Seismic structure of the upper mantle beneath the United States by three-dimensional inversion of body wave arrival times

Summary. Teleseismic P and S arrival times to North American stations are obtained from the ISC bulletins for the 10-yr period 1964–73, and relative travel-time delays are calculated with respect to standard tables. Station anomalies as well as variations of the delays with azimuth and epicentral distance from station are analysed, and the location of the velocity anomalies responsible for them is discussed. Inversion of the P delays to infer upper mantle velocity structure down to a depth of 700 km is obtained using three-dimensional blocks, as proposed by Aki, Christofferson & Husebye. Three layers can be resolved in this depth range. It is found that the heterogeneities responsible for the travel-time delays are primarily located in the first 250 km of the upper mantle, and that they correlate with surface features. Significant heterogeneities subsist to depths of at least 700 km and their broad scale pattern also correlates with the surface features: in the third layer (500 to 700 km depth) there is an increase of velocity from the West to the East of the United States, while the second layer (250 to 450 km depth) exhibits a reversed pattern. A tentative interpretation of these deeper anomalies is made, as being due mainly to topography of the major upper mantle discontinuities, near 400 and 650 km depth.