Numerical modelling of wavefields in three-dimensional inhomogeneous media |
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Authors: | I Ya Azbel L A Dmitrieva V S Gobarenko T B Yanovskaya |
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Institution: | Geological Institute, Apatite 184200, USSR;Leningrad State University, Leningrad 198904, Petrodvoretz, USSR;Geophysical Institute, Seismological Dept, Simferpol 333001 Studenscheskaya, 3, USSR;Leningrad State University, Leningrad 198904, Petrodvoretz, USSR. |
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Abstract: | Summary. Numerical modelling is one of the most efficient methods for an investigation of the relationship between structural features and peculiarities of observed wavefields. It is practically the only method for 2-D and 3-D inhomogeneous media. An algorithm based on ray theory has been developed for calculations of travel times and amplitudes of seismic waves in 3-D inhomogeneous media with curved interfaces. It was applied for numerical modelling of kinematic and dynamic characteristics of seismic waves propagating in laterally inhomogeneous media. Travel-time and amplitude patterns were studied in the 2-D and 3-D models of a geosyncline, in which velocity distribution was given by an analytical function of the coordinates. For a more complicated model representing a subducting high-velocity lithospheric plate in a transition zone between oceanic and continental upper mantle, the velocity distribution was given by discrete values on a 2-D non-rectangular grid. It was shown that when a source was placed above the lithospheric plate, a shadow zone appeared along a strike of the structure, i.e. in the direction which is perpendicular to a strong lateral velocity gradient. Travel-time residuals were calculated along the seismological profile for a 3-D velocity distribution in the upper mantle beneath Central Asia, obtained as a result of inversion of travel times by the Backus-Gilbert method. They were found to be in a good agreement with the observed data. |
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