Seismic velocity structures of Southern Italy from tomographic imaging of the Ionian slab and petrological inferences.

International audience; In this study we have determined detailed Vp and Vs seismic velocity models of the Ionian lithosphere subducting beneath the Tyrrhenian basin and of the surrounding mantle, by applying a post-processing technique to a large sample of local earthquake tomography studies. Our seismic velocity models permit us to infer the presence of low velocity anomalies within the slab, which we interpret as regions that are partially hydrated by fluids released during the subduction process. A petrological interpretation of the velocity anomalies gives new details on the magmatism of the volcanic Aeolian arc. Furthermore our velocity models provide a more detailed description of th…

Local earthquake tomography in the Southern Tyrrhenian region of Italy: Geophysical and petrological inferences on subducting litosphere

We obtained a high-resolution seismic tomography of the Ionian lithosphere subduction using a new approach based on: (a) the Double-Difference technique for inversions and (b) the statistical post-processing of a great number of preliminary models (Weighted Average Model, WAM method); the latter was used to increase reliability and resolution. In the tomographic model, the high-velocity portion of the steeply dipping Ionian slab is well imaged, as is an underlying low-Vp (≈7.0 km/s) aseismic region. We propose that the low-velocity region can be assigned to a partially hydrated (serpentinized) mantle of the subducting Ionian slab, which progressively dehydrates with depth in dense high-pres…

WAM tomography in the southern Tyrrhenian region : petrological inferences and hypothesis on the fluid circulation in the subducting Ionian slab and adjoining mantle domains

Sequential techique for joint inversion of gravimetric and seismic data applied to the Sicilian area