Search

We detected surface waves from two meteorite impacts on Mars. By measuring group velocity dispersion along the impact-lander path, we obtained a direct constraint on crustal structure away from the InSight lander. The crust north of the equatorial dichotomy had a shear wave velocity of approximately 3.2 kilometers per second in the 5- to 30-kilometer depth range, with little depth variation. This implies a higher crustal density than inferred beneath the lander, suggesting either compositional differences or reduced porosity in the volcanic areas traversed by the surface waves. The lower velocities and the crustal layering observed beneath the landing site down to a 10-kilometer depth are not a global feature. Structural variations revealed by surface waves hold implications for models of the formation and thickness of the martian crust.

Due to a too sparse permanent seismic coverage during the last decades, the crustal structure of western France and the surrounding regions is poorly known. In this study, we present a 3-D seismic tomographic model of this area obtained from the analysis of 2-yr continuous data recorded from 55 broad-band seismometers. An unconventional approach is used to convert Rayleigh wave dispersion diagrams obtained from ambient noise cross-correlations into posterior distributions of 1-D VS models integrated along each station pair. It allows to avoid the group velocity map construction step (which means dispersion curve extraction) while providing meaningful VS posterior uncertainties. VS models are described by a self-adapting and parsimonious parametrization using cubic Bézier splines. 1268 separately inverted 1-D VS profiles are combined together using a regionalization scheme, to build the 3-D VS model with a lateral resolution of 75 km over western France. The shallower part of the model (horizontal cross-section at 4 km depth) correlates well with the known main geological features. The crystalline Variscan basement is clearly associated with positive VS perturbations while negative heterogeneities match the Mesocenozoic sedimentary basins. At greater depths, the Bay of Biscay exhibits positive VS perturbations,which eastern and southern boundaries can be interpreted as the ocean−continent transition. The overall crustal structure below the Armorican Massif appears to be heterogenous at the subregional scale, and tends to support that both the South-Armorican Shear Zone and the Paris Basin Magnetic Anomaly are major crustal discontinuities that separate distinct domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The macroseismic and instrumental observations accumulated by the Bureau Central Sismologique Français and other national agencies over the last 100 years show that the northwestern part of metropolitan France is affected by an apparently diffuse and moderate intraplate seismicity. Far from any plate boundary, well-documented inherited structures, such as the Armorican shear zone network, the Sillon Houiller, and the normal faults related to the Atlantic ocean margin, likely exert significant control on the regional seismicity pattern. However, in the absence of a clearly measurable strain field, processes other than far-field tectonic stress loading such as erosion, gravitational potential energy, and/or hydraulic loadings can co-exist, but their respective influence on the current seismicity is debated and remains to be fully addressed. Reliable detection/location of low-to-moderate magnitude events is one of the most important challenges in the near future to better understand the processes that control this intraplate seismicity. As shown here for a limited region, this issue can be achieved positively, thanks to the new Résif-Epos network, in conjunction with sophisticated algorithms for both earthquakes’ detection and discrimination.

In order to detect possible signal redundancies in the ambient seismic wavefield, we develop a new method based on pairwise comparisons among a set of synchronous time-series. This approach is based on instantaneous phase coherence statistics. The first and second moments of the pairwise phase coherence distribution are used to characterize the phase randomness. For perfect phase randomness, the theoretical values of the mean and variance are equal to 0 and √1 - 2/π, respectively. As a consequence, any deviation from these values indicates the presence of a redundant phase in the rawcontinuous signal. Apreviously detected microseismic source in the Gulf of Guinea is used to illustrate one of the possible ways of handling phase coherence statistics. The proposed approach allows us to properly localize this persistent source, and to quantify its contribution to the overall seismic ambient wavefield. The strength of the phase coherence statistics relies in its ability to quantify the redundancy of a given phase among a set of time-series with various useful applications in seismic noise-based studies (tomography and/or source characterization). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clues to a planet's geologic history are contained in its interior structure, particularly its core. We detected reflections of seismic waves from the core-mantle boundary of Mars using InSight seismic data and inverted these together with geodetic data to constrain the radius of the liquid metal core to 1830 ± 40 kilometers. The large core implies a martian mantle mineralogically similar to the terrestrial upper mantle and transition zone but differing from Earth by not having a bridgmanite-dominated lower mantle. We inferred a mean core density of 5.7 to 6.3 grams per cubic centimeter, which requires a substantial complement of light elements dissolved in the iron-nickel core. The seismic core shadow as seen from InSight's location covers half the surface of Mars, including the majority of potentially active regions-e.g., Tharsis-possibly limiting the number of detectable marsquakes., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)