Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4741679 | Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors | 2014 | 6 Pages |
The structure of subducted slabs is not well imaged in most global tomographic models with anomalies typically less than 1%. Synthetic waveforms for such models are not noticeably different from their 1D reference models. In contrast, we find that observed teleseismic waveforms sampling slabs in the down-dip direction display multipathing features indicative of substantial structure. Such waveform complexity patterns appear distinctly different for various source locations with outer-rise events generally displaying relatively simple waveforms. Here, we model these waveform patterns for a portion of the Kuril subduction zone. The best fitting slab models have relatively fast cores (∼5%) with smooth edges compatible with thermal modeling in shape. Complete seismograms for these 2D models indicate that multibounce P and S waves are slab-sensitive and can be used in refining models.