Seismic anisotropy of the shallow crust at the Juan de Fuca Ridge

Geophysical Research Letters
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Abstract

Microearthquake data recorded on four ocean bottom seismometers are used to study shear-wave splitting on the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The covariance matrix decomposition method is used to determine the sensor orientation from explosive shot data and to estimate the anisotropy parameters for 238 earthquake records. At three of the four sites, the results show a remarkably consistent fast direction parallel to the ridge axis. The time delays between the fast and the slow waves range from 40 to 200 ms, with an average of 90 ms. They are not clearly related to earthquake range, focal depth or source-receiver azimuth. The splitting of the shear waves is interpreted as an effect of structural anisotropy due to the presence of ridge-parallel cracks in the shallow crust. If we assume that anisotropy is concentrated in the upper 1-2 km, the splitting times require a high crack density of ~0.1.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Seismic anisotropy of the shallow crust at the Juan de Fuca Ridge
Series title Geophysical Research Letters
DOI 10.1029/2000GL011535
Volume 27
Issue 19
Year Published 2000
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Description 4 p.
First page 3109
Last page 3112
Other Geospatial Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean
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