Shear wave splitting observations across the Juan de Fuca plate system: Ridge- to-trench constraints on mantle flow from 2 years of Cascadia Initiative OBS data

Abstract:

We present SKS splitting measurements for the first two years of data collected by the Cascadia Initiative (CI) amphibious array. Our analysis includes observations from over 100 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS), as well as 31 onshore stations, and spans both the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates. The CI dataset is unique in that it includes several regions that can distinctly influence anisotropic fabric development such as: the upwelling mantle beneath the Juan de Fuca and Gorda ridges, the young evolving oceanic lithosphere of the plate interior, the Blanco transform fault, and the Cascadia subduction zone. For the first time, we are able to analyze these regions with a single dataset, and using a common methodology. Splitting measurements are routinely done on land sites, but have been completed on relatively few OBS stations. This is largely due to the low signal to noise present in OBS data, which can obscure the splitting results. To address that nearly all the OBS data exceeds the global high noise limit at the frequencies used for splitting, we implement a rigorous quality control scheme. Our method specifically takes into account the response of common splitting methods to high noise data and addresses known issues such as cycle skipping, false minima, low transverse energy, and near-null measurements. Individual measurements are filtered at 0.03-0.1 Hz, manually checked for quality, and stacked. Preliminary results show trench perpendicular onshore measurements consistent with previous studies. Oceanic measurements in the plate interior show a coherent fast axis roughly aligned with absolute plate motion. Several measurements near the ridge and trench appear to be rotated in the ridge and trench parallel directions. Continuing work will integrate splitting measurements from the final two years of the CI with these findings, which will be used to characterize the ridge-to-trench mantle flow across the Juan de Fuca plate system.