Rayleigh-wave ellipticity and shallow structure in sedimentary basins: the Po Plain (northern Italy)

Abstract:

The amplitude ratio between horizontal and vertical components of Rayleigh waves (also known as ellipticity) is in principle uniquely sensitive to local earth structure beneath each recording station. Rayleigh wave ellipticity is mostly influenced by the shallowest layers, so it can be effectively used to infer the structure of the uppermost crust, with particular relevance for sedimentary environments. We implement an automatic method to measure Rayleigh wave ellipticity, and extensively apply it to teleseismic records from the northern part of Italy, for a period range between 10s and 130s. As expected, no appreciable correlation with epicenter distance or azimuth can be seen, but rather a strong correlation with local structure: generally high horizontal to vertical amplitude ratios are seen in sedimentary settings, with respect to Alpine and Apenninic crystalline-rock terrains. We verify that shortest usable period may be limited by very low shear-wave velocity in shallow sediments, when the assumed retrograde elliptical particle motion polarisation for the fundamental mode breaks off. The highly non-linear sensitivity of frequency-dependent ellipticity curves can then be inverted using a direct search method to infer shear wave velocity profiles below stations. By comparing our results with local a priori geological information we show that robust information can indeed be retrieved.