Imaging the upper mantle beneath Turkey and surrounding regions

Abstract

This study includes two interdependent sections. The first section presents an analysis of Pn travel times to determine Pn velocity, Pn anisotropy and crustal thickness variations beneath Turkey and surroundings. Between 1999 and 2010, more than 50 000 Pn arrivals are compiled from 700 regional earthquakes by 832 stations of permanent and temporary networks operated in the study area. A regularized least squares inversion method is used to estimate crustal thickness variations and image velocity perturbations in the uppermost mantle. The results reveal features that correlate well with the surface geology and the active tectonics of the region. The Pn velocities show very fast (> 8.4 km s-1) and very slow (< 7.6 km s-1) anomalies indicating a heterogeneous lithospheric structure. The average velocity of 8.0 km s-1 is determined from a linear fit to Pn travel times. Relatively uniform Pn velocities (7.9-8.1 km s-1) are observed in the Western Turkey. Large velocity contrasts are located at subduction and suture zones. A sharp transition in the central Anatolia is apparent from the uniform Pn velocities in the west to lowest velocities (< 7.6 km s-1) in the east. The lowest velocities coincide with the volcanics of the easternmost Anatolia and the Central Anatolian Volcanic Zone. Beneath the Dead Sea Fault Zone and Dinarides-Hellenides, the upper mantle velocities are also low (< 7.8 km s-1). High Pn velocities are observed beneath oceanic lithosphere such as Mediterranean Basin (> 8.3 km s-1), western Black Sea basin (> 8.3 km s-1), Adriatic Sea (> 8.3 km s-1), and Zagros suture zone (> 8.3 km s-1). Large velocity contrasts are observed at subduction, suture zones and across the North Anatolian Fault. Pn anisotropy has maximum amplitude of ±0.8 km s-1 in the study area corresponding to 10 per cent anisotropy. The coherent and largest anisotropic anomalies are observed in the western Anatolia, Aegean Sea, and Cyprian Arc. A significant anisotropic pattern is observed in the Cyprian Arc region. Pn anisotropy in western Anatolia, Aegean Sea and Greece correlate well with the present state of tectonic deformation and GPS velocities. The Dinarides-Hellenides exhibit arc-parallel anisotropy. In Western Anatolia, anisotropy is aligned in N-S direction along the major principal strain orientation. Along the North Anatolian Fault, the anisotropy directions are E-W, aligned with the fault geometry in the western part while no correlation is observed on the central and eastern parts of the fault. Anisotropy in Eastern Anatolia is complex and the directions are varying strongly in the region of low Pn velocities. The absence of anisotropy is apparent in an area dominated by the neogene volcanism. Low Pn velocities and absence of clear anisotropic pattern beneath Eastern Anatolia may have resulted from thermal anomalies in the uppermost mantle possibly due to delamination processes. Large positive station delays are observed along the southern coast of Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia and beneath Dinarides-Hellenides while large negative station delays are observed in Western Anatolia and the Marmara Region. The majority of the stations in Central Anatolia show small station residuals indicating the average crustal thickness of 35±2 km. Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea have crustal thicknesses between 28±2 and 33±2 km. In Greece, the crustal thicknesses are increasing from 33±3 km from the western coast to a maximum of 48±3 km beneath Dinarides-Hellenides. The large crustal thicknesses (40-48 km) are also observed along southern coast of Anatolia. In eastern and Southern Anatolia the average crustal thicknesses are 40 km and 36 km, respectively. In the second section of this study, shear wave splitting on records of core-refracted (SKS) phases are obtained. Waveform data from 850 teleseismic earthquakes occurred between 1999-2010 at epicentral distances between 84° and 130° with magnitudes greater than 6.0 are analyzed. A total number of 4163 splitting measurements are obtained from 217 broadband seismic stations located in and around Turkey. The anisotropy parameters measured from SKS are consistent with the results of similar studies conducted in North-Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia and Aegean. Fast direction polarizations are dominantly in NE-SW direction in the Eastern Anatolia. In the Marmara Region, fast polarization directions are in NNE-SSW direction with greater lag times. There is a relatively sharp change in the fast polarization directions form NE-SW to NW-SE at the Antalya Bay, Isparta Angle Region (~30°E). SKS measurements are non-uniform in Central and Northern Greece. There are progressive changes in the fast splitting directions as well as delay times from Eastern Turkey to the Aegean. The change in the fast splitting directions from NNE-SSW in the eastern Anatolia to N-S in the Aegean may be the result of the retreat of the Hellenic slab. Through the North Anatolian Fault, shear wave splitting directions are aligned NE-SW.