Abstract
A diverse set of tectonic features and the recent availability of high-quality broadband seismic data from the USArray and other stations on the northern Great Plains of North America provide a distinct opportunity to test different anisotropy-forming mechanisms. A total of 4138 pairs of well-defined splitting parameters observed at 445 stations show systematic spatial variations of anisotropic characteristics. Azimuthally invariant fast orientations subparallel to the absolute plate motion (APM) direction are observed at most of the stations on the Superior Craton and the southern Yavapai province, indicating that a single layer of anisotropy with a horizontal axis of symmetry is sufficient to explain the anisotropic structure. For areas with simple anisotropy, the application of a procedure for estimating the depth of anisotropy using spatial coherency of splitting parameters results in a depth of 200–250 km, suggesting that the observed anisotropy mostly resides in the upper asthenosphere. In the vicinity of the northern boundary of the Yavapai province and the Wyoming Craton, the splitting parameters can be adequately explained by a two-horizontal layer model. The lower layer has an APM-parallel fast orientation, and the upper layer has a fast orientation that is mostly consistent with the regional strike of the boundary. Based on the splitting measurements and previous results from seismic tomography and geodynamic modeling, we propose a model involving deflecting of asthenosphere flow by the bottom of the lithosphere and channeling of flow by a zone of thinned lithosphere approximately along the northern boundary of the Yavapai province.
Recommended Citation
B. B. Yang et al., "Seismic Anisotropy and Mantle Flow beneath the Northern Great Plains of North America," Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 119, no. 3, pp. 1971 - 1985, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Mar 2014.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JB010561
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Research Center/Lab(s)
Center for High Performance Computing Research
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Mar 2014
