Imperial College London
Alternate

Saskia Goes

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Professor of Geophysics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 6434s.goes

 
 
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Location

 

4.47Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Maguire:2017:10.1002/2017JB014730,
author = {Maguire, R and Ritsema, J and Bonnin, M and Goes, S and Van, Keken P},
doi = {10.1002/2017JB014730},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research},
pages = {384--400},
title = {Evaluating the resolution of deep mantle plumes in teleseismic traveltime tomography},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014730},
volume = {123},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The strongest evidence to support the classical plume hypothesis comes from seismic imaging of the mantle beneath hot spots. However, imaging results are often ambiguous and it is questionable whether narrow plume tails can be detected by present-day seismological techniques. Here we carry out synthetic tomography experiments based on spectral element method simulations of seismic waves with period T > 10 s propagating through geodynamically derived plume structures. We vary the source-receiver geometry in order to explore the conditions under which lower mantle plume tails may be detected seismically. We determine that wide-aperture (4,000–6,000 km) networks with dense station coverage (<100–200 km station spacing) are necessary to image narrow (<500 km wide) thermal plume tails. We find that if uncertainties on traveltime measurements exceed delay times imparted by plume tails (typically <1 s), the plume tails are concealed in seismic images. Vertically propagating SKS waves enhance plume tail recovery but lack vertical resolution in regions that are not independently constrained by direct S paths. We demonstrate how vertical smearing of an upper mantle low-velocity anomaly can appear as a plume originating in the deep mantle. Our results are useful for interpreting previous plume imaging experiments and guide the design of future experiments.
AU  - Maguire,R
AU  - Ritsema,J
AU  - Bonnin,M
AU  - Goes,S
AU  - Van,Keken P
DO  - 10.1002/2017JB014730
EP  - 400
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 0148-0227
SP  - 384
TI  - Evaluating the resolution of deep mantle plumes in teleseismic traveltime tomography
T2  - Journal of Geophysical Research
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014730
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/55821
VL  - 123
ER  -
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