SASSY21: A 3-D seismic structural model of the lithosphere and
underlying mantle beneath Southeast Asia from multi-scale adjoint
waveform tomography
Abstract
We present the first continental-scale seismic model of the lithosphere
and underlying mantle beneath Southeast Asia obtained from adjoint
waveform tomography (often referred to as full-waveform inversion or
FWI), using seismic data filtered at periods from 20 - 150s. Based on
>3,000h of analyzed waveform data gathered from
~13,000 unique source-receiver pairs, we image isotropic
P-wave velocity, radially anisotropic S-wave velocity and density via an
iterative non-linear inversion that begins from a 1-D reference model.
At each iteration, the full 3-D wavefield is determined through an
anelastic Earth, accommodating effects of topography, bathymetry and
ocean load. Our data selection aims to maximize sensitivity to deep
structure by accounting for body-wave arrivals separately. SASSY21, our
final model after 87 iterations, is able to explain true-amplitude data
from events and receivers not included in the inversion. The trade-off
between inversion parameters is estimated through an analysis of the
Hessian-vector product. SASSY21 reveals detailed anomalies down to the
mantle transition zone, including multiple subduction zones. The most
prominent feature is the (Indo-)Australian plate descending beneath
Indonesia, which is imaged as one continuous slab along the 180-degree
curvature of the Banda Arc. The tomography confirms the existence of a
hole in the slab beneath Mount Tambora and locates a high S-wave
velocity zone beneath northern Borneo that may be associated with
subduction termination in the mid-late Miocene. A previously
undiscovered feature beneath the east coast of Borneo is also revealed,
which may be a signature of post-subduction processes, delamination or
underthrusting from the formation of Sulawesi.