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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 24, 8042, doi:10.1029/2003GL018020, 2003

Sn attenuation in the Anatolian and Iranian plateau and surrounding regions

Rengin Gök

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey


Eric Sandvol

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Niyazi Türkelli

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey


Dogan Seber

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Muawia Barazangi

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Abstract

The propagation characteristics of the regional Sn shear waves have been mapped to provide insight into the lithospheric structure of the Anatolian and Iranian plateau and the surrounding regions. Thousands of regional earthquakes within the distance range of 2–15 degrees were recorded by broadband and short period stations located in Turkey and nearby regions, especially new data recorded by 29 broadband stations in the Eastern Turkey Seismic Experiment network. The propagation efficiencies of Sn were determined visually using their amplitude and frequency content. Attenuation maps were then tomographically constructed using the observed propagation efficiencies. Our results confirm that Sn propagates efficiently in the uppermost mantle beneath the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea and along the Zagros fold and thrust belt. Sn is not observed in eastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, or central Anatolia. In contrast to previous available studies, this study considerably improved the mapped location of the boundaries between the zones of efficient and attenuated Sn. Our results are best explained by an absence of lithospheric mantle, or the presence of thin and hot lithospheric mantle beneath most of the Anatolian and Iranian plateau.

Received 20 June 2003; accepted 14 October 2003; published 22 November 2003.

Index Terms: 7218 Seismology: Lithosphere and upper mantle; 7299 Seismology: General or miscellaneous; 8102 Tectonophysics: Continental contractional orogenic belts; 8120 Tectonophysics: Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle—general.

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Citation: Gök, R., E. Sandvol, N. Türkelli, D. Seber, and M. Barazangi (2003), Sn attenuation in the Anatolian and Iranian plateau and surrounding regions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(24), 8042, doi:10.1029/2003GL018020.