Upper crustal structure beneath Southwest Iberia north of the convergent boundary between the Eurasian and African plates

•3-D velocity and Vp/Vs structures of the upper crust beneath SW Iberia from local seismic tomography.•Higher-than-average seismic wave velocities at shallow depths, changing downward to lower velocity.•Our data show high heat flow, conductive layers, and intensive faulting and shearing.

The 3-D P- and S-wave velocity models of the upper crust beneath Southwest Iberia are determined by inverting arrival time data from local earthquakes using a seismic tomography method. We used a total of 3085 P- and 2780 S-wave high quality arrival times from 886 local earthquakes recorded by a permanent seismic network, which is operated by the Institute of Meteorology (IM), Lisbon, Portugal. The computed P- and S-wave velocities are used to determine the 3-D distributions of Vp/Vs ratio. The 3-D velocity and Vp/Vs ratio images display clear lateral heterogeneities in the study area. Significant velocity variations up to ±6% are revealed in the upper crust beneath Southwest Iberia. At 4 km depth, both P- and S-wave velocity take average to high values relative to the initial velocity model, while at 12 km, low P-wave velocities are clearly visible along the coast and in the southern parts. High S-wave velocities at 12 km depth are imaged in the central parts, and average values along the coast; although some scattered patches of low and high S-wave velocities are also revealed. The Vp/Vs ratio is generally high at depths of 4 and 12 km along the coastal parts with some regions of high Vp/Vs ratio in the north at 4 km depth, and low Vp/Vs ratio in the central southern parts at a depth of 12 km. The imaged low velocity and high Vp/Vs ratios are related to the thick saturated and unconsolidated sediments covering the region; whereas the high velocity regions are generally associated with the Mesozoic basement rocks.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide