the broader EarthScope/USArray Transportable Array effort, and has as its ultimate goal to improve our present understanding of the ongoing foundering of mantle lithosphere beneath the Sierra Nevada. The network consists of over 40 broadband stations (CMG3T sensors & RT-130 digitizers). Phase I of SNEP involves operating continuously for ~1 year in an approximately square grid with an average interstation spacing of ~25 km. The network extends from the western foothills to eastern Nevada between 36°-39° N latitude. In the first month of recording, the SNEP stations have recorded a number of high-quality regional waveforms (epicentral distances between 200 and 500 km) with magnitudes in the 3.6 to 5.2 mb range. A planned late September service run will recover data from recent swarms in southern California. Most of these waveforms have raypaths lying largely within the Sierras and provide a unique opportunity to probe the seismic structure of its underlying crust and uppermost mantle. In this study, we will attempt a full seismic waveform modeling of the recorded regional waveforms in order to constrain structural and compositional parameters such as average seismic velocities, crustal thickness and Poisson's ratio. We expect our modeling will furnish critical constraints on the structure and composition of the Sierran crust and uppermost mantle that will help unravel the dynamics of the removal of its mantle lithosphere.
DE: 4255 Numerical modeling (0545, 0560)
DE: 7203 Body waves
DE: 7205 Continental crust (1219)
DE: 7218 Lithosphere (1236)
DE: 8038 Regional crustal structure
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005