The InSight lander will deliver geophysical instruments to Mars in 2018, including seismometers installed directly on the surface (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, SEIS). Routine operations will be split into two services, the Mars Structure Service (MSS) and Marsquake Service (MQS), which will be responsible, respectively, for defining the structure models and seismicity catalogs from the mission. The MSS will deliver a series of products before the landing, during the operations, and finally to the Planetary Data System (PDS) archive. Prior to the mission, we assembled a suite of a priori models of Mars, based on estimates of bulk composition and thermal profiles. Initial models during the mission will rely on modeling surface waves and impact-generated body waves independent of prior knowledge of structure. Later modeling will include simultaneous inversion of seismic observations for source and structural parameters. We use Bayesian inversion techniques to obtain robust probability distribution functions of interior structure parameters. Shallow structure will be characterized using the hammering of the heatflow probe mole, as well as measurements of surface wave ellipticity. Crustal scale structure will be constrained by measurements of receiver function and broadband Rayleigh wave ellipticity measurements. Core interacting body wave phases should be observable above modeled martian noise levels, allowing us to constrain deep structure. Normal modes of Mars should also be observable and can be used to estimate the globally averaged 1D structure, while combination with results from the InSight radio science mission and orbital observations will allow for constraint of deeper structure
Using Rayleigh wave tomography of noise‐removed ocean bottom seismometer data from the Cascadia Initiative, we illuminate the structure of the upper mantle beneath the Juan de Fuca plate. Beneath the Juan de Fuca ridge, there is strong asymmetry, with a pronounced low‐velocity zone in the 25–65 km depth range. Extending to the west from the spreading axis, this anomaly has velocities low enough to indicate the presence of melt. The asymmetry in velocity structure and the much greater abundance of seamounts on the west flank of the ridge suggest that dynamic, buoyant upwelling is important, perhaps triggered by thermal or compositional anomalies beneath Axial Seamount. In contrast, there is no evidence for asymmetry in the axial zone or lower than expected velocities beneath the Gorda ridge. On the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca ridge, the shear velocity in the 25–65 depth range is higher than expected; the lithosphere appears to be colder and thicker than predicted by standard plate cooling models, perhaps caused by the downwelling counterpart of the upwelling on the west side of the ridge. Close to the trench, there is a sharp decrease in shear velocity. We interpret this as aqueous alteration caused by hydrothermal circulation through deep normal faults associated with bending of the plate. Beneath the Astoria and Nitinat fans, where abyssal plain sediment is thickest, the velocity decrease is much smaller, which is consistent with a thick sediment cap that prevents hydrothermal alteration of the plate.
The complex ratio of vertical displacement to pressure (D/P) at seafloor is a function of frequency. It is sensitive to the subsurface elastic properties, particularly the shear modulus, and therefore can be used to determine the shear velocity and thickness of marine sediments. Instead of using compliance in response to loading of long-period infragravity waves as in previous studies, we investigate the transfer function from pressure to displacement using Rayleigh waves generated by microseisms and earthquakes. We find that at frequencies between 0.1 and 0.2 Hz, the Rayleigh wave transfer function is very sensitive to marine sediments and can be reliably obtained from microseism noise. Using a surface wave mode method, we calculate synthetic D/P ratios and examine their sensitivity to water depth, shear wave speed, and thickness of sediments. We develop a method to invert the Rayleigh wave D/P ratio for a regional 1-D profile of sediment shear wave speed and associated sediment thickness beneath each ocean bottom seismograph (OBS). We apply our method to a group of deep water OBSs deployed in the Cascadia Initiative and obtain a well-resolved depth-dependent shear wave speed for sediments on the Juan de Fuca plate and shear wave traveltime delays caused by sediments at each station.
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