The Crustal Structure of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone Imaged by means of Seismic Noise Tomography and Potential Fields Inversion Methods

Abstract:

We investigate the crustal structure of the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) by means of group velocity tomography maps from seismic noise data analysis and potential fields inversion with the located Euler deconvolution method.

Preliminary tomography results show that, in the uppermost crust, the New York-Alabama (NY-AL) magnetic lineament surface projection represents the boundary between a low velocity anomaly to the NW of the lineament and a high velocity anomaly to the SE of it. The low velocity anomaly migrates towards SE with increasing depth, suggesting a possible SE dipping weak structure in which most of the seismic activity takes place. Inversion of magnetic field data shows that the top of the magnetic basement ranges between 5 and 10 km of depth in the Valley and the Ridge physiographic province while it is shallower (less than 2 km of depth) and locally outcropping in the Blue Ridge province and in the Cumberland Plateau province.

The estimated depth of the top of the magnetic basement is in general agreement with existing sedimentary cover map of the broad study area, although the local features of the ETSZ presented in this work are not resolved by previous studies due to poor resolution.

The correlation between the magnetic signature and the position of the seismic velocity anomalies support the interpretation of the low velocity zone as a major basement fault, trending NE-SW and juxtaposing Granite-Rhyolite basement to the NW from Grenville southern Appalachian basement to the SE, of which the NY-AL magnetic lineament is the projection on the surface.

In order to better constrain our interpretation, inversion of tomography results to obtain absolute shear waves velocity models will be performed as a next step.