Abstract
Fluctuations in groundwater content may produce surface deformation and
affect the elastic properties of the Earth’s crust. In this study we
evaluate the temporal variations of the Earth’s crust elastic properties
(in the form of relative seismic-velocity variations) in a tectonically
active region in Northern Italy characterized by the presence of karst
systems. In this area, GPS measurements already revealed
hydrologically-induced deformation, modulated by changes in groundwater
storage. We study the relation of our seismological observations with
the geodetic and hydrological results and identify the effects of
groundwater-content variations in the seismic-velocity perturbations.
Our results show that hydrologically-induced changes in karstic media
produce significant seismic-velocity perturbations, therefore its role
in tectonic-stress adjustment studies must not be ignored. Depth
sensitivity analysis of our results constrain the crustal perturbations
to range between 1 and 4 km depth. Results from scattering imaging
locate the crustal perturbations along the main karst systems.