Numerical and observational study of Sn-to-Lg conversion due to
crustal-thickening: implications for identification of continental
mantle earthquakes
Abstract
We study Sn-to-Lg conversion at regional distances due to significant
crustal thickening, particularly in the context of using Sn and Lg
amplitude ratios (Sn/Lg) to identify continental mantle earthquakes. We
further enhance recent developments in computational seismology to
perform 2.5D simulations up to 5 Hz and 2,000 km. Our simulations
compare propagation in a reference, constant-thickness crust from a
source at three depths straddling the Moho, to 48 models of the same
three sources propagating through Moho ramps of four different widths
(dips) at four different distances from the source. We compare our
synthetics to data from 12 earthquakes recorded on the HiCLIMB array
across Tibet, of which six events from northwestern Tibet traverse no
major crustal-thickness variation, and six located south of the Himalaya
cross a major Moho ramp. Our observations on real data show that
amplitude perturbations on individual Sn and Lg waves are smooth and
mostly limited to near the ramp end. Even the more-pronounced amplitude
variations seen in our simulations show that Sn/Lg for mid-crustal
earthquakes is consistently lower than those for mantle earthquakes.
Hence we can directly compare Sn/Lg for ramp-crossing and
non-ramp-crossing earthquakes and identify new mantle earthquakes in
northern India. Sn-to-Lg converted waves may be readily detected near
the Moho ramp end through an enhancement in high-frequency content. In
addition, we observe higher frequency content in Lg from crustal than
from mantle earthquakes, which offers a new discriminant for continental
mantle earthquakes based on frequency content of Lg waves alone.